METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CUSTOMERS OF A RETAIL ENTERPRISE WITH EARNABLE REWARDS

• US 20130246148A1
• Filed: 03/13/2013
• Published: 09/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meijer (Meijer Cos. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Meijer (Meijer Cos. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ross, Kenneth, Curtis, Lanny, Pugh, Brian, Robinson, Elmer I. Jr., Pallas, David Scott, Phelps, Nathan Wall
• Granted Patent: US 10,740,780 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history

Abstract

A shopper reward server includes a communication module to receive purchase transaction data from a plurality of purchase interfaces of a retail enterprise, a database having stored therein a plurality of shopper purchase histories each including purchase transaction data for item purchases made over time by a different one of a corresponding plurality of shoppers, a transaction module to store purchase transaction data for each shopper in a corresponding shopper purchase history, and a shopper reward module to selectively generate for any of the shoppers at least one earn requirement, based on that shopper'"'"'s purchase history, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the purchase interfaces in order to earn a corresponding discount reward redeemable against at least one specified item via any of the purchase interfaces.

Claims

1. A shopper reward server comprising:

a communication module to receive purchase transaction data from a plurality of purchase interfaces of a retail enterprise, the purchase transaction data relating to items purchased by shoppers during purchase transactions carried out via the plurality of purchase interfaces,

a database having stored therein a plurality of shopper purchase histories each including purchase transaction data for item purchases made over time by a different one of a corresponding plurality of shoppers,

a transaction module to store purchase transaction data for each of the plurality of shoppers in a corresponding one of the plurality of shopper purchase histones, and

a shopper reward module to selectively generate for any of the plurality of shoppers, at least one earn requirement, based on that shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn a corresponding discount reward redeemable against at least one specified item via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces.

2. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the database includes a rewards repository for each of the plurality of shoppers,

and wherein the shopper reward module to monitor purchases made by the shopper following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and the corresponding discount reward, and to add the discount reward to the shopper'"'"'s rewards repository when the shopper satisfies the earn requirement.

3. The shopper reward server of claim 2 wherein the shopper reward module to add the discount reward to the shopper'"'"'s rewards repository only if the shopper satisfies the earn requirement within a specified earn time period following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and corresponding discount reward.

4. The shopper reward server of claim 2 wherein the shopper reward module to allow redemption of the discount reward against the at least one item only if the discount reward is redeemed against the at least one item within a reward redemption time period following addition of the discount reward to the shoppers rewards repository.

5. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the shopper reward module to selectively generate the at least one earn requirement based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories and also on the plurality of shopper purchase histories.

6. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the shopper reward module to generate a plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper histories, and to allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the corresponding discount reward.

7. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the shopper reward module to allow the shopper to specify the discount reward,

and wherein the shopper reward module to generate the at least one earn requirement, based on the shoppers one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward.

8. The shopper reward server of claim 7 wherein the shopper reward module to generate a plurality of different earn requirements, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must each be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward,

and wherein the shopper reward module to allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the specified discount reward.

9. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the database has stored therein at least one set of earn rules defining a plurality of earn categories each corresponding to a different category of one or more products or services offered for sale by the retail enterprise,

and wherein the shopper reward server further comprises a shopper history management module to process the purchase transaction data in each of the plurality of shopper purchase histories to determine a total amount spent by each of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories and to determine a total amount spent by all of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories.

10. The shopper reward server of claim 9 wherein the at least one set of earn rules defines at least one set of earn category ranking rules for ranking each of the plurality of earn categories relative to each other as a function of the total amount spent by all of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories.

11. The shopper reward server of claim 10 further comprising an offer bank management module to calculate and periodically update earn category rankings for each of the plurality of earn categories relative to each other based on the at least one set of earn category ranking rules and on the most recent total amount spent by all of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories.

12. The shopper reward server of claim 11 wherein the at least one set of earn rules defines minimum and maximum spend thresholds for each of the plurality of earn categories, and further defines a plurality of spend ranges between the defined minimum and maximum spend thresholds of each of the plurality of earn categories,

and wherein the at least one set of earn rules defines at least one set of earn margin rules for establishing an earn margin for each of the plurality of earn categories, each earn margin defining a number of spend range increments as a function of the total amount spent by all of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories.

13. The shopper reward server of claim 12 wherein the offer bank management module to calculate and periodically update earn margins for each of the plurality of earn categories based on the at least one set of earn margin rules and on the most recent total amount spent by all of the plurality of shoppers in each of the plurality of earn categories.

