Systems and methods for analyzing the effectiveness of a promotion

Abstract

The invention provides systems and methods for collecting point-of-sale (POS) data, and then using this data to determine the effectiveness of a given promotion. The transaction data includes a merchant identifier for each of the merchants and a transaction amount for each transaction involving the merchants. One of the merchants is a promotion merchant that is offering a promotion involving transactions made with the merchant. A portion of the transaction data is aggregated into control merchant aggregated data involving control merchants, where the control merchant aggregated data comprises transaction data obtained other than from the promotion merchant. A characteristic of the purchases is calculated, both for transactions involving the promotion merchant and for the control merchants.

1 . A computerized method for calculating the effectiveness of a promotion, the method comprising:
 receiving at a host computer system transaction data from a plurality of point of sale terminals that are associated with a plurality of merchants, wherein the transaction data comprises a merchant identifier for each of the merchants and a transaction amount for each transaction involving the merchants, and wherein one of the merchants comprises a promotion merchant that is offering a promotion involving transactions made with the merchant;   aggregating a portion of the transaction data into control merchant aggregated data involving control merchants, wherein the control merchant aggregated data comprises transaction data obtained other than from the promotion merchant;   calculating by the host computer system a characteristic of the purchases, both for transactions involving the promotion merchant and for the control merchants;   providing an output showing a comparison of the calculation.   
     
     
         2 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the output comprises a report comparing the average dollar value of purchases made at the promotion merchant with the other merchants over a certain time frame. 
     
     
         3 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the output comprises a report comparing the dollar sales volume of purchases made at the promotion merchant with the other merchants over a certain time frame. 
     
     
         4 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein each merchant identifier is associated with a classification of goods or services offered by the merchant, wherein each of the merchants has the same classification of goods, and wherein the report shows the classification. 
     
     
         5 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the output comprises a reporting show a percentage difference in the characteristic of the purchases between the transactions with the promotion merchant and the control merchants. 
     
     
         6 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the certain time comprises both before and after the promotion begins, and wherein the certain time is selected from a group consisting of daily or weekly. 
     
     
         7 . A method as in  claim 1 , further comprising providing an estimated expected sales volume due to the promotion, and further comprising showing a comparison of the estimated expected sales volume and an actual sales volume for the promotion merchant. 
     
     
         8 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the transaction data from the promotion merchant includes promotional identifiers, and further comprising generating a report showing the average dollar value of purchases made using the promotional identifiers and those made without using the promotional identifiers. 
     
     
         9 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the transaction data from the promotion merchant includes promotional identifiers, and further comprising generating a report showing the total dollar value of purchases made using the promotional identifiers over a specified time and those made without using the promotional identifiers. 
     
     
         10 . A system for reporting the effectiveness of a promotion according to point-of-sale (POS) data, the system comprising:
 an aggregation subsystem, communicatively coupled with a POS network comprising a plurality of POS terminals, and configured to aggregate POS datasets from the plurality of POS terminals, each POS terminal being configured to collect transaction data as a function of transactions effectuated via the POS terminal, wherein the transaction data comprises a merchant identifier for each of the merchants and a transaction amount for each transaction involving the merchants, and wherein one of the merchants comprises a promotion merchant that is offering a promotion involving transactions made with the merchant, and wherein the aggregation subsystem is configured to aggregate a portion of the transaction data into control merchant aggregated data involving control merchants, wherein the control merchant aggregated data comprises transaction data obtained other than from the promotion merchant;   a data storage subsystem, communicatively coupled with the aggregation subsystem and configured to store the aggregated POS data from the plurality of POS terminals;   a promotional analysis processing subsystem, communicatively coupled with the POS data store, and configured to:   calculate a characteristic of the purchases, both for transactions involving the promotion merchant and for the control merchants; and   a reporting subsystem, communicatively coupled with the promotional analysis processing subsystem, and configured to output graphical report data as a function of the promotional data in response to the reporting request to show a comparison of the calculation, the graphical report data configured to be displayed on a user device.   
     
     
         11 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to output a report showing a comparison of the average dollar value of purchases and/or the dollar sales volume of purchases made at the promotion merchant with the other merchants over a certain time frame. 
     
     
         12 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein each merchant identifier is associated with a classification of goods or services offered by the merchant, wherein each of the merchants has the same classification of goods, and wherein the report shows the classification. 
     
     
         13 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to output a report showing a percentage difference in the characteristic of the purchases between the transactions with the promotion merchant and the control merchants. 
     
     
         14 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the certain time comprises both before and after the promotion begins. 
     
