System and Method for Generating an Informational Packet for the Purpose of Marketing a Vehicle to Prospective Customers
AssigneeAutoipacket, LLC
InventorsPaul Astorg, Seve P. Astorg, Kenneth S. Wilkinson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and method for collecting information including data and files about a vehicle in a central repository, such data including inventory data from automobile dealerships, service history data, ownership history data, warranty data, original factory equipment data, invoice pricing data, vehicle images, financing data, and current retail value data, normalizing this data, and aggregating and storing the data in an relational database and file system to permit creation of customized presentations and analytical reports to assist in marketing vehicles to perspective customers.
Claims19
A method for assimilating information for a plurality of vehicles from a plurality of sources to present to at least one person using a system having at least one processor and a relationship database, the method comprising:
- searching the relationship database for active vehicles;
- for each vehicle:
- determining whether the relationship database has images for the located vehicle;
- when a vehicle has no images associated with it, querying the relationship database for a source and obtaining images if available from that source;
- determining whether the vehicle is a certified pre-owned vehicle;
- when a vehicle is a certified pre-owned vehicle, loading a set of data categories for certified pre-owned vehicles into an array to perform an iterative loop through that array to obtain and/or update information in those data categories;
- querying the relationship database for system data categories to load into a second array to perform an iterative loop through that array to obtain and/or update information in those data categories;
- querying the relationship database for data categories for a dealership associated with the vehicle to load into a third array to perform an iterative loop through that array to obtain and/or update information in those data categories including retrieving any stored content to create presentation material using predefined templates.
A method for assimilating information for a plurality of vehicles from a plurality of sources to present to at least one person using a system having at least one processor and a relationship database, the method comprising:
- searching the relationship database for active vehicles;
- for each vehicle querying the relationship database for data categories to load into an array to perform an iterative loop through that array to get and/or update information in those data categories;
- wherein the iterative loop includes
- looping through the array from 1 to n where n equals the number of data categories in the array,
- for each loop
- determine whether the array end has been reached, when the array end is reached progressing to the next query step or end of said method;
- querying the relationship database to determine if content is present for the data category;
- when no content is present in the relationship database, retrieving content from a source, storing the content into the relationship database and/or the file system then returning to the start of the loop;
- when content is present in the relationship database, determining whether there is newer content available;
- when newer content is available, retrieving newer content from a source, storing the newer content into the relationship database and/or the file system then returning to the start of the loop;
- and
- when newer content is not available, returning to the start of the loop.
A system for vehicle information input, storage, and retrieval where the vehicle is for sale at a dealership comprising:
- a relationship database;
- means for data collection from a plurality of sources including third party data resources, the vehicle manufacturer's computer system, a dealership management system, and a dealership's website hosting provider;
- means for data normalization of data obtained from the plurality of sources so that the data can be stored in the relationship database and associated with at least one vehicle;
- means for data aggregation and storage in the relationship database using a plurality of keys to define relationships between data records and associating files to at least one data record;
- means for data presentation to a user of the data associate with at least one vehicle;
- and
- means for data communication of an information packet to potential consumers where the informational packet includes information regarding one vehicle that is selected by the user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.