WO2001050370A2 - System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts - Google Patents
System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts Download PDFInfo
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- WO2001050370A2 WO2001050370A2 PCT/US2000/002533 US0002533W WO0150370A2 WO 2001050370 A2 WO2001050370 A2 WO 2001050370A2 US 0002533 W US0002533 W US 0002533W WO 0150370 A2 WO0150370 A2 WO 0150370A2
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- customer
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- set forth
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- product
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Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- 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
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- 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
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to automated methods and systems for forming and monitoring performance of multiple purchase installment contracts, and more specifically to automated methods and systems which use electronic communications and automated data processing equipment to perform tasks related to contract formation and performance monitoring. Discussion of the background
- Product promoters have employed many techniques to increase brand loyalty and provide incentives to consumers to purchase higher quantities of a particular manufacturer's product.
- a common technique to encourage a customer to purchase more of a manufacturer's product is to offer larger quantity packages of a product at a lower price per unit of quantity.
- Manufacturers may also assemble multiple packages of products into a single package for sale, such as a "6 pack" of bottled beverages or other items.
- a further step in encouraging consumers to purchase larger amounts of a manufacturer's product are so-called "warehouse clubs.”
- a warehouse club typically offers only products that are in packages containing a very large quantity.
- the warehouse club typically offer these items at a lower cost per unit quantity than is available from other retailers in order to encourage customers to purchase these larger packages.
- the item offered for sale by the warehouse club may be in a single large package, or the warehouse club may offer one "item" which comprises smaller containers assembled into the one "item” which the customer must then purchase as a whole.
- An example of the latter item includes a package often conventional size tubes of toothpaste that the customer must purchase in order to receive the beneficial price offered by the warehouse club.
- Requiring the customer to purchase large quantity packages of a product has the disadvantage of requiring the customer to spend large sum of money at one time in order to purchase the large quantity, although the product is purchased at a discounted per-unit cost. Requiring the customer to purchase large quantity packages of a product also inconveniences the customer by requiring the customer to store the large package and this technique is limited in its application to perishable items since the large quantity is usually not consumed within a short time by most households.
- the present invention achieves these and further objectives by providing an automated method, system and computer program product which perform the operations required to determine contractual terms, offer a contract, accept a customer's acceptance to that contract, monitor purchases made under the contract, determine if the customer satisfied his or her requirements under the contract and which may apply either a benefit or additional cost upon satisfaction or breach of the contract.
- Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the components comprising a system implementing the present invention
- Fig. 2 is a processing flow chart of the steps performed by a system implementing the present invention
- Fig. 3 is a is a processing flow chart of steps performed when a customer enters data used to estimate that customer's quantity requirement for a product;
- Fig. 4 is a processing flow chart illustrating the processing performed in association with a customer's accepting a contract offer
- Fig. 5 is a processing flow chart illustrating the processing performed in association with a customer's executing a purchase transaction
- Fig. 6 is an illustration of a printed identification to be used in conjunction with installment purchases.
- the present invention provides an automated technique that allows customers to enter into contracts which require the customer to purchase multiple installments of a product.
- the product is specified as to manufacturer brand as well as product type.
- the present invention further automatically monitors the purchases made by a customer who has entered into a multiple purchase installment contract to determine if and when the customer has satisfied the contract terms.
- the preferred embodiment utilizes three conceptual components; 1) a server which performs the data processing required by the present invention; 2) an electronic communications terminal which allows the customer to interact with the system; and 3) a retailer where the customer purchases products. It is obvious that various embodiments of the present invention may combine these components into a single device or may differently divide the processing among different devices of a system implementing the present invention.
- a retailer within the scope of the present invention includes but is not limited to both physical retail store locations and Internet retailers who conduct retail sales over the World Wide Web.
- the present invention may be operated through a joint effort between a product sponsor and a retailer in order to promote the sale of a particular product.
- a product sponsor is an entity with an interest in promoting the sale of the product, such as a manufacturer or distributor.
- Products which are the subject of multiple purchase installment contracts are referred to herein as "promoted products" because there is a promoter of that product who is trying to increase or promote the sale of more of that product.
- the present invention may be used to promote products of a particular brand or products produced by a particular manufacturer.
- the contract formed by the system implementing the present invention may require the customer to purchase the promoted product from a specified retailer, although the present invention works equally well, and is more attractive to the customer, when the customer is given the flexibility choosing retailers.
- FIG. 1 illustrates the components of a system implementing the present invention.
