US 9,111,295 B2Granted

Program, system and method for linking community programs and merchants in a marketing program

AssigneeEdatanetworks Inc.

InventorsTerry Tietzen, Ronald James Mackay, Matthew A. M. Bates

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Abstract

The present invention is a system, data access management utility and a method of generating links between local merchants and community programs, whereby the merchant may provide incentives to customers in relation to community programs. The present invention may track community programs, as well as both online and offline customer transactions between participants that make use of the incentive. The present invention may include as participants, customers, merchants, community organizations, intermediaries, and other groups or individuals. Participants may have participant identifiers, which may be linked to a payment source. Data may be collected about all participants, either expressly, or from offline or online transactions between participants utilizing a participant identifier, and said data may be stored in a data storage area. All data in the data storage area may be utilized by logic tool, which may provide information, such as details of consumer behavior and analytic reporting. Matches between transactions and members and/or member activities may be identified by the system, and a level of certainty that the match is accurate may be determined.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-network implemented system for promoting one or more merchants of a marketing program to one or more members of the marketing program, each of the one or more merchants having a corresponding merchant profile and each of the one or more members having a corresponding member profile, the system comprising:

a data storage device storing one or more member profiles and one or more merchant profiles of the marketing program, each of the one or more member profiles comprising a participant identifier of the corresponding member;
and
at least one processor configuring a transaction linking utility to:
monitor, receive, and store in the data storage device, electronic signals representing data related to online user activity of the one or more members, the online user activity comprising at least one of browsing activity and searching activity on one or more client devices, wherein the stored data related to the online user activity of the one or more members is indexed by the participant identifier of the corresponding member of the one or more members;
detect an occurrence of a transaction associated with a merchant of the one or more merchants, and receive or access data associated with the transaction;
determine a participant identifier of the one or more members from the data associated with the transaction;
determine a length of elapsed time between the occurrence of the transaction and the occurrence of the online user activity of the one or more members;
trigger, as a result of detecting the occurrence of the transaction associated with the participant identifier, a determination of whether the transaction is linked to any online user activity of the one or more members with the participant identifier;
determine with a level of certainty whether the transaction is linked to the online user activity of the one or more members with the participant identifier, wherein the determined level of certainty varies based on the length of the elapsed time, the data related to the online user activity, and the data associated with the transaction;
and
based on the determined level of certainty and the data related to the online user activity, generate one or more incentives.

8 more elements

A computer-network implemented method for promoting one or more merchants of a marketing program to one or more members of the marketing program, each of the one or more merchants having a corresponding merchant profile and each of the one or more members having a corresponding member profile, wherein the one or more member profiles and the one or more merchant profiles of the marketing program are stored on a data storage device, each of the one or more member profiles comprising a participant identifier of the corresponding member, the method comprising:

monitoring, receiving, and storing in the data storage device, electronic signals representing data related to online user activity of the one or more members, the online user activity comprising at least one of browsing activity and searching activity on one or more client devices, wherein the stored data related to the online user activity of the one or more members is indexed by the participant identifier of the corresponding member of the one or more members;
detecting an occurrence of a transaction associated with a merchant of the one or more merchants, and receiving or accessing data associated with the transaction;
determining a participant identifier of the one or more members from the data associated with the transaction;
determining a length of elapsed time between the occurrence of the transaction and the occurrence of the online user activity of the one or more members;
triggering, as a result of detecting the occurrence of the transaction associated with the participant identifier, a determination of whether the transaction is linked to any online user activity of the one or more members with the participant identifier;
determining with a level of certainty whether the transaction is linked to the online user activity of the one or more members with the participant identifier, wherein the determined level of certainty varies based on the length of the elapsed time, the data related to the online user activity, and the data associated with the transaction;
and
based on the determined level of certainty and the data related to the online user activity, generating one or more incentives.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/944,474Filed 11 Nov 2010 · continuation
Priority: 6 Nov 2009
Published: US 2011/0112897 A112 May 2011
Granted: 18 Aug 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

G06Q 30/0224
Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates: based on user history
A43B 13/184
Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole: the structure protruding from the outsole
A43B 13/186
Resiliency achieved by the structure of the sole: differential cushioning region, e.g. cushioning located under the ball of the foot
G06Q 30/02
Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising