Focused coupon system
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
- generating for a user with a computer a plurality of discount coupons, each encoded with a unique coupon identification code;
providing said plurality of discount coupons to the user;
scanning said identifcation codes of redeemed coupons and identifying the user redeeming the coupon to establish which of said plurality of discount coupons said user redeems;
generating with said computer for the user 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 plurality of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said plurality of discount coupons said user does not redeem, in order to increase the likelihood of redemption of said another plurality of discount coupons, andproviding said another plurality of discount coupons to said user.
8 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
50 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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generating for a user with a computer a plurality of discount coupons, each encoded with a unique coupon identification code; providing said plurality of discount coupons to the user; scanning said identifcation codes of redeemed coupons and identifying the user redeeming the coupon to establish which of said plurality of discount coupons said user redeems; generating with said computer for the user 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 plurality of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said 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 providing said another plurality of discount coupons to said user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. The method in claim wherein said defined purchase criterion includes purchasing of a minimum sum total amount.
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8. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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generating a coupon encoded with a user identification code that is unique to a particular user and a coupon identification code that is unique to a particular coupon; scanning with a code-reading apparatus, both said user and coupon identification codes of coupons submitted for redemption; providing a substitute code that includes the scanned coupon identification code but not the scanned user identification code; and applying the substitute code to a look-up table in order to identify the particular coupon submitted for redemption and provide the discount specified in the particular coupon. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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establishing a computer-based master database having a multitude of user records, each assigned to a particular user and including at least one attribute of the user; generating from said master database a set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said at least one attribute of the user including defining a given number of coupon slots in a set of coupons and assigning default coupon records to fill unfilled slots for a user for which all coupons generated by examining attributes in the user record are exhausted, each coupon encoded with a coupon identification code that is unique to a particular coupon, and providing the set of coupons to the user; capturing with a point-of-sale terminal transactional data pertaining to a transaction in which at least one of said set of coupons is submitted by a user for redemption including reading with a code-reading apparatus said coupon identification codes and including identifying the user redeeming said at least one of said set of coupons; uploading data captured with the point-of-sale terminal to said master database in order to update said master data base; updating the at least one attribute of the user redeeming said at least one of said set of coupons using the uploaded data; and generating from said updated database another set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said updated attribute of the user including defining a given number of coupon slots in a set of coupons and assigning default coupon records to fill unfilled slots for a user for which all coupons generated by examining attributes in the user record are exhausted, each of said another set of coupons encoded with a coupon identification code that is unique to a particular coupon, and providing the another set of coupons to the user. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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establishing a computer-based database having a multitude of user records, each assigned to a particular user and including at least attribute of the user; generating from said master database a set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said at least one attribute of the user, and making the set of coupons available for redemption by the particular user; scanning items submitted by the particular user at a point-of-sale terminal in order to determine which of said set of discount coupons said particular user redeems; updating in the master database the at least one attribute of the user as a function of at least one of which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user does not redeem; and generating from said updated database another set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said updated attribute of the user, and making the another set of coupons available for redemption by the user; wherein each said generating includes defining a given number of coupon slots in a set of coupons and assigning default coupon records to fill unfilled slots for a user for which all coupons generated by examining attributes in the user record are exhausted. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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establishing a computer-based master database having a multitude of user records, each assigned to a particular user and including at least one attribute of the user; generating from said master database a set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said at least one attribute of the user, and making the set of coupons available for redemption by the particular user; scanning items submitted by the particular user at a point-of-sale terminal in order to determine which of said set of discount coupons said particular user redeems; updating in the master database the at least of the user as a function of at least one of which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user does not redeem; generating from said updated database another set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said updated attribute of the user, and making the another set of coupons available for redemption by the user; and capturing with said point-of-sale terminal transactional data pertaining to a transaction in which at least one of said set of coupons is submitted for redemption including which of said set of discount coupons said particular user redeems and uploading data captured with the point-of-sale terminal to said master database in order to update said master database, wherein said transaction data includes total purchase price of the transaction in which said at least one coupon is submitted for redemption.
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40. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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establishing a computer-based master database having a multitude of user records, each assigned to a particular user and including at least one attribute of the user; generating from said master database a set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said at least one attribute of the user, and making the set of coupons available for redemption by the particular user; scanning items submitted by the particular user at a point-of-sale terminal in order to determine which of said set of discount coupons said particular user redeems; updating in the master database the at least one attribute of the user as a function of at least one of which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user redeems and which particular one or ones of said set of discount coupons said user does not redeem; generating from said updated database another set of discount coupons for a particular user based at least in part on said updated attribute of the user, and making the another set of coupons available for redemption by the user; and capturing with said point-of-sale terminal transactional data pertaining to a transaction in which at least one of said set of coupons is submitted by a user for redemption including which of said set of discount coupons said particular user redeems and uploading data captured with the point-of-sale terminal to said master database in order to update said master database, wherein said transaction data includes information pertaining to non-coupon transactions. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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42. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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selecting a member from a database of members in a computer; determining a category to which the selected member belongs from a plurality of categories; generating with said computer at least one discount coupon for the selected member by assigning a discount value for the coupon as a function of the category of the selected member wherein members of particular categories are assigned higher discount values than members of other categories; making said at least one discount coupon available for redemption by said member; capturing transactional data with a point-of-sale terminal in order to establish the response of said member to said at least one discount coupon; generating with said computer at least one additional discount coupon for the selected member by assigning a discount value for the additional discount coupon at least in part as a function of said response of said member to said at least one discount coupon; and making said at least one additional discount coupon available for redemption by said member. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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45. A computer-implemented method of merchandising, including:
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establishing a computer-based master database having a multitude of user records, each assigned to a particular user and including at least one attribute of the user; generating from said master database a set of discount coupons for a particular user, each of said set of coupons including a defined purchase criteria that must be met in order to provide a discount and making the set of coupons available for redemption by the particular user; wherein said generating further including assigning a discount value to at least one of the set of discount coupons at least in part as a function of the at least one attribute of the user in order to increase the likelihood of redemption of said discount coupons; capturing transactional data with a point-of-sale terminal in order to provide the discount value assigned to each discount coupon in response to the defined purchase criteria being met. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification