Retail system for selling products based on a flexible product description

• US 9,754,302 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2015
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Walker, Jay S., Kim, Peter, Jorasch, James A., Fincham, Magdalena Mik, Tedesco, Daniel E., Sammon, Russell Pratt, Golden, Andrew P., Mueller, Raymond J., Bemer, Keith, Van Luchene, Kathleen
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil, Frantzy
• Application Number:
  US14/930,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20160055558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 705 3- 44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0208 Trade or exchange of goods or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

According to one described embodiment, a method is provided in which transaction information is determined. The transaction information is associated with (i) a buyer who has arranged to purchase a product from a central controller at a first price established between the buyer and the central controller and (ii) a merchant that offers the product for sale at a second price, different from the first price, without offering the product for sale to buyers at the first price. Information is transmitted that facilitates the acquisition of the product by the buyer, in exchange for payment provided by the buyer to the central controller. An amount based on the second price is provided to the merchant.

Claims

1. A method for programmatically providing a platform for determining a current price for one or more products or services identified by one or more conditional elements of a received product description, the method comprising:

providing, to a display of a user device, a user interface comprising graphical user interface elements including one or more of pull-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or text-entry boxes, providing user-configurable elements and configured to receive user-input identifying one or more conditional elements of a product description;

receiving the conditional elements of the product description from the user device;

storing the conditional elements of the product description in a product element database, the product element database configured to store data related to the user-input identifying the one or more conditional elements of the product description submitted via the user interface, the product element database comprised of a plurality of product element records, each product element record comprised of a plurality product element fields, each product element field configured to store at least one of the conditional elements, each product element record comprising fields that specify at least (i) an offer identifier that uniquely identifies a particular product element record;

(ii) an identifier that uniquely identifies a user from whom a product description contained in the product element record was received;

(iii) each of one or more features specified by the received conditional elements;

accessing a product database, the product database configured to store a plurality of product records, each product record representing a particular product, each product record comprising a plurality of product related fields, the fields being at least store information identifying (i) a product identifier that uniquely identifies the particular product; and

(ii) each of one or more product features that identify the particular product;

determining, by a controller including a processor, one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description;

accessing a retailer database, the retailor database comprising a plurality of inventory-related records, each inventory-related record comprised of retailer data, the retailer data comprised of sales data, inventory data, demand data or subsidy data;

retrieving, by the controller and via a communication port, from the retailer database, at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data;

generating, by the controller, a current price for the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, wherein the controller dynamically generates the current price based at least in part on the conditional elements of the received product description and the retrieved inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data,

wherein generation of the current price comprises;

determining a number of conditional elements of the received product description, determining a discount for each of the conditional elements by identifying a requirement and a percentage discount, calculating a cumulative discount by summing the determined percentage discounts, and discounting a retail price by the cumulative discount; and

providing, to the display device, a second user interface configured to describe the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description each including the current price.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the current price is different from a historical price generated for a product or service of the one or more products or services.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating the historical price for the product or the service, wherein the historical price is generated based at least in part on historical sales information for the product or the service and an assigned category.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the current price is different from a generated price for the same product or service, the generated price being determined based on an alternative product description different from the product description.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a flexibility score for a product or service of the one or more products or services based at least in part on the product description; and

determining the current price for the product or the service based on the generated flexibility score.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

weighting the flexibility score based at least in part on received retailer data related to the product or the service, wherein the retailer data comprises at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidies.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing redemption information to be transmitted to the user in an instance in which a product or service of the one or more products or services is selected, wherein the redemption information is redeemable towards at least a portion of the purchase price of the product or service.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the product description is received via a text entry box presented via a user interface of an electronic retail system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the current price is in the form of a discount amount off a retail price.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic generation of the current price is based on the inventory data, the demand data, the sales data, and the subsidy data.

11. An apparatus for programmatically providing a platform for determining a current price for one or more products or services identified by one or more conditional elements of a received product description, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least;

provide, to a display of a user device, a user interface comprising graphical user interface elements including one or more of pull-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or text-entry boxes, providing user-configurable elements and configured to receive user-input identifying one or more conditional elements of a product description;

receive the conditional elements of the product description from the user device;

store the conditional elements of the product description in a product element database, the product element database configured to store data related to the user-input identifying the one or more conditional elements of the product description submitted via the user interface, the product element database comprised of a plurality of product element records, each product element record comprised of a plurality product element fields, each product element field configured to store at least one of the conditional elements, each product element record comprising fields that specify at least (i) an offer identifier that uniquely identifies a particular product element record;

(ii) an identifier that uniquely identifies a user from whom a product description contained in the product element record was received;

