Generating promotion offers and providing analytics data

• US 10,664,861 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 05/26/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Kim, Ben, Puckett, Joshua, Zaytsev, Andrey, Park, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Ansari, Azam A
• Application Number:
  US13/833,548
• Time in Patent Office: 2,629 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1443
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization

Abstract

Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for programmatically generating and/or revising promotions for a provider as well as generating and providing analytics data regarding currently offered promotions in real-time. In providing such functionality, the system can be configured to, for example, monitor and analyze various promotions, including current promotions and analytics data about promotion-related purchases, that enable the system to determine the relative successfulness of a promotion for a provider and/or category of provider. Upon determining what has been more successful or is expected to be a more successful promotion for a provider, the system can present the promotion to the provider for approval and/or make the promotion to consumers programmatically. In some embodiments, the system may be further configured to revise the promotion programmatically and/or upon receiving the provider'"'"'s approval of the programmatically generated proposed edits to the promotion parameters.

Claims

1. A system comprising a processor and one or more non-transitory storage devices embodying computer-readable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:

output, to a provider device associated with a provider located at a fixed location, a real-time promotion generation interface;

receive, via a network, a real-time promotion creation indication associated with the real-time promotion generation interface, wherein the real-time promotion creation indication includes a request to create a first promotion in real-time for a first subset of potential customers within a provider geographic area immediately proximate the fixed location, wherein the first promotion is immediately available for a limited time duration and is redeemable for a limited timing period;

determine, via the processor, that the first subset of potential customers is within the provider geographic area, wherein determining that the first subset of potential customers is within the provider geographic area comprises;

receiving, via the network, GPS location data associated with one or more customer devices associated with a plurality of potential customers; and

identifying, via the processor, the first subset of potential customers as potential customers from the plurality of potential customers having GPS location data corresponding to the provider geographic area;

analyze, via the processor, first promotion parameter data associated with past promotion data of a plurality of past promotions stored in association with the provider, wherein analyzing the first promotion parameter data comprises;

analyzing, via the processor, at least time of day data and day of week data from the past promotion data corresponding to a current time of day and a current day of week;

based on analyzing the at least time of day data and day of week data, determining, via the processor, first trend data associated with the past promotion data based upon first transaction data associated with the past promotion data, wherein the first trend data indicates a first successfulness trajectory of the plurality of past promotions at the current time of day and the current day of week; and

assigning, via the processor, one or more first weight values to the first promotion parameter data, wherein the one or more first weight values are calculated based upon the first trend data;

determine, via the processor, a provider current status, wherein determining the provider current status comprises;

analyzing, via the processor, non-promotional analytic data stored in association with the provider, wherein the non-promotional analytic data comprises data unrelated to the plurality of past promotions;

based on analyzing the non-promotional analytic data, determining, via the processor, first time data comprising provider busiest time data and provider slowest time data;

monitoring, in real-time via the processor, data transmission related to the provider device operating at the fixed location; and

calculating, via the processor, the provider current status based at least in part on the first time data and the data transmission related to the provider device;

generate, via the processor, at least one first promotion parameter, wherein generating the at least one first promotion parameter comprises;

generating a plurality of potential promotion parameters, wherein each of the plurality of promotion parameters is associated with the provider located at the fixed location;

scoring each of the plurality of potential promotion parameters based upon a distance between each of the potential customers of the first subset of potential customers and the fixed location; and

generating an initial ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters, and wherein generating the at least one first promotion parameter is based at least in part upon the initial ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters, the provider current status, the non-promotional analytic data, the one or more first weight values and the first promotion parameter data;

programmatically generate, via the processor, the first promotion based on the at least one first promotion parameter;

output, to the provider device operating at the fixed location, an updated real-time promotion generation interface indicating the first promotion; and

transmit, in real-time via the network, a first set of impressions representing the first promotion to the one or more customer devices associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first promotion parameter includes a promotion amount.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first promotion parameter includes promotion limitations.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first promotion parameter includes a maximum number of promotions.

5. The system of claim 1 further configured to:

receive, via the network from the provider device associated with the provider, an indication of provider approval of the promotion associated with the updated real-time promotion generation interface prior to transmitting the first set of impressions representing the first promotion to the one or more customer devices associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.

6. The system of claim 1 further configured to receive a pause indication, via the network, for pausing the promotion, wherein the pause indication for pausing the promotion is configured to be received after transmitting the first set of impressions representing the first promotion to the one or more customer devices associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.