- Server 101 is a computer programmed to implement the processing required by the present invention.
- Server 101 in the preferred embodiment maintains databases containing data required to implement the methods of the present invention.
- Server 101 is normally operated by an entity that is independent of the retailer, such as a manufacturer, a distributor of products or an independent operation which provides the service of operating the system implementing the present invention.
- Server 101, as well as other components of the system implementing the present invention may be operated by an independent organization that has contractual relationships with a plurality of retailers as well as with multiple sponsors.
- An independent organization operating a system implementing the present invention gives the customer a choice of retailers from which to purchase products as well as providing the customer with a broader choice of products from more than one sponsor.
- a customer using the preferred embodiment communicates to the server 101 through an electronic communications interface, which in the preferred embodiment comprises an electronic communications link 112, a terminal 102 and optional devices connected to the terminal 102 such as the printer 103 and ID reader 104.
- the electronic communications terminal 102 bi- directionally communicates to server 101 by an electronic communications link 112 and comprises a display screen to display information to the customer as well as a user input facility; such as a keyboard, touch screen interface or mouse driven selector, to allow the customer to input information either by entering the information or by selecting options on the display screen.
- the electronic communications terminal 102 may have an optional printer 103 which is used to print documents for the customer using the terminal 102.
- the documents produced by printer 102 may contain information of interest to the customer, or a document that may be used as a customer's identification in conjunction with the subsequent purchases of the product that is the subject of the contract.
- Terminal 102 may also have an optional customer ID reader 104 which will allow the terminal to determine the identification of the customer.
- ID reader 104 is typically similar to customer ID reader 109 and us usually used to read the identification used by the customer at the retailer when making purchases under the contract formed by the system implementing the present invention.
- the terminal 102 may be a personal computer connected to the Internet, which serves as the electronic communications link, and being used as a World Wide Web browser, terminal 102 may be a personal computer used to read e-mail sent to the customer's e-mail address by the server 101 through an electronic communications link, or the terminal 102 may be in automated Kiosk that is located in a public location and which is available for public use.
- the terminal 102 and server 101 communicate bi-directionally over the electronic communications link 112 through one or more communications methods, as are known to practitioners in the relevant arts.
- the customer may communicate information to and receive information from the server 101 through either the same electronic communications interface, e.g. over a world wide web interface, or through different interfaces, e.g.
- Automated Kiosks may also be located at convenient locations within a retailer or at other locations convenient for the public. Automated Kiosks may also be designed to minimize the customer's interaction by incorporating the optional ID reader 104 to more quickly identify the customer using the terminal 102.
- a system implementing the present invention may interact with a plurality of retailers.
- This plurality of retailers may consist of individual retail stores which are operated a part of the same retail chain or the plurality of retailers may consist of retail stores that are not related except for their interaction with the system implementing the present invention.
- Each retailer comprises a retailer POS (Point Of Sale) system 108 which is used by the retailer to process customers purchases during a purchase transaction, which includes checkout of the customer's order and the customer's payment for customer's purchases.
- the retailer POS 108 essentially comprises the equipment used at the customer checkout station of the retailer and a retailer with a plurality of checkout stations will have corresponding retailer POS equipment that is located at each of the multiple checkout stations.
- An Internet based retailer i.e. a retailer allowing customer interaction over the Internet or other electronic communications network and shipping purchased products to customers in response to customer orders received either over the internet or other communications means, may use a system which performs functions similar to those performed by the retailer POS 108 that are identified in this specification.
- the retailer POS 108 of the preferred embodiment is connected to a customer ID reader 109 which is used to automatically read a customer's identification and provide and electronically readable data stream identifying the customer.
- the preferred embodiment identifies customers through the use of a customer identification number that is encoded into a printed barcode.
- the customer carries either a card or other document that has the printed barcode and presents this card or document to the retailer POS operator or the customer ID reader 104 itself. The operator may then present the customer identification with the barcode to the customer ID reader 104 and the barcode will be read.
- the customer identification used by the present invention may be an identification associated with a retailer's frequent shopper program.
- Retailer frequent shopper programs provide incentives to customers who present identification during each purchase. Frequent shopper programs may record the list of items each customer purchases and the recorded list may further be associated with the customer's identification. An accumulation of recorded purchase selections for a specific customer may be analyzed by the retailer in order to determine purchasing patterns for that customer.
- a system implementing the present invention that is operated by an independent organization may also utilize a retailer specific frequent shopper card to identify the customer making a purchase. Such a system will record the frequent shopper card number and a retailer's identification in the customer data database 107.
