EP1221108A2 - Systems and methods for evaluating information associated with a transaction to determine a subsidy offer - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to process a transaction in which a customer purchases an item. An indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item is received. Information associated with the transaction, such as information associated with the customer, the merchant, and/or the item, is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction. The subsidy offer may be transmitted to the customer, and a response to the subsidy offer may be received from the customer. If the received response indicates acceptance of the subsidy offer, the benefit is applied to the transaction.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EVALUATING

INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH A TRANSACTION TO

DETERMINE A SUBSIDY OFFER

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application: claims the benefit of provisional U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/143,396 filed July 12, 1999; and is continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/219,267 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Facilitating Electronic Commerce Through Providing Cross-Benefits During a Transaction" and filed December 23, 1998. The entire contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.

The present application is related to: U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/282,747 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing Cross-Benefits Based on a Customer Activity" and filed March 31, 1999; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/274,281 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing Cross-Benefits via a Central Authority" and filed March 22, 1999; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/322,351 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing Cross Benefits and Penalties" and filed May 28, 1999; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/100,684 entitled "Billing Statement Customer Acquisition System" and filed May 19, 1999, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/982,149 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Printing a Billing Statement to Provide Supplementary Product Sales" and filed on December 1, 1997; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/943,483 entitled "System and Method for Facilitating Acceptance of Conditional Purchase Offers (CPOs)" and filed on October 3, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/923,683 entitled "Conditional Purchase Offer (CPO) Management System For Packages" and filed September 4, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/889,319 entitled "Conditional Purchase Offer Management System" and filed July 8, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/707,660 entitled "Method and Apparatus for a Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System Designed to Facilitate Buyer-Driven Conditional Purchase Offers" filed on September 4, 1996 and issued as U.S. Patent No. 5,794,207 on August 11, 1998; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/994,426 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing Supplementary Product Sales to a Customer at a Customer Terminal" filed on December 19, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/920,116 entitled "Method and System for Processing Supplementary Product Sales at a Point-of-Sale Terminal" and filed on August 26, 1997; and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/221,099 entitled "Pre-Sale Data Broadcast System and Method" and filed December 28, 1998. The entire contents of these application are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to transactions in which a customer purchases an item. In particular, the present invention relates to systems and methods for evaluating information associated with a transaction to determine a subsidy offer.

BACKGROUND

Electronic commerce is becoming more accepted as a growing number of customers shop online (e.g., via the World Wide Web). However, electronic commerce suffers from many of the same problems that are associated with conventional commerce. For example, there is significant competition among merchants to attract and retain customers, and, as a result, merchants are not able to increase profits by increasing prices. Price competition is even stronger on the Internet, where customers can more readily "shop around" to determine prices offered by different merchants.

Even when a customer has decided to visit a particular merchant, he or she will not make a purchase if an item price is greater than the customer wants (or is able) to pay. One way to encourage the customer to purchase an item, via the World Wide Web or otherwise, is to reduce the item price. Unfortunately, reducing the item price also reduces the merchant's profit, and the reduced profit may not be offset by an increase in sales. Instead of directly reducing the item price, it is known that a merchant can offer a promotion to encourage the customer to purchase the item. For example, a merchant may advertise a "buy one get one free" promotion. Similarly, a merchant may advertise that customers can receive a 10% discount when they establish a credit card account associated with the merchant.

It is also known that a number of merchants can work together to offer a promotion. For example, a first merchant may advertise that if a customer purchases a first item from the first merchant, a second item can be purchased at a reduced price from, or be given away by, a second merchant. It is also known for a promotion to be generally provided at a point of sale. For example, a merchant's Web site may display a "banner advertisement" that allows a customer to access another Web site to make a second purchase.

All of the above techniques, however, have serious disadvantages. For example, merchant promotions are offered to potential customers before the customer indicates that he or she is interested in a particular item (e.g. , by advertising the promotion on a radio station). In this case, the merchant must pay to have information about the promotion distributed to many people who will not be interested in the promotion, increasing the merchant's customer acquisition cost. Moreover, the merchant will not be able to use information about a particular transaction (e.g., demographic information about the customer purchasing the item or information about the item) to select or modify the promotion as appropriate.

U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/219,267, discloses a system wherein a merchant server of a first merchant receives an indication of items that a customer is to purchase via a Web site. The indication may be, for example, a signal indicating that the customer is ready to "check out" his or her virtual shopping cart of items on the Web site. In response, the merchant server provides an offer for a benefit from a second merchant, which may be referred to as one type of cross-benefit or subsidy offer. If the customer indicates acceptance of the offer, the benefit is applied to the item or items being purchased. For example, the total price paid for the items may be reduced, or the items may be provided to the customer for free. In exchange, the customer agrees to participate in a transaction with the second merchant. For example, the customer may agree to switch service providers (e.g., to switch long distance telephone service providers) or to initiate a new service agreement (e.g., to apply for a new credit card with the second merchant).

