TIME PERIOD DISTRIBUTION OF OFFER CODES

• US 20150302456A1
• Filed: 04/14/2015
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Retailmenot Incorporated (J2 Global, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Retailmenot Incorporated (J2 Global, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rego, Jeffrey R., Throndson, Scott J.
• Granted Patent: US 11,023,917 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date

Abstract

Provided are systems and processes for distribution of offer codes, including: obtaining a plurality of offer codes from a merchant, each offer code associated with a start date an expiration date and receiving, via a network, a plurality of requests for offer codes from a respective plurality of consumer user device, each request occurring during a respective time period. For each request, an offer code is selected from the plurality of offer codes based on the start date, the expiration date, and the respective time the request was received and the selected offer code is sent to the requesting consumer user.

Claims

1. An affiliate-network system configured to act as an intermediary between merchants issuing coupons or other offers and publishers promoting the offers to consumers, the affiliate-network system being configured to distribute and track usage of offers, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

non-transitory tangible computer-readable memory storing instructions that when executed by one or more of the one or more processors effectuate operations comprising;

obtaining one or more offer codes from a merchant, each offer code associated with a start date and an expiration date;

receiving, via a network, a plurality of requests for offer codes from a respective plurality of consumer user device, each request occurring at a respective time; and

for each of the plurality of requests;

selecting an offer code from the one or more offer codes based on the start date, the expiration date, and the respective time the request was received; and

sending the selected offer code to the requesting consumer user device of the respective plurality of consumer user devices.

2. The affiliate network system of claim 1, wherein the one or more offer codes are associated with a single offer.

3. The affiliate-network system of claim 1, the operations comprising:

sending the consumer in-store redemption data documenting that the consumer is in possession of the offer for presentation to the merchant at a physical location of the merchant, the data identifying a publisher that presented the offer to the consumer to credit the publisher;

receiving transaction data from the merchant indicating that the consumer redeemed the offer, the transaction data including the select single-use offer code; and

determining compensation for the publisher based on the transaction data.

4. The affiliate-network system of claim 1, wherein each request of the plurality of requests is responsive to the traversal of a geofence by a respective consumer user device, the geofence defining a perimeter around a geographic area.

5. The affiliate-network system of claim 4, wherein the merchant is located in the geographic area.

6. The affiliate-network system of claim 4, wherein the geographic area is a shopping mall.

7. The affiliate-network system of claim 1, comprising, for each of the plurality of requests:

sending text to the consumer user device that indicates the expiration date of the selected offer code.

8. The affiliate-network system of claim 1, wherein the selected offer code sent to the selected one of the respective plurality of consumer user devices is associated with a device identifier of the requesting consumer user device.

9. A method, comprising:

obtaining, at an affiliate-network system, a plurality of offer codes associated with a merchant, each offer code associated with a distribution time period, the affiliate network system comprising one or more processors;

receiving, at the affiliate network system, a first request from a first consumer user device at a first time;

selecting a first offer code from the plurality of offer codes if the first time occurs during the a first distribution period;

sending over a network, during the first distribution time period, the first offer code to the first consumer user device;

receiving, at the affiliate-network system, a second request from a second consumer user device at a second time;

selecting a second offer code from the plurality of offer codes if the second time occurs during a second distribution time period; and

sending over a network, during the second distribution time period, the second offer code to the second consumer user device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first distribution time period overlaps the second distribution time period.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first distribution time period is defined by a first start date and a first expiration date associated with the first offer code and the second distribution time period is defined by a second start date and a second expiration date associated with the second offer code.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein first distribution period and the second distribution period each comprise at least one hour.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein each offer code of the plurality of offer codes is associated with a different offer.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the merchant is located in a geographic area.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein sending the first offer code to the first consumer user device comprises sending the first offer code when the first consumer user device is located in the geographic area.

16. The method of claim 9, comprising obtaining transaction data from the merchant, the transaction data including a transaction having redemption of the first offer code.

17. The method of claim 9, comprising:

associating the first offer code with a first device identifier identifying the first consumer user device; and

associating the second offer code with a second device identifier identifying the second consumer user device.

18. A method comprising:

receiving, at an affiliate-network system, a plurality of requests for an offer code from a respectively plurality of consumer user devices at a respective plurality of times;

for each of the plurality of requests;

selecting a select offer code from one or more offer codes associated with one or more expiration dates, the selecting based on a duration from the time of the request to the expiration date of the select offer code; and

sending, over a network, the select offer code to the respective one of the plurality of consumer user devices associated with the request.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more offer codes are associated with a single offer.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein each request of the plurality of requests is responsive to the traversal of a geofence by a respective consumer user device, the geofence defining a perimeter around a geographic area.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the merchant is located in the geographic area.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the geographic area is a shopping mall.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the selected offer code sent to the selected one of the respective plurality of consumer user devices is associated with a device identifier of the requesting consumer user device.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more offer codes comprise one or more single-use offer codes, each of the one or more single-use offer codes being redeemable for a single transaction.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein sending the select offer code to the consumer user device comprises sending offer code content that identifies the expiration date associated with the offer code.

26. A system configured to distribute and track usage of offers, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

non-transitory tangible computer-readable memory storing instructions that when executed by one or more of the one or more processors effectuate operations comprising;

obtaining one or more offer codes from a merchant, each offer code associated with offer distribution criteria;

receiving, over a network, a plurality of requests for an offer code from a respectively plurality of consumer user devices at a respective plurality of times;

for each of the plurality of requests;

selecting a select offer code from the one or more offer codes, the selecting being based on the offer distribution criteria, the offer distribution criteria comprising at least one of a start date, an expiration date, and an offer distribution rate; and

sending, over the network, the select offer code to the respective one of the plurality of consumer user devices associated with the request.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein each request of the plurality of requests is responsive to the traversal of a geofence by a respective one of the plurality of consumer user devices, the geofence defining a perimeter around a geographic area.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the offer distribution rate defines the number of the one or more offer codes to be distributed over a duration.