UNIFIED PAYMENT AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT SYSTEM

• US 20140046757A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 02/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Shariff, Shafiq, Kahn, Jadam, Aparicio, Mike, Hines, Michael, Webb, Todd, Nordquist, Derek
• Granted Patent: US 10,853,836 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.46
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues

Abstract

The unified payment system, product and method provide an effective and efficient way to better communicate to a merchant the value of running a promotion and determine a deal structure that works for the merchant, the customer, the promotion system, or any combination thereof. The unified payment system, product and method provide real-time ROI calculations that a merchant and sales representative can collaboratively simultaneously work on to identify a deal structure for the merchant to select. In this way, the merchant and sales representative may arrive at a mutually acceptable payment plan.

Claims

1-68. -68. (canceled)

69. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receive a notice of sale of a promotion, the notice including a sale amount;

calculate, based on the sale amount, a holdback amount to hold in reserve and a payment amount to distribute to a merchant; and

generate a payment schedule for transferring funds to the merchant.

70. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the holdback amount and the payment amount are based on one or more of a configurable percentage of the sale amount, an expiration date of the promotion, a number of unredeemed vouchers, a length of a redemption period, a velocity of redemptions, a velocity of refunds, industry trends, a category of promotion, and previous performance of the merchant.

71. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the payment schedule indicates a date on which to transfer the payment amount and a date on which to process the holdback amount.

72. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to initiate a transfer of the payment amount to the merchant based on the payment schedule.

73. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the date on which to process the holdback amount is based on the expiration date of the promotion.

74. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the processor to process the holdback amount by:

determining an amount of money returned to consumers; and

calculating a remaining balance by subtracting the refund amount from the holdback amount.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the processor to initiate a transfer of the remaining balance to the merchant.

76. A method comprising:

receiving a notice of sale of a promotion, the notice including a sale amount;

calculating, based on the sale amount, a holdback amount to hold in reserve and a payment amount to distribute to a merchant; and

generating a payment schedule for transferring funds to the merchant.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein the holdback amount and the payment amount are based on one or more of a configurable percentage of the sale amount, an expiration date of the promotion, a number of unredeemed vouchers, a length of a redemption period, a velocity of redemptions, a velocity of refunds, industry trends, a category of promotion, and previous performance of the merchant.

78. The method of claim 76, wherein the payment schedule indicates a date on which to transfer the payment amount and a date on which to process the holdback amount.

79. The method of claim 78, further comprising initiating a transfer of the payment amount to the merchant based on the payment schedule.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein the date on which to process the holdback amount is based on the expiration date of the promotion.

81. The method of claim 78, further comprising processing the holdback amount by:

determining an amount of money returned to consumers; and

calculating a remaining balance by subtracting the refund amount from the holdback amount.

82. The method of claim 81 further comprising initiating a transfer of the remaining balance to the merchant.

83. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions configured, when executed by a processor, to cause the processor to:

receive a notice of sale of a promotion, the notice including a sale amount;

calculate, based on the sale amount, a holdback amount to hold in reserve and a payment amount to distribute to a merchant; and

generate a payment schedule for transferring funds to the merchant.

84. The computer program product of claim 83, wherein the holdback amount and the payment amount are based on one or more of a configurable percentage of the sale amount, an expiration date of the promotion, a number of unredeemed vouchers, a length of a redemption period, a velocity of redemptions, a velocity of refunds, industry trends, a category of promotion, and previous performance of the merchant.

85. The computer program product of claim 83, wherein the payment schedule indicates a date on which to transfer the payment amount and a date on which to process the holdback amount.

86. The computer program product of claim 85, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to:

initiate a transfer of the payment amount to the merchant based on the payment schedule.

87. The computer program product of claim 85, wherein the date on which to process the holdback amount is based on the expiration date of the promotion.

88. The computer program product of claim 85, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to process the holdback amount by:

determining an amount of money returned to consumers; and

calculating a remaining balance by subtracting the refund amount from the holdback amount.

89. The computer program product of claim 88, wherein the computer readable instructions are further configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to initiate a transfer of the remaining balance to the merchant.