Methods and systems for generating a supply index indicative of a quality of available supply of merchant promotions

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer program, each configured for gauging the health or quality of available supply, are provided. An exemplary method for generating a supply index indicative of a quality or health of supply by calculating and aggregating a supply metric calculated from a perspective of each of a plurality of individual customers to identify those locations where an increase in supply would most positively impact value to customers comprises identifying a location of a user, identifying at least a portion of each of one or more renderable data objects available to a user located at the location, applying a first weight to each of the portion of each of the one or more renderable data objects, calculating a total of each of the weights, applying a coverage cap to determine a capped total, and generating a supply index comprised of aggregated capped totals.

1 - 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . A method for determining a travel propensity, the travel propensity being a distance a customer is willing to travel to redeem a renderable data object, travel propensity being a binary function, the method comprising:
 classifying each of a plurality of geographic regions as one geographic region type of a predefined number of geographic region types;   mapping each of a plurality of redemption locations, each redemption location associated with a merchant and indicative of a location at which a renderable data object is redeemable, to one of the geographic region types;   calculating, for a first geographic region type, a first distance that accounts for a predefined number of redemptions, based on historical purchase data;   assigning the first distance as a first geographic region type travel propensity;   determining a number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance;   calculating a second distance, from a center of a geographic region of the second geographic region type, necessary to include the number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance; and   assigning the second distance as the second geographic region type travel propensity.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising:
 identifying a first location associated with a first user;   determining the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs;   accessing a distance calculated as the travel propensity for the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs; and   assigning the distance as the customer specific travel propensity, the customer specific travel propensity configured to be utilized to identify a number of merchants having redemption locations within the distance.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein travel propensity is determined by category. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein calculating the distance that accounts for the predefined number of redemption includes: utilizing historical redemption data to identify, for each merchant within a geographic region of the first geographic region type, from how far a customer traveled to redeem a renderable data object at the redemption location associated for each particular merchant. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) device locations from at least one mobile communication device associated with the first user, the GPS device locations received via a location service element, which receives the GPS locations directly or indirectly from the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving a plurality of GPS device locations, each from one of a plurality of mobile communication devices, each associated with a different user; clustering a portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from a geographic region to a single GPS location, reducing a number of times at least a portion of each of one or more renderable data objects available to a user located at the first location must be identified. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the travel propensity of the single GPS location is calculated based on the number of GPS locations representative of the portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from the geographic region clustered to the single GPS location. 
     
     
         38 . An apparatus for determining a travel propensity, the travel propensity being a distance a customer is willing to travel to redeem a renderable data object, travel propensity being a binary function, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
 classify each of a plurality of geographic regions as one geographic region type of a predefined number of geographic region types;   map each of a plurality of redemption locations, each redemption location associated with a merchant and indicative of a location at which a renderable data object is redeemable, to one of the geographic region types;   calculate, for a first geographic region type, a first distance that accounts for a predefined number of redemptions, based on historical purchase data;   assign the first distance as a first geographic region type travel propensity;   determine a number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance;   calculate a second distance, from a center of a geographic region of the second geographic region type, necessary to include the number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance; and   assign the second distance as the second geographic region type travel propensity.   
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to:
 identify a first location associated with a first user;   determine the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs;   access a distance calculated as the travel propensity for the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs; and   assign the distance as the customer specific travel propensity, the customer specific travel propensity configured to be utilized to identify a number of merchants having redemption locations within the distance.   
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein travel propensity is determined by category. 
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein calculating the distance that accounts for the predefined number of redemption includes: utilizing historical redemption data to identify, for each merchant within a geographic region of the first geographic region type, from how far a customer traveled to redeem a renderable data object at the redemption location associated for each particular merchant. 
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) device locations from at least one mobile communication device associated with the first user, the GPS device locations received via a location service element, which receives the GPS locations directly or indirectly from the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving a plurality of GPS device locations, each from one of a plurality of mobile communication devices, each associated with a different user; clustering a portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from a geographic region to a single GPS location, reducing a number of times at least a portion of each of one or more renderable data objects available to a user located at the first location must be identified. 
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 43 , wherein the travel propensity of the single GPS location is calculated based on the number of GPS locations representative of the portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from the geographic region clustered to the single GPS location. 
     
     
         45 . A computer program product for determining a travel propensity, the travel propensity being a distance a customer is willing to travel to redeem a renderable data object, travel propensity being a binary function, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions for:
 classifying each of a plurality of geographic regions as one geographic region type of a predefined number of geographic region types;   mapping each of a plurality of redemption locations, each redemption location associated with a merchant and indicative of a location at which a renderable data object is redeemable, to one of the geographic region types;   calculating, for a first geographic region type, a first distance that accounts for a predefined number of redemptions, based on historical purchase data;   assigning the first distance as a first geographic region type travel propensity;   determining a number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance;   calculating a second distance, from a center of a geographic region of the second geographic region type, necessary to include the number of merchants having redemption locations within the first distance; and   assigning the second distance as the second geographic region type travel propensity.   
     
     
         46 . The computer program product of  claim 45 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 identifying a first location associated with a first user;   determining the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs;   accessing a distance calculated as the travel propensity for the geographic region type from the plurality of geographic region types to which the particular location associated with the first user belongs; and   assigning the distance as the customer specific travel propensity, the customer specific travel propensity configured to be utilized to identify a number of merchants having redemption locations within the distance.   
     
     
         47 . The computer program product of  claim 45 , wherein travel propensity is determined by category. 
     
     
         48 . The computer program product of  claim 45 , wherein calculating the distance that accounts for the predefined number of redemption includes: utilizing historical redemption data to identify, for each merchant within a geographic region of the first geographic region type, from how far a customer traveled to redeem a renderable data object at the redemption location associated for each particular merchant. 
     
     
         49 . The computer program product of  claim 46 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) device locations from at least one mobile communication device associated with the first user, the GPS device locations received via a location service element, which receives the GPS locations directly or indirectly from the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         50 . The computer program product of  claim 46 , wherein identifying the first location of the first user comprises receiving a plurality of GPS device locations, each from one of a plurality of mobile communication devices, each associated with a different user; clustering a portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from a geographic region to a single GPS location, reducing a number of times at least a portion of each of one or more renderable data objects available to a user located at the first location must be identified. 
     
     
         51 . The computer program product of  claim 50 , wherein the travel propensity of the single GPS location is calculated based on the number of GPS locations representative of the portion of the plurality of GPS device locations from the geographic region clustered to the single GPS location.