US 2011/0035278 A1 · Systems and Methods for Closing the Loop between Online Activities and Offline Purchases

Abstract

In one aspect, a computing apparatus is configured to facilitate the identification of a transaction resulting from an activity occurring in a substantially separate context or environment, such as an offline transaction in a “brick and mortar” retail store resulting from an online advertisement or an online search. The computing apparatus may match information about the activity and information about the transaction to correlate the online activity and the offline transaction. The matching process may involve the use of an offer for a discount, an incentive, a rebate, a reward, reward points, cash back, a gift, etc. The offer is to be provided in the advertisement associated with an online activity and redeemed in a payment transaction, processed via the transaction handler, to correlate the advertisement and the transaction.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

storing, by a computing apparatus, an offer in connection with an account identifier of a user, the account identifier issued by an issuer, the offer presented to the user in an online activity;
and
receiving, in the computing apparatus, a communication related to an offline transaction to be processed by a transaction handler to make a payment from the issuer to an acquirer via the transaction handler, the communication including the account identifier submitted by a merchant to the acquirer;
in connection with the transaction, communicating by the computing apparatus with the user to identify the offer;
based on the communicating to identify the offer in connection with the transaction, associating by the computing apparatus the offer with the offline transaction to further associate the transaction with the online activity.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

12/849,789Filed 3 Aug 2010

Priority

4 Aug 2009

Published

10 Feb 2011

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

G06Q 30/02
Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
G06Q 20/10
Payment architectures: specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
G06Q 20/384
Payment protocols; Details thereof: using social networks
G06Q 30/0235
Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates: constrained by time limit or expiration date

Family

Application61/231,251Us provisional application · filed 4 Aug 2009

Application61/232,354Us provisional application · filed 7 Aug 2009

Application61/232,114Us provisional application · filed 7 Aug 2009

Application61/250,482Us provisional application · filed 9 Oct 2009

Application61/250,469Us provisional application · filed 9 Oct 2009

US 2011/0035278 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Systems and Methods for Closing the Loop between Online Activities and Offline Purchases

Life of this patent

Systems and Methods for Closing the Loop between Online Activities and Offline Purchases

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20