System and method for dynamic assembly of packages in retail environments

• US 6,138,105 A
• Filed: 05/27/1998
• Issued: 10/24/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Walker, Jay S., Tedesco, Daniel E., Van Luchene, Andrew S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Teska, Kevin J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH-STEWART, DEMETRA R
• Application Number:
  US09/085,424
• Time in Patent Office: 881 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/16, 705/22, 705/28, 705/10, 235/378, 235/385, 235/380, 345/962
• US Class Current: 705/14.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0237 at kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 15/005 with dispensing of lottery tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/24 with change-giving
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 : for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0036 : Checkout procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/12 : electronically operated digital data processing aspects G06Q20/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 5/00 : Receipt-giving machines cash registers giving receipts G07G1/00

Abstract

A system and method for managing the sale of a group of products at a single price based on sales performance data of the products is presented. The method and apparatus include offering a plurality of products by identifying products that are complementary, verifying acceptable sales performance for the complementary products, identifying a package including the complementary products having acceptable sales performance, determining a package price for the products included in the package, and offering the products included in the package at the package price. The status of the package is set to invalid when a time interval in which the package is available has expired. The method and apparatus further include package offer redemption by identifying a package including the products identified, determining a package price for the products included in the package, processing a sale of the products included in the package, adjusting sales performance data based on the sale of the products, and setting a status of the package to invalid when the sales performance data for the products included in the package fail to meet limits.

Claims

1. A method for package offer redemption, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of product identifiers indicative of a plurality of products;

identifying a package including the received product identifiers;

determining a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package;

processing a sale of the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package;

adjusting sales performance data based on the sale of the products; and

setting a status of the package to invalid when the sales performance data for the products included in the package fail to meet limits.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sales performance data comprises:

inventory levels for the products.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the sales performance data comprises:

demand rates for the products.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the sales performance data comprises:

profitability levels for the products.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the sales performance data comprises:

turnover rates for the products.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the sales performance data comprises:

cost for the products.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of adjusting sales performance data comprises:

calculating the inventory levels for the products.

8. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of adjusting sales performance data comprises:

calculating the demand rates for the products in accordance with complementary demand rate rules.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying the package comprises:

identifying the package from a stored table.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the package price comprises:

retrieving a stored package price.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the package price comprises:

determining a product price for each product identified by the product identifiers included in the package; and

calculating the package price based on the product prices.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying the package comprises:

selecting the package from a plurality of packages based on assigned priorities when one of the product identifiers is included in more than one package.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying the package comprises:

offering a selection of the package from a plurality of packages when one of the product identifiers is included in more than one package.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the step of identifying the package comprises identifying a plurality of packages with one of the product identifiers included in each of the packages; and

the step of determining the package price comprises weighting a plurality of package prices corresponding to the plurality of packages.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

verifying the status of the package.

16. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code, said computer program code for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of product identifiers indicative of a plurality of products;

identifying a package including the received product identifiers;

determining a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package;

processing a sale of the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package;

adjusting sales performance data based on the sale of the products; and

setting a status of the package to invalid when the sales performance data for the products included in the package fail to meet limits.

17. A system for offering a plurality of products in a retail environment, said system comprising:

an input device for generating product identifier signals indicative of a plurality of products; and

a signal processing system responsive to said product identifier signals, and operative to

identify product identifiers of products that are complementary from said product identifier signals,

verify acceptable sales performance for the complementary products,

identify a package including the product identifiers of the complementary products having acceptable sales performance, and

determine a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package.

18. A system for package offer redemption in a retail environment, said system comprising:

an input device for generating product identifier signals indicative of a plurality of products; and

a signal processing system responsive to said product identifier signals, and operative to

identify a package from said product identifier signals,

determine a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package,

process a sale of the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package,

adjust sales performance data based on the sale of the products, and

set a status of the package to invalid when the sales performance data for the products included in the package fail to meet limits.

19. A system for offering a plurality of products in a retail environment, said system comprising:

a processor for executing a process for

identifying product identifiers of products that are complementary,

verifying acceptable sales performance for the complementary products,

identifying a package including the product identifiers of the complementary products having acceptable sales performance, and

determining a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package; and

a memory associated with said processor, said memory storing signals defining said process.

20. A system for package offer redemption in a retail environment, said system comprising:

a processor for executing a process for

receiving a plurality of product identifiers indicative a plurality of products,

identifying a package including the received product identifiers,

determining a package price for the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package,

processing a sale of the products identified by the product identifiers included in the package,

adjusting sales performance data based on the sale of the products, and

setting a status of the package to invalid when the sales performance data for the products included in the package fail to meet limits; and

a memory associated with said processor, said memory storing signals defining said process.