System and method for gathering and standardizing customer purchase information for target marketing

Abstract

The present invention relates to storing and manipulating customer purchasing information, particularly purchasing information by credit cards, debit cards, checks, and the like. A hierarchical organizational structure is created comprising a plurality of categories and sub-categories. The customer purchase information may then be retrieved according to user created links to generate customer preference information. The customer preference information may be stored in a customer account, thereby allowing targeted offers to be made to customers.

1 - 58 . (canceled) 
     
     
         59 . A method for making a targeted offer, the method implemented in a computer system that stores and manipulates customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the computer system comprising a storage device for storing the customer purchase information and a processor for processing customer purchase information, the method comprising:
 receiving customer purchase information, the receiving performed by the processor, the customer purchase information associated with customer accounts;   organizing the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure, the organizing performed by the processor, and the predetermined organizational structure comprises a plurality of categories;   placing the customer purchase information, with associated customer accounts, into an order based on the customer purchase information, and so as to order customer accounts of a target customer respectively within at least one of the plurality of categories;   forming an offer based on the order of a customer account of the target customer; and   wherein the step of forming an offer, based on the order of a customer account of the target customer, includes matching an offer with customer purchase information.   
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 59 , the matching includes matching selected words or characters with words or characters contained within the customer purchase information. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 59 , the forming an offer based on the order of a customer account of the target customer including:
 generating a plurality of customer scores for the target customer based on the order of the customer accounts within each of the at least one of the plurality of categories;   creating a customer preference, for the target customer, based on the generated plurality of customer scores associated with the at least one of the plurality of categories; and   forming the offer for the target customer based on the customer preference.   
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 61 , each category comprising a plurality of sub-categories arranged in a hierarchy. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 61 , wherein the step of generating a plurality of customer scores for the target customer includes generating multiple customer scores for the target customer. 
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 63 , the multiple customer scores for the target customer each being respectively associated with different subcategories of a category. 
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 59 , each of the plurality of categories, in the predetermined organizational structure, comprising a plurality of sub-categories. 
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 65 , the plurality of sub-categories arranged in a hierarchy. 
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein the categories and sub-categories relate to the amount of purchases made at a particular merchant and not to any particular item purchased at a particular merchant. 
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the matching an offer with customer purchase information is performed using a match table. 
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68 , further including ranking, by the match table, the offer with respect to at least one customer account. 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 69 , further including combining customer purchase information into an account. 
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 59 , further including combining customer purchase information into an account. 
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising the step of extending the offer electronically through at least one of e-mail contact and a web page. 
     
     
         73 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising the step of extending the offer through a medium comprising at least one of telephone calls and direct mail. 
     
     
         74 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the step of forming an offer comprises forming an offer for at least one of goods and services. 
     
     
         75 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the purchase information comprises at least an amount of purchase, a location of purchase, a merchant name, and a merchant category code. 
     
     
         76 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the customer purchase information comprises merchant text strings including a purchase amount and the step of creating a customer preference comprises reviewing merchant text strings. 
     
     
         77 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising updating the organizational structure when customer purchase information reaches a threshold level. 
     
     
         78 . The method of  claim 77 , further comprising setting the threshold level to reflect at least one of a date range and a dollar range. 
     
     
         79 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the step of forming an offer for the target customer comprises matching selected words or characters with words or characters contained within the customer purchase information. 
     
     
         80 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the customer purchase information comprises at least one of previous credit card transactions, customer profiles, customer applications, debit card purchases, and check purchases. 
     
     
         81 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the plurality of sources are different merchants. 
     
     
         82 . A system for making a targeted offer, the system in the form of a tangibly embodied computer that stores and manipulates customer purchase information received from a plurality of sources, the computer comprising a storage device for storing the customer purchase information and a processor for processing customer purchase information, the system comprising:
 a first processing portion that receives customer purchase information, the receiving performed by the processor, the customer purchase information associated with customer accounts;   a second processing portion that organizes the customer purchase information within a predetermined organizational structure, the organizing performed by the processor, and the predetermined organizational structure comprises a plurality of categories;   a third processing portion that places the customer purchase information, with associated customer accounts, into an order based on the customer purchase information, and so as to order customer accounts of a target customer respectively within at least one of the plurality of categories;   a fifth processing portion that forms an offer based on the order of a customer account of the target customer; and   wherein the forming an offer, based on the order of a customer account of the target customer, includes matching an offer with customer purchase information.