(iii) each of one or more features specified by the received conditional elements;

access a product database, the product database configured to store a plurality of product records, each product record representing a particular product, each product record comprising a plurality of product related fields, the fields being at least store information identifying (i) a product identifier that uniquely identifies the particular product; and

(ii) each of one or more product features that identify the particular product;

determine one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description;

access a retailer database, the retailor database comprising a plurality of inventory-related records, each record comprised of retailer data, the retailer data comprised of sales data, inventory data, demand data or subsidy data;

retrieve, via a communication port, from the retailer database, at least one of inventory, demand, sales, or subsidy data;

generate a current price for the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to dynamically generate the current price based at least in part on the conditional elements of the received product description and of the retrieved inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data,

wherein generation of the current price comprises;

determining a number of conditional elements of the received product description, determining a discount for each of the conditional elements by identifying a requirement and a percentage discount, calculating a cumulative discount by summing the determined percentage discounts, and discounting a retail price by the cumulative discount; and

provide, to the display device, a second user interface configured to describe the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description each including the current price.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

generate the historical price for the product or the service, wherein the historical price is generated based at least in part on historical sales information for the product or the service and an assigned category, wherein the current price is different from a historical price generated for a product or service of the one or more products or services.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the current price is different from a generated price for the same product or service, the generated price being determined based on an alternative product description different from the product description.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

generate a flexibility score for a product or service of the one or more products or services based at least in part on the product description;

weight the flexibility score based at least in part on received retailer data related to the product or the service, wherein the retailer data comprises at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidies; and

determine the current price for the product or the service based on the flexibility score.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

cause redemption information to be transmitted to the user in an instance in which a product or service of the one or more products or services is selected, wherein the redemption information is redeemable towards at least a portion of the purchase price of the product or service.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the product description is received via a text entry box presented via a user interface of an electronic retail system and wherein the current price is in the form of a discount amount off a retail price.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the dynamic generation of the current price is based on the inventory data, the demand data, the sales data, and the subsidy data.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program for programmatically providing a platform for determining a current price for one or more products or services identified by one or more conditional elements of a received product description, that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to:

provide, to a display of a user device, a user interface comprising graphical user interface elements including one or more of pull-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or text-entry boxes, providing user-configurable elements and configured to receive user-input identifying one or more conditional elements of a product description;

receive the conditional elements of the product description from the user device;

store the conditional elements of the product description in a product element database, the product element database configured to store data related to the user-input identifying the one or more conditional elements of the product description submitted via the user interface, the product element database comprised of a plurality of product element records, each product element record comprised of a plurality product element fields, each product element field configured to store at least one of the conditional elements, each product element record comprising fields that specify at least (i) an offer identifier that uniquely identifies a particular product element record;

(ii) an identifier that uniquely identifies a user from whom a product description contained in the product element record was received;

(iii) each of one or more features specified by the received conditional elements;

access a product database, the product database configured to store a plurality of product records, each product record representing a particular product, each product record comprising a plurality of product related fields, the fields being at least store information identifying (i) a product identifier that uniquely identifies the particular product; and

(ii) each of one or more product features that identify the particular product;

determine one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description;

retrieve, via a communication port, from the retailer database, at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data;

generate a current price for the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, wherein the execution of the program further causes the apparatus to dynamically generate the current price based at least in part on the conditional elements of the received product description and the retrieved inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data,

wherein generation of the current price comprises;

determining a number of conditional elements of the received product description, determining a discount for each of the conditional elements by identifying a requirement and a percentage discount, calculating a cumulative discount by summing the determined percentage discounts, and discounting a retail price by the cumulative discount; and

provide, to the display device, a second user interface configured to describe the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description each including the current price.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the program which when executed by the apparatus further cause the apparatus at least to:

generate the historical price for the product or the service, wherein the historical price is generated based at least in part on historical sales information for the product or the service and an assigned category, wherein the current price is different from a historical price generated for a product or service of the one or more products or services.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the current price is different from a generated price for the same product or service, the generated price being determined based on an alternative product description different from the product description, wherein the product description is received via a text entry box presented via a user interface of an electronic retail system and wherein the current price is in the form of a discount amount off a retail price.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the program which when executed by the apparatus further cause the apparatus at least to:

generate a flexibility score for a product or service of the one or more products or services based at least in part on the product description;

weight the flexibility score based at least in part on received retailer data related to the product or the service, wherein the retailer data comprises at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidies; and

determine the current price for the product or the service based on the flexibility score.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the program which when executed by the apparatus further cause the apparatus at least to:

cause redemption information to be transmitted to the user in an instance in which a product or service of the one or more products or services is selected, wherein the redemption information is redeemable towards at least a portion of the purchase price of the product or service.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the dynamic generation of the current price is based on the inventory data, the demand data, the sales data, and the subsidy data.