System and method for providing shopping aids and incentives to customers through a computer network

Abstract

A system and method for delivering purchasing incentives and a variety of other retail shopping aids through a computer network, such as by E-mail over the Interne or the World Wide Web. Customers ( 10 ) of retail stores can establish a bi-directional communication link with the system, log in ( 16 ) to the system, and then elect to browse among available purchasing incentive offers ( 18, 22 ), or elect to explore other shopping aids, such as a shopping list generator ( 26 ), a recipe center ( 30 ), or simply elect to claim a product rebate or to receive product information. If the customer elects to have product information or rebate information delivered, only minimal customer identification is required. For purchase incentives redeemable at retail stores, the customer must provide identification information and must also designate a retailer ( 12 ) at which the purchasing incentive can be exercised. For receipt of focused incentives based the customer's past shopping behavior, the customer must also supply a unique customer id., such as a check cashing card number or credit card number, used for in-store purchases. For delivery of a product sample, the customer's name and address must be supplied. The system merges this customer-supplied information ( 270 ) with other purchase incentive data ( 272 ) and creates a printable graphical image of the purchasing incentive ( 282 ) for transmission to the customer. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the purchase incentive is not transmitted directly to the customer. Instead, the terms of the incentive are transmitted electronically to the retail store ( 310 ) designated by the customer, who receives either a token ( 316 ) to present at the store or an advisory message. In yet another embodiment of the invention, incentives may be targeted to specific consumers based on a consumer purchase history ( 502 ), and transmitted to consumers' computers ( 510 ) using electronic mail addresses stored in a consumer database ( 506 ), or using a “personal page” in the computer network, established for each consenting consumer.

1 - 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A system for delivering incentives over the Internet comprising:
 a Web site for providing purchasing incentives from multiple sources;   a consumer purchase history database based on consumer online shopping activity, wherein said consumer purchase history database stores in association with an identification or a consumer identification of all items selected and purchased during a transaction by said consumer;   a consumer database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers, wherein said consumer database is connected to said Web site so as to receive consumer data from said Web site; and   means for delivering purchasing incentives to consumers by e-mail.   
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said means for delivering purchase incentives delivers purchasing incentives based on consumer profile. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 32  wherein the consumer purchase history database and said consumer database are integrated. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said Web site is an independently administered Web site. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said Web site is a cooperative site. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database includes data based on past purchasing activity. 
     
     
         38 . A system for delivering incentives over the Internet comprising:
 a Web site for providing purchasing incentives from multiple sources;   a consumer purchase history database based on consumer online shopping activity, wherein said consumer purchase history database stores in association with an identification of a consumer identification of all items selected and purchased during a transaction by said consumer;   a consumer database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers, wherein said consumer database is connected to said Web site so as to receive consumer data from said Web site; and   a means for delivering by e-mail notices which remind consumers to visit said Web site.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein said means for delivering e-mail notices delivers notices based on consumer profile. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the consumer purchase history database and said consumer database are integrated. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 38  wherein said Web site is an independently administered Web site. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 38  wherein said Web site is a cooperative Web site. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 38  wherein said consumer purchase history includes data based on past purchasing activity. 
     
     
         44 . A system for delivering incentives over the Internet comprising:
 a Web site for providing purchasing incentives from multiple sources;   a consumer purchase history database based on consumer online shopping activity, wherein said consumer purchase history database stores in association with an identification of a consumer identification of all items selected and purchased during a transaction by said consumer;   a consumer database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers, wherein said consumer database is connected to said Web site so as to receive consumer data from said Web site; and   means for delivering by e-mail notices to purchase a specific manufacturer's product.   
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 44  wherein said means for delivering e-mail notices delivers notices based on consumer profile. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 44  wherein the consumer purchase history database and the consumer database are integrated. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 44  wherein said Web site is and independently administered Web site. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 44  wherein said Web site is a cooperative Web site. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 44  wherein said consumer purchase history database includes data based on past purchasing activity. 
     
     
         50 . A method for delivering purchasing incentives over the Internet comprising the steps of:
 providing a Web site which offers shopping incentives from multiple sources;   maintaining a consumer purchase history database based on consumer online shopping activity, wherein said consumer purchase history database stores in association with an identification of a consumer identification of all items selected and purchased during a transaction by said consumer;   receiving a consumer's e-mail address from a consumer's computer;   maintaining a consumer email database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers; and   transmitting purchase incentives via an e-mail post office.   
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50  wherein the step of transmitting purchase incentives to the consumer by electronic mail includes transmitting purchase incentives based on a consumer profile. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 50  wherein the step of providing a Web site is performed by an independent Web site administrator. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 50  wherein the step of providing a Web site is achieved cooperatively. 
     
