Merchant Booking Availability Engine

A method of scheduling a time slot for redeeming a promotion by a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a communications module of a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service, merchant promotion data from a merchant device associated with a merchant, wherein the merchant promotion data comprises details of a promotion for a good or service;
• storing, by the booking optimization module, the merchant promotion data at a promotion system database associated with the promotion and marketing system in association with one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• identifying, by a booking optimization module of the promotional server, a set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion based at least in part on the merchant promotion data associated with the one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• determining, by the booking optimization module, a predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots based at least in part on a calculated hidden demand value for each proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots, wherein the hidden demand value for a particular time slot comprises prediction of external bookings for the particular time slot that are placed from external sources other than the promotion and marketing service;
• determining, based at least in part on the predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots, a commission schedule for the set of proposed time slots, wherein the commission schedule comprises a set of commission values due to the promotion and marketing service for enabling redemption of the promotion at a respective proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots;
• and
• transmitting, by a communications module of the promotional server, a predictive scheduling interface comprising the set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion, the predicted booking limits for each of the proposed time slots, and the commission schedule for each of the proposed time slots to the merchant device for rendering at a merchant interface thereof.

An apparatus for scheduling a time slot for redeeming a promotion by a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer program code that, when executed by the processor, causes the apparatus to:

• receive, by a communications module of a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service, merchant promotion data from a merchant device associated with a merchant, wherein the merchant promotion data comprises details of a promotion for a good or service;
• store, by the booking optimization module, the merchant promotion data at a promotion system database associated with the promotion and marketing system in association with one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• identify, by a booking optimization module of the promotional server, a set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion based at least in part on the merchant promotion data associated with the one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• determine, by the booking optimization module, a predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots based at least in part on a calculated hidden demand value for each proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots, wherein the hidden demand value for a particular time slot comprises prediction of external bookings for the particular time slot that are placed from external sources other than the promotion and marketing service;
• based at least in part on the predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots, determine a commission schedule for the set of proposed time slots, wherein the commission schedule comprises a set of commission values due to the promotion and marketing service for enabling redemption of the promotion at a respective proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots;
• and
• transmit, by a communications module of the promotional server, a predictive scheduling interface comprising the set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion, the predicted booking limits for each of the proposed time slots, and the commission schedule for each of the proposed time slots to the merchant device for rendering at a merchant interface thereof.

A computer program product for scheduling a time slot for redeeming a promotion by a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program code that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to:

• receive, by a communications module of a promotional server of a promotion and marketing service, merchant promotion data from a merchant device associated with a merchant, wherein the merchant promotion data comprises details of a promotion for a good or service;
• store, by the booking optimization module, the merchant promotion data at a promotion system database associated with the promotion and marketing system in association with one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• identify, by a booking optimization module of the promotional server, a set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion based at least in part on the merchant promotion data associated with the one or more of the merchant and the good or service;
• determine, by the booking optimization module, a predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots based at least in part on a calculated hidden demand value for each proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots, wherein the hidden demand value for a particular time slot comprises prediction of external bookings for the particular time slot that are placed from external sources other than the promotion and marketing service;
• based at least in part on the predicted booking limit for each of the proposed time slots, determine a commission schedule for the set of proposed time slots, wherein the commission schedule comprises a set of commission values due to the promotion and marketing service for enabling redemption of the promotion at a respective proposed time slot of the set of proposed time slots;
• and
• transmit, by a communications module of the promotional server, a predictive scheduling interface comprising the set of proposed time slots for redeeming the promotion, the predicted booking limits for each of the proposed time slots, and the commission schedule for each of the proposed time slots to the merchant device for rendering at a merchant interface thereof.