A need exists, however, for further systems and methods to facilitate electronic commerce, such as for systems and methods that determine the subsidy offer to be provided to the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To alleviate problems inherent in the prior art, the present invention introduces systems and methods for processing a transaction in which a customer purchases an item.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item is received. Information associated with the transaction is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides (i) means for receiving an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item and (ii) means for evaluating information associated with the transaction to determine a subsidy offer.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and the several drawings attached herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram overview of a transaction system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. IB is a block diagram overview of a transaction system according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a merchant device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a tabular representation of a portion of a subsidy database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a tabular representation of a portion of a customer database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a tabular representation of a portion of an item database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a tabular representation of a portion of a subsidy provider database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a tabular representation of a portion of a prior transaction database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting a method for processing a transaction according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting a method for determining a subsidy offer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting a method for determining a subsidy offer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods for evaluating information associated with a transaction to determine a subsidy offer. Turning now in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 A is a block diagram overview of a transaction system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The transaction system 100 includes a merchant device 20 in communication with a customer device 10 and a subsidy provider device 30. As used herein, devices (such as the customer device 10, the merchant device 20 and/or the subsidy provider device 30) may communicate, for example, through a communication network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or an Internet Protocol (IP) network such as the Internet, an intranet or an extranet. Moreover, as used herein, communications include those enabled by wired or wireless technology. Note that although a single customer device 10 is shown in FIG. 1A, any number of customer devices 10 may be included in the transaction system 100. Similarly, any number of the other devices described herein may be included according to embodiments of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the customer device 10 communicates with a remote, Web-based merchant device 20 (e.g., a server) through the Internet. Although embodiments of the present invention are described with respect to information exchanged using a Web site, according to other embodiments of the present invention information can instead be exchanged using, for example: a telephone, an Interactive Voice Response Unit (IVRU), a facsimile machine, postal mail, electronic mail, a WEBTV® interface, a cable network interface, or a wireless communication system.

The customer device 10 may be, for example: a Personal Computer (PC), a portable computing device such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wired or wireless telephone, a one-way or two-way pager, a kiosk, an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), or any other appropriate communication device. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the customer device is a Point Of Sale (POS) terminal or a device located at, or communication with, a POS terminal.

In general, the customer device 10 can be any device capable of performing methods in accordance with the present invention. Note that the customer device 10, the merchant device 20 and or the subsidy provider device 30 may be incorporated in a single device (e.g., a kiosk located in the merchant's store).

As will be explained, the transaction system 100 may be used to process a transaction in which a customer purchases an item. As used herein, an "item" refers to anything that can be purchased by a customer (e.g., a good or a service). Airline tickets, consumer electronics, electronically delivered information, technical support service, and grocery items are some examples of items that can be purchased by a customer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the merchant device 20 receives from the customer device 10 an indication that a customer is interested in purchasing an item. For example, a customer may access a Web page associated with a merchant. When the customer sees an item that he or she wishes to purchase, the customer may place the item in a "virtual shopping cart" to indicate an interest in purchasing an item. According to an embodiment of the present invention, information associated with the transaction is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. As used herein, a "subsidy offer" refers to any offer associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction. For example, a subsidy provider (e.g., a party other than the customer and the merchant) may offer to apply $50 towards the purchase of the item. In general, the benefit can be anything of value to the customer (e.g., an additional item, a higher quality item, an extended warranty and/or a lower interest rate). Note that, according to one embodiment, a number of different subsidy offers are determined. The information about the transaction used to determine the subsidy offer may include, for example, information associated with the customer, information associated with the item, information associated with the subsidy provider and/or information associated with prior transactions. The evaluation may be performed by, for example, the merchant device 20 or the subsidy provider device 30. For example, when a customer indicates that he or she is interested in purchasing a television, the merchant device 20 may provide information about the transaction to the subsidy provider device 30. The subsidy provider device 30 can then evaluate the information and provide one or more appropriate subsidy offers (e.g., "subscribe to a satellite television service and receive the television you are interested in purchasing for free") to the merchant device 20.

The subsidy offer may be transmitted from the merchant device 20 to the customer device 10. For example, the subsidy offer may be transmitted via a Web page or an electronic mail message. The customer device 10 then transmits a response to the subsidy offer to the merchant device 20. If the response indicates that the customer accepts the subsidy offer, the benefit is applied to the transaction. For example, $50 may be applied by the subsidy provider towards the customer's purchase of the item.

The subsidy offer may be conditioned on the performance of a task by the customer. For example, the subsidy provider may offer to apply $50 towards the purchase of an airline ticket only if the customer agrees to apply for a particular credit card account. In this case, a penalty may be applied if a customer who accepts the subsidy offer does not perform the task. For example, a customer may provide a payment identifier (e.g., a credit card number) when accepting a subsidy offer to have $50 applied towards the purchase of a television in exchange for subscribing to a cable television service for three months. If the customer then stops using the service after two months, an appropriate penalty may be applied (e.g., a $33, $50 or $60 charge may be applied using his or her credit card number). Note that the customer device 10 may communicate directly with the subsidy provider device 30 (as shown by a dashed line in FIG. 1 A). For example, the subsidy provider may offer to pay for the customer's purchase of a book if the customer applies for a new credit card. In this case, the credit card application information (e.g., the customer's name, address and Social Security number) may be transmitted directly from the customer device 10 to the subsidy provider device 30.

FIG. IB is a block diagram overview of a transaction system 150 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. IB, a central controller 40 communicates with the customer device 10, the merchant device 20, the subsidy provider device 30 and a credit reporting device 50. According to this embodiment, the central controller 40 may evaluate information about a transaction to determine an appropriate subsidy offer.

For example, the central controller 40 may receive an indication that a customer is interested in purchasing an item (e.g. , by receiving the indication from the customer device 10 or the merchant device 20). The central controller 40 may then evaluate information associated with the customer and information associated with one or more subsidy providers to determine a subsidy offer. For example, the central controller 40 may receive a credit report from the credit reporting device 50 based on a credit card number associated with the customer (e.g. , after receiving permission from the customer to do so). Information in the credit report, such as a credit rating associated with the customer, may then be used by the central controller 40 to determine an appropriate subsidy offer.

