Systems and Methods for Managing Incentive Campaigns and Automatically Approving Requests for Incentives

Abstract

Systems and methods to manage incentive campaigns and automatically approve requests for incentives received from consumers or their proxy based on dynamic parameters defined by an incentive provider are described herein. Users at various levels between an original equipment manufacturer and the consumer may interact and offer input. In various implementations, campaign parameters may be received from an incentive provider and used to initiate and/or otherwise administrate a campaign. Incentive providers may then dynamically modify ongoing campaigns via the system. One or more user interfaces may be generated through which users may interact with the system and visualizations related to a campaign may be presented. Based on the initial or modified parameters for a campaign, the systems and methods described herein may further determine whether to approve, deny, or otherwise respond to requests for incentives received from consumers or their proxy.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system configured to manage incentive campaigns, the system comprising:
 one or more physical processors; and   at least one storage device configured to store processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, configure the system to:
 (a) receive, from an incentive provider, one or more campaign parameters defining one or more incentives that may be made available during a campaign; 
 (b) initiate the campaign based on the one or more campaign parameters; 
 (c) store incentive request information comprising, for each of a plurality of individual incentive requests, an indication of a desired incentive amount requested and whether the incentive request was approved; 
 (d) automatically determine, after the campaign has been initiated, one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying a machine learning algorithm to the stored incentive request information, wherein the one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more transactions during the campaign relative to a desired campaign target; 
 (e) modify the one or more campaign parameters based on the one or more suggested modifications; 
 (f) receive a request from a user for a desired incentive amount after the one or more campaign parameters have been modified; 
 (g) determine whether the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies one or more rules associated with the one or more campaign parameters; 
 (h) automatically approve the request for the desired incentive amount responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies the one or more rules; and 
 (i) update the stored incentive request information by storing an indication of the desired incentive amount requested by the user and whether the received request from the user was approved; and 
 (j) automatically determine a second one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying the machine learning algorithm to the updated stored incentive request information, wherein the second one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more subsequent transactions during the campaign relative to the desired campaign target after the stored incentive request information has been updated based on the received request from the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the incentive provider comprises an original equipment manufacturer, and wherein the user comprises a retailer through which one or more items are to be purchased. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 determine, in response to approving the request for the desired incentive amount, an incentive surplus associated with the approved request; and   allocate at least a portion of the incentive surplus to the incentive provider for use in at least one other campaign.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 determine, in response to approving the request for the desired incentive amount, an incentive surplus associated with the approved request; and   allocate at least a portion of the incentive surplus to the user for use in one or more future possible transactions during the campaign.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein to automatically approve the request for the desired incentive amount, the system is configured to:
 cause a notification to be provided to the user indicating that at least a portion of the request for the desired incentive amount is approved without further input from the incentive provider.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the request is automatically approved based further on an incentive budget associated with the campaign or an expiration date associated with the campaign. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more modified campaign parameters include a modified incentive cap, and responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount in the received request exceeds the modified incentive cap, the system is further configured to:
 automatically deny the request for the desired incentive amount.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount does not satisfy the one or more rules associated with the one or more campaign parameters, the system is further configured to:
 determine a counteroffer incentive amount, wherein the counteroffer incentive amount is less than the desired incentive amount; and   cause a notification to be provided to the user indicating at least the determined counteroffer incentive amount.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 generate a visualization to be provided via a graphical user interface, the visualization including an indication of a projected incentive spend and an actual incentive spend for the campaign.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine learning algorithm comprises an unsupervised goal-based machine learning algorithm. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 modify the one or more campaign parameters based on the one or more suggested modifications without further input from the incentive provider.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more suggested modifications include a suggestion to move available funds for incentives associated with the campaign to another campaign. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more suggested modifications include a suggestion to modify an expiration date associated with the campaign. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 automatically deny the received request for the desired incentive amount responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount exceeds an incentive cap;   responsive to the modification of the one or more campaign parameters, determine whether the desired incentive amount exceeds a modified incentive cap;   generate a second message, the second message comprising a notification to be provided to the user responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount does not exceed the modified incentive cap; and   transmit the second message to the user.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 generate a visualization of a projected impact of the one or more suggested modifications to the campaign parameters, the visualization including an indication of a projected incentive spend based on an incentive cap specified by the campaign parameters and an indication of a projected incentive spend based on a suggested modification to the incentive cap, wherein the message is provided to the incentive provider via a graphical user interface with the visualization of the projected impact of the one or more suggested modifications.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the request for a desired incentive amount received from the user includes information from the user responsive to one or more questions from the incentive provider. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the system is further configured to determine whether the user qualifies for one or more specific incentives during the campaign based on the information from the user responsive to the one or more questions from the incentive provider. 
     
     
         18 . A method configured to manage incentive campaigns, the method being implemented on a system having one or more physical processors and at least one storage device configured to store processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, configure the system to perform the method, the method comprising:
 (a) receiving, from an incentive provider, one or more campaign parameters defining one or more incentives that may be made available during a campaign;   (b) initiating the campaign based on the one or more campaign parameters;   (c) storing incentive request information comprising, for each of a plurality of individual incentive requests, an indication of a desired incentive amount requested and whether the incentive request was approved;   (d) automatically determining, after the campaign has been initiated, one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying a machine learning algorithm to the stored incentive request information, wherein the one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more transactions during the campaign relative to a desired campaign target;   (e) modifying the one or more campaign parameters based on the one or more suggested modifications;   (f) receiving a request from a user for a desired incentive amount after the one or more campaign parameters have been modified;   (g) determining whether the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies one or more rules associated with the one or more campaign parameters;   (h) automatically approving the request for the desired incentive amount responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies the one or more rules; and   (i) updating the stored incentive request information by storing an indication of the desired incentive amount requested by the user and whether the received request from the user was approved; and   (j) automatically determining a second one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying the machine learning algorithm to the updated stored incentive request information, wherein the second one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more subsequent transactions during the campaign relative to the desired campaign target after the stored incentive request information has been updated based on the received request from the user.   
     
     
         19 . A cloud-based system configured to manage incentive campaigns, the system comprising:
 one or more physical processors in a cloud computing platform configured to provide one or more cloud-based services; and   at least one storage device in the cloud computing platform configured to store one or more processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, configure the one or more cloud-based services to:
 (a) initiate the campaign based on one or more campaign parameters defining one or more incentives that may be made available to users during a campaign; 
 (c) automatically determine, after the campaign has been initiated, one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying a machine learning algorithm to stored incentive request information, wherein the one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more transactions during the campaign relative to a desired campaign target; 
 (d) modify the one or more campaign parameters based on the one or more suggested modifications; 
 (e) receive a request from a user for a desired incentive amount after the one or more campaign parameters have been modified; 
 (f) determine whether the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies one or more rules associated with the one or more campaign parameters; 
 (g) automatically approve the request for the desired incentive amount responsive to a determination that the desired incentive amount requested by the user satisfies the one or more rules; and 
 (h) update the stored incentive request information by storing an indication of the desired incentive amount requested by the user and whether the received request from the user was approved; and 
 (i) automatically determine a second one or more suggested modifications to the one or more campaign parameters by applying the machine learning algorithm to the updated stored incentive request information, wherein the second one or more suggested modifications are determined to optimize how incentives will be granted for one or more subsequent transactions during the campaign relative to the desired campaign target after the stored incentive request information has been updated based on the received request from the user. 
   
     
     
         20 . The cloud-based system of  claim 19 , wherein the user comprises a customer or a proxy of a customer requesting the desired incentive amount for the customer to purchase one or more items.