SOCIAL GROUP BUYING
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
- provide a group offer to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria;
activate the group offer upon a consumer participant threshold being met, the consumer participant threshold equaling a number of consumers; and
receive, from an offering merchant, a set of qualifications that includes a type of consumer with whom the offering merchant would like the first-level recipient to share the group offer;
provide the set of qualifications to the first-level recipient to enable the first-level recipient to determine whether or not to share the group offer with a second-level recipient; and
establish a social incentive structure that provides a reward to the first-level recipient based, at least in part, on determining that;
the first-level recipient shares the group offer with the second-level recipient;
the second-level recipient receiving the group offer from the first-level recipient is in a social circle associated with the first-level recipient; and
the second-level recipient meets the set of qualifications provided to the first-level recipient.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A group offer is provided to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria. Further, the group offer is activated upon a consumer participant threshold being met, the consumer participant threshold equaling a number of consumers. In addition, a social incentive structure is established that provides a reward to the first-level recipient if the first-level recipient shares the group offer with a second-level recipient that (i) is in a social circle associated with the first-level recipient and (ii) meets a set of qualifications.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
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provide a group offer to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria; activate the group offer upon a consumer participant threshold being met, the consumer participant threshold equaling a number of consumers; and receive, from an offering merchant, a set of qualifications that includes a type of consumer with whom the offering merchant would like the first-level recipient to share the group offer; provide the set of qualifications to the first-level recipient to enable the first-level recipient to determine whether or not to share the group offer with a second-level recipient; and establish a social incentive structure that provides a reward to the first-level recipient based, at least in part, on determining that; the first-level recipient shares the group offer with the second-level recipient; the second-level recipient receiving the group offer from the first-level recipient is in a social circle associated with the first-level recipient; and the second-level recipient meets the set of qualifications provided to the first-level recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 21, 22, 23)
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3. (canceled)
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8. A method comprising:
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under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions; providing a group offer to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria the group offer being provided to the first-level recipient upon a consumer participant threshold being met, the consumer participant threshold equaling a number of consumers; receiving, from an offering merchant, a set of qualifications that includes a type of consumer with whom the offering merchant would like the first-level recipient to share the group offer; providing the set of qualifications to the first-level recipient to enable the first-level recipient to determine whether or not to share the group offer with a second-level recipient; and establishing a social incentive structure that provides a reward to the first-level recipient based, at least in part, on determining that; the first-level recipient shares the group offer with the second-level recipient; the second-level recipient receiving the group offer from the first-level recipient is in a social circle associated with the first-level recipient; and the second-level recipient meets the set of qualifications provided to the first-level recipient. - View Dependent Claims (9, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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10. (canceled)
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15. A system comprising:
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a server configured to; provide a group offer to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria; activate the group offer upon a consumer participant threshold being met; receive, from an offering merchant, a set of qualifications that includes a type of consumer with whom the offering merchant would like the first-level recipient to share the group offer; provide the set of qualifications to the first-level recipient to enable the first-level recipient to determine whether or not to share the group offer with a second-level recipient; establish a social incentive structure that provides a reward to the first-level recipient based, at least in part, on determining that the first-level recipient shares the group offer with the second-level recipient that is in a social circle associated with the first-level recipient and the second-level recipient meets the set of qualifications provided to the first-level recipient; and generate a unique e-mail and a unique offer for the second-level recipient, the consumer participant threshold equaling a number of consumers; and a database that stores the unique e-mail and the unique offer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 18, 19)
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17. (canceled)
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20. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
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provide a set of data to a first-level recipient that meets a set of criteria, the first-level recipient being a member of an online social network; receive, from an offering merchant, a set of qualifications that includes a type of consumer with whom the offering merchant would like the first-level recipient to share the set of data; provide the set of qualifications to the first-level recipient to enable the first-level recipient to determine whether or not to share the set of data with a second-level recipient; and establish a social incentive structure that provides (i) a reward to the first-level recipient based, at least in part, on determining that the first-level recipient shares the set of data with the second-level recipient that is in the social network and the second-level recipient meets the set of qualifications provided to the first-level recipient, and provides (ii) a penalty to the first-level recipient if the first-level recipient shares the set of data with a different second-level recipient that is in the social network without meeting the set of qualifications.
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Specification