Moreover, the central controller 40 may receive from the subsidy provider device 30 information about the rate at which customers are being acquired by a subsidy provider. Based on this information, the central controller 40 may determine a subsidy offer and transmit the subsidy offer to the customer device 10. According to another embodiment, the central controller 40 may transmit information associated with the subsidy offer to the merchant device 20, which in turn transmits the subsidy offer to the customer device 10.

Note that a subsidy offer may be determined based on, for example, information stored at the customer device 10 (e.g., information stored in a cookie file at the customer's PC or information stored on a customer PDA or smart card), information stored at the central controller 40, information stored at the merchant device 20 and/or information stored at the subsidy provider device 30.

Merchant Device

FIG. 2 illustrates a merchant device 20 that is descriptive of the device shown in FIG. 1 A according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that the central controller 40 of FIG. IB may contain similar elements and perform similar functions to those described herein with respect to the merchant device 20. The merchant device 20 comprises a processor 210, such as one or more INTEL

Pentium® processors, coupled to a communication port 220 configured to communicate through a communication network (not shown in FIG. 2). The communication port 220 may be used to communicate, for example, with a number of customer devices 10, subsidy provider devices 30, central controllers 40 and/or credit reporting devices 50.

The processor 210 is also in communication with a storage device 230. The storage device 230 may comprise any appropriate information storage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., magnetic tape and hard disk drives), optical storage devices and semiconductor memory devices, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) devices and Read Only Memory (ROM) devices.

The storage device 230 stores a program 215 for controlling the processor 210. The processor 210 performs instructions of the program 215, and thereby operates in accordance with the present invention. For example, the processor 210 may receive an indication that a customer is interested in purchasing an item and evaluate information associated with a transaction to determine a subsidy offer.

The program 215 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The program 215 furthermore includes program elements that may be necessary, such as an operating system, a database management system and "device drivers" used by the processor 210 to interface with peripheral devices. Appropriate device drivers and other necessary program elements are known to those skilled in the art and are not described in detail herein. Note that the processor 210 and the storage device 230 may be, for example: (i) located entirely within a single computer or other computing device; or (ii) located in separate devices coupled through a communication channel. In one embodiment, the merchant device 20 comprises one or more computers that are connected to a remote database server. As used herein, information may be "received" by, for example: (1) the merchant device 20 from a customer device 10 or a subsidy provider device 30; or (2) a software application or module within the merchant device 20 from another software application, module or any other source.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage device 230 also stores: a subsidy database 300 (described with respect to FIG. 3); a customer database 400 (described with respect to FIG. 4); an item database 500 (described with respect to FIG. 5); a subsidy provider database 600 (described with respect to FIG. 6); and a prior transaction database 700 (described with respect to FIG. 7). The schematic illustrations and accompanying descriptions of the databases presented herein are exemplary, and any number of other database arrangements could be employed besides those suggested by the figures. Examples of databases that may be used in connection with the transaction systems 100, 150 will now be described in detail with respect to FIGS. 3 through 7.

Subsidy Database

Referring to FIG. 3, a table represents one embodiment of the subsidy database 300 that may be stored at the merchant device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table includes entries identifying subsidy offers that may be provided to a customer who is interested in purchasing an item. The table also defines fields 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312 for each of the entries. The fields specify: a subsidy identifier 302; a subsidy description 304; subsidy evaluation criteria 306; a subsidy task 308; a subsidy benefit 310; and a subsidy provider identifier 312. The information in the subsidy database 300 may be created and updated, for example, based on information received from one or more subsidy providers.

The subsidy identifier 302 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with a particular subsidy offer that may be provided to a customer who is interested in purchasing an item. The subsidy identifier 302 may be associated with identifiers stored in an accepted subsidies 408 field and a rejected subsidies 410 field of the customer database 400 and/or identifiers stored in an offered subsidies 708 field and an accepted subsidies 710 field of the transaction database 700. For each subsidy offer, the subsidy database 300 also stores a subsidy description 304 that describes the offer. The subsidy description 304 may comprise, for example, any textual, image and/or audio information provided to a customer to describe the subsidy offer.

Each subsidy offer is also associated with subsidy evaluation criteria 306 and a subsidy task 308. According to the present invention, the subsidy evaluation criteria 306 indicates one or more conditions that must be met in order for the subsidy offer to be provided to a customer. The subsidy task 308 indicates the task (or tasks) that must be performed by the customer in accordance with the subsidy offer.

Each subsidy offer is also associated with a subsidy benefit 310, indicating the benefit that will be provided to a customer who accepts the subsidy offer, and a subsidy provider identifier 312. The subsidy provider identifier 312 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with the party that will provide the benefit to the customer, and may be associated with a subsidy party identifier 602 stored in the subsidy provider database 600.

For example, the subsidy offer having a subsidy identifier 302 of "S1001" is described to the customer as "Earn $50 credit towards your purchase if you apply for a CAPITAL ONE® credit card right now!" This subsidy offer will only be provided to a customer who is not currently a CAPITAL ONE® cardholder, as indicated by the subsidy evaluation criteria 306. In order for the customer to receive the subsidy benefit 310 (i.e., $50 credit), the customer must fill out a CAPITAL ONE® credit card application, as indicated by the subsidy task 308. As another example, the subsidy offer having a subsidy identifier 302 of

"S1005" is described to the customer as "Visit www.subsidypro.com/854321 to learn how to receive this purchase for free!" Such an indication of a subsidy offer may be provided, for example, as part of the customer's credit card billing statement (e.g., next to an indication of the customer's purchase of an item included in the statement). In this case, the customer has indicated an interest in purchasing the item by paying for the item using his or her credit card. According to other embodiments, the indication of a subsidy offer may instead be provided, for example, via a telephone bill (e.g., in association with a charge for a "900" number telephone call) or a bank statement (e.g. , in association with a debit card purchase). Note that the subsidy evaluation criteria 306 may include information related to the customer's credit card account, such as a merchant identifier (e.g. , associated with the merchant from which the customer purchased the item) and/or a customer credit rating. Also note that the URL included in the indication of the subsidy offer may include an identifier (i.e., "854321") associated with the customer and/or a particular subsidy offer. Also note that the indication of the subsidy offer may not disclose the actual subsidy offer, thereby enabling a subsidy provider to adjust a task or benefit associated with the subsidy offer after the customer receives the indication of the subsidy offer.

