System and method for providing shopping aids and incentives to customers through a computer network
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for determining purchasing incentives for consumers, comprising the steps of:
- storing in a purchase history database product data for products purchased in association with a unique identifier;
transmitting a prompt for personal information from a main computer to a personal computer over a computer network;
transmitting personal information data from said personal computer to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt, said personal information data including an identity code;
generating page data defining a personal web page that is accessible over said computer network, said personal web page based at least in part on said personal information data transmitted from said personal computer to said main computer,assigning a web page address to said personal web page based upon said personal information data,storing said page data defining said personal web page in a personal page database;
determining a purchase incentive depending on (1) said product data stored in said purchase history database or (2) said page data stored in said personal page database; and
updating said page data so that said personal web page will display said purchase incentive.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for delivering purchasing incentives and a variety of other retail shopping aids through a computer network, such as by E-mail over the Internet or the World Wide Web. Customers (10) of retail stores can establish a bidirectional communication link with the system, log in (16) to the system, and then elect to browse among available purchasing incentive offers (18, 22), or elect to explore other shopping aids, such as a shopping list generator (26), a recipe center (30), or simply elect to claim a product rebate or to receive product information. If the customer elects to have product information or rebate information delivered, only minimal customer identification is required. For purchase incentives redeemable at retail stores, the customer must provide identification information and must also designate a retailer (12) at which the purchasing incentive can be exercised. For receipt of focused incentives based the customer'"'"'s past shopping behavior, the customer must also supply a unique customer id., such as a check cashing card number or credit card number, used for in-store purchases. For delivery of a product sample, the customer'"'"'s name and address must be supplied. The system merges this customer-supplied information (270) with other purchase incentive data (272) and creates a printable graphical image of the purchasing incentive (282) for transmission to the customer. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the purchase incentive is not transmitted directly to the customer. Instead, the terms of the incentive are transmitted electronically to the retail store (310) designated by the customer, who receives either a token (316) to present at the store or an advisory message. In yet another embodiment of the invention, incentives may be targeted to specific consumers based on a consumer purchase history (502), and transmitted to consumers'"'"' computers (510) using electronic mail addresses stored in a consumer database (506), or using a "personal page" in the computer network, established for each consenting consumer.
1265 Citations
41 Claims
-
1. A computer implemented method for determining purchasing incentives for consumers, comprising the steps of:
-
storing in a purchase history database product data for products purchased in association with a unique identifier; transmitting a prompt for personal information from a main computer to a personal computer over a computer network; transmitting personal information data from said personal computer to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt, said personal information data including an identity code; generating page data defining a personal web page that is accessible over said computer network, said personal web page based at least in part on said personal information data transmitted from said personal computer to said main computer, assigning a web page address to said personal web page based upon said personal information data, storing said page data defining said personal web page in a personal page database; determining a purchase incentive depending on (1) said product data stored in said purchase history database or (2) said page data stored in said personal page database; and updating said page data so that said personal web page will display said purchase incentive. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A system for providing purchasing incentives to consumers, comprising:
-
a main computer having a purchase history database for storing product data for products purchased in association with a unique identifier and a personal page database; a computer network; at least one personal computer coupled to said main computer via said computer network; said main computer configured to transmit a prompt for personal information to said at least one personal computer over said computer network; said at least one personal computer configured to transmit personal information data from to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt; said main computer configured to generate page data defining a personal web page that is accessible over said computer network, said personal web page based at least in part on said personal information data transmitted from said at least one personal computer to said main computer; said main computer configured to assign a web page address to said personal web page based upon said personal information data; said main computer configured to store said page data defining said personal web page in said personal page database; said main computer configured to determine a purchase incentive depending on (1) said product data stored in said purchase history database or (2) said page data stored in said personal page database; and said main computer configured to update said page data so that said personal web page will display said purchase incentive. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A computer program product comprising a computer storage medium having a computer program therein for providing purchasing incentives to consumers, said computer program performing the steps of:
-
storing in a purchase history database product data for products purchased in association with a unique identifier; transmitting a prompt for personal information from a main computer to a personal computer over a computer network; transmitting personal information data from said personal computer to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt; generating page data defining a personal web page that is accessible over said computer network, said personal web page based at least in part on said personal information data transmitted from said personal computer to said main computer; assigning a web page address to said personal web page based upon said personal information data; storing said page data defining said personal web page in a personal page database; determining a purchase incentive depending on (1) said product data stored in said purchase history database or (2) said page data stored in said personal page database; and updating said page data so that said personal web page will display said purchase incentive. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A computer implemented method for generating a web page said method comprising the steps of:
-
transmitting a prompt for personal information from a main computer to a personal computer over a computer network; transmitting personal information data from said personal computer to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt; generating page data defining a web page based upon said personal information data; assigning a web pate address to said web page based upon said personal information data; storing in a purchase history database data identifying products purchased in association with said identity code; determining a purchase incentive depending on said data stored in said purchase history database in association with said identity code; and changing said page data so that said web page having said web page address displays said purchase incentive.
-
-
41. A computer implemented method for generating a web page, said method comprising the steps of:
-
transmitting a prompt for personal information from a main computer to a personal computer over a computer network; transmitting personal information data from said personal computer to said main computer over said computer network in response to said prompt; generating page data defining a web page based upon said personal information data; assigning a web page address to said web pane based upon said personal information data; determining a purchase incentive depending on said personal information; and changing said page data so that said web page having said web page address displays said purchase incentive.
-
Specification