Deal scoring system and method

Abstract

Prospective deals for a deal vendor's deal inventory may be scored according to one or more population-specific expected-yield scores, such as expected revenue yield, expected new customers yield, and the like. A prospective deal is categorized and characterized according to a number of yield-related characteristics. Some or all of the prospective deal's characteristics are mapped to yield components derived from completed deals that have been offered to a particular population. An expected-yield score for a prospective deal with regard to that population is obtained by combining the mapped yield components.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An apparatus, comprising:
 circuitry configured to:
 determine deal characteristic data associated with a selected deal record of a deal record database; 
 determine a target consumer device population; 
 determine correlations between historical yield data and the deal characteristic data for the target consumer device population; 
 determine expected yield data for the target consumer device population based on the correlations between the historical yield data and the deal characteristic data; 
 determine a deal score for the selected deal record based at least in part on the expected yield data; and 
 determine to accept or reject the selected deal record for output to the target consumer device population based on the deal score. 
   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine to accept or reject the selected deal record for output to the target consumer device population based on the deal score comprises the circuitry being configured to compare the deal score to a second deal score for a second deal record of the deal record database. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine the deal score includes the circuitry being configured to determine the deal score based on the expected yield data and at least second expected yield data associated with second deal characteristic data of the prospective deal. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-neutral deal characteristic and the second deal characteristic data defines a population-specific deal characteristic. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine the deal score based on applying a weighting factor to each of the expected yield data and the second expected yield data. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-neutral deal characteristic selected from the group consisting of: a category characteristic, a price characteristic, a discount characteristic, a brand strength characteristic, a limitations/exclusions characteristic, and a third party population-neutral characteristic. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-specific deal characteristic selected from the group consisting of: a locations/distance characteristic, a market size characteristic, a promotion type characteristic, and a third party population-specific characteristic. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the historical yield data and the expected yield data are selected from the group consisting of: revenue yield data, return customer yield data, referrals yield data, and new subscriber yield data. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
 determine deal characteristic data of a completed deal;   determine a historical yield data value associated with the deal characteristic data and the target consumer device population for the completed deal; and   determine the correlations between the historical yield data and the deal characteristic data for the target consumer device population based at least in part on the historical yield data value.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine the target consumer device population includes the circuitry being configured to determine the target population based on one of:
 deal data received from a merchant device; and   a location where the selected deal is redeemable.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine the selected deal based on receiving the deal characteristic data indicating one or more deal characteristics of the selected deal from a merchant device. 
     
     
         13 . A machine-implemented method, comprising:
 determining, by circuitry, deal characteristic data associated with a selected deal record of a deal database;   determining, by the circuitry, a target consumer device population;   determining, by the circuitry, correlations between historical yield data and the deal characteristic data for the target consumer device population;   determining, by the circuitry, expected yield data for the target consumer device population based on the correlations between the historical yield data and the deal characteristic data;   determining, by the circuitry, a deal score for the selected deal record based at least in part on the expected yield data; and   determining, by the circuitry to accept or reject the selected deal record for output to the target consumer device population based on the deal score.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining to accept or reject the selected deal record for output to the target consumer device population based on the deal score comprises comparing the deal score to a second deal score for a second deal record of the deal record database 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining the deal score includes determining the deal score based on the expected yield data and at least second expected yield data associated with second deal characteristic data of the selected deal. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-neutral deal characteristic and the second deal characteristic data defines a population-specific deal characteristic. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising determining, by the circuitry, the deal score based on applying a weighting factor to each of the expected yield data and the second expected yield data. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-neutral deal characteristic selected from the group consisting of: a category characteristic, a price characteristic, a discount characteristic, a brand strength characteristic, a limitations/exclusions characteristic, and a third party population-neutral characteristic. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the deal characteristic data defines a population-specific deal characteristic selected from the group consisting of: a locations/distance characteristic, a market size characteristic, a promotion type characteristic, and a third party population-specific characteristic. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the historical yield data and the expected yield data are selected from the group consisting of: revenue yield data, return customer yield data, referrals yield data, and new subscriber yield data. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising:
 determining, by the circuitry, deal characteristic data of a completed deal; 
 determining, by the circuitry, a historical yield data value associated with the deal characteristic data and the target consumer device population for the completed deal; and 
 determining, by the circuitry, the correlations between historical yield data and values of the deal characteristic data for the target consumer device population based at least in part on the historical yield data value.