- the retailer POS 108 will send the customer identification, along with an identification of the retailer itself, to server 101 and server 101 will compare received identification of the customer and retailer to data stored in the customer data database 107 to uniquely identify the customer.
- An Internet retailer may identify customers through a variety of methods. Internet retailers may also allow the customer to provide a frequent shopper membership number over the user interface through terminal 102, or the Internet retailer may use other identifying information that is more readily given by customers given the nature of Internet retail shopping. Examples of identifying information that an Internet retailer may use to identify customers includes but is not limited to using, either singularly or in combination, the following information: a) their name and mailing address; b) their payment account number; or c) a "cookie" sent to a world wide web browser used by the customer.
- the retailer POS in the preferred embodiment is also connected to a scanner 110.
- Scanner 110 is used to automatically read bar codes printed upon or attached to items that the retailer sells. This allows the retailer to have checkout locations which can rapidly determine the items a customer is purchasing in order to determine the total payment required by the customer.
- the data generated by the scanner may be used to form a machine readable list of items purchased in that transaction. This machine readable list may then be recorded, in association with a customer identification read by the customer ID reader 109, into a purchase history database 105 and later analyzed to determine customer's purchasing patterns.
- the multiple purchase transaction data which has been accumulated in the purchase history database 105 may be analyzed to determine the consumption rate of various products by each customer.
- the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes retailer POS 108 designed to produce an electronically readable form of the customer's identification, through the use of customer ID reader 109, as well as an electronically readable list of that customer's purchases, as produced with the aid of scanner 110.
- the retailer POS 108 will determine this data, format the data and communicate the customer identification and purchase description to the server 101.
- Retailer POS 108 communicates to server 101 through retailer communications link 113.
- Retailer communications link 113 may be any communications link between the retailer and server 101, such as dial-up telephone lines or packet switched networks, as are known to practitioners in the relevant arts.
- Server 101 performs the processing, further described below, to accumulate purchase data to support determination of the customer's purchasing patterns, as well as determine if purchases made by the customer contain a qualifying installment purchase under a contract formed and monitored by the system implementing the present invention.
- Data received from the retailer POS 108 is stored into databases maintained by server 101, as further described below.
- the processing steps which form and monitor the performance of a contract using the method of the present invention are described in Fig. 2.
- the method begins in step 201 by estimating the customer's requirement for a specific product for a specified time span.
- the time span for which a customer's requirements for a specific product will be estimated is set by the configuration of the system implementing the present invention, but the system may allow the customer to select from a set of time spans or any time span within a range.
- the time span for which the customer's requirements will be estimated is based upon a time span set by the sponsor of the contract and is to be long enough so as to have the customer buy an appreciable amount of product over that time span but not too long so as to be unattractive to the customer or place too high of a risk of cost increases on the sponsor.
- a sponsor may wish to offer a lower price for contracts with longer time spans since more of the promoted product will be purchased over the time span of the contract.
- the preferred embodiment estimates a customer's quantity requirement for a specified product in one of two methods. Other methods to estimate the customer's requirements may be used and still be within the scope of this invention.
- One method used to estimate a customer requirement analyzes prior purchases made by that customer over multiple purchase transactions during a certain time span in order to estimate the customer's future requirements over the same or a different time span.
- the preferred embodiment reads a customer's identification during all purchase transactions, both before and after contract formation, and then stores a description of those purchases in association with the customer's identification into the purchase history database 105.
- the purchase history database 105 then stores a description of customer product purchases made during multiple purchase transaction and this accumulated purchase history data may then be analyzed to identify a customer purchase pattern.
- the customer purchase pattern may then be the basis of an estimate of the customer's usage rate for a particular product and the customer's requirements may be estimated based upon those estimated usage rates.
- Estimation of a customer's usage rate of a promoted product by analysis of prior purchases may be performed by analysis of selected products, referred to herein as "base products,” whose consumption is related to the promoted product.
- base products whose consumption is related to the promoted product.
- Each promoted product has an associated set of “base products” whose prior purchases may be used by server 101 to estimate the customer's consumption rate of a promoted product.
- server 101 retrieves the prior purchases stored in the purchase history database 105 that are stored in association with that customer's identification, identifies prior purchases by that customer of base products associated with that promoted product, and performs the processing required to estimate that customer's requirement for the promoted product.
- An example of estimating a customer's consumption rate of a promoted product by observing the customer's purchase history of a base product is observing how much of a product in the same product category the customer consumes.
