Team shopping

Abstract

A method of improving sales volume includes the steps of distributing redeemable offers to teams of shoppers wherein the shoppers are able to receive whatever basic discounts or other benefits that may be available to all shoppers, but also to receive a “kicker” benefit when the team achieves a specified purchasing objective such as a total of all sales to members of the team. Teams may compete for prizes or other benefits beyond those offered to individual teams.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for improving sales volume of a retailer comprising:
 forming a system of computer servers as an information exchange network including servers of a retailer, a program manager, and a team of consumers;   distributing an offer to the team of consumers, the offer providing a benefit to the team of consumers when a purchasing objective is attained by the team of consumers;   collecting purchase information of the team of consumers;   distributing the benefit to the team of consumers by the retailer, if the team of consumers reaches the purchasing objective.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the offer is a part of a discount coupon. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the retailer server transfers purchase information of the team of consumers to the program manager server. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the benefit is distributed to the team of consumers by at least one of: a bank check by mail, an electronic transfer of airline points, and an electronic direct deposit to a financial institution. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the program manager and the retailer are the same entity. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the program manager an the manufacturer are the same entity. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the team of consumers are plural teams of consumers, and wherein the offer provides for a second benefit, the second benefit awarded to the team of consumers of the plural teams of consumers attaining a highest purchasing result prior to a specified expiration date. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the offer restricts purchasing to at least one of: a specified brand, a specified manufacturer, a specified retailer, and a specified shopping location. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the offer restricts purchasing to at least one of: a specified store, a specified store chain, a specified price per item, a specified list of items, a specified total dollar value, and a specified time frame. 
     
     
         10 . A method for improving sales volume of a retailer comprising:
 forming a system of computer servers as an information exchange network including servers of a retailer, a program manager, a manufacturer, and a team of consumers;   distributing an offer to the team of consumers, the offer providing a benefit to the team of consumers when a purchasing objective is attained by the team of consumers;   collecting purchase information of the team of consumers;   distributing the benefit to the team of consumers, by at least one of the retailer and the manufacturer, if the team of consumers achieves the purchasing objective.   
     
     
         11 . A system for improving sales volume at the retail level comprising a computer server network including a program manager server, a retailer server, a manufacturer server and servers of a plurality of consumers, wherein the servers of the consumers are all registered as a related team with the server of the program manager, the server of the program manager registered and process integrated with the server of the retailer to receive purchase information processed by the retailer from purchases of the consumers, the manufacturer server registered with the program manager server and process integrated therewith to receive total purchase volume information of the consumers, and further process integrated to distribute a financial benefit to each of the customer services.