System and method for gathering and standardizing customer purchase information for target marketing
OwnerMichael Rothman, Kathleen Witsil +1inventors
InventorsMichael Rothman, Kathleen Witsil, David Nanek
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Abstract
The present invention relates to storing and manipulating customer purchasing information, particularly purchasing information by credit cards, debit cards, checks, and the like. A hierarchical organizational structure is created comprising a plurality of categories and sub-categories. The customer purchase information may then be retrieved according to user created links to generate customer preference information. The customer preference information may be stored in a customer account, thereby allowing targeted offers to be made to customers.
Claims34
1-58. (canceled)
A method for making targeted offers, the method implemented in a computer system for storing and manipulating customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the computer system comprising a storage device for storing the customer purchase information and a processor for placing the customer purchase information, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving the customer purchase information, the receiving performed by the processor;
- organizing the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure, the organizing performed by the processor;
- creating a customer preference based at least in part on the customer purchase information in the organizational structure;
- forming an offer for a customer based on at least one of the customer preference and the customer purchase information;
- generating a customer score based on customer accounts prior to creating the customer preference;
- and
- wherein the step of generating a customer score, includes generating multiple customer scores for a single customer, the multiple customer scores for the single customer each being respectively associated with a different merchant.
A system for storing and manipulating customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the system comprising:
- means for receiving the customer purchase information, wherein the customer purchase information includes text strings;
- means for organizing the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure;
- and
- means for forming an offer for a customer based on a character search or word search of the text strings in the customer purchase information in the organizational structure;
- score generating means for generating a customer score based on customer accounts prior to creating the customer preference;
- and
- wherein the score generating means generates multiple customer scores for a single customer, the multiple customer scores for the single customer each being respectively associated with a different merchant.
A method for making targeted offers, the method implemented in a computer system for storing and manipulating customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the computer system comprising a storage device for storing the customer purchase information and a processor for placing the customer purchase information, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving the customer purchase information, the receiving performed by the processor;
- organizing the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure, wherein the predetermined organizational structure comprises a plurality of categories, each category comprising a plurality of sub-categories, the organizing performed by the processor;
- creating a customer preference based at least in part on the customer purchase information in the organizational structure;
- forming an offer for a customer based on at least one of the customer preference and the customer purchase information;
- wherein at least a plurality of the categories or sub-categories are associated with a respective count value, each count value indicating the number of customers that have had activity within the particular category or sub-category.
A method for making targeted offers, the method implemented in a computer system for storing and manipulating customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the computer system comprising a storage device for storing the customer purchase information and a processor for placing the customer purchase information, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving the customer purchase information, the receiving performed by the processor;
- organizing the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure, wherein the predetermined organizational structure comprises a plurality of categories, each category comprising a plurality of subcategories, the organizing performed by the processor;
- creating a customer preference based at least in part on the customer purchase information in the organizational structure;
- forming an offer for a customer based on at least one of the customer preference and the customer purchase information;
- and
- associating the categories and sub-categories with a score, wherein the score is based on customer purchase information that is associated with a particular category or sub-category;
- and
- wherein the score associated with a particular category or sub-category is based on at least one of:
- the total dollar amount of purchases by a customer in a particular category or sub-category;
- and
- the number of purchases in a particular category or sub-category.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.