- product category of laundry detergent the customer purchases of laundry detergent in a six month time span may be observed in order to estimate that customer's "per month" average consumption and multiplying that by the number of months in the future time span.
- Product in the same product category as the promoted product are products that are equivalent to the promoted product, although the product may be any brand and may also be a similar item such as a liquid and powered detergent.
- Another example bases the promoted product's requirement estimation upon purchases of a product in a related category.
- An example of estimating requirements based on purchases in a related category include estimating a family's requirement for baby food by observing the quantity of diapers purchased to determine the number and approximate ages of babies in a family.
- the present invention may also operate by allowing the customer to specify the promoted product or products that he or she wishes to purchase in a multiple purchase installment contract. These embodiments will allow the customer to provide a product category, total quantity (which may be presented as a periodic quantity to be purchased over a specified number of periods) and possibly other contractual terms.
- the server 101 will respond with contract offers to sell the customer the specified products at a price determined by the programming of server 101.
- the programming to select sponsor contractual terms in response to customer provided specifications may be easily designed and developed by those skilled in the relevant arts.
- the contractual terms of one or more installment purchase contracts are determined in step 202.
- the contractual terms which are to be part of a multiple purchase installment contract formed by the present invention are specified by the sponsor of the contract, but the contractual terms offered by the sponsor through server 101 may be specified to vary based upon factors specified by that sponsor.
- a sponsor may specify different contractual terms which depend upon the time span of the contract or the total quantity of the product the customer will purchase under the contract.
- a sponsor may also specify different contractual terms based upon observed purchasing patterns of the customer as are derived from analysis of the data contained in the purchase history database 105.
- the system of the present invention may include an analysis of the customer's purchase preferences in step 202 in order to determine customer's purchasing patterns upon which contractual terms may depend.
- An example of a purchasing pattern which could be the basis of changing contractual terms include a customer's purchasing pattern that reveals a brand purchasing behavior, i.e. that he or she exclusively purchased the sponsor's brand of a particular product category in the past. If such a customer has demonstrated this brand loyalty in the past, the sponsor may not wish to offer the customer very favorable contractual terms since the customer will probably continue to purchase that brand in the future. If the customer's brand purchasing behavior demonstrates he or she has purchased a variety of brands or exclusively purchased another brand in the past, the sponsor may want to offer more favorable contractual terms to entice the customer to purchase the sponsor's brand exclusively for the duration of the contract.
- Contractual terms specified by the sponsor may also vary based upon the time span of the contract if the customer is given a choice of time spans in step 201.
- Other parameters which may vary the contractual terms of a contract the sponsor wishes to offer the customer may be readily defined by the sponsor and determined in step 202 in order to determine the terms of a contract to offer to the customer.
- a contract offer may include a contractual term requiring the customer to make all purchases under the contract from a specified retailer.
- the contractual terms determined in step 202 may include a variety of requirements and limitations on the purchases the customer must make to satisfy the contract. Contractual terms may define various time spans of the contract, quantities of the promoted product which must be purchased or the number of installments which must be purchased. Contracts may also require a specified number of installments or allow a fixed total purchase quantity to be purchased over the time span of the contract in any number or size of installments. A contract will specify a total set of products which the customer must purchase during the time span of the contract.
- the total set of products may be a fixed amount or the contract may also require only that the customer purchase a quantity of the promoted product that is within a specified range, thereby guarantying the sponsor a minimum sales amount and allowing the customer to purchase more than the minimum amount, but less than a specified maximum, at the contract price.
- Several contracts may also be offered to the customer with instructions that only one contract may be accepted, and the customer may then select a contract to accept.
- the present invention then communicates the one or more contract offers to the customer in step 203.
- the server 101 of the preferred embodiment assembles the contract terms and defines information to be displayed to the customer.
- Terminal 101 then sends information to the terminal 102 to be displayed to the customer.
- Terminal 102 may be a World Wide Web browser or automated Kiosk used to display information to the customer whereby the customer interacts in real time and may select further information to be displayed or decide to modify selections available to him or her.
- the terminal 102 may be a World Wide Web browser or automated Kiosk used to display information to the customer whereby the customer interacts in real time and may select further information to be displayed or decide to modify selections available to him or her.
- 102 may also display electronic mail messages which were generated by server 101 and which contain the contract offer and describe methods for the customer to receive more information or accept the offer.