7. The system of claim 1 further configured to receive an edit indication, via the network, for editing the at least one promotion parameter, wherein the edit indication for editing the at least one promotion parameter is configured to be received after transmitting the first set of impressions representing the first promotion to the one or more customer devices associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.

8. The system of claim 7 further configured to generate a second set of impressions comprising the first promotion, wherein the first promotion comprises at least one second promotion parameter, the second set of impressions differing from the first set of impressions.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one second promotion parameter differs from the at least one first promotion parameter.

10. The system of claim 1, further configured to analyze purchase history data associated with the provider geographic area, wherein analyzing the purchase history data associated with the provider geographic area comprises analyzing at least a purchase history associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the provider current status further comprises:

determining second time data comprising provider most profitable time data and provider least profitable time data; and

calculating, via the processor, the provider current status based at least in part on the first time data, the second time data, and the data transmission related to the provider device.

12. The system of claim 1 further configured to analyze, via the processor, second promotion parameter data associated with one or more current promotions, wherein analyzing the second promotion parameter data associated with the one or more current promotions comprises:

determining second trend data in the second promotion parameter data associated with the one or more current promotions, wherein the second trend data includes second trends in the second promotion parameter data regarding a second successfulness trajectory of the one or more current promotions at the current time of day and the current day of week;

determining actual successfulness data of the one or more current promotions; and

assigning one or more second weight values to the second promotion parameter data based upon determining that the actual successfulness data of the one or more current promotions is inconsistent with the second trend data in the second promotion parameter data;

wherein the at least one first promotion parameter is generated based at least in part upon the initial ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters, the provider current status, the non-promotional analytic data, the one or more first weight values, the first promotion parameter data, the one or more second weight values, and the second promotion parameter data.

13. The system of claim 1 further configured to communicate with a provider point-of-sale device, wherein the provider point-of-sale device is configured to report sales information to the promotional system, and wherein the promotional system is further configured to:

analyze the sales information, and

programmatically generate the first promotion using sales information.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one first promotion parameter further comprises scoring the initial ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters based on a location of each of the plurality potential customers of the first subset of potential customers in a city to generate a further ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters, and wherein the at least one first promotion parameter is based upon the further ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising receiving consumer transaction data from a second provider in the provider geographic area,

wherein the at least one first promotion parameter is further based upon the consumer transaction data from the second provider.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the consumer transaction data includes an umbrella purchase rate, wherein the system determines that the umbrella purchase rate in real-time is higher than historical norms, and wherein the at least one first promotion parameter comprises a discount on taxicabs.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the provider geographic area is defined within one mile of the provider.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the provider geographic area is defined within five miles of the provider.

19. The system of claim 1 further configured to:

determine a category and a subcategory associated with the provider;

determine a first plurality of providers having the same category and a second plurality of providers having the same subcategory; and

analyze first successfulness data associated with the first plurality of providers and second successfulness data associated with the second plurality of providers;

wherein the at least one first promotion parameter is generated based at least in part upon the initial ranking of the plurality of potential promotion parameters, the provider current status, non-promotional analytic data, the one or more first weight values, the first promotion parameter data, the first successfulness data and the second successfulness data.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the limited time duration and limited timing period are equal to or less than 24 hours.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the limited time duration and limited timing period are equal to or less than 3 hours.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the limited time duration and limited timing period are equal to or less than 1 hour.

23. The system of claim 1, further configured to:

analyze customer information data associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time;

based on analyzing customer information data associated with the first subset of potential customers, determine at least one second promotion parameter and define a second subset of potential customers, wherein the second subset of potential customers is at least a portion of the first subset of potential customers,

programmatically generate, via the processor, a second promotion based on the at least one second promotion parameter, wherein the at least one second promotion parameter differs from the at least one first promotion parameter; and

transmit, in real-time via the network, one or more impressions representing the second promotion to one or more customer devices associated with the second subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein customer information data comprises at least one or more of demographic profile data, preference data, and past transaction data.

25. The system of claim 10, further configured to:

based on analyzing at least a purchase history associated with the first subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time, determine, via the processor, at least one second promotion parameter and define a second subset of potential customers, wherein the second subset of potential customers is at least a portion of the first subset of potential customers;

programmatically generate, via the processor, a second promotion based on the at least one second promotion parameter, wherein the at least one second promotion parameter differs from the at least one first promotion parameter, and;

transmit, in real-time via the network, one or more impressions representing the second promotion to one or more customer devices associated with the second subset of potential customers within the provider geographic area in real-time.