14. The shopper reward server of claim 13 wherein the database has stored therein at least one set of reward rules defining a plurality of reward categories each corresponding to a different category of one or more products or services offered for sale by the retail enterprise, and a plurality of reward types each corresponding to a different type of discount reward,

and wherein the at least one set of reward rules defines minimum and maximum reward thresholds for each of the plurality of reward categories and reward types, and further defines a plurality of reward increments between the defined minimum and maximum reward thresholds of each of the plurality of reward categories and reward types,

and wherein the at least one set of reward rules defines at least one set of reward category and reward type ranking rules for ranking each of the plurality of reward categories and reward types relative to each other as a function of the earn category rankings for each of the plurality of earn categories.

15. The reward server of claim 14 wherein the offer bank management module to construct and periodically update an offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards based on the plurality of earn categories, the plurality of spend ranges between the defined minimum and maximum spend thresholds of each of the plurality of earn categories, the earn category rankings for each of the plurality of earn categories, the earn margins for each of the plurality of earn categories, the plurality of reward categories, the plurality of reward types, and the plurality of reward increments between the defined minimum and maximum reward thresholds of each of the plurality of reward categories and reward types.

16. The reward server of claim 15 wherein the shopper reward module to generate a plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards specific to the shopper from the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper histories.

17. The reward server of claim 16 wherein the shopper reward module to determine a shopper-specific ranking of each of the plurality of earn categories relative to each other based on the total amount spent by the shopper in each of the plurality of earn categories, to determine a shopper-specific ranking of each of the plurality of reward categories based on the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories, and to compare the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories and the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of reward categories to the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards to generate a list of the plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards specific to the shopper.

18. The reward server of claim 17 wherein the shopper reward module to filter the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories and the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of reward categories based on historical discount reward selection preferences of the shopper prior to comparing the shopper-specific, rankings of the plurality of earn categories and the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of reward categories to the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards.

19. The reward server of claim 17 wherein the shopper reward module to allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards from the list of the plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards specific to the shopper.

20. The shopper reward server of claim 19 wherein the database includes a rewards repository for each of the plurality of shoppers,

and wherein the shopper reward module to monitor purchases made by the shopper following selection by the shopper of the one of the plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount reward, and to add the discount reward to the shoppers rewards repository when the shopper satisfies the earn requirement.

21. The shopper reward server of claim 20 wherein the shopper reward module to add the discount reward to the shoppers rewards repository only if the shopper satisfies the earn requirement within a specified earn time period following selection by the shopper of the one of the plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount reward.

22. The shopper reward server of claim 20 wherein the shopper reward module to allow redemption of the discount reward against the at least one item only if the discount reward is redeemed against the at least one item within a reward redemption time period following addition of the discount reward to the shoppers rewards repository.

23. The shopper reward server of claim 15 wherein the shopper reward module to allow the shopper to specify the discount reward,

and wherein the shopper reward module to generate a plurality of earn requirements from the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements based on the discount reward specified by the shopper and based on the shoppers one of the plurality of shopper histories.

24. The reward server of claim 23 wherein the shopper reward module to determine a shopper-specific ranking of each of the plurality of earn categories relative to each other based on the total amount spent by the shopper in each of the plurality of earn categories, and to compare the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories and the discount reward specified by the shopper to the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards to generate a list of the plurality of earn requirements associated with the discount reward specified by the shopper.

25. The reward server of claim 24 wherein the shopper reward module to filter the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories based on historical discount reward selection preferences of the shopper prior to comparing the shopper-specific rankings of the plurality of earn categories to the offer bank of pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards.

26. The reward server of claim 24 wherein the shopper reward module to allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of earn requirements from the list of the plurality of earn requirements associated with the discount reward specified by the shopper.

27. The shopper reward server of claim 26 wherein the database includes a rewards repository for each of the plurality of shoppers,

and wherein the shopper reward module to monitor purchases made by the shopper following selection by the shopper of the one of the plurality of earn requirements, and to add the discount reward specified by the shopper to the shopper'"'"'s rewards repository when the shopper satisfies the one of the plurality of earn requirements.

28. The shopper reward server of claim 27 wherein the shopper reward module to add the discount reward specified by the shopper to the shopper'"'"'s rewards repository only if the shopper satisfies the earn requirement within a specified earn time period following selection by the shopper of the one of the plurality of earn requirements.