- step 204 the customer may or may not accept one of the offers communicated to him or her in step 203. If multiple contracts are offered to the customer in step 203, the customer may select one of those contract offers to accept. If only one contract was offered, then the customer may select to accept that contract offer. If the customer declines to accept a contract offer, then the processing has finished and the customer will have not entered into a contract. If the customer does select to accept a contract offer, an installment purchase contract is formed which will require the customer to purchase a specified quantity of the specified product under the contractual terms of the contract.
- Server 101 will store a definition of the contract into the contract database 111 to allow the customer's future purchases to be automatically compared to the contract requirements in order to automatically monitor and determine contract compliance and satisfaction by the customer.
- step 204 may further require the customer to provide personal information to facilitate the retailer's communications with the customer or to allow further directed promotions to be provided to the customer.
- the customer may be required or requested to provide his or her address, demographic data such as age, family size or number and type of household pets. An account number to which an additional cost be charged may also be provided at the time of acceptance.
- the server 101 may store this information in association with the customer's identification if that information had been previously collected during, for example, the formation of a previous contract or in conjunction with the customer's signing up for a frequent shopper card.
- a contract formed by the present invention may charge an additional cost to the customer if the customer does not fully perform under the contract. Such a contract will usually have the customer make installment purchases at a discounted price in return for the commitment to purchase a specified total quantity. If the customer does not purchase that quantity, this additional cost will compensate the sponsor for the discount. If an additional cost is to be applied in the case of a customer not satisfying the contract terms, the customer may be required to provide an account number against which the additional cost may be charged. This account number may be required as part of the acceptance process of step 204. The data displayed on the terminal 101 which allows the customer to accept the contract offer may allow the customer to enter this account number for storage into the customer database 107.
- the time span of the contract begins either immediately after formation of the contract in decision step 204, or the contract may begin at a specified time following contract formation. Once the contract has been formed and its time span has begun, the customer may then purchase installments under the contract. Purchases under the contract are performed in step 205. During a purchase, a customer will present his or her identification, which may be a device identifying the customer's payment account, a frequent shopper card, an identification printed for the customer by printer 103 either upon formation of the contract or during subsequent uses of the terminal 102 by the customer during the time span of the contract, or any identification used by the retailer and readable by customer ID reader 109.
- identification may be a device identifying the customer's payment account, a frequent shopper card, an identification printed for the customer by printer 103 either upon formation of the contract or during subsequent uses of the terminal 102 by the customer during the time span of the contract, or any identification used by the retailer and readable by customer ID reader 109.
- the server 101 will then compare the customer's purchases to the retrieved contract requirements for that customer to determine if any of the purchases qualify as installment purchases under one of the retrieved contracts. Server 101 will compare data describing the purchase to the terms of the contract to determine if this purchase constitutes an installment. If the purchase does constitute an installment, the purchase will be stored in the promoted product purchase database 106. If the terms of the contract require that a discount be provided for the purchase of a qualifying item, e.g. the contract provides that each purchase of the promoted product will have a one dollar discount applied to each purchase, server 101 will communicate that discount to the retailer POS 108 and the retailer POS 108 will apply that discount. Server 101 of the preferred embodiment also stores each of the entire descriptions received from the retailer POS 108 into the purchase history database 105 in order to support analysis of prior purchases to determine purchasing patterns exhibited that customer.
- the discount may be provided in a number of ways.
- An immediate discount to the purchase price of the product may be provided, as described above.
- Alternatives to an immediate discount include providing to the customer a discount certificate, such as a coupon, which may be used during a future visit.
- the discount certificate may entitle the customer to a discount on the purchase of any product, or the certificate may only entitle the customer to a discount if the customer purchases a specified product.
- Retailer POS 108 may be configured to print such a certificate in response to the purchase under the contract.
- Server 101 may periodically examine the contract database 111 and the promoted product purchase database 106 to determine if multiple purchase installment contracts have been satisfied by the customer or if the time span of any contracts have expired. Step 206 signifies this periodic examination, which may also be performed after each purchase to determine if the total contract purchase quantity requirement has been satisfied. Periodic examination of the currently . pending contracts and customer purchases may occur independently of customer purchases to determine if the time span of the contract has expired. Alternative embodiments may only perform periodic examination and not perform the processing illustrated for the preferred embodiment in fig. 2 that examines contractual compliance following each customer purchase. If the customer has not purchased products which satisfy the entire contract requirement or the time span of the contract has not expired, server 101 will not perform further processing for this customer, other than to periodically determine if the time span of the contract has expired, until the customer purchases more products.
