Systems and methods for on demand and location-based offers

Abstract

A social media computing system is described. The social media computing system provides a social media platform to a plurality of users. Additionally, the social media computing system provides merchants the ability to provide targeted offers to users of the social media platform. As used herein, the word “merchants” also includes service providers. The offers relate to goods or services provided by the merchants. In some situations, the offers are transmitted by the social media computing system to user devices based on requests by the users. In other situations, the offers can be transmitted directly from the merchants to the user devices based on determined locations of the user devices.

1 . A method of providing on demand offers to a user via a platform, the platform hosted by a computing system having a processor, the method comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, an offer request from a user device, wherein the offer request includes an identification of a product or service;   determining, by the processor, a matching offer for the product or service among a plurality of offers selected by a merchant computing system based on the offer request;   transmitting, by the processor, the matching offer to the user device, the matching offer including a price identification and a designated period of time after which the matching offer expires;   in response to receiving an indication that the user accepted the matching offer, generating, by the processor, a funds request to provide funds via the platform;   display, by the processor, on the user device, a message comprising a selectable option to provide funds via the platform;   receiving, by the processor, payment funds from the user device via the platform, the payment funds equal to the price identification;   storing, by the processor, the matching offer in a list of products or services, each product or service in the list corresponding to a merchant location;   determining, by the processor, using a GPS signal from the user device indicative of a current location of the user device, a set of navigable routes using traffic data, each navigable route having a corresponding total travel time that includes travel to each merchant location;   selecting, by the processor, from among the set of navigable routes, a route corresponding to a lowest total travel time; and   routing, by the processor, based on the selected route, the user device to each merchant location.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the processor and in response to receiving an indication of a rejection of the matching offer, a next highest priority offer of the plurality of offers and transmitting the next highest priority offer to the user device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the matching offer includes identifying the matching offer as most likely satisfying the offer request from the user based at least in part on a shopping history of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the matching offer includes identifying the matching offer as most likely satisfying the offer request based at least in part on a user location and the merchant location, the merchant location associated with the merchant computing system offering the matching offer, wherein the merchant location is within a threshold distance of the user location. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the processor, a transaction code to the user device, wherein the transaction code allows the user to claim the product or service purchased from the merchant computing system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the transaction code is a barcode scannable by a point of sale system associated with the merchant computing system. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising receiving, by the processor, the transaction code from the merchant computing system prior to transmitting the transaction code to the user device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 generating, by the processor, the transaction code; and   transmitting, by the processor, the transaction code to the merchant computing system.   
     
     
         10 . A method of temporarily permitting a merchant to send offers to a user of a social media platform based on a location of the user, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a processor of a social media computing system, user location information from a user device, wherein the user is a user of the social media platform;   determining, by the processor, that the user is in proximity to a merchant;   enabling, by the processor, a merchant computing system associated with the merchant the ability to send messages to the user via the social media platform; and   transmitting, by the processor, a message containing an offer from the merchant to the user, the offer relating to a product or service of the merchant.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising receiving, by the processor, updated user location information from the user device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining, by the processor that the user is no longer in proximity to the merchant based on the updated user location information. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, disabling, by the processor, the ability of the merchant to send messages to the user via the social media platform in response to determining that the user is no longer in proximity to the merchant. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the user location information is determined based on a received locator beacon identifier positioned within or near the merchant. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising generating a transaction code that allows the user to claim a product or service from the merchant associated with an accepted offer. 
     
     
         16 . A merchant offers system comprising:
 a locator beacon network;   a network interface configured to communicate with a user device associated with a user and a merchant computing system associated with a merchant;   memory; and   a processor configured to:
 receive user location information from the user device, wherein the user is a user of a social media platform, wherein the user location information is based on a determined position of the user device as identified through the locator beacon network, 
 determine that the user is in proximity to the merchant, 
 enable the merchant computing system to send messages to the user via the social media platform, and 
 transmit a message containing an offer from the merchant computing system to the user device, the offer relating to a product or service of the merchant. 
   
     
     
         17 . The merchant offers system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive updated user location information from the user device. 
     
     
         18 . The merchant offers system of  claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the user is no longer in proximity to the merchant based on the updated user location information. 
     
     
         19 . The merchant offers system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to disable the ability of the merchant computing system to send messages to the user device via the social media platform in response to determining that the user is no longer in proximity to the merchant. 
     
     
         20 . The merchant offers system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a transaction code that allows the user to claim a product or service from the merchant associated with an accepted offer. 
     
     
         21 . A computing system associated with a platform, the system comprising:
 a network interface;   memory; and   a processor configured to:
 receive an offer request from a user device, wherein the offer request includes an identification of a product or service; 
 determine a matching offer for the product or service among a plurality of offers selected by a merchant computing system based on the offer request; 
 transmit the matching offer to the user device, the matching offer including a price identification and a designated period of time after which the matching offer expires, 
 in response to receiving an indication that a user accepted the matching offer, generate a funds request to provide funds via the platform, 
 receive payment funds via the platform, the payment funds equal to the price identification, 
 store the matching offer in a list of products or services, each product or service in the list corresponding to a merchant location; 
 determine using a GPS signal from the user device indicative of a current location of the user device, a set of navigable routes using traffic data, each navigable route having a corresponding total travel time that includes travel to each merchant location; 
 select, from among the set of navigable routes, a route corresponding to a lowest total travel time; and 
 route based on the selected route, the user device to each merchant location. 
   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, in response to receiving an indication of a rejection of the matching offer, a next highest priority offer of the plurality of offers and transmit the next highest priority offer to the user device. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein determining the matching offer includes identifying the matching offer as most likely satisfying the offer request from the user based at least in part on a shopping history of the user. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein determining the matching offer includes identifying the matching offer as most likely satisfying the offer request based at least in part on a user location and the merchant location, the merchant location associated with the merchant computing system offering the matching offer, wherein the merchant location is within a threshold distance of the user location. 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a transaction code to the user device, wherein the transaction code allows the user to claim the product or service purchased from the merchant computing system. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the transaction code is a barcode scannable by a point of sale system associated with the merchant computing system. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive the transaction code from the merchant computing system prior to transmitting the transaction code to the user device. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the transaction code and transmit the transaction code to the merchant computing system. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the matching offer is prioritized at least in part based on a bid placed by the merchant computing system associated with the matching offer. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the matching offer is prioritized at least in part based on a bid placed by the merchant computing system associated with the matching offer.