Targeted incentive actions based on location and intent

Abstract

A method and a system offer an incentive to a user of a mobile device based on a geographic location of the mobile device and the intent of the user. For example, a machine determines a geographic location of a mobile device. The machine identifies an item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device via an optical input of the mobile device. The machine determines an offer from a merchant within a predefined geographic boundary. The determining of the offer may be based on the geographic location of the mobile device. The machine determines that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item, and redefines the predefined geographic boundary in response to the determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item. The redefining may result in a redefined geographic boundary.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system comprising one or more hardware processors configured to include:
 a first module configured to determine a geographic location of a mobile device;   a second module configured to identify an item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device via an optical input of the mobile device; and   an incentive module configured to
 determine an offer from a merchant within a predefined geographic boundary, the determining of the offer being based on the geographic location of the mobile device, 
 determine that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item, and 
 redefine the predefined geographic boundary in response to the determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item, the redefining resulting in a redefined geographic boundary. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the redefined geographic boundary is outside the predefined geographic boundary, and wherein the incentive module further comprises:
 a local merchant module configured to identify a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary having a further offer;   an incentive match module configured to determine that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device corresponds to an item identified in the further offer of a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary; and   a communication module configured to communicate the further offer from the further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary to the mobile device.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the incentive module further comprises:
 an item category module configured to determine a category of the item;   an incentive match module configured to determine that the category of the item corresponds to a category of items identified in at least one offer of at least one merchant within the predefined geographic boundary after determining that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device does not correspond to any item identified in the offer of the merchant within the predefined geographic boundary; and   a communication module configured to communicate the offer of the category of items from the at least one merchant within the predefined geographic boundary to the mobile device.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the incentive module further comprises:
 a user preference module configured to request from a user of the mobile device whether to increase a search radius preference of the predefined geographic boundary after determining that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device does not correspond to any item identified in the offer of the merchant within the predefined geographic boundary; and   a local merchant module configured to identify at least one merchant with at least one offer based on the updated search radius preference.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the incentive module is further configured to identify a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary based on determining that the further merchant provides a further offer that corresponds to the identified item, and
 wherein the incentive module further comprises an incentive code module configured to communicate a code associated with the further offer to the mobile device, wherein the code is valid for a predetermined period of time at the further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the location identification module further comprises:
 a triangulation service or a global positioning service (GPS) configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on a triangulation service or a GPS service;   a location input module configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on a user input at the mobile device;   a location-dependent search term input module configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on a location-dependent search term user input at the mobile device; and   a tag module configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on a tag from the mobile device, the tag associated with a unique geographic location.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the item identification module further comprises:
 a text identification module configured to identify the item based on a text input from a user at the geographic location of the mobile device;   an audio identification module configured to identify the item based on an audio input from the user at the geographic location of the mobile device;   a machine-readable symbol module configured to identify the item based on a machine-readable symbol scanned by the user at the geographic location of the mobile device;   an image identification module configured to identify the item based on an image taken by the user at the geographic location of the mobile device; and   a video identification module configured to identify the item based on a video taken by the user at the geographic location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the incentive module further comprises:
 a user preference module configured to generate a user preference setting, the user preference setting comprising a user-defined search radius preference.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 an incentive receiver module configured to receive attributes of the offer from the merchant;   a storage device configured to store the attributes of the offer in a database,   wherein the attributes of the offer comprise at least one of a name attribute of the merchant, a name attribute of the item, a brand attribute of the item, a model attribute of the item, a category tag of the item, a sub-category tag of the item, a financial promotion attribute of the item, and a financial promotion term attribute of the item.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the offer comprises a promotion, a sale, a coupon, a discount, or a recommendation. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 determining a geographic location of a mobile device;   identifying an item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device via an optical input of the mobile device;   determining an offer from a merchant within a predefined geographic boundary, the determining of the offer being based on the geographic location of the mobile device;   determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item; and   redefining, using a hardware processor of a machine, the predefined geographic boundary in response to the determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item, the redefining resulting in a redefined geographic boundary.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the redefined geographic boundary is outside the predefined geographic boundary, and further comprising:
 identifying a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary having a further offer;   determining that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device corresponds to an item identified in the further offer of a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary; and   communicating the further offer from the further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary to the mobile device.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 determining a category of the item;   determining that the category of the item corresponds to a category of items identified in at least one offer of at least one merchant within the predefined geographic boundary after determining that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device does not correspond to any item identified in the offer of the merchant within the predefined geographic boundary; and   communicating the offer of the category of items from the at least one merchant within the predefined geographic boundary to the mobile device.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 requesting from a user of the mobile device whether to increase a search radius preference of the predefined geographic boundary after determining that the item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device does not correspond to any item identified in the offer of the merchant within the predefined geographic boundary; and   identifying at least one merchant with at least one offer based on the updated search radius preference.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 identifying a further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary based on determining that the further merchant provides a further offer that corresponds to the identified item; and   communicating a code associated with the further offer to the mobile device, wherein the code is valid for a predetermined period of time at the further merchant within the redefined geographic boundary.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 determining the geographic location of the mobile device based on at least one of a triangulation service or a global positioning service (GPS) of the mobile device, a location input from a user of the mobile device, a location-dependent search term input from the user of the mobile device, and a tag associated with a unique geographic location.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 identifying the item based on at least one of a text input from a user of the mobile device, an audio input from the user of the mobile device, a machine-readable symbol input from the user of the mobile device, an image input from the user of the mobile device, and a video input from the user of the mobile device.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the offer is generated based on a preference setting of a user of the mobile device, the preference setting comprising a user-defined search radius preference. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 receiving attributes of the offer from the merchant;   storing the attributes of the offer in a database, wherein the attributes of the offer comprise at least one of a name attribute of the merchant, a name attribute of the item, a brand attribute of the item, a model attribute of the item, a category tag of the item, a sub-category tag of the item, a financial promotion attribute of the item, and a financial promotion term attribute of the item.   
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, causes the hardware processor to perform operations, comprising:
 determining a geographic location of a mobile device;   identifying an item specified at the geographic location of the mobile device via an optical input of the mobile device;   determining an offer from a merchant within a predefined geographic boundary, the determining of the offer being based on the geographic location of the mobile device;   determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item; and   redefining the predefined geographic boundary in response to the determining that the offer from the merchant does not correspond to the identified item, the redefining resulting in a redefined geographic boundary.