Customer Database

Referring to FIG. 4, a table represents one embodiment of the customer database 400 that may be stored at the merchant device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table includes entries identifying customers who may be interested in purchasing an item. The table also defines fields 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412 for each of the entries. The fields specify: a customer identifier 402; a customer address 404; a customer status 406; accepted subsidies 408; rejected subsidies 410; and customer demographic information 412. The information in the customer database 400 may be created and updated, for example, based on information received from one or more customers (e.g. , when a customer registers with a merchant, completes a transaction, and/or responds to a subsidy offer).

The customer identifier 402 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with a customer who is interested in purchasing an item and may be associated with a customer identifier 704 stored in the transaction database 700. For each customer, the customer database 400 stores the customer address 404 (e.g., a home or work address, an e-mail address, an Internet Protocol address, or a telephone number). The customer address 404 may be used to provide subsidy offers to customers who live in certain geographic areas (e.g., to customers who live in ZLP code 06897). The customer status 406 indicates how often the customer purchases items from the merchant. For example, a customer may be a "frequent" customer, a "new" customer, a "recently inactive" customer, or a customer who has not purchased an item from the merchant for an extended period of time ("extended inactive"). In this way, a subsidy offer may be provided to a certain type of customer. For example, a valuable subsidy offer may only be provided to customers associated with a customer status 406 of "new" to reward them for registering or transacting with the merchant and to encourage them to complete transactions. According to another embodiment, a frequent customer may be rewarded for his or her loyalty.

The customer database 400 also stores identifiers corresponding to one or more accepted subsidies 408 and rejected subsidies 410 associated with the customer. The information in these fields may be based on the subsidy identifier 302 stored in the subsidy database 300 and may be used to indicate which subsidy offers (if any) have previously been accepted or rejected by the customer. For example, the customer having a customer identifier 402 of "C 101" has accepted subsidy offer "SI 001" and rejected subsidy offer "SI 004." This information may be used, for example, so that a customer will only be provided with subsidy offers that he or she has not previously accepted or rejected.

Similarly, the information may be used to determine a type of subsidy offer that will be provided to the customer. For example, consider a customer who typically accepts subsidy offers associated with tasks that can be performed from his or her home (e.g. , listening to a telemarketing presentation or participating in an on-line focus group) and typically rejects subsidy offers associated with tasks that cannot be performed at home (e.g., test driving an automobile or visiting a consumer electronics store). In this case, the accepted subsidies 408 and the rejected subsidies 410 may be used to determine that the customer should be provided with a subsidy offer associated with a task that can be performed at home. The customer database 400 also stores customer demographic information 412 associated with the customer. For example, the customer demographic information 412 may indicate the sex, age and interests (e.g., a "1" indicating an interest in sports) of the customer. This information may be used, for example, so that a customer will receive subsidy offers that he or she will be more likely to accept. Similarly, other types of demographic information, as well as other types of information associated with the customer, may also be stored in the customer database 400 and used for this purpose. For example, psychographic information (e.g., information about attitudes, values, lifestyles and opinions) associated with customers could be used to determine subsidy offers.

Item Database

Referring to FIG. 5, a table represents one embodiment of the item database 500 that may be stored at the merchant device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table includes entries identifying items that a customer may be interested in purchasing. The table also defines fields 502, 504, 506, 508 for each of the entries. The fields specify: an item identifier 502; an item description 504; an item category 506; and an item price 508. The information in the item database 500 may be created and updated, for example, based on inventory information associated with a merchant.

The item identifier 502 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with an item that a customer may be interested in purchasing and may be associated with an item identifier 706 stored in the transaction database 700. The item description 504 describes the item, and the item category 506 may indicate, for example, the type of product associated with the item (e.g., "television" or "computer"). According to an embodiment of the present invention, this information may be used, for example, to provide an appropriate subsidy offer to a customer (e.g., to provide a subsidy offer associated with an Internet service if a customer is interested in purchasing a computer). The item price 508 indicates an original price (e.g., a retail price before any subsidy benefit is applied) associated with an item. This information can also be used to provide an appropriate subsidy offer to a customer (e.g., customers who are interested in purchasing less expensive items may receive a first subsidy offer while customers who are interested in purchasing more expensive items may receive a second subsidy offer).