- step 207 the server 101 will determine if the customer has satisfied all of the terms of the contract. If the contract has been satisfied, the processing will advance to step 208, where server 101 will examine the terms of the contract to determine if satisfaction of the contract requires that a benefit be provided to the customer.
- An enticement for the customer to enter into a contract may be providing a benefit, such as a rebate or other item of value, to the customer in addition to or instead of a discounted price for each purchase. If such a benefit is to be provided, processing advances to step 211, where the benefit is provided.
- Examples of benefits provided in step 211 include a check to be mailed to the customer's address that is stored in the customer database 107, a credit may be provided to a credit card or bank account that is identified in the customer database 107, or a certificate for an item of value may be mailed to the customer's address.
- step 207 determines that a contractual term is not satisfied, processing will advance to step 209. At this point, the contract has not been satisfied.
- the terms of the contract may require that an additional cost be charged to the customer for not fully performing under the contract.
- Step 209 will examine the terms of the contract retrieved from the contract database 111 to determine if such an additional cost is to be charged. If no additional cost is to be applied, the processing for this contract is complete. If an additional cost is to be applied, the processing will advance to step 210 in order to apply the additional cost.
- the additional cost may by a payment which must be made by the customer, or the additional cost may take the form of any cost applied to the customer, including offering less beneficial contracts to that customer in the future. After the additional cost is charged, processing is completed for this contract.
- Fig. 3 further illustrates the optional processing which may be performed in step 201 that allows the customer to enter data which is used by an automated calculation process to estimate the customer's quantity requirement for a product over a specified time span.
- the customer enters data through an electronic communications interface which may be a world wide web display, e-mail using terminal 102 and electronics communications link 112, or a similar communications apparatus may be used.
- the electronic communications interface may be the same interface used for other communications between terminal 102 and server 101, or a separate interface, such as an e-mail communication, may be used.
- the processing in fig. 3 begins with step 301 wherein the customer selects a retailer from which he or she wishes to purchase the product.
- the selection of a retailer may be required due to the fact that different retailers may cooperate with different promoters and therefore different brands may be available at the different retailers for multiple purchase installment contracts. Contracts offered by the present invention may not be limited to a specific retailer, and in such cases the customer is not required to identify a retailer. The customer may make an explicit selection of a retailer from a list presented to him or her, or the retailer may be implicitly selected by use of a terminal 102 that is an in-store automated Kiosk located within the particular retailer. A retailer may also be implicitly selected by using terminal 102 to display world wide web pages that offer the contract but are associated with a particular retailer.
- the customer next proceeds to step 302 where he or she may select the product for which he or she is interested.
- the terminal 102 may display a list of products from which the customer may choose.
- the products listed are usually determined by the products which have sponsors promoting them, and therefore are available to purchase under a multiple purchase installment contract with advantageous contractual terms for the customer.
- the customer may select a product by category, e.g. laundry detergent, as well as a particular brand of a product.
- step 303 the customer is prompted to respond to questions with data that will allow the server 101 to estimate the amount of the product selected in step 302 that the customer will use over a given time span.
- This step may also include prompting the customer for information concerning how long of a time span they may wish to commit to purchasing the selected product.
- the time span may be chosen by direct inquiry and selection by the customer, or indirect questions, e.g. asking the customer about the age of their children and thereby determining the type and duration of need that the customer will have for diapers, may be used.
- the usage rate may be determined by inquiry into the customer's habits, such as estimating laundry detergent usage by asking about the number of laundry loads washed in that household per week. Once the customer enters the requested information, server 101 will calculate an estimated usage rate for the customer of the subject product.
- Fig. 4 illustrates in more detail the processing that is performed in step 204 wherein the customer accepts a contract offer.
- the customer decides whether to accept the offer in step 401. If the customer does not accept an offer, the processing is complete. If the customer does select a contract offer, the processing advances to step 402 wherein the customer performs an affirmative step to accept the offer, and thereby manifest his assent to forming the contract.
- the affirmative step to be taken by the customer in step 402 may include, for example, using the facilities of terminal 102 to manipulate a display of a world wide web page on terminal 101 such that the customer performs a specified series of steps (e.g. "clicking" on a world wide web page "button") or by sending a return e-mail to server 101. The customer's acceptance of the contract is then communicated to server 101.
- step 403 to decide whether a form of payment security is required to be provided by the customer.
