Buyer-driven targeting of purchasing entities

• US 6,735,572 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2002
• Issued: 05/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: BuyerLeverage
• Original Assignee: BuyerLeverage
• Inventors: Landesmann, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Stamber, Eric W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Khanh H.
• Application Number:
  US10/095,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20020111863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 790 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4015 using location information
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0211 Determining the effectiveness of discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0218 based on score
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method for buyer-driven targeting comprising the steps of: separately receiving from each of a plurality of buyer entities a respective third party proof of purchase record; entering information contained in the received proof of purchase records into a searchable electronic database; obtaining search criteria for the database; searching the information in the database based on the search criteria to obtain a group of buyer entities; and providing an incentive to each of a plurality of the buyer entities in the group.

Claims

1. A method for buyer-driven targeting utilizing a computer-implemented system comprising:

obtaining first information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers about at least one different preferential contingent incentive that the respective advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving on the initiative and with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or second information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channels with respect to an incentive which promotes a purchase of at least one of a product and a service, said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

receiving an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

storing third information associated with said indicated part of said data;

deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity front the indicated part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving from said buyer entity fourth information regarding its purchase activities;

storing said fourth information associated with said purchase activities;

deriving at least one other data point associated with said buyer entity from said fourth information;

making a discriminatory decision associated with at least one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said preferential contingent incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one of the product and service, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least one preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data points; and

offering via at least one of the two distribution channels said at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the time that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not vet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are individuals.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are corporations.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein the data from the credit report is uploaded to the computer-implemented system using digital entry verification.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered over a video channel.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, or 2, wherein said obtaining information from third party advertisers step offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channels with respect to an incentive which promotes the purchase of an item,

said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

receiving from said buyer entity a response containing said permission including an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

storing information associated with said elected part of said data;

deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity from the elected part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving from said buyer entity voluntarily, and separately from the ordinary course of buying of that buyer entity, at least one of;

at least one respective third party purchase record or authorization to obtain said record from a third party;

storing said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

making a discriminatory decision associated with one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said preferential contingent incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one item, said item not being an item for which said buyer entity has made a prior application for credit, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least one preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data and said credit report; and

offering said one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third includes providing electronic access to these advertisers to a database comprising buyer entities and purchase information of these buyer entities.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via electronic mail.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, or 2, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via a mobile device, and wherein the selection of the offered preferential contingent incentive depends in part on location data received from that mobile device.

2. A method for buyer-driven targeting utilizing a computer-implemented system comprising:

obtaining information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers about at least one different preferential contingent incentive the respective third party advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

creating rules based on said information for triggering the automatic generation of offers to select buyer entities depending on thresholds established in part with respect to information obtained from said buyer entities;

receiving on the initiative and with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channels with respect to an incentive which promotes the purchase of an item,

said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

receiving from said buyer entity a response containing said permission including an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

storing information associated with said elected part of said data;

deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity from the elected part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving from said buyer entity voluntarily, and separately from the ordinary course of buying of that buyer entity, at least one of;

at least one respective third party purchase record or authorization to obtain said record from a third party;

storing said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

making a discriminatory decision associated with one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said preferential contingent incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one item, said item not being an item for which said buyer entity has made a prior application for credit, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data and said credit report; and

offering said one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of said-incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the time that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not yet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer; and

retrieving additional information from the credit report of the buyer entity with the condition precedent that the buyer entity has provided a revocable permission to continue using part of its credit report for the offering of incentives, and with the further condition precedent that the buyer entity has not revoked said permission; and

automatically offering at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity when said thresholds calculated based on said rules have been met or exceeded.

10. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the additional information comprises answers provided by the buyer entity via an electronic interface.

11. A system for buyer-driven targeting utilizing a computer-implemented system comprising:

means for obtaining first information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers about at least one different preferential contingent incentive that the respective advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

means for receiving on the initiative and with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or second information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channel;

with respect to an incentive which promotes a purchase of at least one of;

a product and a service, said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

means for receiving an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

means for storing third information associated with said indicated part of said data;

means for deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity from the indicated part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

means for receiving from said buyer entity fourth information regarding its purchase activities;

means for storing said fourth information associated with said purchase activities;

means for deriving at least one other data point associated with said buyer entity from said fourth information;

means for making a discriminatory decision associated with at least one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said preferential contingent incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one of the product and service, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least one preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data points; and

means for offering via at least one of the two distribution channels said at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the time that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not yet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer.

12. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are individuals.

13. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are corporations.

14. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein the data from the credit report is uploaded to the computer-implemented system using digital entry verification.

15. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered over a video channel.

16. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said means for obtaining first information from third party advertisers provides electronic access to these advertisers to a database comprising buyer entities and purchase information of these buyer entities.

17. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via electronic mail.

18. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via a mobile device, and wherein the selection of the offered preferential contingent incentive depends in part on location data received from that mobile device.

19. A system for buyer-driverr targeting utilizing a computer-implemented system comprising:

means for obtaining information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers about at least one different preferential contingent incentive the respective third party advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

means for creating rules based on said information for triggering the automatic generation of offers to select buyer entities depending on thresholds established in part with respect to information obtained from said buyer entities;

means for receiving on the initiative and with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channels with respect to an incentive which promotes the purchase of an item,

said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

means for receiving from said buyer entity a response containing said permission including an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

means for storing information associated with said elected part of said data;

means for deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity from the elected part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

means for receiving from said buyer entity voluntarily, and separately from the ordinary course of buying of that buyer entity, at least one of;

at least one respective third party purchase record or authorization to obtain said record from a third party;

means for storing said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

means for making a discriminatory decision associated with one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said preferential contingent incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one item, said item not being an item for which said buyer entity has made a prior application for credit, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least one preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data and said credit report; and

means for offering one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the time that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not yet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer; and

means for retrieving additional information from the credit report of the buyer entity with the condition precedent that the buyer entity has provided a revocable permission to continue using part of its credit report for the offering of incentives, and with the further condition precedent that to buyer entity has not revoked said permission; and

means for automatically offering at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity when said thresholds calculated based on said rules have been met or exceeded.

20. The system as defined in claim 19, wherein the additional information comprises answers provided by the buyer entity via an electronic interface.

21. A program product for buyer-driven targeting, comprising machine-readable program code for causing, when executed, a machine to perform the following steps:

obtaining first information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers about at least one different preferential contingent incentive that the respective advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving on the initiative and with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or second information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the offering of at least one incentive to said buyer entity, said permission allowing said offering through at least two distribution channels with respect to an incentive which promotes a purchase of at least one of;

a product and a service for which said buyer entity has not made a prior application for credit, said purchase not being the object of a prior application for credit by said buyer entity;

receiving from said buyer entity an indication from said buyer entity as to which part of said data thereof is allowed for said use;

storing third information associated with said indicated part of said data;

deriving at least one data point associated with said buyer entity front the indicated part of said data, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

receiving from said buyer entity fourth information regarding its purchase activities;

storing said fourth information associated with said purchase activities;

deriving at least one other data point associated with said buyer entity from said fourth information;

making a discriminatory decision associated with the at least one of said preferential contingent incentives utilizing the computer-implemented system, said incentive offering at least one benefit in exchange for at least one purchase-conducive action associated with a purchase of at least one of the product and service, said benefit not normally and publicly accessible in the same geographic region on terms which are at least objectively equivalent and which do not include material conditions that are different from said at least one action, said discriminatory decision regarding the at least one preferential contingent incentive that is to be offered to said buyer entity being based at least in part on said data points; and

offering via at least one of the two distribution channels said at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity with the condition precedent that said buyer entity has expressly given consent to the receipt of incentives, said offering being made while avoiding having transferred to any third party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the dine that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not yet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer.

22. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are individuals.

23. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein a plurality of the buyer entities are corporations.

24. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein the data from the credit report is uploaded to the computer-implemented system using digital entry verification.

25. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered over a video channel.

26. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein said obtaining first information from third party advertisers step provides electronic access to these advertisers to a database comprising buyer entities and purchase information of these buyer entities.

27. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via electronic mail.

28. The program product as defined in claim 21, wherein at least one preferential contingent incentive is offered via a mobile device, and wherein the selection of the offered preferential contingent incentive depends in part on location data received from that mobile device.

29. A program product for buyer-driven targeting, comprising machine-readable program code for causing, when executed, a machine to perform the following steps:

obtaining information from each of a plurality of third party advertisers at least one different preferential contingent incentive the respective third party advertiser is willing to offer to select buyer entities relating to the sale of at least one of its respective products and services, utilizing the computer-implemented system;

creating rules based on said information for triggering the automatic generation of offers to select buyer entities depending on thresholds established in part with respect to information obtained from said buyer entities;

receiving on the initiative end with the consent of a buyer entity a permission to use data from a part of a credit report of the buyer entity or information verifiably contained in the credit report, to make at least one decision associated with the party any full name associated with said buyer entity at the time that the preferential contingent incentive is offered but has not yet been responded to unless said buyer entity has given its explicit authorization to said transfer; and

retrieving additional information from the credit report of the buyer entity with the condition precedent that the buyer entity has provided a revocable permission to continue using part of its credit report fir the offering of incentives, and with the further condition precedent that the buyer entity has not revoked said permission; and

automatically offering at least one of said preferential contingent incentives to said buyer entity when said thresholds calculated based on said rules have been met or exceeded.

30. The program product as defined in claim 29, wherein the additional information comprises answers provided by the buyer entity via an electronic interface.