System and method of providing multiple level discounts on cross-marketed products and discounting a price-per-unit-volume of gasoline
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of providing multiple level discounts on a price-per-unit (PPU) of a consumable good sold in multiple units to a customer who purchases a plurality of cross-marketed products, said method comprising the steps of:
- awarding a first discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product;
awarding a second discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a second cross-marketed product;
adding the first discount to the second discount to determine a total discount on the PPU of the consumable good; and
awarding the total discount to the customer.
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Abstract
A method of providing multiple level, price-per-unit (PPU) discounts on gasoline to a customer who purchases at least one cross-marketed product. The customer is awarded a first PPU discount on the gasoline based on a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product, and is awarded a second PPU discount based on the purchase of a second cross-marketed product. The first discount is then added to the second discount to determine a total PPU discount, and a paper receipt is printed for the customer with a customer identification and a transaction identification encoded in a bar code thereon. The total discount is stored in a discounts issued database. The customer then scans the encoded bar code with a bar code scanner at a gasoline dispenser to redeem the discount. The total discount is retrieved from the discounts issued database, and the gasoline station then reduces the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the total discount. When the customer completes the gasoline purchase, a value of the total discount redeemed is determined and stored in a discounts redeemed database. Portions of the discount redeemed are then allocated to vendors of the first and second cross-marketed products according to predetermined criteria.
199 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of providing multiple level discounts on a price-per-unit (PPU) of a consumable good sold in multiple units to a customer who purchases a plurality of cross-marketed products, said method comprising the steps of:
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awarding a first discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product;
awarding a second discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a second cross-marketed product;
adding the first discount to the second discount to determine a total discount on the PPU of the consumable good; and
awarding the total discount to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
issuing an electronic coupon to the customer, said coupon providing a unique customer identification and a unique discount identification; and
storing the total discount in a discounts issued database which associates the total discount with the unique customer identification and discount identification.
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5. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 4 wherein the electronic coupon is selected from the group consisting of:
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a paper receipt with the unique customer identification and discount identification encoded in a bar code imprinted thereon;
a paper receipt with the unique customer identification and discount identification encoded in a code number imprinted thereon;
a frequent shopper card with the unique customer identification and discount identification magnetically encoded thereon;
a prepaid card with the unique customer identification and discount identification magnetically encoded thereon;
a credit card with the unique customer identification and discount identification magnetically encoded thereon;
a radio frequency identification (RFID) device with the unique customer identification and discount identification encoded in a RF transmission; and
a smart card.
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6. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 5 further comprising the steps of:
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inputting the electronic coupon by the customer for redemption at a gasoline station; and
reducing on a gasoline dispenser, the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the total discount prior to the customer dispensing the gasoline.
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7. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 6 wherein the step of inputting the electronic coupon by the customer for redemption at a gasoline station includes scanning the unique customer identification and discount identification from the encoded bar code with a bar code scanner at a gasoline dispenser, and the method further comprises, after scanning the encoded bar code, the steps of:
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associating the unique customer identification and discount identification with the total price-per-unit discount stored in the discounts issued database; and
retrieving the total price-per-unit discount from the discounts issued database.
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8. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 7 further comprising, after the step of scanning the unique customer identification and discount identification from the encoded bar code, the steps of:
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requesting the customer to enter a personal identification number (PIN); and
verifying the PIN prior to reducing the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline on the gasoline dispenser.
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9. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 7 further comprising, after the step of storing the total discount in a discounts issued database, the steps of:
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storing, in the discounts issued database, a maximum number of gallons of gasoline to which the discount applies; and
storing, in the discounts issued database, a minimum purchase of gasoline required in order to qualify for the discount.
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10. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 9 further comprising the steps of:
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determining a value of the total discount redeemed;
verifying that the value of the total discount redeemed is less than or equal to the maximum discount allowed; and
verifying that the amount of gasoline purchased is greater than or equal to the minimum purchase required to qualify for the discount.
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11. The method of providing multiple level discounts of claim 10 further comprising the steps of:
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storing the value of the discount redeemed in a discounts redeemed database; and
allocating portions of the discount redeemed to vendors of the first and second cross-marketed products according to predetermined criteria.
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12. A method of providing a discount on a price-per-unit (PPU) of a consumable good sold in multiple units to a customer who purchases at least one cross-marketed product, said method comprising the steps of:
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awarding a first discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product;
issuing a coupon to the customer, said coupon providing a customer identification and a transaction identification;
storing the first discount in a discounts issued database which associates the first discount with the customer identification and the transaction identification;
inputting by the customer in a subsequent transaction, the customer identification and the transaction identification;
retrieving the first discount from the discounts issued database; and
reducing the PPU of the consumable good by the first discount. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
awarding a second discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a second cross-marketed product; and
adding the first discount to the second discount to determine a total discount on the PPU of the consumable good.
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14. The method of providing a discount on a PPU of a consumable good of claim 12 wherein the first product is gasoline, and the discount amount is a discount on the price-per-unit-volume of gasoline.
