System and method for handling an offer to purchase a followed item

• US 10,679,198 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2011
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schueller, Dana L., Brillhart, Marisa Lynne, Grimm, Dan S., Johnson, John, Agarwal, Shubham, Rudman, Theodore Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandenburg, William A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Busch, Christopher C
• Application Number:
  US13/086,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20110196732A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,344 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3255 using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3276 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system receives from a customer having an associated rewards points account a price offer for an item. The system determines if the price offer for the item is below an established threshold price, e.g., a price a retailer would accept for the item. When the price offer for the item is below the established threshold price, the system determines an amount of rewards points to be redeemed by the customer to thereby allow the customer to purchase the item at the price offer for the item as received from the customer. The system then allows the item to be purchased by the customer at the price offer for the item as received from the customer in the event that the customer indicates a willingness to redeem the determined amount of rewards points from their associated rewards points account.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine-readable storage device, having stored thereon a computer program having at least one code section for facilitating a purchase of an item, the at least one code section executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform a method comprising:

causing a camera or a scanner of a mobile device of a customer to take a photo of or scan a bar code or coded image associated with an item;

extracting information from the bar code or coded image associated with the item;

causing a graphical user interface of the mobile device, based on the extracted information, to initiate a price following process including requesting to designate the item for price following;

receiving an indication via the graphical user interface of the mobile device that the customer has initiated a price following process;

receiving, via the graphical user interface of the mobile device of the customer, a request to designate an item for price following for the customer after the mobile device takes a photo of or scans a bar code or coded image associated with the item, wherein one or both of the mobile device and the machine are configured to track the price of the item before the item is purchased by the customer;

causing, via the graphical user interface of the mobile device, a browser application of the mobile device to be redirected to one or more web pages based on information extracted from the photo or the scan, wherein the one or more web pages have information about the item, wherein, via the one or more web pages, the customer sets up the price following by setting one or more of the following;

one or more price parameters, a time period over which the price following is active, and one or more price notification alerts based on the one or more price parameters;

causing an SMS message to be sent to another customer, with a link to the one or more web pages based on information extracted from the photo or the scan in response to actions taken by the customer via the one or more web pages to enable the another customer to request a price following of the item;

tracking the price of the item before the item is purchased by the customer;

causing news and social network reviews related to the item to be sent to mobile device;

reducing the price of the item and downwardly adjusting an acceptable price range when competitor pricing information is lower than the acceptable price range, wherein the acceptable price range is a range of prices for which the item can be sold without using rewards points;

increasing the price of the item and upwardly adjusting the acceptable price range when the competitor pricing information is higher than the acceptable price range;

receiving, via the mobile device of the customer having an associated rewards points account, a price offer for the item that was previously designated for price following;

determining if that the price offer for the item is below an established threshold price, wherein the established threshold price is a lowest price that the item can be sold without using reward points;

when the price offer for the item is below the established threshold price, determining an amount of rewards points to be redeemed by the customer to thereby allow the customer to purchase the item at the price offer for the item as received from the customer; and

allowing the item to be purchased by the customer at the price offer for the item as received from the customer in the event that the customer indicates a willingness to redeem by supplementing the price offer by redeeming the determined amount of rewards points from the rewards points account of the customer.

2. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, comprising:

determining that the customer fails to have the determined amount of rewards points in the associated rewards point account; and

inhibiting wherein the instructions inhibit the purchasing of the item at the price offer for the item as received from the customer because the customer does not have enough rewards points when it is determined that the customer fails to have the determined amount of rewards points in the associated rewards point account.

3. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the instructions cause reward points to be added to a rewards point account in response to a qualifying item being purchased.

4. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 3, wherein the amount of rewards points to be added to the rewards points account is a percentage of a dollar amount spent.

5. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 4, wherein a bonus multiplier is provided to the amount of rewards points to be added to the rewards points account as a function of a membership level of the customer.

6. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the item is an item having a price, and the at least one code section comprises code executable by the machine for causing the machine to allow the customer to follow the price of the item.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 6, wherein the instructions cause one or more alerts having information related to the price of the item to be sent to the customer, wherein the alert indicates that when the price of the item drops has fallen in the physical store.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the request to designate the item for price following includes one or more parameters set up by the customer, wherein the one or more parameters indicate conditions for alerting the customer with respect to the item being price followed.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile device images the item using a particular imaging application installed on the mobile device, wherein transmitting a particular SMS message from the mobile device facilitated an installation of the particular imaging application on the mobile device.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile device images the item using a particular imaging application downloaded on the mobile device while at the physical store.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile device images the item using a particular imaging application installed on the mobile device, wherein the particular imaging application is downloaded from a wireless access point located at the physical store.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 8, wherein the one or more parameters comprises one or more of an address, an email address, a phone number, and a social networking username to which the one or more alerts are to be sent.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the request to designate the item for price following includes price following of the item in the physical store and online.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the request to designate the item for price following includes conditions for price-following termination including time period expiration and item purchase, or wherein the price following of the item is real-time price following of the item.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, comprising:

selling the item if the price offer falls within an acceptable range; and

recommending other items if the price offer falls below the acceptable range.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, comprising providing the customer with price information and other non-price information about the item being actively price followed while the price following is active for the item.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the established threshold price is established based on item inventory and competitor pricing information for the item or a similar item.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein, when the price offer for the item is below the established threshold price, comprising:

offering for sale to the customer similar items near the price offer based on the price offer for the item being below the established threshold price.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the established threshold price is lowered based on competitor pricing of the item, and comprising causing the mobile device to receive pricing for same item and similar items from multiple merchants.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device as recited in claim 1, comprising populating a gift registry by taking the photo of or scanning the bar code or coded image associated with the item while the customer is in the physical store.