# US 2014/0207546 A1 · Method and system for merchant managed marketing distribution

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- Number: US 2014/0207546 A1
- Document ID: US20140207546A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/745,596
- Filed: 2013-01-18
- Published: 2014-07-24
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-18
- Inventors: Ricardo Nanez
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140207546A1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0277: {Online advertisement}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A system and related method are disclosed for a platform that allows merchants to register, and enter their data, at which point the system generates sales, vouchers, or similar items automatically or using merchant input. Publication, by web or mobile app, can be controlled with parameters including geographic limitations, and published by divisions and employees under security authorizations. According to some embodiments, customers may pay a deposit for a redeemable version, refundable upon redemption.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of controlling distribution of Promotions for a merchant, performed using a application hosted on a server or servers connected to a network, comprising:
accepting merchant profile data from said merchant on said server(s) via said network;
assembling said merchant profile data into a merchant profile;
saving said merchant profile to a persistent storage available to the server(s);
generating one or more Promotions on said server(s);
accepting merchant selections of said Promotions on said server(s);
saving said selected Promotions to persistent storage available to the server(s); and
publishing said selected Promotions to consumers.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, wherein the generation of Promotions comprises:
maintaining in a persistent storage a set of generic Promotion options;
retrieving said generic Promotion options from said persistent storage; and
combining said generic Promotion options with merchant enrollment and profile data to produce merchant-specific Promotions.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, wherein the generation of Promotions comprises:
prompting the merchant to enter Promotion data;
accepting said Promotion data entered by said merchant; and
combining said Promotion data to create new Promotions.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
allowing said merchant to create publication parameters for said Promotions; and
publishing said Promotions according to said publication parameters.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

A method according to claim 4, wherein said publication step comprises:
registering new consumers by accepting consumer profile data and saving it in a persistent storage coupled to said server;
setting consumer-specific publication parameters; and
publishing Promotions to particular consumers as dictated by said consumer-specific parameters.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

A method according to claim 4, wherein said publication parameters include geographic limitations, and further comprising acquiring consumers' location data from consumer devices and comparing said location data to said publication parameters to determine whether said consumer is located within said geographical limitations.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, wherein said merchant profile contains sub-unit profiles.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

A method according to claim 7, further comprising authorizing sub-units to create or publish Promotions within limits dictated by their sub-unit profiles.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, wherein publication of Promotions to consumers comprises:
publishing a list of non-redeemable Promotion selections;
accepting a consumer selection of a Promotion;
accepting an electronic deposit from said consumer;
sending said consumer the selected Promotion in a form redeemable at a merchant location; and
refunding said deposit to said consumer upon redemption of said Promotion.

### Claim 10

A system for controlling distribution of Promotions for a merchant, comprising:
at least one server connected to a network, the server having a processor and a memory, said processor operable to perform functions of a application comprising:
a Network Communication Component, configured to send and receive data and send client-side programming over said network, including receiving merchant profile data and Promotion selections from said merchant via said network and transmitting data including Promotions via said network;
a Processing Component configured to process data, including assembling said merchant profile data into a merchant profile and generating one or more Promotions on said server;
a Data Storage Component configured to save data to a persistent storage or persistent storages coupled to said server, including merchant profiles, and selected Promotions; and
at least one merchant client terminal connected to said network, said terminal having a processor and a memory, said processor configured to accept data including merchant profile data and Promotion Selections from said merchant via said merchant client terminal's manual entry data means, to transmit data to said server via said network, and to receive data including Promotions from said server via said network, to display said data via its display means, and to receive and execute client-side programming from said server via said network; and
at least one consumer client terminal connected to said network, said terminal having a processor and a memory, said processor configured to send and receive data, including reception of Promotions from said server via said network, to receive and execute client-side programming from said server via said network, and to display data including said Promotions using its display means.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10 wherein:
said Data Storage Component is further configured to retrieve a set of generic Promotions from a persistent storage coupled to said server; and
said Processing Component is configured to combine said generic Promotions with merchant enrollment and profile data to produce merchant-specific Promotions.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10 wherein said merchant client terminal is further configured to accept Promotion data entered by said merchant, and to transmit said Promotion data to said server via said network; and wherein said Network Communication Component is further configured to transmit prompts to the merchant instructing it to enter Promotion data and to receive said Promotion data via said network; and wherein said Processing Component is further configured to arrange said Promotion data to create new Promotions.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10 where said merchant client terminal and consumer client terminal are further configured to perform functions comprising mobile applications.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10 where said merchant client terminal is further configured to accept publication parameter data entered by said merchant via said merchant client terminal's manual data entry means and to transmit said publication parameter data to said server via said network; and where said Network Communication Component is configured to receive said publication parameter data from said network, and said Processing Component is configured to permit transmission of said Promotions which correspond to said publication parameters only as dictated by said publication parameters.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

A system according to claim 14, wherein said consumer client terminal or merchant client terminal is configured to accept consumer profile data, and wherein:
said Network Communication Component is configured to receive consumer profile data from said merchant client terminal or consumer client terminal;
said Processing Component is configured to generate consumer-specific publication parameters using said consumer profile data and to permit transmission of Promotions as dictated by said consumer-specific publication parameters; and
said Data Storage Component is configured to save consumer profile data and consumer-specific publication parameters in a persistent storage coupled to said server;

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

A system according to claim 14, wherein said consumer client terminal is further configured to transmit a consumer's location data to said server via said network, and wherein said publication parameters include geographical limitations, and wherein said Network Communication Component is configured receive said location data via said network, and wherein said Processing Component is configured to compare said location data to said publication parameters to determine whether said consumer is located within said geographical limitations, and to permit transmission of Promotions to which said publication parameters pertain to said consumer client terminal only if said consumer is located within the geographical limitations of said publication parameters.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10, wherein said merchant profile data contains sub-unit profile data, and wherein said Processing Component is further configured to create sub-unit profiles as components of said merchant profiles, and wherein said Data Storage Component is further configured to store sub-unit profiles as components of said merchant profiles.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

A system according to claim 17, wherein said Processing Component is further configured to authorize sub-units to create and select for publication Promotions within limits dictated by their sub-unit profiles.

### Claim 19 (depends on 10)

A system according to claim 10, wherein:
said Network Communication Component is configured to transmit non-redeemable Promotion selections, to receive a consumer selection of a Promotion from a consumer client terminal via said network, to receive an electronic deposit from said consumer client terminal via said network, to transmit to said consumer client terminal the selected Promotion in a form redeemable at a merchant location, and to receive from said merchant client terminal data indicating that said redeemable Promotion has been redeemed; and
said Processing component is configured to process said electronic deposit and to process a refund of said consumer's electronic deposit.