Subsidy Provider Database

Referring to FIG. 6, a table represents one embodiment of the subsidy provider database 600 that may be stored at the merchant device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table includes entries identifying parties that may provide a subsidy in association with a transaction. The table also defines fields 602, 604, 606 for each of the entries. The fields specify: a subsidy provider identifier 602; a subsidy provider description 604; and a customer acquisition rate 606. The information in the subsidy provider database 600 may be created and updated, for example, based on information received from one or more subsidy providers. The subsidy provider identifier 602 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with the party that may provide a subsidy benefit to a customer, and may be associated with the subsidy provider identifier 312 stored in the subsidy database 600. The information in the subsidy provider description field 604 may be information that describes the subsidy provider. The customer acquisition rate 606 may indicate, for example, a rate at which the subsidy provider is acquiring new customers (e.g., "low," "average" or "high" rate of acquisition). This information may be used to determine which subsidy offers should be provided to customers. For example, a first subsidy offer may be provided to customers when a particular subsidy provider has a customer acquisition rate 606 of "low," while a second subsidy offer (e.g., a subsidy offer with a less valuable benefit) may be provided to customers when the customer acquisition rate 606 is "high." Note that the customer acquisition rate 606 may be associated with a rate at which the subsidy provider is acquiring new customers via subsidy offers (e.g., a rate at which customers are accepting the subsidy offers) or an overall rate at which the subsidy provider is acquiring new customers (e.g., including customers who are not acquired via subsidy offers). According to another embodiment, a customer acquisition strategy (e.g., "less aggressive" or "more aggressive") may be used instead of, or in addition to, the customer acquisition rate 606. According to another embodiment, the customer acquisition rate 606 indicates a specific rate at which customers are actually being acquired (e.g., "17 customers per hour").

Prior Transaction Database

Referring to FIG. 7, a table represents one embodiment of the prior transaction database 700 that may be stored at the merchant device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table includes entries identifying transactions associated with the transaction system 100. The table also defines fields 702, 704, 706, 708, 710 for each of the entries. The fields specify: a transaction identifier 702; a customer identifier 704; an item identifier 706; offered subsidies 708; accepted subsidies 710; and a time and date 712. The information in the prior transaction database 700 may be created and updated, for example, when a customer completes a transaction (e.g., when a customer purchases an item) .

The transaction identifier 702 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with a particular transaction. The customer identifier 704 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with a particular customer and may be associated with the customer identifier 402 stored in the customer database 400. The item identifier 706 may be, for example, an alphanumeric code associated with a particular item and may be associated with the item identifier 502 stored in the item database 500. For example, as shown in the first entry of FIG. 7, a transaction with the transaction identifier 702 of "T 101" involves a customer with the customer identifier 704 of "C 102" purchasing an item with the item identifier 706 of "1-101" (i.e., a 25 inch screen SONY® television as shown by the item description 504 in FIG. 5).

The offered subsidies 708 may be used to store, for example, subsidy identifiers 302 of the subsidies that were offered during the transaction. Similarly, the accepted subsidies 710 may be used to store the subsidy identifiers 302 of the subsidies that were accepted by the customer during the transaction. For example, in the transaction with the transaction identifier 702 of "T101," the customer was offered subsidies "S1001" and "SI 004" and he or she accepted subsidy "SI 001." Note that a customer may not accept any of the offered subsidies 708 (as illustrated in the third entry of FIG. 7). Moreover, according to some embodiments, a customer may be offered and may accept more than one subsidy. The time and date 712 may indicate when a transaction has been initiated or completed.

Methods that may be used in connection with the transaction systems 100, 150 according to various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with respect to FIGS. 8 through 10.

Transaction System Methods

FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting a method 800 for processing a transaction in which a customer purchases an item according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flow chart in FIG. 8, as well as the other flow charts discussed herein, is not meant to imply a fixed order to the steps, and embodiments of the present invention can be practiced in any order that is practicable. At 802, an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item is received. For example, an order for the item may be received from the customer through a communication network such as the Internet. Similarly, the indication may reflect that the customer is arranging to provide payment for the item (e.g., he or she is providing a credit card number). One system for receiving such an indication is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,960,411 entitled "Method and System for Placing a

Purchase Order via a Communications Network." According to one embodiment, the indication is received via a Web page when the customer "places" the item in his or her "virtual shopping cart." According to another embodiment, the indication reflects that the customer has made an offer, including a customer defined price, for the item. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item may simply comprise an indication that the customer is accessing information about the item. For example, the indication may be that the customer has viewed a Web page associated with the item for a predetermined period of time (e.g., thirty seconds). The indication may also comprise, for example, an attempt by the customer to win the item (e.g., by entering a lottery or participating in a game of skill). According to another embodiment of the present invention, the indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item may comprise an indication from an input device associated with the customer. For example, the customer may move a mouse pointer onto an image of the item, or the customer may use an input device to scan a Universal Product Category (UPC) bar code associated with the item. As another example, a customer may use a keyboard to enter a search term (e.g., "televisions") which acts as such an indication.

According to another embodiment, the indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item may comprise information stored at a customer device, such as information stored at a customer's PDA.

According to another embodiment, an indication that the customer is no longer interested in purchasing the item may be used. For example, a customer may have arranged to purchase the item and then cancel the order. Similarly, the indication may reflect that the customer is not going to purchase the item at an original price. Note, therefore, that an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item may in fact comprise an indication that the customer is not interested in purchasing the item at a particular time (e.g., because the current price is too high).

According to other embodiments, the indication may reflect that the customer is interested in purchasing another item or is purchasing the item from another merchant. For example, arranging to purchase a camera made by a first manufacturer may be viewed as an indication that a customer may also be interested in purchasing a similar camera made by a second manufacturer.

In the case of an auction, the indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item may comprise a bid for the item. According to another embodiment, the indication may comprise an indication that a second customer is interested in purchasing the item. For example, consider a first customer who bids $50 to purchase a portable music player. The fact that a second customer bids $60 for that item may result in a subsidy offer (e.g., "perform this task and have $20 added to your bid") being provided to the first customer. The indication received at 802 may be received via, for example: a Web page, a telephone, an IVRU, a POS terminal, an ATM, a PDA, a portable customer device, an electronic mail message, and/or a kiosk. At 804, information associated with the transaction is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction. The subsidy provider may be, for example, a second merchant where the customer has indicated an interest in purchasing an item from a first merchant. Note that, as explained below with respect to FIG. 10, more than one subsidy offer may be determined.