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15. A method of providing multiple level discounts on gasoline to a customer who purchases at least one cross-marketed product, said method comprising the steps of:
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awarding to the customer, a first discount on the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline in response to a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product;
awarding to the customer, a second discount on the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline in response to a purchase by the customer of a second cross-marketed product;
adding the first discount to the second discount to determine a total discount on the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline;
printing a paper receipt for the customer with a customer identification and a discount identification encoded in a bar code thereon;
storing the total discount in a discounts issued database;
storing, in the discounts issued database, a maximum number of gallons to which the discount applies;
storing, in the discounts issued database, a minimum purchase of gasoline required in order to qualify for the discount;
scanning the encoded bar code with a bar code scanner at a gasoline dispenser;
verifying the discount scanned from the bar code by comparing the scanned discount with the stored discount in the discounts issued database;
reducing, by the gasoline dispenser, the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the total discount;
determining a value of the total discount redeemed;
verifying that the value of the total discount redeemed is less than or equal to the maximum discount allowed;
verifying that the amount of gasoline purchased is greater than or equal to the minimum purchase required to qualify for the discount;
storing the value of the discount redeemed in a discounts redeemed database; and
allocating portions of the discount redeemed to vendors of the first and second cross-marketed products according to predetermined criteria.
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16. A method of providing a price-per-unit-volume discount on gasoline to a customer who purchases a cross-marketed product in a sales transaction, said method comprising the steps of:
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awarding the price-per-unit-volume discount to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a cross-marketed product;
issuing an electronic coupon to the customer, said coupon identifying the customer and the sales transaction;
storing the price-per-unit-volume discount in a discounts issued database which associates the discount with the customer and sales transaction;
storing, in the discounts issued database, a maximum number of volume units of gasoline to which the discount is applied;
storing, in the discounts issued database, a minimum purchase of gasoline required in order to qualify for the discount;
beginning a sales transaction by entering a customer identification and a transaction identification at a gasoline dispenser;
retrieving the price-per-unit-volume discount from the discounts issued database;
reducing, by the gasoline dispenser, the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the discount;
determining a value of the total discount redeemed;
verifying that the value of the total discount redeemed is less than or equal to the maximum discount allowed;
verifying that the amount of gasoline purchased is greater than or equal to the minimum purchase required to qualify for the discount; and
storing the value of the discount redeemed in a discounts redeemed database. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
retrieving the residual discount from the residual value database; and
adding the residual discount to the price-per-unit-volume discount.
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18. The method of providing a price-per-unit-volume discount on gasoline of claim 17 wherein the step of reducing the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the discount includes the steps of:
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determining whether the discount is greater than or equal to the price-per-unit volume of the gasoline; and
setting the price-per-unit volume of the gasoline equal to zero on a gasoline dispenser upon determining that the discount is greater than or equal to the price-per-unit volume of the gasoline.
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19. The method of providing a price-per-unit-volume discount on gasoline of claim 18 wherein the step of setting the price-per-unit volume of the gasoline equal to zero includes the steps of:
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determining whether the dispenser is of a type that can set the price-per-unit volume to zero;
setting the dispenser to the minimum price-per-unit volume that the dispenser allows, upon determining that the dispenser is of a type that cannot set the price-per-unit volume to zero; and
setting a sales transaction value of zero when the transaction is completed.
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20. A system for providing multiple level discounts on a price-per-unit (PPU) of a consumable good sold in multiple units to a customer who purchases a plurality of cross-marketed products, said system comprising:
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a discounts issued database for storing discounts;
means for calculating a first discount on the PPU of the consumable good in response to a purchase by a customer of a first cross-marketed product;
means for calculating a second discount on the PPU of the consumable good in response to a purchase by the customer of a second cross-marketed product; and
a database controller which adds the first discount to the second discount to determine a total discount for the customer on the PPU of the consumable good. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
a point of sale (POS) terminal that determines the first discount and issues an electronic coupon to the customer, said coupon providing a unique customer identification and a unique discount identification; and
transmission means for transmitting the unique customer identification and the discount identification from the POS terminal to the discounts issued database.
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24. A system for providing a discount on a price-per-unit (PPU) of a consumable good sold in multiple units to a customer who purchases at least one cross-marketed product, said system comprising:
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a point of sale (POS) terminal that awards a first discount on the PPU of the consumable good to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a first cross-marketed product, said POS terminal including means for issuing a coupon to the customer, said coupon providing a unique customer identification and a transaction identification;
means for sending the first discount from the POS terminal to a discounts issued database which associates the first discount with the unique customer identification and the transaction identification;
an input device for inputting by the customer in a subsequent transaction, the unique customer identification and the transaction identification;
a database controller that retrieves the first discount from the discounts issued database; and
means for reducing the PPU of the consumable good by the first discount in response to instructions from the database controller.- View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A system for providing a price-per-unit-volume discount on gasoline to a customer who purchases a cross-marketed product in a sales transaction, said system comprising:
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a point of sale (POS) terminal comprising;
means for awarding the price-per-unit-volume discount to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of a cross-marketed product; and
means for issuing an electronic coupon to the customer, said coupon uniquely identifying the customer and the sales transaction;
a discounts issued database for storing the price-per-unit-volume discount and uniquely associating the discount with the customer and sales transaction;
transmission means for sending from the POS terminal to the discounts issued database, a maximum number of volume units of gasoline to which the discount is applied, and a minimum purchase of gasoline required in order to qualify for the discount;
an input device at a gasoline dispenser at a gas station for entering a unique customer identification and a transaction identification;
a database controller for retrieving the price-per-unit-volume discount from the discounts issued database, upon associating the unique customer identification and the transaction identification with the stored price-per-unit-volume discount;
means for reducing, by the gasoline station, the price-per-unit-volume of the gasoline by an amount equal to the discount;
means within the database controller for determining a value of the total discount redeemed, verifying that the value of the total discount redeemed is less than or equal to the maximum discount allowed, and verifying that the amount of gasoline purchased is greater than or equal to the minimum purchase required to qualify for the discount; and
a discounts redeemed database for storing the value of the discount redeemed. - View Dependent Claims (27)
means for retrieving the residual discount from the residual value database; and
means for adding the residual discount to the price-per-unit-volume discount.
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Specification