System and method for reimbursing merchants for redeemed electronic coupons
First Claim
1. A system for providing reimbursement of incentives provided to purchasers of one or more items, comprising:
- coupon data generated by a coupon processing center server for download to a merchant point of sale system via a computer network, said coupon data comprised of item records uniquely identifying one or more purchasable items, and incentive records indicative of incentives available to a purchaser in connection with the purchase of said one or more purchasable items;
transaction log data generated by said merchant point of sale system and transmitted to said coupon processing center server via a computer network, said transaction log data describing one or more purchase transactions, comprised of one or more purchase records corresponding to items purchased, and one or more redemption records corresponding to a purchase record, describing incentives provided to purchasers of said one or more items;
a transaction log processor server within the coupon processing center configured to identify purchase records corresponding to item records in the coupon data, and tabulate the redemption records associated with said purchase records.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for reimbursing merchants for coupons used by the customers of those merchants is disclosed. Pursuant to the Present Invention, a Coupon Data File is prepared, identifying the products potentially subject to coupons and/or incentives, and the nature of the associated discount. A Transaction Log Data File is also prepared, describing one or more purchase transactions undertaken by consumers. Finally, a Transaction Log Processor analyzes the transaction log data, compares the information in the Transaction Log Data File with information in the Coupon Data File and tabulates coupons redeemed by consumers during the transactions associated with the information in the Transaction Log Data.
42 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A system for providing reimbursement of incentives provided to purchasers of one or more items, comprising:
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coupon data generated by a coupon processing center server for download to a merchant point of sale system via a computer network, said coupon data comprised of item records uniquely identifying one or more purchasable items, and incentive records indicative of incentives available to a purchaser in connection with the purchase of said one or more purchasable items; transaction log data generated by said merchant point of sale system and transmitted to said coupon processing center server via a computer network, said transaction log data describing one or more purchase transactions, comprised of one or more purchase records corresponding to items purchased, and one or more redemption records corresponding to a purchase record, describing incentives provided to purchasers of said one or more items; a transaction log processor server within the coupon processing center configured to identify purchase records corresponding to item records in the coupon data, and tabulate the redemption records associated with said purchase records. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for reimbursing a retailer for redeemed coupons, said method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting coupon data from a coupon database within a coupon processing center to a merchant point of sale computer system; utilizing said coupon data by the merchant point of sale computer system to identify transactions to which coupons are applied; transmitting transaction log data from a merchant point of sale computer system to a transaction log processor server, the transaction log data comprising information describing one or more purchase transactions, which information comprises a purchase record of one or more items purchased in connection with the purchase transactions, and a redemption record of a coupon redeemed in connection with the one or more items purchased during the purchase transactions; comparing the transaction log data to information stored within said coupon database, which coupon database comprises an item record identifying an item available for sale, and a coupon record corresponding to the item record and describing a coupon value available for redemption in association with the purchase of the item corresponding to the item record; tabulating instances of coupon redemption reflected in the transaction log data by the transaction log processor server. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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Specification