     
         54 . A method for delivering incentives over the Internet comprising the steps of:
 providing a Web site which offers purchasing incentives from multiple sources;   maintaining a consumer purchase history database based on consumer online shopping activity, further comprising storing in association with an identification of a consumer identification provided during a transaction identification of all items selected and purchased during said transaction by said consumer;   receiving a consumer's e-mail address from a consumer's computer;   maintaining a consumer database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers; and   transmitting to consumers a notice to visit the Web site via the consumer's e-mail post office.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54  wherein the step of providing a Web site is performed by an independent Web site administrator. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 54  wherein the step of providing a Web site is achieved cooperatively. 
     
     
         57 . A Web site for providing information and shopping incentives from multiple sources such as retailers and manufacturers comprising:
 a personal database;   a purchase history database wherein the data on the consumer purchases are based on online shopping activity, wherein said purchase history database stores in association with a consumer identification, identification of all items selected and purchased during a transaction associated with said consumer identification;   means for generating a web page with a consumer-specific display;   means for updating said web page; and   means for informing the consumer by e-mail of new incentives.   
     
     
         58 . A method for delivery of incentives by e-mail, comprising the steps of:
 maintaining a consumer database which stores e-mail addresses of consumers;   receiving during a transaction a consumer identification and identification of all items selected and purchased during said transaction;   storing in a consumer purchase history database, in association with said consumer identification, identification of all items selected and purchased during said transaction;   generating targeted purchase incentives from said consumer purchase history database;   formatting an e-mail message to a consumer having said consumer identification by electronic mail for subsequent printing of a coupon; and   delivering the email message to an email address stored in said consumer database for said consumer.   
     
     
         59 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises shopping list selections data. 
     
     
         60 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises rebate offers data. 
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises notices detailing specific offers data. 
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises focused incentives based on a consumer's prior shopping activity data. 
     
     
         63 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises purchasing incentives for data defining coupons for subsequent printing by a consumer. 
     
     
         64 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises links to at least one of manufacturer and retailer web sites. 
     
     
         65 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises data enabling a consumer to request at least one of information regarding a product and a sample of said product. 
     
     
         66 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores data from any online shopping activity. 
     
     
         67 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores an administrator of said system's web site data. 
     
     
         68 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores retail store purchase data, including a consumer's favorite brands data. 
     
     
         69 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores data including at least three of said customer identification number, name, residential address, zip code, and email address. 
     
     
         70 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores selected consumer demographic information data, including at least two of number of persons in a household, age categories of persons in said household, and number of pets in said household. 
     
     
         71 . The system of  claim 32  further comprising code for generating targeted, time phased incentives based on a consumer's actual buying patterns and preferences. 
     
     
         72 . The system of  claim 32  further comprising code for generating untargeted incentives offered by manufacturers or retailers. 
     
     
         73 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said purchase incentives contain data enabling coupons to be printed by said consumer. 
     
     
         74 . The system of  claim 32  wherein said purchase incentives contain data enabling purchase incentives to be printed at point of sale. 
     
     
         75 . The system of  claim 32  further comprising means to encode in a consumer's identification card, tokens representing said purchase incentives. 
     
     
         76 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said online shopping activity data stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises shopping list selections associated with a particular consumer. 
     
     
         77 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said online shopping activity data stored in said consumer purchase history database comprises rebate offers data associated with a particular consumer. 
     
     
         78 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said online shopping activity stored in said consumer purchase history database in association with an identification for a particular consumer comprises data detailing notice of specific offers provided to said particular consumer. 
     
     
         79 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising generating focused incentives for a consumer based on said consumer's prior shopping activity. 
     
     
         80 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising generating purchasing incentives data in a form suitable for printing of a coupon by a consumer. 
     
     
         81 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising generating links to at least one of manufacturer and retailer web sites and associating said links with a particular consumer. 
     
     
         82 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising enabling a consumer to request at least one of information regarding a product and a sample of a product. 
     
     
         83 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores data from an administrator of said system's web site. 
     
     
         84 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores retail store purchase data, including a consumer's favorite brands. 
     
     
         85 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores at least three of said customer identification number, name, residential address, zip code, and email address. 
     
     
         86 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said consumer purchase history database stores selected consumer demographic information, including at least two of number of persons in a household, age categories of persons in said household, and number of pets in said household. 
     
     
         87 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said purchase incentives include targeted, time phased incentives based on a consumer's actual buying patterns and preferences. 
     
     
         88 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said purchase incentives include untargeted incentives from at least one of manufacturers and retailers. 
     
     
         89 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising printing said purchase incentives on a printer connected to and controlled by a consumer's computer. 
     
     
         90 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising printing purchase incentives at point of sale. 
     
     
         91 . The method of  claim 50  further comprising encoding in a consumer's identification card tokens representing said purchase incentives. 
     
     
         92 . The system of  claim 32  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive. 
     
     
         93 . The system of  claim 38  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive. 
     
     
         94 . The system of  claim 44  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive. 
     
     
         95 . The system of  claim 50  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive. 
     
     
         96 . The system of  claim 54  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive. 
     
     
         97 . The system of  claim 58  wherein at least one of said items was not the subject of a redeemed purchase incentive.