     
         15 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the data storage subsystem is configured to store an estimated expected sales volume due to the promotion, and wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to show a comparison of the estimated expected sales volume and an actual sales volume for the promotion merchant. 
     
     
         16 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the transaction data from the promotion merchant includes promotional identifiers, and wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to generate a report showing the average dollar value of purchases made using the promotional identifiers and those made without using the promotional identifiers. 
     
     
         17 . A system as in  claim 10 , wherein the transaction data from the promotion merchant includes promotional identifiers, and wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to generate a report showing the total dollar value of purchases made using the promotional identifiers over a specified time and those made without using the promotional identifiers. 
     
     
         18 . A computerized method for calculating the effectiveness of a promotion, the method comprising:
 receiving at a host computer system transaction data from a plurality of point of sale terminals, wherein the transaction data includes purchases made by consumers both with and without the use of promotional identifiers that are associated with a promotion;   calculating by the host computer system a characteristic of the purchases, both for transaction data that includes promotional identifiers and that do not include promotional identifiers, wherein the characteristic is indicative of the effectiveness of the promotion; and   generating a data file with the host computer system that is used to generate a report showing the characteristic, thereby giving an indication of the effectiveness of the promotion.   
     
     
         19 . A method as in  claim 18 , wherein the transaction data is received from point of sale terminals associated with a single merchant, and further comprises a merchant identifier, and wherein the output comprises a report showing the average dollar value of purchases made at the single merchant with the promotional identifier and without the promotional identifier. 
     
     
         20 . A method as in  claim 18 , wherein the transaction data is received from point of sale terminals associated with a plurality of merchants, and further comprises merchant identifiers for each of the merchants. 
     
     
         21 . A method as in  claim 20 , wherein the transaction data includes the promotional identifier received only from one of the merchants of the plurality of merchants, and wherein the output comprises a report showing the average dollar value purchased using the promotional identifier and the average dollar value purchased from the other plurality of merchants without the promotional identifier. 
     
     
         22 . A method as in  claim 18 , wherein the characteristic comprises an average transaction amount per purchase, and wherein the comparison shows the average transaction amount for purchases where the promotional identifier was used verses the average transaction amount for purchases where the promotional identifier was not used. 
     
     
         23 . A method as in  claim 18 , wherein the characteristic comprises an average transaction amount per purchase, and wherein the comparison shows the average transaction amount for purchases where the promotional identifier was used during one time period versus the average transaction amount for purchases where the promotional identifier was used during a second time period. 
     
     
         24 . A system for reporting the effectiveness of a promotion according to point-of-sale (POS) data, the system comprising:
 an aggregation subsystem, communicatively coupled with a POS network comprising a plurality of POS terminals, and configured to aggregate POS datasets from the plurality of POS terminals, each POS terminal being configured to collect transaction data as a function of transactions effectuated via the POS terminal, the POS dataset for each of the POS terminals comprising the transaction data, including a promotional identifier used when making a purchase based on the promotion;   a data storage subsystem, communicatively coupled with the aggregation subsystem and configured to store the aggregated POS data from the plurality of POS terminals;   a promotional analysis processing subsystem, communicatively coupled with the POS data store, and configured to:   identifying promotional data that comprises purchases that were made using a promotional identifier and purchases made without the use of the promotional identifier; and   a reporting subsystem, communicatively coupled with the promotional analysis processing subsystem, and configured to output graphical report data as a function of the promotional data in response to the reporting request, the graphical report data configured to be displayed on a user device to show the effectiveness of the promotion.   
     
     
         25 . A system in  claim 24 , wherein the promotion comprises a pre-paid discount, and wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing whether an account used to purchase the pre-paid discount was also used to make purchases when using the promotional identifier. 
     
     
         26 . A system as in  claim 24 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing the frequency of purchases made over time using the promotional identifiers. 
     
     
         27 . A system as in  claim 24 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing the frequency of return visits to the same merchant where the purchases were made using the promotional identifier and for visits to similar merchants where the promotional identifiers were not used. 
     
     
         28 . A system as in  claim 24 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing the average amount spent during return visits to the same merchant where the purchase was made using the promotional identifier versus purchases made during visits to similarly situated merchants. 
     
     
         29 . A system as in  claim 24 , wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing the total amount spent for purchases made at a merchant location where the promotional identifier was used and how many people who made purchases using the promotional identifier at a given merchant do not make any purchases with different merchants in a similar industry. 
     
     
         30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . A system as in  claim 24 , wherein the promotion comprises a pre-paid discount, and wherein the reporting subsystem is configured to produce a report showing the average length of time between the purchase of the pre-paid discounts and purchases made using the promotional identifier.