Business to Business Marketing System

• US 20080221992A1
• Filed: 03/05/2008
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronic Credit Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Electronic Credit Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Bernstein, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,489,794 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0214 Referral reward systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for marketing products. The method includes the steps of a first vendor contracting with a second vendor under a contract whereby the first vendor pays a commission to the second vendor in exchange for referrals of customers by the second vendor to the first vendor where the first vendor sells products that are complementary to products sold by the second vendor, the first vendor selling a product to a customer of the second vendor, a tracking program calculating a commission payable on the product and the first vendor paying the commission to the first vendor in accordance with the contract.

Claims

1. A method of marketing products comprising:

a first vendor contracting with a second vendor to pay a predetermined commission to the second vendor in exchange for referrals of customers by the second vendor to the first vendor;

a terminal detecting a sale of a product of the first vendor to a customer referred by the second vendor;

a tracking program calculating a commission payable on the sale of the product detected by the terminal; and

the first vendor paying the commission to the first vendor in accordance with the contract.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the second vendor assigning a unique identifier to the customer.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the second vendor providing a discount card to the customer for use with the first vendor where the discount card incorporates an identifier of the contract and the unique identifier of the customer.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising executing the tracking program on a computer of the first vendor.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the second vendor auditing sales of the first vendor for sales to the customer.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the terminal further comprising a point of sale terminal of the first vendor that detects the unique customer identifier.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of assigning the unique identifier and providing the customer with the discount card further comprising the second vendor selling a product to the customer that is complementary to the product sold by the first vendor to the customer.

8. The method of claim 3 further comprising the second vendor obtaining contact information from the customer based upon a sale by the second vendor to the customer.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the contact information further comprises a name and address of the customer.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the second vendor transferring the unique identifier and contact information of a referred customer to a third party.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the first vendor sending a summary of sales made by the first vendor to the third party when the summary of sales including any unique customer identifiers assigned by the second vendor to a customer and collected by the first vendor through the terminal during the detected sale.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the tracking program executing on a computer of the third party.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the first vendor forwarding a customer profile to the third party including a unique identifier assigned by the second vendor.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the third party identifying the customer based upon the unique identifier of the customer.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the third party forwarding promotional materials to the identified customer.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the third party forwarding contact information of the identified customer to the first vendor and the first vendor forwarding promotional materials directly to the identified customer.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the tracking program identifying a referral by matching a credit card number used in a sale by first vendor with a credit card number used in a sale by the second vendor.

18. An apparatus for marketing products comprising:

a referral contract between the first vendor and a second vendor whereby the first vendor pays a commission to the second vendor in exchange for referrals of customers by the second vendor to the first vendor where the first vendor sells products that are complementary to products sold by the second vendor;

a product sold by the first vendor a customer of the second vendor;

a tracking program calculating a commission payable on the product; and

a commission paid by the first vendor to the first vendor in accordance with the contract.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising a discount card given by the second vendor to the customer incorporating an identifier of the contract and a unique identifier of the customer.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising a bill sent by the tracking program for the calculated commission to the first vendor.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising collected information collected by the tracking program about sales of complementary products sold by the first vendor to the customer.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising promotional materials sent by first vendor to the customer.

23. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising summary information about the customer collected by the first vendor for sending promotional materials to the customer.

24. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising a complementary product sold to the customer by the second vendor.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising a unique identifier assigned to the customer by the second vendor based upon the sale.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an identifier of the customer obtained by the second vendor based upon a sale by the second vendor to the customer.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 further comprising an address of the customer obtained by the second vendor from the customer based upon the sale.

28. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising the tracking program searching a database of the first vendor for complementary products sold to the customer using the unique identifier.

29. An apparatus for marketing products comprising:

a referral contract between the first vendor and a second vendor whereby the first vendor pays a commission to the second vendor in exchange for referrals of customers by the second vendor to the first vendor where the first vendor sells products that are complementary to products sold by the second vendor;

a product sold by the first vendor a customer of the second vendor;

means for calculating a commission payable on the product; and

a commission paid by the first vendor to the first vendor in accordance with the contract.