Promoting offers through social network influencers

• US 8,401,918 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2012
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Valentine Communications LLC
• Original Assignee: Ewinwin Incorporated
• Inventors: Mesaros, Gregory J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Choi, Peter
• Assistant Examiner(s): PALAVECINO, KATHLEEN GAGE
• Application Number:
  US13/555,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20120323688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 242 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261- 272
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Mechanisms are provided to facilitate buying and selling products utilizing social pricing. Sellers initiate sale of a product with volume discounts for a limited time. In other words, the more people that buy a product, the lower the price for the group. Buyers have a real incentive to become prosumers that not only purchase a product but also promote purchase by others. A social pricing system brokers interaction between sellers and buyer groups, and provisions mechanisms to aid promotion of products by consumers utilizing social networks and other online activities.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions executable by a processor to present an offer for a good or service, the method comprising:

identifying locations associated with both a buyer and a plurality of merchants associated with offers for one or more goods or services;

selecting a plurality of offers based on the identified location of both the buyer and the plurality of merchants;

identifying a classification of the buyer, wherein the classification is based upon at least a preference of a category indicated by the buyer and a promotion of a previous offer by the buyer to a different buyer;

presenting an offer from the plurality of offers to the buyer based on the classification, wherein the offer presentation includes;

a map for a particular geographic area that identifies the location of a merchant from the plurality of merchants that is associated with the offer,

a retail list price of the good or service associated with the offer, and

a time of expiration of the offer, wherein a price paid for the good or service is discounted from the retail list price; and

sharing the offer with one or more members of a social network, wherein at least one interaction between the one or more members of the social network is recorded, and wherein the recording tracks a connection between the one or members of the social network with respect to the offer.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to accept an order for the offer from the buyer when the buyer accepts terms and conditions associated with the offer.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to accept an order from one or more members of the social network.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the instructions are further executable to identify a connection that exists between the buyer and the one or more members of the social network that placed an order.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with the merchant for the offer.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with a product or service category associated with the offer.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with a time that the offer was purchased.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with the particular geographical location of the offer.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with the social network.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with a degree of influence one member of the social network has with respect to another member of the social network.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is visually displayed.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the connection is associated with a visual display consisting of a table, chart, graph, tree, map or color code.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection is associated with feedback related to the offer.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the feedback is a comment related to the offer or the merchant and a determination of whether the comment is of a positive or negative nature.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the connection includes a determination of possible connections to members of the social network that might purchase the offer.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the code is further executable to identify the likelihood that one or more of the possible connections might purchase the offer based on demographic information associated with the possible connections.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the likelihood is further associated with an influence that one or more members of the social network has on the potential purchaser of the offer and wherein the influence is visually displayed in the context of a table, chart, graph, tree, map, or color code.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the classification is further based on stored profile information including past comments related to particular offers that were shared by one member of the social network with other members of the social network.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the promotion consists of a trackable online activity.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the promotion resulted in a purchase by the different buyer and a subsequent reward is provided that lowers the price of a current offer to the buyer.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the offer available to the buyer can be accepted individually and does not require a purchase by another buyer to become valid.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein classification consists of placing individuals within groups according to their characteristics in order to be presented with targeted offers.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the processor to present an offer for a good or service is contained within a hand-held mobile device of the user.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the user remotely downloads a software application to the mobile device in order to receive and send information.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the offer is further represented by a machine-readable code that can be stored to a mobile device and presented by the user at the merchant'"'"'s location and scanned for redemption.

26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the merchant associated with the offer is capable of reviewing updated metrics in a personalized account accessible by a mobile device, wherein the account includes buyer feedback, past purchases of buyers, campaign metrics, demographic information associated with buyers, and total revenues.

27. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the personalized account of the merchant is subscription-based.

28. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the merchant account includes available inventory or capacity, a mechanism to create and present limited-time offers, and the ability to store and rerun an offer on a repeated basis.

29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the merchant account includes available inventory or capacity, a mechanism to create and present limited-time offers, and the ability to store and rerun a particular offer on a repeated basis.

30. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions executable by a processor to present an offer for a good or service, the method comprising:

identifying locations associated with both a buyer and a plurality of merchants associated with offers for one or more goods or services;

selecting a plurality of offers based on the identified location of both the buyer and the plurality of merchants;

identifying a classification of the buyer, wherein the classification is based upon at least a preference of a category indicated by the buyer and the promotion of a previous offer by the buyer to a different buyer;

presenting an offer from the plurality of offers to the buyer based on the classification, wherein the offer presentation includes;

a map for a particular geographic area that identifies the location of a merchant from the plurality of merchants that is associated with the offer,

a retail list price of the good or service associated with the offer, and

a time of expiration of the offer, and wherein a price paid for the good or service is discounted from the retail list price; and

sharing the offer with one or more members of a social network, wherein;

at least one interaction between the one or more members of the social network is recorded,

the recording tracks a connection between the one or members of the social network with respect to the offer,

the recorded interaction is presented in the context of a table, chart, graph, tree, map, or color coded display,

the presentation of the recorded interaction correlates to a purchase of the good or service, and

the interaction further correlates to influence of members in the social network with regard to the purchase of the good or service.

31. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the offer can be purchased individually by the buyer without the condition that additional buyers need to join, wherein a machine-readable code related to the offer can be stored to the mobile device of the buyer and presented at the merchant location for redemption, and wherein an online merchant account accessible by a mobile device is provided to track redemptions including a date of use, amount spent by customer, updated campaign metrics, past offers, and a future offer if scheduled.