System and Method for Availability-Based Limited-Time Offerings and Transactions

• US 20100023407A1
• Filed: 10/05/2009
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deem, Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: Rearden Commerce Inc
• Inventors: ORTTUNG, Mark, GRADY, Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 8,543,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.660
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0252 based on events or environment, e.g. weather or festivals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

System and method for availability based on limited-time offerings and transactions. One embodiment of the present invention provides a system and method that, based on a set of known preferences and historic transactions with customers, culls from a customer database those customers most likely to close a transaction in a short time. The selected customers are notified of the offer, and the system processes the customers responses in a timely manner, and thus allow fleeting inventories to be sold off before they expire.

Claims

1. A method comprising of:

receiving an offer;

matching one or more customers with the offer; and

transmitting the offer and an expiration of the offer to the one or more customers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the offer includes receiving an offer for a product or service that has an explicit or implicit expiration.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the product or service is selected from a group comprising of travel, lodging, entertainment, and dining.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, categorizing the offer into a predetermined category.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the matching of the offer with one or more customers includes matching the category of the offer with at least one of a group comprising of personal information, declared preferences, calendar information, current variables, and prior history.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving offers include receiving offers in real time from promotion partners.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the implicit expiration of the products or services is related to an event.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the current variables comprise at least one of a group comprising of current location, current financial status, current calendar status, or information gleaned from current purchases.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching includes comparing features of the offer with information on customers based on a set of rules to select the of one or more customers to receive the offer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the comparing based on rules includes comparing the features of the offer with at least one of a set comprising of a preference a customer has designated for receiving an offer, a time of day, and a customer'"'"'s previous acceptance rate for similar offers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching includes ranking the one or more customers based on a least one of a set comprising of likelihood of a offer being accepted, loyalty bonus, previous dollars spent by a customer, and loyalty points accrued by a customer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting by one of a set comprising of an email, a short message service, instant messaging, a telephonic media, personalized television ads, and website ads.

13. The method of claim 1, further includes guaranteeing availability of the offer to the one or more customers by limiting the offer to a number of customers matching a number of products or services available.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting the one or more customers based on a ranking of the customers.

15. The method of claim 1, further including ranking multiple offers for a similar product or service for a customer based on a least one of a set comprising of a declared preference by the customer, and prior purchasing history by the customer.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising of transmitting the multiple offers to the customer via selecting a transmission media correlating to a ranking of a respective offer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting less than all the multiple offers based on the ranking of the multiple offers.

18. A machine-accessible medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine will cause said machine to perform operations comprising of:

receiving an offer;

matching one or more customers with the offer; and

transmitting the offer and an expiration of the offer to the one or more customers.

19. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, wherein the receiving the offer includes receiving an offer for a product or service that has an explicit or implicit expiration, and the product or service is selected from a group comprising of travel, lodging, entertainment, and dining.

20. A system comprising:

unit to receive an offer;

a unit to match one or more customers with the offer; and

a unit to transmit the offer and an expiration of the offer to the one or more customers.