Restaurant yield management portal

Abstract

A system and method to optimize the yield of a restaurant having perishable inventory is described. Through a card company, a restaurant can market incentives to make reservations during an off-peak time to enrolled card members. Offer marketing is based on stated customer preferences, and conducted via, for example, a website, email, or text message. Reservations are made, for example, via a centralized booking service. The incentive is fulfilled to the card member in a coupon-less manner. The card company receives a commission from the participating restaurant for every such sale.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a computer system, inventory data corresponding to a merchant, wherein the inventory data includes information indicating availability of inventory of the merchant at a plurality of different time periods;   identifying, by the computer system, a particular time period of the plurality of different time periods in which the merchant has a higher level of available inventory than one or more other time periods, wherein the identifying is based on the inventory data;   applying, by the computer system, a ranking algorithm to a plurality of inventory items of the merchant available in the particular time period to determine a ranked list comprising a plurality of potential offers for a specific consumer to purchase ones of the available inventory items, wherein the determining is based on preference data for the specific consumer;   the computer system formatting the ranked list into an electronic communication format corresponding to a push communications protocol; and   the computer system causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted to the specific consumer via the push communications protocol.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the push communications protocol is a text message protocol, and wherein causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted comprises causing a text message addressed to a phone number associated with the specific consumer to be sent. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the push communications protocol is a short messaging service (SMS) protocol, and wherein the text message is transmitted to a mobile phone device associated with the specific consumer. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising the computer system receiving customer data indicative of a plurality of inventory purchasing preferences of a plurality of consumers; and
 the computer system extracting the preference data for the specific consumer from the received customer data.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the preference data includes at least one of a preferred cuisine type, a preferred time of reservation, or a preferred minimum restaurant rating. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising the computer system causing a targeted marketing message to be sent to the specific consumer via the push communications protocol, wherein the targeted marketing message includes the formatted ranked list and includes at least one of a date a potential offer may be redeemed, a time a potential offer may be redeemed, a location at which a potential offer may be redeemed, or a group reservation size for a potential offer. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein identifying the particular time period comprises analyzing the inventory data relative to a total seating capacity of the merchant. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the merchant corresponds to at least one of a manufacturer, an airline company, a retailer, a theatre, a hotel, or a restaurant; and
 wherein applying the ranking algorithm comprises use of consumer data that includes at least one of authentication information, customer name, customer email address, customer account number, one or more preferred customer cuisines, a geographical location, or a minimum party size associated with the consumer.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising the computer system receiving inventory data corresponding to a plurality of different merchants, and wherein the determined ranked list comprises at least first and second offers from different merchants. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the formatted ranked list is electronically transmitted to the specific consumer along with information indicating an amount of a discount for at least one of the plurality of potential offers. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the preference data includes one or more absolute preferences and one or more non-absolute preferences. 
     
     
         35 . A computer system, comprising:
 a processor;   a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving inventory data corresponding to a plurality of merchants, wherein the inventory data includes information indicating availability of inventory of different ones of the plurality of merchants at a plurality of different time periods; 
 identifying at least first and second time periods of the plurality of different time periods in which at least first and second merchants have higher levels of available inventory than one or more other time periods, wherein the identifying is based on the inventory data; 
 applying a ranking algorithm to a plurality of inventory items of the first and second merchant available in at least one of the first and second time periods to determine a ranked list comprising a plurality of potential offers for a specific consumer to purchase ones of the available inventory items, wherein the determining is based on preference data for the specific consumer; 
 formatting the ranked list into an electronic communication format corresponding to a push communications protocol; and 
 causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted to the specific consumer via the push communications protocol. 
   
     
     
         36 . The computer system of  claim 35 , wherein causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted is based on electronically received permission data from the specific consumer consenting to receive communications via the push communications protocol. 
     
     
         37 . The computer system of  claim 35 , wherein determining the ranked list is based on a current time period in which applying the ranking algorithm occurs. 
     
     
         38 . The computer system of  claim 35 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting the specific consumer, prior to applying the ranking algorithm, from a plurality of consumers based on one or more preferences of the specific consumer indicated in the preference data. 
     
     
         39 . An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that are executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving inventory data corresponding to a merchant, wherein the inventory data includes information indicating availability of inventory of the merchant at a plurality of different time periods;   identifying a particular time period of the plurality of different time periods in which the merchant has a higher level of available inventory than one or more other time periods, wherein the identifying is based on the inventory data;   applying a ranking algorithm to a plurality of inventory items of the merchant available in the particular time period to determine a ranked list comprising a plurality of potential offers for a specific consumer to purchase ones of the available inventory items, wherein the determining is based on preference data for the specific consumer;   formatting the ranked list into an electronic communication format corresponding to a push communications protocol; and   causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted to the specific consumer via the push communications protocol.   
     
     
         40 . The article of manufacture of  claim 39 , wherein the operations further comprise causing the formatted ranked list to be electronically transmitted within a particular time period specified by the merchant. 
     
     
         41 . The article of manufacture of  claim 39 , wherein the push communications protocol is a text message protocol for mobile phone devices. 
     
     
         42 . The article of manufacture of  claim 39 , wherein the applying the ranking algorithm includes using transaction data for one or more previous transactions by the specific consumer to determine the ranked list. 
     
     
         43 . The article of manufacture of  claim 39 , wherein identifying the particular time period comprises analyzing the inventory data relative to a total seating capacity of the merchant.