Method, program, and system for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information

• US 7,337,128 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2002
• Issued: 02/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath, Banerjee, Dwip N., Ullmann, Lorin E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Janvier; Jean D.
• Application Number:
  US10/042,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20030130890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,239 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/10, 705/26, 705/27, 235/375, 235/380, 235/381, 235/382
• US Class Current: 705/14.23
• 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 30/0209 Incentive being awarded or redeemed in connection with the playing of a video game
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0221 Re-usable coupons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A method and computer program for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information is provided. The program receives a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer, accesses market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon, determines a market demand value based on the market demand information, determines a coupon value based on the market demand value, and provides the coupon value to the retailer.

Claims

1. A method of setting the value of a coupon comprising:

distributing at least one coupon;

receiving a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer, after distributing the at least one coupon;

accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

determining a market demand value based on the accessed market demand information wherein the market demand value is equal to (Inventory factory percentage*Inventory factor) (Inventory age factor percentage*Inventory age factor) (Competitor #1 price factor percentage*Competitor #1 price factor) (Competitor #1 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #1 inventory factor) (Competitor #1 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #1 coupon value factor) (Competitor #2 price factor percentage*Competitor #2 price factor) (Competitor #2 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #2 inventory factor) (Competitor #2 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #2 coupon value factor) (Cyclical buying factor percentage*Cyclical buying factor) (Economic factor percentage*Economic factor), wherein Inventory factor=MAX [0,(Inventory at the retailer-Minimum inventory)/(Maximum inventory-Minimum inventory)], Inventory age factor is equal to Average age of inventory/Maximum age of inventory, Competitor #1 price factor=Product price/Competitor #1 pricing, Competitor #1 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #1 inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory )/(Competitor #1 maximum inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory)], Competitor #1 coupon value factor=Competitor #1 coupon value, Competitor #2 price factor=Product price/Competitor #2 pricing, Competitor #2 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #2 inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)/(Competitor #2 maximum inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)], Competitor #2 coupon value factor=Competitor #2 coupon value, and the Economic factor=Economic indicators;

setting a coupon value based on the market demand value wherein the coupon value is set based on the sum of a minimum coupon value and the product of market demand value multiplied by a maximum coupon value less the minimum coupon value divided by 100, such that if the determined coupon value is less than the minimum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the minimum coupon value, and wherein if the determined coupon value is more than the maximum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the maximum coupon value; and

providing the coupon value to the retailer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for valuation is in response to a purchase.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein market demand is accessed from a database storing product sales data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein market demand information is selected from a database including:

retailer inventory, competitor pricing, current and anticipated competitor inventory, competitor advertising spending, cyclical buying trends, and economic indicators.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the coupon value is limited within a predefined range.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the coupon value to the retailer is in response to the request for valuation.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the customer purchasing the product.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the retailer.

9. A computer readable medium containing computer readable code for setting the value of a coupon based on market information comprising:

computer readable code for receiving a request for valuation of a distributed coupon from a retailer;

computer readable code for accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

computer readable code for determining a market demand value based on the accessed market demand information wherein the market demand value is equal to (Inventory factor percentage*Inventory factor) (Inventory age factor percentage*Inventory age factor) (Competitor #1 price factor percentage*Competitor #1 price factor) (Competitor #1 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #1 inventory factor) (Competitor #1 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #1 coupon value factor) (Competitor #2 price factor percentage*Competitor #2 price factor) (Competitor #2 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #2 inventory factor) (Competitor #2 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #2 coupon value factor) (Cyclical buying factor percentage*Cyclical buying factor) (Economic factor percentage*Economic factor), wherein Inventory factor=MAX[0, (Inventory at the retailer-Minimum inventory)/(Maximum inventory-Minimum inventory)], Inventory age factor is ecqual to Average age of inventory/Maximum age of inventory, Competitor #1 price factor=Product price/Competitor #1 pricing, Competitor #1 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #1 inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory )/(Competitor #1 maximum inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory)], Competitor #1 coupon value factor=Competitor #1 coupon value, Competitor #2 price factor=Product price/Competitor #2 pricing, Competitor #2 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #2 inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)/(Competitor #2 maximum inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)], Competitor #2 coupon value factor=Competitor #2 coupon value, and the Economic factor=Economic indicators;

computer readable code for setting a coupon value based on the market demand value wherein the coupon value is set based on the sum of a minimum coupon value and the product of market demand value multiplied by a maximum coupon value less the minimum coupon value divided by 100, such that if the determined coupon value is less than the minimum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the minimum coupon value, and wherein if the determined coupon value is more than the maximum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the maximum coupon value; and

computer readable code for providing the coupon value to the retailer.

10. The medium of claim 9 wherein the request for valuation is in response to a purchase.

11. The medium of claim 9 wherein market demand is accessed from a database storing product sales data.

12. The medium of claim 9 wherein market demand information is selected from a database including:

retailer inventory, competitor pricing, current and anticipated competitor inventory, competitor advertising spending, cyclical buying trends, and economic indicators.

13. The medium of claim 9 wherein the coupon value is limited within a predefined range.

14. The medium of claim 9 wherein providing the coupon value to the retailer is in response to the request for valuation.

15. The medium of claim 9 further comprising:

computer readable code for allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the customer purchasing the product.

16. The medium of claim 9 further comprising:

computer readable code for allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the retailer.

17. A system for setting the value of a coupon based on market information comprising:

means for distributing at least one coupon;

means for receiving a request for valuation of a distributed coupon from a retailer;

means for accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

means for determining a market demand value based on the market demand information wherein the market demand value is equal to (Inventory factor percentage*Inventory factor) (Inventory age factor percentage*Inventory age factor) (Competitor #1 price factor percentage*Competitor #1 price factor) (Competitor #1 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #1 inventory factor) (Competitor #1 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #1 coupon value factor) (Competitor #2 price factor percentage*Competitor #2 price factor) (Competitor #2 inventory factor percentage*Competitor #2 inventory factor) (Competitor #2 coupon value factor percentage*Competitor #2 coupon value factor) (Cyclical buying factor percentage*Cyclical buying factor) (Economic factor percentage*Economic factor), wherein Inventory factor=MAX[0, (Inventory at the retailer-Minimum inventory)/(Maximum inventory-Minimum inventory)], Inventory age factor is equal to Average age of inventory/Maximum age of inventory, Competitor #1 price factor=Product price/Competitor #1 pricing, Competitor #1 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #1 inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory )/(Competitor #1 maximum inventory-Competitor #1 minimum inventory)], Competitor #1 coupon value factor=Competitor #1 coupon value, Competitor #2 price factor=Product price/Competitor #2 pricing, Competitor #2 inventory factor=MAX[0, (Competitor #2 inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)/(Competitor #2 maximum inventory-Competitor #2 minimum inventory)], Competitor #2 coupon value factor=Competitor #2 coupon value, and the Economic factor=Economic indicators;

means for setting a coupon value based on the market demand value wherein the coupon value is set based on the sum of a minimum coupon value and the product of market demand value multiplied by a maximum coupon value less the minimum coupon value divided by 100, such that if the determined coupon value is less than the minimum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the minimum coupon value, and wherein if the determined coupon value is more than the maximum coupon value, the coupon value is determined as the maximum coupon value; and

means for providing the coupon value to the retailer.