- Some contracts may charge an additional cost to the customer if he or she does not purchase the entire quantity required by the contract or does not fulfill other contract terms. If an additional cost is to be charged, the system may require a form of payment security for that additional cost to be provided at the time of contract formation.
- Candidate contracts stored within server 101 will define whether security must be provided and what types of security may be provided. If security is required, the customer is advanced to step 404 wherein he or she will provide security for the contract.
- the security accepted may include, for example, a credit card number or checking account number from which the additional cost may be deducted.
- a printer 103 attached to terminal 102 may be used to print a sheet which the customer may use for identification.
- An example identification sheet is shown in fig. 6 and described below.
- an in-store automated Kiosk utilized as terminal 102 may also dispense printed or generic identification cards to the customer. These cards may have an identification number encoded upon a printed bar code or magnetic stripe and be read by the customer ID reader 109.
- a printed identification sheet or other provided identification is particularly useful if the customer does not have an identification device that is recognized by the customer ID reader 109, e.g.: a frequent shopper card. If an identification is to be provided, the processing proceeds to step 406 where the sheet or other identification device is produced.
- Fig. 5 illustrates the processing performed when a customer executes a purchase transaction at a retailer POS 108.
- Fig. 5 describes in more detail the processing performed in step 205 illustrated in Fig. 2.
- the customer's identification is first read in step 501 by the customer ID reader 109. This may involve reading a bar code encoded upon a printed sheet or an identification card with an identification number encoded either in a printed bar code or a magnetic stripe. It is obvious that the present invention will work with any identification device or technique compatible with customer ID reader 109.
- a description of the customer's purchase selections are then accumulated in step 502. If the retailer is selling products with printed bar codes attached to them the retailer may already be using an optical scanner 110 to read those bar codes in order to accumulate a list of items the customer is purchasing. This commonly used architecture is utilized by the present invention to produce an electronically readable list of items being purchased by the customer. If the retailer is not selling items with barcodes, the retailer may use other methods, such as manually keying inventory numbers into a computer, to obtain an electronically readable list of purchases to send to server 101. This electronically readable list and the customer's identification are then communicated to server 101.
- step 503 the electronically readable list of purchased items and the customer's identification are communicated to server 101.
- Server 101 of the preferred embodiment then stores the entire list in association with the customer's identification into the purchase history database.
- step 504 to analyze the electronically readable list of purchases produced in step 502 in order to determine if the customer has purchased an item that is the subject of a multiple purchase installment contract formed by the system implementing the present invention.
- Server 101 retrieves the contracts associated with the customer's identification and compares purchases currently made by the customer to the retrieved contract requirements to determine if any purchases were the subject of installment contracts into which that customer has entered. If the customer purchases a promoted product, the processing advances to step 504 wherein the purchase is stored into the promoted product purchase database.
- the server 101 will store, in association with the customer's identification, a description of the promoted product that was purchased and the time and date of the purchase. The time and date of the purchase is stored to allow determination of the satisfaction of contractual terms limiting the time of installment purchase transactions.
- step 505 The processing will then advance to step 505 to determine if a discount is to be applied to that purchase.
- the terms of the contract, retrieved from the contract database 111, will set forth any discounts to provide to individual purchases of the promoted product. If there is to be a discount applied to this purchase, the processing advances to step 506 to apply that discount.
- the retailer POS 108 may automatically deduct the discount from the purchase and indicate that discount on the receipt given to the customer.
- Fig. 6 illustrates a customer identification document which may be printed for the customer on a conventional printer, such as printer 103.
- An identification as shown in Fig. 6 may be provided to a customer, for example, who has entered into a multiple purchase installment contract through a terminal 102 that is an internet terminal or an in-store automated Kiosk.
- the use of a printed identification as is shown in Fig. 6 allows any customer to enter into a contract without having an identification card that is distributed by the retailer or other entity.
- the customer identification is provided through an identification number that is encoded into a bar code that shown in the lower right corner of fig. 6.
- the printed identification document may also have printed information that describes the contract into which the customer has entered as well as instructions as to how to make qualifying purchases.
- the customer may have identification documents printed at different times during the time span of the contract. If identification documents are printed during the contract time span, progress of the customer's purchases may also be printed on the identification, as is shown in Fig. 6 by the line "As of March 6, 2000, You have Purchased 14 boxes.”
- Server 101 may also be configured to communicate to the customer the purchases the customer is making during the contract and how many future purchases are yet to be made. This information may be communicated through electronic communications such as e-mail or the use of a World Wide Web page accessible by the customer which summarizes purchase installment contracts the customer has entered into and the purchase made towards satisfaction of those contracts.
- a conventional general purpose microprocessor e.g., server 101
- Figs. 2-5 teachings in the present specification
- Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will also be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s).
- this invention may also be implemented by the preparation of application-specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits.
- the present invention also includes a computer-based product which may be hosted on a storage medium and include instructions which can be used to program a microprocessor to perform processes in accordance with the present invention.
- This storage medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magneto- optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Development Economics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Economics (AREA)
- Marketing (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Game Theory and Decision Science (AREA)
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
- Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
- Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)
- Radar Systems Or Details Thereof (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU36949/00A AU3694900A (en) | 1999-12-29 | 2000-03-06 | System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts |
JP2001550657A JP2003524237A (en) | 1999-12-29 | 2000-03-06 | System and method for creating and executing multiple installment contracts |
EP00915723A EP1242926A2 (en) | 1999-12-29 | 2000-03-06 | System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts |
CA002395745A CA2395745A1 (en) | 1999-12-29 | 2000-03-06 | System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US47438799A | 1999-12-29 | 1999-12-29 | |
US09/474,387 | 1999-12-29 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2001050370A2 true WO2001050370A2 (en) | 2001-07-12 |
WO2001050370A8 WO2001050370A8 (en) | 2002-06-27 |
Family
ID=23883301
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2000/002533 WO2001050370A2 (en) | 1999-12-29 | 2000-03-06 | System and method for forming and performing multiple purchase installment contracts |
Country Status (9)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1242926A2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2003524237A (en) |
AU (1) | AU3694900A (en) |
BE (1) | BE1013842A3 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2395745A1 (en) |
IT (1) | ITMI20000851A1 (en) |
PT (1) | PT102465A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2001050370A2 (en) |
ZA (1) | ZA200001439B (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102005062342A1 (en) * | 2005-12-23 | 2007-06-28 | Abb Patent Gmbh | Request e.g. service request, allocation and automatic processing system for use over e.g. data network, has unit administering or processing allocations of conditions to process using access codes and/or identification characteristics |
US7953630B2 (en) | 2000-08-22 | 2011-05-31 | Moneris Solutions Corporation | Marketing systems and methods |
US8892747B2 (en) | 2005-02-17 | 2014-11-18 | Intel Mobile Communications GmbH | Management of dynamic groups in a communication system |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP5687791B1 (en) * | 2014-06-02 | 2015-03-18 | 株式会社野村総合研究所 | Coupon management system and coupon management program |
JP6767254B2 (en) * | 2016-12-20 | 2020-10-14 | ヤフー株式会社 | Automatic ordering system, automatic ordering method, and automatic ordering program |
-
2000
- 2000-03-06 CA CA002395745A patent/CA2395745A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-03-06 JP JP2001550657A patent/JP2003524237A/en active Pending
- 2000-03-06 EP EP00915723A patent/EP1242926A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-03-06 AU AU36949/00A patent/AU3694900A/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-03-06 WO PCT/US2000/002533 patent/WO2001050370A2/en active Search and Examination
- 2000-03-22 ZA ZA200001439A patent/ZA200001439B/en unknown
- 2000-04-14 IT IT2000MI000851A patent/ITMI20000851A1/en unknown
- 2000-05-15 PT PT102465A patent/PT102465A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2000-11-22 BE BE2000/0739A patent/BE1013842A3/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
No Search * |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7953630B2 (en) | 2000-08-22 | 2011-05-31 | Moneris Solutions Corporation | Marketing systems and methods |
US8892747B2 (en) | 2005-02-17 | 2014-11-18 | Intel Mobile Communications GmbH | Management of dynamic groups in a communication system |
DE102005062342A1 (en) * | 2005-12-23 | 2007-06-28 | Abb Patent Gmbh | Request e.g. service request, allocation and automatic processing system for use over e.g. data network, has unit administering or processing allocations of conditions to process using access codes and/or identification characteristics |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP2003524237A (en) | 2003-08-12 |
PT102465A (en) | 2001-06-29 |
AU3694900A (en) | 2001-07-16 |
ITMI20000851A1 (en) | 2001-10-15 |
ZA200001439B (en) | 2000-10-24 |
WO2001050370A8 (en) | 2002-06-27 |
CA2395745A1 (en) | 2001-07-12 |
EP1242926A2 (en) | 2002-09-25 |
BE1013842A3 (en) | 2002-09-03 |
ITMI20000851A0 (en) | 2000-04-14 |
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