Focused coupon system
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method of generating and redeeming coupons to provide discounts for particular purchases including:
- generating with a computer an original plurality of discount coupons, each encoded with a unique user identification number and a unique coupon identification number;
printing with a printer the generated original plurality of coupons;
transmitting said original plurality of discount coupons to a user corresponding to the user identification number;
scanning said user and coupon identification numbers of redeemed coupons to establish which of said original plurality of discount coupons said user redeems;
generating with said computer another plurality of discount coupons, with at least one of said another plurality of discount coupons selected as a function of at least one of which particular one or ones of said original plurality of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said original plurality of discount coupons said user does not redeem, in order to increase the likelihood of redemption of said another plurality of discount coupons; and
printing with a printer said another plurality of discount coupons and transmitting said another plurality of discount coupons to said user corresponding to the user identification number.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A merchandising system for generating and redeeming product discount coupons prints coupons for a selected consumer from a group of consumers by selecting particular coupons from a group of coupons to provide to the selected consumer and printing the coupons. Both the consumer and coupon identifications are encoded on the coupon in machine-readable form whereby the machine-readable code may be read at a point-of-sale terminal using a code reading apparatus. The portion of the read code corresponding to the consumer identification is replaced with a generic code to provide a substitute code. The substitute code is applied to a look-up table in order to determine coupon parameters related to the coupon identification. The entire machine-readable code may also be captured and uploaded to a central database for determining the coupon identification and consumer identification in order to update the database of consumers and coupons. In this manner, coupons redeemed by a consumer may be used in selecting future coupons for that consumer. The system may provide for coupon redemption by providing sufficient information to a manufacturer in order to generate a rebate to the retailer.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method of generating and redeeming coupons to provide discounts for particular purchases including:
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generating with a computer an original plurality of discount coupons, each encoded with a unique user identification number and a unique coupon identification number; printing with a printer the generated original plurality of coupons; transmitting said original plurality of discount coupons to a user corresponding to the user identification number; scanning said user and coupon identification numbers of redeemed coupons to establish which of said original plurality of discount coupons said user redeems; generating with said computer another plurality of discount coupons, with at least one of said another plurality of discount coupons selected as a function of at least one of which particular one or ones of said original plurality of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said original plurality of discount coupons said user does not redeem, in order to increase the likelihood of redemption of said another plurality of discount coupons; and printing with a printer said another plurality of discount coupons and transmitting said another plurality of discount coupons to said user corresponding to the user identification number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification