Method and system for managing inventory and promotions campaign based on redemption data

• US 8,301,494 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Catalina Marketing Corporation
• Original Assignee: Catalina Marketing Corporation
• Inventors: Wills, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Lastra, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US10/937,505
• Publication Number:
  US 20050222910A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,972 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Provided is a method and system for the management of inventory and/or promotional campaigns associated with electronic distribution of secure money saving or discount incentives, including coupons and other marketing incentives and, in particular, to modifying a promotional campaign and/or modifying inventory levels and product ordering based on transaction data relating to coupons distributed as part of an online computer system for interactively distributing such incentives to remotely connected consumer computers.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for managing inventory associated with a promotional campaign, the system comprising:

at least one inventory database for storing inventory data for at least one retail center;

at least one server operatively connected to the at least one inventory database, the at least one server configured to;

transmit coupon data via a communication link, wherein the coupon data corresponds to at least one coupon available for redemption at the at least one retail center, and wherein the at least one coupon is associated with a unique coupon identifier;

receive transaction data corresponding to a transaction involving the at least one coupon, wherein the transaction data includes the unique coupon identifier;

associate the received transaction data with the inventory data to update the inventory data; and

provide access to the updated inventory data to a coupon issuer or coupon distributor.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction data is received from a point-of-sale terminal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the point-of-sale terminal comprises a cash register, a keyboard, a display, a printer, a data processor and a scanning device capable of reading a bar code encoded on the at least one coupon.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the point-of-sale terminal comprises a scanning device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the scanning device is capable of reading a bar code encoded on the at least one coupon.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one coupon is a paper coupon.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the inventory data in the inventory database is updated on a real-time basis.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to execute an inventory management program.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to execute a marketing analysis program.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one coupon is distributed according to a pre-determined distribution parameter.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the pre-determined distribution parameter is altered in response to the updated inventory data.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

modify the coupon data based on the updated inventory data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

receive an instruction to modify the coupon data based on the updated inventory data that was provided.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

automatically modify the coupon data based on a predetermined instruction.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

transmit the modified coupon data via the communication link.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein coupons available to the user are determined based upon user-specific data stored in a user profile.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the user-specific data includes demographic data.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the user-specific data includes location data.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the inventory data is updated on a real-time basis.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the received transaction data is associated with the inventory data in a data table.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to provide select inventory data to the user.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to place a product order with a manufacturer or a wholesaler in response to the updated inventory data.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

transmit the coupon data to a user device associated with a user.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured To:

receive delivery data that indicates that the at least one retail center received a new shipment of a product; and

further update the inventory data based on the delivery data.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

provide access to the updated inventory data via an Internet site.

26. A computer-implemented system for managing a promotional campaign based on inventory data, the system comprising:

at least one database for storing inventory data for at least one retail center and for storing coupon data corresponding to the inventory data for the at least one retail center;

at least one server operatively connected to the at least one database, the at least one server configured to;

transmit coupon data via a communication link, wherein the coupon data corresponds to at least one coupon available for redemption at the at least one retail center, and wherein the at least one coupon is associated with a unique coupon identifier;

receive transaction data corresponding to a transaction involving the at least one coupon, wherein the transaction data includes the unique coupon identifier;

associate the received transaction data with the inventory data to update the inventory data; and

modify the stored coupon data based on the updated inventory data.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one server is further configured to execute a program for customizing the stored coupon data according to a predetermined inventory level.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the stored coupon data is customized on a real-time basis.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

transmit the coupon data to a user device associated with a user.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

receive an instruction to modify the coupon data based on the updated inventory data that was provided.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

automatically modify the coupon data based on a predetermined instruction.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:

transmit the modified coupon data via the communication link.

33. A computer-implemented method for managing inventory associated with a promotional campaign, the method comprising:

storing inventory data for at least one retail center in an inventory database;

storing coupon data corresponding to the inventory data for the at least one retail center;

electronically transmitting coupon data via a communication link, wherein the coupon data corresponds to at least one coupon available for redemption at the at least one retail center, and wherein the at least one coupon is associated with a unique coupon identifier;

receiving transaction data corresponding to a transaction involving the at least one coupon, wherein the transaction data includes the unique coupon identifier;

associating the received transaction data with the inventory data to update the inventory data; and

modifying the stored coupon data based on the updated inventory data.

34. A computer-implemented method of facilitating a promotional campaign based on inventory data of a retail center, the method comprising:

transmitting, by at least one server, coupon data via a communication link, wherein the coupon data is associated with at least one coupon available for redemption at the retail center;

receiving, by the at least one server, transaction data of a transaction involving the at least one coupon;

associating, by the at least one server, the received transaction data with inventory data associated with the retailer center;

updating, by the at least one server, the inventory data based on the association; and

modifying, by the at least one server, the coupon data based on the updated inventory data.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 34, further comprising:

transmitting, by the at least one server, the modified coupon data via the communication link.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 34, wherein the transaction data and the inventory data comprise an identification of the retail center, the method further comprising:

associating the received transaction data based at least in part on the identification of the retail center.