Systems and methods to aggregate demand

Abstract

A computing apparatus includes: a data warehouse to store data associating a plurality of account identifiers with an offer having a predefined purchase requirement and an aggregated purchase requirement for a benefit; and a transaction handler configured to process a plurality of transactions. The transaction handler is further configured to determine whether each of the plurality of transactions satisfies a predefined purchase requirement, identify a set of transactions each satisfying the predefined purchase requirement, and determine whether the set of transactions satisfies an aggregated purchase requirement for the benefit. In one example, the transaction handler is configured to provide the benefit via statement credits when the set of transactions satisfies the aggregated purchase requirement.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing apparatus, comprising:
 at least one microprocessor; and   a memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one microprocessor to:
 identify a set of payment transactions of a plurality of users in accordance with an offer provided to the users, the offer having a predefined benefit, a predefined purchase requirement, and a predetermined threshold, wherein each payment transaction in the set is identified to have met the predefined purchase requirement of the offer; 
 determine whether an aggregated volume of purchase corresponding to the set of payment transactions is above the predetermined threshold; and 
 in response to a determination that the aggregated volume of purchase is above the predetermined threshold, providing the predefined benefit to each payment transaction in the set. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the set of payment transactions are identified via:
 receiving, by the computing apparatus, authorization requests of a plurality of payment transactions;   embedding, by the computing apparatus, requests for purchase details in authorization responses for authorization requests containing account identifiers that are associated with the offer;   receiving, by the computing apparatus, the purchase details provided in response to the requests for purchase details embedded in the authorization response; and   selecting, by the computing apparatus, the set of payment transactions based at least in part on the purchase details received in response to the requests for purchase details embedded in the authorization response.   
     
     
         3 . The computing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the purchase details identify stock keeping unit (SKU) information of items paid for via respective payment transactions. 
     
     
         4 . The computing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein each respective payment transaction in the set is identified for being included in the set based at least in part on that an item purchased via the respective payment transaction and identified via the purchase details is a predefined item specified for the offer. 
     
     
         5 . The computing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the aggregated volume of purchase is based at least in part on a count of total units of the predefined item paid for via the set of payment. 
     
     
         6 . The computing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the aggregated volume of purchase is based at least in part on a count of payment transactions in the set. 
     
     
         7 . The computing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each respective payment transaction in the set is identified for being included in the set based at least in part on that an authorization request submitted for the respective payment transaction is received prior to a predetermined time limit specified for the offer. 
     
     
         8 . The computing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the predefined benefit is provided via statement credits. 
     
     
         9 . The computing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the set of payment transactions are made in different retail stores. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:
 providing, by the computing apparatus, an offer to a plurality of customers on a social networking website, the offer including a benefit provided when a purchase volume of a predetermined item of the offer is above a threshold within a predetermined period of time; and   prior to expiration of the predetermined period of time:
 receiving, by the computing apparatus, requests of customers to purchase the predetermined item in accordance with the offer, 
 processing, by the computing apparatus, authorization of payment transactions corresponding to the requests, and 
 postponing, by the computing apparatus, settlement of the payment transactions until the purchase volume of the requests reaches the threshold. 
   
     
     
         11 . The computer storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the payment transactions are not settled if the purchase volume of the requests fails to reach the threshold within the predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         12 . The computer storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein the benefit comprises a discount in a purchase price for the predetermined item, the discount provided to the payment transactions. 
     
     
         13 . The computer storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the discount is based on one or more suggested prices specified by customers on the social networking website. 
     
     
         14 . The computer storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
 facilitating, by the computing apparatus, negotiation of a price of the predetermined item in the offer on the social networking website.   
     
     
         15 . A method, comprising:
 processing, by a computing apparatus, authorization of a plurality of payment transactions for purchases made in accordance with an offer, the offer having a predefined benefit, a predetermined threshold, and a predetermined time limit;   determining, by the computing apparatus, whether an aggregated volume of purchase corresponding to the plurality of payment transactions is above the predetermined threshold; and   in response to a determination that the aggregated volume of purchase is above the predetermined threshold before expiration of the predetermined time limit,
 processing, by the computing apparatus, settlement of the plurality of payment transactions, and 
 providing, by the computing apparatus, the predetermined benefit to each of the plurality of payment transactions in the settlement of the plurality of payment transactions. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 signing customers up to a group on a social networking website to receive the offer; and   associating account identifiers of customers in the group with the offer.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the associating of the account identifiers with the offer is in response to a count of customers in the group exceeding a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 identifying the plurality of payment transaction during the authorization of the plurality of payment transactions, based on the associating of the account identifiers with the offer.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the payment transactions are made in different stores of a retail network. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the payment transactions are made in different stores of different retailers.