The benefit may comprise, for example, a subsidy amount to be applied to an original price associated with the item (e.g., "receive $50 off of the retail price" or "receive 20% off of the lowest price offered in your area"). The benefit may also comprise another item to be provided to the customer in place of the original item (e.g., a higher quality item) or in addition to the original item (e.g., a free peripheral). According to another embodiment, the benefit may comprise any improved transaction term. For example, an extended warranty or a lower interest rate may be used as a benefit. Note that a benefit may be applied immediately to the transaction or may be applied in any other way (e.g. , by providing multiple future payments or reducing future fees owed by the customer).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the benefit is associated with the performance of a task by the customer. For example, the subsidy offer may require that the customer apply for, or subscribe to, a service, such as: a telephone service, an Internet service, a banking service, a credit card account service, an insurance service, a securities trading service, a satellite television service, and/or a cable television service. The task may also comprise, for example: purchasing another item, accessing a Web page, visiting a merchant, dialing a telephone number, and/or providing an answer to a question (e.g., completing a survey). A more detailed description of the evaluation performed at 804 is provided with respect to FIGS. 9 and 10.

At 806, the subsidy offer is provided to the customer, such as by transmitting the offer to the customer through a communication network. The subsidy offer may be provided, for example, by transmitting the offer via: a Web page, a telephone, an rVRU, a POS terminal, an ATM, a PDA, a portable customer device, an electronic mail message, and/or a kiosk. According to one embodiment, a POS terminal may be used to communicate information describing the offer to an employee who, in turn, verbally communicates the offer to a customer. Note that when the indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item was received through a communication network, the subsidy offer may be transmitted through the same communication network or through a different communication network. At 808, a response to the subsidy offer is received from the customer (e.g., the customer may accept or decline the offer). If the received response indicates an acceptance of the subsidy offer at 810, the benefit is applied to the transaction at 812. If the received response does not indicate an acceptance of the subsidy offer at 810, the benefit is not applied to the transaction. At 814, the transaction is completed. FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting a method 900 for determining a subsidy offer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that only some of the evaluations described herein may be performed to determine the subsidy offer.

At 902, information associated with the customer is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. The information associated with the customer may be, for example: an address associated with the customer, demographic information associated with the customer, psychographic information associated with the customer, and a credit rating associated with the customer. By way of example, a particular subsidy offer may only be provided to customers over 35 years old who live in a certain geographic region. Such a determination may be based on, for example, information stored in the customer database 400. According to another embodiment, the information associated with the customer may comprise the way in which the customer indicates that he or she is interested in purchasing the item. For example, a particular subsidy offer may be provided to customers who attempt to win an item in a lottery or raffle but not to customers who offer to purchase the item. The information associated with the customer may also include an association of the customer with the subsidy provider or any other party. For example, an offer to have $50 applied to a purchase if the customer agrees to open an internet service account with a first provider may not be transmitted to those customers who already have an account with the first provider. Similarly, the offer may only be provided to those customer who currently use a second provider (e.g., a particular competitor of the first provider). By way of example, a central controller 40 may detect that a customer device 10 is communicating through the second provider (e.g., based on an IP address associated with the customer). In the case of a subsidy offered by a telephone service provider, information based on the customer's telephone number or connection may likewise be used (e.g. , to determine whether or not the customer uses a particular cellular service or subscribes to a particular long distance plan). The information associated with the customer may also include information associated with at least one previous fransaction, such as: a previous offer provided to the customer, a previous offer accepted by the customer, and/or a previous offer rejected by the customer. For example, a customer who has previously rejected a subsidy offer with a $10 benefit (e.g., as indicated in the prior transaction database 700) may now receive a subsidy offer with a $20 benefit.

At 904, information associated with the item is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. The information associated with the item may include, for example: an original price of the item, an item category (e.g., a television), an item class (e.g., a high quality television), an item manufacturer, and/or an item feature (e.g., a television remote control). For example, an item with an original price of $5 may result in a first subsidy offer while an item with an original price of $2,000 may result in a different subsidy offer.

At 906, information associated with one or more appropriate subsidy providers is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. For example, additional subsidy offers may become available when a customer acquisition rate associated with a subsidy provider falls below a predetermined level.

At 908, other transaction information is evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. For example, an amount the customer is willing to provide in exchange for the item (e.g., a customer defined price) may be evaluated. Consider a customer who bids $50 for an item associated with an auction reserve price (i.e., a price below which the item will not be sold) of $60. In this case, a subsidy offer having a benefit of $15 may be determined to be appropriate for the transaction. Note that the actual amount of the subsidy offer does not need to be disclosed to the customer (e.g., "your bid is below the reserve price for this item, but will be adjusted to an amount above the reserve price if you switch Internet service providers").

The time and/or the date associated with the transaction, such as the time and date 712 stored in the prior transaction database 700, may also be evaluated to determine a subsidy offer. For example, certain subsidy offers may only be provided during off-peak hours (e.g., late at night) or may not be provided during busy shopping periods (e.g., during a holiday shopping period).

The evaluations performed herein may use information stored by, for example: a device associated with the customer, a device associated with a merchant selling the item to the customer, a device associated with the subsidy provider, and/or a central controller. For example, information stored in a cookie file at a customer's PC may be used to determine a subsidy offer. Moreover, the information may be stored in the subsidy database 300, the customer database 400, the item database 500, the subsidy provider database 600 and/or the prior transaction database 700 previously described. The evaluations performed herein may use information received from the customer, such as survey information received from the customer. The information may also be received from the subsidy provider or any other party. For example, credit report information from a credit reporting device 50 (e.g., whether or not the customer's credit is in good standing) may be used to determine a subsidy offer. At 910, it is determined if a subsidy offer will be provided to the customer based on the evaluations described herein. If no subsidy offer will be provided at 910, the process ends at 914.

