Methods and apparatus for online auctions and market-places utilizing program terms
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, an offer of a product supplied by one of at least two merchants, said product comprising a plurality of Program Terms, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system when executed by one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
- executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, wherein said customer information comprises;
a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating that the first customer has selected a first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the first customer;
a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating that the second customer has selected the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the second customer; and
a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating that the third customer has selected a second Program Term that is different from the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the third customer;
executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on customer selections of the Program Terms indicated as being the most important in the sets of customer information corresponding to the individual users, wherein the pools comprise;
a first pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to customer information sets that indicate customer selection of the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer; and
a second pool of customers that is separate and discrete from the first pool of customers, the second pool of customers including customers corresponding to customer information sets that indicate customer selection of the second Program Term as being the most important Program Term such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer;
executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants, bids to provide the product to customers in the plurality of customers, wherein a given bid defines an offer to provide said product to at least some of said plurality of customers;
executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select Preferred Offers from the obtained bids to provide the product to customers from the plurality of customers, wherein individual Preferred Offers correspond to individual pools of customers such that the Preferred Offers include a first Preferred Offer that corresponds to the first pool of customers and a second Preferred Offer that corresponds to the second pool of customers, and wherein the selection of the Preferred Offers comprises;
comparing the first Program Terms between the bids to select the first Preferred Offer; and
comparing the second Program Terms between the bids to select the second Preferred Offer;
executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify customers of the corresponding Preferred Offers such that;
based on the selection of the first Preferred Offer, the customers in the first pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the first Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the first pool of customers to individually accept the first Preferred Offer, andbased on the selection of the second Preferred Offer, the customers in the second pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the second Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the second pool of customers to individually accept the second Preferred Offer.
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Abstract
An on-line market-place includes an auction wherein one or more predefined terms, qualities, incentives, or other such indicia (generally, “Program Terms”) are associated with the particular product and/or service which is the subject of the auction. Customers rank or otherwise designate their preference for these Program Terms (e.g., by selecting a “Preferred Program Term”), and the system then partitions the customers into “pools” in accordance with the selected Program Terms. Merchants then compete to obtain that pool of customers by bidding on the Preferred Program Term. Customers may be pooled according to demographic or other customer characteristics (“Characteristic Pooling”), or according to level of commitment to purchase (“Commitment Pooling”).
In one embodiment, customers who would otherwise be partitioned into different pools are grouped in the same pool, and changes to a first Preferred Program Term associated with a first customer automatically causes a bid of equivalent value to be made to a second Preferred Program Term associated with a second customer. In another embodiment, “ghost pools” are used select preferred merchants for particular auctions. In yet another embodiment, an electronic marketplace is provided wherein Program Terms can be highly tailored by the purchaser immediately.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, an offer of a product supplied by one of at least two merchants, said product comprising a plurality of Program Terms, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system when executed by one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
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executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, wherein said customer information comprises; a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating that the first customer has selected a first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the first customer; a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating that the second customer has selected the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the second customer; and a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating that the third customer has selected a second Program Term that is different from the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term to the third customer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on customer selections of the Program Terms indicated as being the most important in the sets of customer information corresponding to the individual users, wherein the pools comprise; a first pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to customer information sets that indicate customer selection of the first Program Term as being the most important Program Term such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer; and a second pool of customers that is separate and discrete from the first pool of customers, the second pool of customers including customers corresponding to customer information sets that indicate customer selection of the second Program Term as being the most important Program Term such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants, bids to provide the product to customers in the plurality of customers, wherein a given bid defines an offer to provide said product to at least some of said plurality of customers; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select Preferred Offers from the obtained bids to provide the product to customers from the plurality of customers, wherein individual Preferred Offers correspond to individual pools of customers such that the Preferred Offers include a first Preferred Offer that corresponds to the first pool of customers and a second Preferred Offer that corresponds to the second pool of customers, and wherein the selection of the Preferred Offers comprises; comparing the first Program Terms between the bids to select the first Preferred Offer; and comparing the second Program Terms between the bids to select the second Preferred Offer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify customers of the corresponding Preferred Offers such that; based on the selection of the first Preferred Offer, the customers in the first pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the first Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the first pool of customers to individually accept the first Preferred Offer, and based on the selection of the second Preferred Offer, the customers in the second pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the second Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the second pool of customers to individually accept the second Preferred Offer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, an offer for a product supplied by one of at least two merchants, said product comprising a plurality of Program Terms, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system when executed one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
