US2012221395A1PendingUtilityA1

Promotion infrastructure supporting automatic shopping cart price reduction

71
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Apr 19, 1999Filed: Apr 23, 2012Published: Aug 30, 2012
Est. expiryApr 19, 2019(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:James D. BennettChristopher C. Winslade
G06Q 20/20G06Q 40/03G06Q 30/0253G06Q 30/0613G06Q 30/0611G06Q 30/0625G06Q 30/0605G06Q 30/0255G06Q 30/0257G06Q 30/0261G06Q 30/0224G06Q 30/0641G06Q 30/0239G06Q 30/0601G06Q 30/0269G06Q 30/0251G06Q 30/02G06Q 30/0222G06Q 40/04G06Q 40/08G06Q 30/0235G06Q 30/0244G06Q 30/0207
71
PatentIndex Score
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Cited by
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References
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Claims

Abstract

An online sales/automatic rebate and coupon redemption system provides online customers automatic retrieval and redemption of all applicable rebates and coupons during purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system purchases from merchants using applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system makes it possible to automatically retrieve coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site. The system provides coupons to potential customers via email, based on customer profile, geographical information, etc. Manufacturers and merchants can update coupon value and content based on ongoing sales and volume of customer activity.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
 a server system that receives, via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;   said server system assembles, based on the input of the given user, a shopping cart including the one or more products;   said server system identifies, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, one or more promotions relating the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and   said server system automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.   
     
     
         2 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication. 
     
     
         3 . The infrastructure of  claim 2 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages. 
     
     
         4 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         5 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein said server system stores the shopping cart. 
     
     
         6 . The infrastructure of  claim 5 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         7 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         8 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons. 
     
     
         9 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity. 
     
     
         10 . The infrastructure of  claim 9 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         11 . The infrastructure of  claim 1 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         12 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
 a user interface service that receives via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;   a transaction service that, based on the input of the given user, assembles a shopping cart including the one or more products;   a search service that, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, performs searching of promotion database for one or more promotions relating to the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and   the transaction service automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.   
     
     
         13 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication. 
     
     
         14 . The infrastructure of  claim 13 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages. 
     
     
         15 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         16 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein said transaction service stores the shopping cart. 
     
     
         17 . The infrastructure of  claim 16 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         18 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         19 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons. 
     
     
         20 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity. 
     
     
         21 . The infrastructure of  claim 20 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         22 . The infrastructure of  claim 12 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         23 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
 a server system that receives, via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;   said server system assembles, based on the input of the given user, a shopping cart including the one or more products;   said server system, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, causes performance of a search of promotion database for one or more promotions relating the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and   said server system automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.   
     
     
         24 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication. 
     
     
         25 . The infrastructure of  claim 24 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages. 
     
     
         26 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         27 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein said server system stores the shopping cart. 
     
     
         28 . The infrastructure of  claim 27 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         29 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         30 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons. 
     
     
         31 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity. 
     
     
         32 . The infrastructure of  claim 31 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         33 . The infrastructure of  claim 23 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         34 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
 a user interface service that receives via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;   a transaction service that, based on the input of the given user, assembles a shopping cart including the one or more products; and   a promotion service that, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, causes performance of a search of a promotion database for one or more promotions relating to the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and   the transaction service automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.   
     
     
         35 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication. 
     
     
         36 . The infrastructure of  claim 35 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages. 
     
     
         37 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         38 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein said transaction service stores the shopping cart. 
     
     
         39 . The infrastructure of  claim 38 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         40 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user. 
     
     
         41 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons. 
     
     
         42 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity. 
     
     
         43 . The infrastructure of  claim 42 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price. 
     
     
         44 . The infrastructure of  claim 34 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.

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