In addition to determining whether or not a subsidy offer will be provided to the customer, the type of or amount of the benefit associated with the subsidy offer is determined at 912. This determination may be based on, for example, the same information used to determine whether or not the subsidy offer will be provided. For example, a merchant device 20 may determine that a benefit should be increased because the customer has recently stopped purchasing items (e.g. , the customer may now be purchasing items from another merchant). The fransaction may then continue as described with respect to element 806 in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting a method 1000 for determining a subsidy offer according to another embodiment of the present invention. Note that the method described with respect to FIG. 10 may be performed, for example, in addition to the methods described with respect to FIGS. 8 and 9. According to this embodiment, a transaction may qualify for more than one subsidy offer at 1002. If desired, all of the subsidy offers may be displayed to the customer. In this case, the customer may chose to accept none, one, or more than one of the subsidy offers.

However, the merchant device 20 or the central controller 40 may instead select which of the applicable subsidy offers should be provided to the customer. In this case, the profitability of each subsidy offer may be evaluated with respect to the merchant at 1004, with respect to the customer at 1006, and with respect to the subsidy provider at 1008. For example, consider a transaction in which either a first or a second subsidy offer can be provided to a customer. The merchant device may receive $10 if the customer accepts the first subsidy offer, and $15 if the customer accepts the second subsidy offer. In this case, the merchant device 20 may determine that the second subsidy offer will be provided to the customer (e.g., because the second subsidy offer is considered more beneficial to the customer or the merchant).

The selection may also be based on the previous acceptance of each of the potential subsidy offers at 1010. For example, a first subsidy offer (e.g., to apply $5 towards an original price in exchange for the customer answering a short survey) may have been accepted by 90% of past customers while a second subsidy offer (e.g., to apply $20 towards an original price in exchange for the customer test driving a car at a dealership) was accepted by 20% of past customers. In this case, the first offer may be provided to the customer. At 1012, one or more subsidy offers are selected and provided to the customer.

The transaction may then continue as described with respect to element 806 in FIG. 8.

Additional Embodiments

The following are several examples which illustrate various embodiments of the present invention. These examples do not constitute a definition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further, although the following examples are briefly described for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications. By way of example, consider a customer who registers with an online book merchant. During registration, the customer provides the merchant with demographic information and credit card information (e.g., a credit card number). This information may be stored, for example, at a merchant device 20 or a customer device 10 (e.g., by using a cookie file). The customer then indicates that he wishes to purchase a $45 book from the merchant (e.g., by clicking on a "buy this book now" icon).

In response to the indication, the merchant evaluates the customer's demographic information, the original price of the book (i.e., $45) and the customer's credit card information. Based on the evaluation, the merchant tells the customer that he can receive the book for free if he applies for a new credit card. The customer agrees. Note that the customer might be required to complete an online credit card application at this point. The retailer then sends the book to the customer without charging the customer's credit card. In exchange for receiving the credit card application, a party associated with the new credit card provides $50 to the online book retailer.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the merchant may instead charge the customer $45 in exchange for the book. In this case, the party associated with the new credit card may provide $45 directly to the customer and $5 directly to the merchant. Note that the party may instead provide multiple payments to the customer. For example, if the customer was to receive the book in exchange for using a particular Internet service for three months, the Internet service (i.e., the subsidy provider) may provide $15 to the customer each month (for a total of $45). According to another embodiment, the benefit offered to the customer may actually exceed the original price of the item being purchased. In the above example, the party associated with the new credit card may offer to apply $ 100 towards the customer's purchase of the $45 book. In this case, the customer may receive payment of the extra $55 or may select additional books (as part of this transaction or in a future transaction with the merchant). The customer may also be allowed to select items from other merchants. According to another embodiment, the merchant may keep the difference between the benefit and the original price of the item.

According to one embodiment, the subsidy offer is provided to the customer at a POS terminal. For example, a customer at a grocery store may be informed that he is eligible for $100 subsidy if he agrees to transfer a credit card balance to a particular credit card within two weeks. If the customer is not purchasing $100 worth of groceries during this transaction, the balance may be automatically applied to his next transaction. Similarly, a kiosk may be located in the grocery store and the customer can visit the kiosk to receive information about available subsidy offers.

According to another embodiment, a subsidy offer may be associated with a number of different subsidy providers and may require that the customer perform a number of tasks. For example, a customer may receive the following offer: "Receive this television for free if you: (i) subscribe to a particular cable television service for one year, (ii) apply for a new credit card and (iii) have your monthly cable television fee directly billed to your new credit card." In this case, both a cable television service provider and a credit card issuer may contribute towards the benefit being received by the customer (i.e., the free television).

According to another embodiment, a customer may be a member of a "subsidy group." The information associated with the group can then be used to determine the subsidy offers and benefits for the members. For example, a customer may indicate that he has been referred to a merchant by a third party (e.g., by providing an identifier associated with the third party). This information may be used to determine the benefits that will be offered to the customer and/or to the third party. The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for processing a transaction in which a customer purchases an item, comprising: receiving an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item; and evaluating information associated with the transaction to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the subsidy offer to the customer; and receiving a response to the subsidy offer from the customer.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: applying the benefit to the transaction if the received response indicates an acceptance of the subsidy offer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving comprises receiving from the customer an order for the item.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving is performed via a Web page and comprises receiving an indication that the item is in a virtual shopping cart associated with the customer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving comprises receiving an indication that the customer is accessing information about the item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving comprises receiving at least one of: information stored at a customer device. an indication from an input device associated with the customer, an indication that the customer is viewing information about the item, an indication that the customer has viewed information about the item for a predetermined period of time, an indication that the customer is providing payment for the item, a search term, a price request, an indication that the customer is no longer interested in purchasing the item, an indication that the customer is not going to purchase the item at an original price, an attempt to win the item, an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing another item, an indication that the customer is purchasing the item from another merchant, a bid for the item, an offer to purchase the item, the offer including a customer defined price for the item, and an indication that a second customer is interested in purchasing the item.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving is performed via at least one of: (i) a Web page, (ii) a telephone, (iii) an interactive voice response unit, (iv) a point of sale terminal, (v) an automatic teller machine, (vi) a personal digital assistant, (vii) a portable customer device, (viii) an electronic mail message, and (ix) a kiosk.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information associated with the customer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises at least one of: (i) an address associated with the customer, (ii) demographic information associated with the customer, (iii) psychographic information associated with the customer, (iv) a credit rating associated with the customer, and (v) a type of the received indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises an association of the customer with the subsidy provider.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises an association of the customer with a third party.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises information associated with at least one previous transaction.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises information associated with at least one of: (i) a previous offer provided to the customer, (ii) a previous offer accepted by the customer, and (iii) a previous offer rejected by the customer.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information associated with the item.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information associated with the item comprises at least one of: (i) an original price of the item, (ii) an item category, (iii) an item class, (iv) an item manufacturer, and (v) an item feature.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating an amount the customer is willing to provide in exchange for the item.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the amount the customer is willing to provide is based on at least one of: (i) a bid, (ii) an offer including a buyer-defined price, and (iii) a retail price associated with the item.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information associated with the subsidy provider.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the information associated with the subsidy provider comprises a customer acquisition rate.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information stored by at least one of: (i) a device associated with the customer, (ii) a device associated with a merchant selling the item to the customer, (iii) a device associated with the subsidy provider, and (iv) a central controller.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information stored in at least one of: (i) a subsidy database, and (ii) a customer database, (iii) an item database, (iv) a subsidy provider database, and (v) a prior transaction database.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information received from the customer.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the information received from the customer comprises survey information.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information received from the subsidy provider.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information received from a third party.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the information received from the third party comprises at least one of: (i) credit report information, and (ii) a credit rating associated with the customer.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: evaluating information associated with at least one of: (i) a time associated with the transaction and (ii) a date associated with the transaction.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: determining if the subsidy offer will be provided to the customer.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: determining an amount associated with the benefit.

31. The method of claim 1 , wherein said evaluating is performed by at least one of: (i) a device associated with the customer, (ii) a device associated with a merchant selling the item to the customer, (iii) a device associated with the subsidy provider, and (iv) a central controller.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises: selecting at least one subsidy offer from a plurality of potential subsidy offers.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said selecting is based on a profitability of each of the potential subsidy offers.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the profitability comprises a profitability of each of the potential subsidy offers to the customer.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the profitability comprises a profitability of each of the potential subsidy offers to at least one of: (i) a merchant selling the item to the customer, and (ii) the subsidy provider.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein said selecting is based on previous acceptance of each of the potential subsidy offers.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the previous acceptance is associated with at least one of: (i) the customer and (ii) a group of customers.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein the benefit comprises a subsidy amount to be applied to an original price associated with the item.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein the benefit comprises another item to be provided to the customer in place of the item.

40. The method of claim 1, wherein the benefit comprises another item to be provided to the customer in addition to the item.

41. The method of claim 1, wherein the benefit comprises an improved transaction term.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the transaction term comprises at least one of: (i) a warranty term and (ii) an interest rate term.

43. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction is between the customer and a first merchant and the subsidy provider comprises a second merchant.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein the benefit is associated with performance of a task by the customer.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the task comprises at least one of: (i) applying for a service and (ii) subscribing to a service.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the service comprises at least one of: (i) a telephone service, (ii) an Internet service, (iii) a banking service, (iv) a credit card account service, (v) an insurance service, (vi) a securities trading service, (vii) a satellite television service, and (viii) a cable television service.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the task comprises at least one of: (i) purchasing another item, (ii) accessing a Web page, (iii) visiting a merchant, (iv) dialing a telephone number, and (v) answering a question.

48. A system for processing a transaction, comprising: processor; and a storage device in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to: receive an indication that a customer is interested in purchasing an item; and evaluate information associated with the transaction to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction.

49. A medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method of processing a transaction in which a customer purchases an item, said method comprising: receiving an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item; and evaluating information associated with the transaction to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the transaction.

50. A method for purchasing an item, comprising: indicating an interest in purchasing the item; and receiving a subsidy offer in response to the indication, the subsidy offer being (i) based on an evaluation of information associated with the purchase and (ii) associated with a benefit from a subsidy provider to be applied to the purchase in exchange for performance of a task; and accepting the subsidy offer.

51. A method for processing a transaction in which a customer purchases an item, comprising: receiving through a communication network an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing the item in exchange for payment of an amount based on an original price; evaluating information associated with the transaction to determine a subsidy offer, the subsidy offer being associated with a subsidy amount from a subsidy provider to be applied to the original price in exchange for performance of a task by the customer; transmitting the subsidy offer to the customer through the communication network; receiving a response to the subsidy offer from the customer through the communication network; arranging for the customer to provide payment of an amount based on the original price less the subsidy amount; and providing the item to the customer.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the information comprises information associated with at least one of: (i) the customer and (ii) the item.