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executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, said customer information comprising; a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information including characteristics of the first customer related to historical behavior of the first customer and/or demographics of the first customer, a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information including characteristics of the second customer related to historical behavior of the second customer and/or demographics of the second customer, and a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information including characteristics of the third customer related to historical behavior of the third customer and/or demographics of the third customer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on characteristics of the customers included in the obtained sets of customer information, wherein the pools comprise; a first pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to sets of customer information indicating that the customers have a first set of one or more characteristics in common, the first pool of customers including the first customer and the second customer, wherein the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer, a second pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to sets of customer information indicating that the first set of one or more characteristics are substantially different for the customers in the second pool of customers than the first set of one or more characteristics for the customers in the first pool, wherein the second pool of customers includes the third customer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants bids to provide the product to customers in the plurality of customers, wherein the bids comprise; a first set of bids from two or more merchants for the first pool of customers that include offers to provide the product to individual customers in the first pool of customers, and a second set of bids from two or more merchants that are separate from the first set of bids and are for the second pool of customers, the second set of bids including offers to provide the product to individual customers in the second pool of customers; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select Preferred offers from the obtained bids to provide the product to customers from the plurality of customers, wherein individual Preferred Offers correspond to individual pools of customers such that the Preferred Offers include a first Preferred Offer selected from the first set of bids that corresponds to the first pool of customers and a second Preferred Offer selected from the second set of bids that corresponds to the second pool of customers; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify customers, over said network, of the corresponding Preferred Offer such that; based on selection of the first Preferred Offer, the customers in the first pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the first Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the first pool of customers to individually accept the first Preferred Offer, and based on selection of the second Preferred Offer, the customers in the second pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the second Preferred Offer, wherein the notification enables the customers in the second pool of customers to individually accept the second Preferred Offer. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, an offer for a product supplied by one of at least two merchants, said product comprising a plurality of Program Terms, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system when executed by one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
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executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from the plurality of customers, wherein the customer information comprises; a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating the first customer has selected a first level of commitment to accept a Preferred Offer to provide the product by one of the two or more merchants, a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating the second customer has selected the first level of commitment to accept a Preferred Offer to provide the product by one of the two or more merchants, and a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating the third customer has selected a second level of commitment, different than the first level of commitment, to accept a Preferred Offer to provide the product by one of the two or more merchants; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on selected level of commitment to accept a Preferred Offer to provide the product by one of the two or more merchants, wherein the pools comprise; a first pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to sets of customer information that indicate customer selection of the first level of commitment such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer, and a second pool of customers that includes customers corresponding to sets of customer information that indicate customer selection of the second level of commitment such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over the network from individual ones of the two or more merchants, bids to provide the product to customers in the plurality of customers, wherein the bids comprise; a first set of bids from the two or more merchants for the first pool of customers that include offers to provide the product to individual customers in the first pool of customers, and a second set of bids from the two or more merchants that are separate from the first set of bids and are for the second pool of customers, the second set of bids including offers to provide the product to individual customers in the second pool of customers; executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select Preferred Offers from the obtained bids to provide the product to the customers, wherein the individual Preferred Offers correspond to individual pools of customers such that the Preferred Offers include a first Preferred Offer that corresponds to the first pool of customers and a second Preferred Offer that corresponds to the second pool of customers; and executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify customers of the corresponding Preferred Offers such that; based on the selection of the first Preferred Offer, the customers in the first pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the first Preferred Offer, and based on the selection of the second Preferred Offer, the customers in the second pool of customers are automatically notified over the network of the second Preferred Offer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification