Method and system for electronic delivery of incentive information based on user proximity

Abstract

A method and system for the electronic distribution of product or service promotion information to a mobile user are disclosed. A user may provide profile information to an online promotion service, such as user interests and preferences with respect to products and services as well as other information. The online promotion service may receive location information of point-of-sale facilities associated with particular promotions for products or services. The online promotion service may generate one or more targeted promotions to a mobile user when the user travels within a predetermined distance of an associated point-of-sale facility. A mobile user's location may be identified by a global positioning system and conveyed to the online promotion service. The user location information may be transmitted via a cell phone, a PDA, a pager or other device. This enables the user to take advantage of targeted or requested promotions while the user is within a close proximity to an associated point-of-sale facility.

1 . A system for generating incentive information for a user based on at least user profile information and user location information, the system comprising:
 at least one database for storing information regarding available incentives and redemption location information for the available incentives; and   at least one server operatively connected to the at least one database, the at least one server comprising one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to:   receive user profile information from a user;   receive notification restrictions from the user that relate to the reception of incentive information, the notification restrictions including (i) a predetermined proximity preference that defines a geographic region within which the user would be willing to travel to take advantage of an available incentive from a redemption location, and (ii) one or more time restrictions regarding the transmission of incentive information;   receive user location information transmitted from a mobile device associated with the user;   generate incentive information for the user when the received user location information indicates that a redemption location that would honor an incentive of interest to the user based on the user profile information for the user is within the geographic region defined by the predetermined proximity preference; and   transmit the generated incentive information to the mobile device associated with the user.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device associated with the user comprises a global positioning system enabled mobile device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device associated with the user comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, or a pager. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined proximity preference comprises a distance radius measured from the location of the user's mobile device. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the geographic region comprises a city. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transmitted incentive information includes directions to the redemption location. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transmitted incentive information includes a map of the location of the user's mobile device with respect to the redemption location. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user profile information specifies the category or types of incentives for which the user desires to receive notifications. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the notification restrictions further include one or more store restrictions. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the redemption location information includes street addresses of redemption locations. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the generated incentive information pertains to an incentive that the user has previously selected and printed. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined proximity preference comprises a zip code. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the redemption location information includes inventory information for redemption locations. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one server is further configured to target incentive information to users having common interests. 
     
     
         15 . A method of generating incentive information for a user based on at least user profile information and location information, the method being implemented on a computer system having one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to perform the method, the method comprising:
 storing, by the computer system, information regarding available incentives;   storing, by the computer system, redemption location information for the available incentives;   receiving, by the computer system, user profile information from a user;   receiving, by the computer system, notification restrictions from the user that relate to the reception of incentive information, the notification restrictions including (i) a predetermined proximity preference that defines a geographic region within which the user would be willing to travel to take advantage of an available incentive from a redemption location, and (ii) one or more time restrictions regarding the transmission of incentive information;   receiving, by the computer system, user location information transmitted from a mobile device associated with the user;   generating, by the computer system, incentive information for the user when the received user location information indicates that a redemption location that would honor an incentive of interest to the user based on the user profile information for the user is within the geographic region defined by the predetermined proximity preference; and   transmitting, by the computer system, the generated incentive information to the mobile device associated with the user.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the mobile device associated with the user comprises a global positioning system enabled mobile device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the mobile device associated with the user comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, or a pager. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the predetermined proximity preference comprises a distance radius measured from the location of the user's mobile device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein geographic region comprises a city. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitted incentive information includes directions to the redemption location. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitted incentive information includes a map of the location of the user's mobile device with respect to the redemption location. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the user profile information specifies the category or types of incentives for which the user desires to receive notifications. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the notification restrictions further include one or more store restrictions. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the redemption location information includes street addresses of redemption locations. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the generated incentive information pertains to an incentive that the user has previously selected and printed. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the predetermined proximity preference comprises a zip code. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the redemption location information includes inventory information for redemption locations. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 targeting incentive information to users having common interests.   
     
     
         29 . A system for providing incentives to users, the system comprising:
 at least one database for storing information regarding a group of available incentives and redemption location information for the group of available incentives; and   at least one server operatively connected to the at least one database, the at least one server comprising one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to:   receive user profile information from a user;   receive one or more notification restrictions from the user that relate to the reception of incentive information, the one or more notification restrictions including a predetermined proximity preference that defines a geographic region within which the user would be willing to travel to take advantage of an available incentive from a redemption location;   display to the user, via a graphical user interface, incentives available to the user from the group of available incentives based on the user profile information for the user;   store a record of incentives that the user has selected and printed;   receive user location information transmitted from a mobile device associated with the user;   transmit a notification message to the mobile device associated with the user when the received user location information indicates that a redemption location that would honor one of the incentives that the user has selected and printed is located within the geographic region defined by the predetermined proximity preference.   
     
     
         30 . A method of providing incentives to users, the method being implemented on a computer system having one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to perform the method, the method comprising:
 storing, by the computer system, information regarding a group of available incentives;   storing, by the computer system, redemption location information for the group of available incentives;   receiving, by the computer system, user profile information from a user;   receiving, by the computer system, one or more notification restrictions from the user that relate to the reception of incentive information, the one or more notification restrictions including a predetermined proximity preference that defines a geographic region within which the user would be willing to travel to take advantage of an available incentive from a redemption location;   displaying, by the computer system to the user, via a graphical user interface, incentives available to the user from the group of available incentives based on the user profile information for the user;   storing, by the computer system, a record of incentives that the user has selected and printed;   receiving, by the computer system, user location information transmitted from a mobile device associated with the user;   transmitting, by the computer system, a notification message to the mobile device associated with the user when the received user location information indicates that a redemption location that would honor one of the incentives that the user has selected and printed is located within the geographic region defined by the predetermined proximity preference.