29. The shopper reward server of claim 27 wherein the shopper reward module to allow redemption of the discount reward specified by the shopper against the at least one item only if the discount reward is redeemed against the at least one item within a reward redemption time period following addition of the discount reward specified by the shopper to the shoppers rewards repository.

30. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the purchase interface comprises a point-of-sale terminal communicatively coupled to the communication module.

31. The shopper reward server of claim 1 wherein the purchase interface comprises a web-based product purchase interface hosted by the shopper reward server.

32. A method comprising:

receiving purchase transaction data from a plurality of purchase interfaces of a retail enterprise, the purchase transaction data relating to items purchased by shoppers during purchase transactions carried out via the plurality of purchase interfaces,

storing the purchase transaction data for the plurality of shoppers in a corresponding plurality of shopper purchase histories contained in a database such that each of the plurality of shopper purchase histories includes purchase transaction data for item purchases made over time by a different one of the plurality of shoppers, and

selectively generating for any of the plurality of shoppers at least one earn requirement, based on that shoppers one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn a corresponding discount reward redeemable against at least one specified item via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

monitoring purchases made by the shopper following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and the corresponding discount reward, and

adding the discount reward to a rewards repository associated with the shopper in the database when the shopper satisfies the earn requirement.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein adding the discount reward to a rewards repository comprises adding the discount reward to the rewards repository associated with the shopper only if the shopper satisfies the earn requirement within a specified earn time period following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and corresponding discount reward.

35. The method of claim 33 further comprising allowing redemption of the discount reward against the at least one item only if the discount reward is redeemed against the at least one item within a reward redemption time period following addition of the discount reward to the rewards repository.

36. The method of claim 32 further comprising selectively generating the at least one earn requirement based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories and also on the plurality of shopper purchase histories.

37. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

generating a plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper histories, and

allowing selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the corresponding discount reward.

38. The method of claim 32 further comprising allowing the shopper to specify the discount reward,

wherein selectively generating the at least one earn requirement comprises generating the at least one earn requirement, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein generating the at least one earn requirement comprises generating a plurality of different earn requirements, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must each be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward, the method further comprising allowing selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the specified discount reward.

40. One or more computer readable media containing instructions for hosting a shopper reward program via a network, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a computing device causes the one or more processors to:

receive purchase transaction data from a plurality of purchase interfaces of a retail enterprise, the purchase transaction data relating to items purchased by shoppers during purchase transactions carried out via the plurality of purchase interfaces,

store the purchase transaction data for the plurality of shoppers in a corresponding plurality of shopper purchase histories contained in a database such that each of the plurality of shopper purchase histories includes purchase transaction data for item purchases made over time by a different one of the plurality of shoppers, and

selectively generate for any of the plurality of shoppers at least one earn requirement, based on that shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn a corresponding discount reward redeemable against at least one specified item via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces.

41. The one or more computer readable media of claim 40 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

monitor purchases made by the shopper following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and the corresponding discount reward, and

add the discount reward to a rewards repository associated with the shopper in the database when the shopper satisfies the earn requirement.

42. The one or more computer readable media of claim 41 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to add the discount reward to the rewards repository associated with the shopper only if the shopper satisfies the earn requirement within a specified earn time period following selection by the shopper of the earn requirement and corresponding discount reward.

43. The one or more computer readable media of claim 41 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to allow redemption of the discount reward against the at least one item only if the discount reward is redeemed against the at least one item within a reward redemption time period following addition of the discount reward to the rewards repository.

44. The one or more computer readable media of claim 40 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to selectively generate the at least one earn requirement based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories and also on the plurality of shopper purchase histories.

45. The one or more computer readable media of claim 40 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

generate a plurality of different pairs of earn requirements and corresponding discount rewards, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper histories, and

allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the corresponding discount reward.

46. The one or more computer readable media of claim 40 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to allow the shopper to specify the discount reward, and to selectively generate the at least one earn requirement, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward.

47. The one or more computer readable media of claim 46 wherein execution of the instructions further causes the one or more processors to generate the plurality of different earn requirements, based on the shopper'"'"'s one of the plurality of shopper purchase histories, that must each be satisfied by the shopper via at least one purchase made via any of the plurality of purchase interfaces in order to earn the specified discount reward, and to allow selection by the shopper of one of the plurality of different earn requirements to satisfy in order to earn the specified discount reward.