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US 12,770,114 B2Granted
Building customer loyalty in a mobile environment
AssigneeBlazer and Flip Flops, Inc.
InventorsMurgesh Navar, George McMullen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A customer loyalty and gifting service may reward customers who show or are expected to show frequent patronage to a provider of a good or service. A vendor of a good or service may create and provide an offer to one or more existing customers who may choose to purchase, redeem, and/or recommend the offer to other users in the network. The customer may also gift the purchased offer. A reward, such as loyalty points or stars, may then be awarded to the customer to encourage the customer for continued support and patronage. A reward may be redeemed for one or more prizes including gift cards, discounts, or other promotions and deals.
Claims21
A method for tailored messaging, the method comprising:
- identifying that a first user device associated with a first user is communicatively coupled to a network;
- identifying a connection between the first user and a second user;
- receiving a user parameter identifying a preference associated with the second user;
- receiving one or more offers from a vendor and one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- matching the user parameter with an offer of the one or more offers, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- generating, in real time, a tailored discount for the first user based on the matched offer, the preference associated with the second user and the one or more rules specified by the vendor, wherein the preference associated with the second user comprises user feedback from the second user comprising a comment or criticism submitted by the second user in the form of a posting or message on a social networking site, an email message, or a short message service (SMS) message regarding the vendor or a good or service provided by the vendor;
- wherein generating the tailored discount comprises implementing limitations or controls on the tailored discount, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor, by one or more of:
- limiting a maximum percentage discount applied to certain goods or services, or
- prohibiting discounts on certain goods or services;
- transmitting the tailored discount to the first user device over the network;
- displaying, at the first user device, the tailored discount;
- receiving, at the first user device, selection of a user interface element displayed within the tailored discount, wherein the selection of the user interface element causes the tailored discount to be sent to a second user device associated with the second user, and wherein sending the tailored discount to the second user device enables the second user device to install an application, if not previously installed, configured to display the tailored discount, wherein the application is hosted by an application server, and wherein the application server comprises a proxy between the second user device and one or more of:
- a point-of-sale gateway for the vendor or a stored value card gateway;
- scanning, by a device of the vendor and via the application, the tailored discount;
- and
- redeeming, by the vendor, based on scanning the tailored discount, and on behalf of the second user, the tailored discount, wherein redeeming the tailored discount comprises one or more of:
- processing the tailored discount and credit card payment information with the point-of-sale gateway, or
- processing the tailored discount and stored value card information using the stored value card gateway of the vendor.
15 more elements
A system for tailored messaging, the system comprising:
- a first user device associated with a first user;
- a network that is communicatively coupled to the first user device;
- and
- a processor that executes instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor:
- identifies a connection between the first user and a second user;
- receives a user parameter identifying a preference associated with the second user;
- receives one or more offers from a vendor and one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- matches the user parameter with an offer of the one or more offers, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- generates, in real time, a tailored discount for the first user based on the matched offer, the preference associated with the second user and the one or more rules specified by the vendor, wherein the preference associated with the second user comprises user feedback from the second user in the form of a posting or message on a social networking site, an email message, or a short message service (SMS) message comprising a comment or criticism submitted by the second user regarding the vendor or a good or service provided by the vendor;
- wherein generating the tailored discount comprises implementing limitations or controls on the tailored discount, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor, by one or more of:
- limiting a maximum percentage discount applied to certain goods or services, or
- prohibiting discounts on certain goods or services;
- transmits the tailored discount to the first user device over the network, wherein the first user device is configured to display the tailored discount, and wherein receipt of a selection of a user interface element displayed within the tailored discount causes the tailored discount to be sent to a second user device associated with the second user, and wherein sending the tailored discount to the second user device enables the second user device to install an application, if not previously installed, configured to display the tailored discount, wherein the application is hosted by an application server, and wherein the application server comprises a proxy between the second user device and one or more of:
- a point-of-sale gateway for the vendor or a stored value card gateway;
- scans, by a device of the vendor and via the application, the tailored discount;
- and
- redeems, by the vendor, based on scanning the tailored discount, and on behalf of the second user, the tailored discount, wherein redeeming the tailored discount comprises one or more:
- processing the tailored discount and credit card payment information with the point-of-sale gateway, or
- processing the tailored discount and stored value card information using the stored value card gateway of the vendor.
16 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for tailored messaging, the method comprising:
- identifying that a first user device associated with a first user is communicatively coupled to a network;
- identifying a connection between the first user and a second user;
- receiving a user parameter identifying a preference associated with the second user;
- receiving one or more offers from a vendor and one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- matching the user parameter with an offer of the one or more offers, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor;
- generating, in real time, a tailored discount for the first user based on the matched offer, the preference associated with the second user and the one or more rules specified by the vendor, wherein the preference associated with the second user comprises user feedback from the second user in the form of a posting or message on a social networking site, an email message, or a short message service (SMS) message comprising a comment or criticism submitted by the second user regarding the vendor or a good or service provided by the vendor;
- wherein generating the tailored discount comprises implementing limitations or controls on the tailored discount, based on the one or more rules specified by the vendor, by one or more of:
- limiting a maximum percentage discount applied to certain goods or services, or
- prohibiting discounts on certain goods or services;
- transmitting the tailored discount to the first user device over the network;
- displaying, at the first user device, the tailored discount;
- receiving, at the first user device, selection of a user interface element displayed within the tailored discount, wherein the selection of the user interface element causes the tailored discount to be sent to a second user device associated with the second user, and wherein sending the tailored discount to the second user device causes the second user device to install an application, if not previously installed, configured to display the tailored discount, wherein the application is hosted by an application server, and wherein the application server comprises a proxy between the second user device and one or more of:
- a point-of-sale gateway for the vendor or a stored value card gateway;
- scanning, by a device of the vendor and via the application, the tailored discount;
- and
- redeeming, by the vendor, based on scanning the tailored discount, and on behalf of the second user, the tailored discount, wherein redeeming the tailored discount comprises one or more of:
- processing the tailored discount and credit card payment information with the point-of-sale gateway, or
- processing the tailored discount and stored value card information using the stored value card gateway of the vendor.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.