SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SETTING A HOT PRODUCT ALERT ON TRANSACTION DATA

• US 20140039973A1
• Filed: 08/01/2012
• Published: 02/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Inventors: Groarke, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 10,332,088 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system and a method for determining when a predetermined number of a specific product or of a type of product has been sold so that an alert can be generated when the number sold exceeds the predetermined number. Transaction rules can be set to monitor transaction data in a database to achieve this result. The transaction rules can be set for a generic product, for a specific product, or to exclude certain products. The system and the method issue an additional alert when data in a database indicates that the number of a specific product or of a type of product being sold in a selected time frame is below the selected predetermined number or another selected predetermined, for a selected period of time.

Claims

1. A system for determining when a selected predetermined number has been sold of either a specific product or of a type of product, comprising:

an electronic storage device having a database of merchant transactions stored therein;

an access path for allowing access to information concerning the transactions, the information including when the specific product or type of product has been sold; and

a processor for assembling the information concerning sales of the specific product or type of product, to determine a number of the specific product or type of product sold in a selected time frame, and to compare the number of the specific product or type of product sold to the selected predetermined number, to generate an alert when the number sold exceeds the selected predetermined number.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the number of products sold is determined for a given geographic region.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to exclude one or more excluded products, so that an alert is not generated when a number of said one or more excluded products sold exceeds the predetermined number.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the selected time frame is selected to be one selected from the group consisting of a day, a week, and a month.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the database has payment card transaction data, and the data is filtered to remove cardholder information related to the transactions.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the access path comprises a web site for making the data available to users of said web site.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein when data in said database indicates that a number of the specific product or type of product sold in the selected time frame is below the predetermined number, an additional alert is generated.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein when data in said database indicates that a number of the specific product or type of product sold in the selected time frame is below another predetermined number, for a predefined period of time, an additional alert is generated.

8. The system of claim 8, wherein said Internet connected device is one selected from the group consisting of a mobile telephone, a computer, a tablet, and a personal digital assistant.

7. The system of claim 8, wherein the access path includes an Internet connected device for connecting to said web site.

11. A method for determining when a selected predetermined number of either a specific product or of a type of product has been sold, comprising:

storing in an electronic storage device a database of merchant transactions;

accessing information in the database concerning the transactions, the information including when the specific product or type of product has been sold,

assembling the information concerning sales of the specific product or type of product to determine a number of the specific product or type of product sold in a selected time frame, and to compare the number of the specific product or type of product sold to the selected predetermined number, and

generating an alert when the number sold exceeds the selected predetermined number.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the database has data concerning transactions in a given geographic region.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising excluding one or more excluded products, so that an alert is not generated when a number of said one or more excluded products sold exceeds the predetermined number.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the specific time frame is selected to be one consisting of a day, a week, and a month.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the data in the database concerns payment card transactions, and wherein the method further comprises filtering the data to remove cardholder information related to the transactions.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said accessing comprises using a web site for making the data available to users of said web site.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said accessing comprises using an Internet connected device for connecting to said web site.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said Internet connected device is one selected from the group consisting of a mobile telephone, a computer, a tablet and a personal digital assistant.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating an additional alert when data in said database indicates that a number of the specific product or type of product sold in a specific time frame is below the predetermined number.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating an additional alert when data in said database indicates that a number of the specific product or type of product sold in the selected time frame is below the predetermined number, for a predefined period of time.

21. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium storing instructions of a computer program which when executed by a computer system results in performance of steps of:

storing in an electronic storage device a database of merchant transactions;

accessing information in the database concerning the transactions, including when a specific product or type of product has been sold;

assembling the information concerning sales of the specific product or type of product to determine a number of the specific product or type of product sold in a selected time frame, and to compare the number of the specific product or type of product sold to a predetermined number; and

generating an alert when the number sold exceeds the predetermined number.