Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Discount or incentive
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-15
2001-07-24
Hafiz, Tariq R. (Department: 2166)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Discount or incentive
Reexamination Certificate
active
06266648
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of computerized purchase planning, and more particularly to a system for allowing a consumer to take advantage of discounts and benefits available from a group of goods and service providers, where the benefits are offered only to those consumers having an association or affiliation with one or more third-party benefit-enabling organizations.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELEVANT PRIOR ART
It is quite common today for many types of organizations to make available exclusively to their members, special discounts and benefits. Often, these discounts and benefits are not provided directly through the membership organization, but are instead obtained through third-party suppliers of goods and services. In such cases, the membership organization to which individuals belong, acts as an “enabling” type of organization in the sense that it does not directly provide a benefit or discount, but instead enables discounts or benefits available through a third party. A very common example of this type of arrangement may be found in the case of certain credit card companies which will offer to their cardholders certain discounts and benefits when such cardholders purchase goods and services from third-party entities such as airlines, rental car companies, restaurants, and particular retail stores. As a second example, if a consumer holds a credit card from a particular bank, the bank may offer extended warranties or discounted prices when a consumer purchases brand X products, or purchases products from a particular retail store. As third example, members of a particular professional organization may be entitled to a 10% discount at all hotel facilities operated by a particular hotel franchise or chain. These types of arrangements serve a dual purpose in that they allow a membership organization to provide additional benefits to its members, while simultaneously encouraging such members to patronize a particular third-party provider of goods or services.
In recent years, the popularity of programs, such as those described above, have increased to the point where consumers belonging to a number of different organizations often find themselves inundated by mailings and informational notices which enthusiastically inform them of the many and varied benefits available to them by virtue of their organizational membership.
The number and nature of the discounts and benefits made available to consumers through such organizations, as well as the timing restrictions and special conditions often applicable to such discounts and benefits, has resulted in a situation where their potential usefulness has been greatly diminished. The reason for this is that it is quite difficult for the average busy individual to maintain a record and cross-reference the multitude of benefits and discounts available in a manner which will allow such benefits to be easily ascertained, and thereby used, when the consumer in fact intends to purchase a particular type of goods or services. This problem has been found to exist generally but perhaps is particularly prevalent in connection with the making of travel arrangements, where expenditures for airline fares, hotels, rental cars and restaurants may involve substantial sums of money. Consumers who are familiar with the time-consuming nature of making travel arrangements can well appreciate that the additional effort required to ascertain any available discounts and benefits offered through the multitude of membership organizations to which the consumer belongs, often seems to be more trouble than it is worth. Consequently, such travel discounts and benefits often go ignored or forgotten, and are therefore unused, thereby defeating their purpose.
A similar problem arises for individuals who may not have specific travel plans, but do have an interest in benefits that may be offered in association with a particular type of activity, cultural interest or a geographic area. These types of individuals may not have the time or inclination to search out the specific benefits available to them in connection with such matters, but would likely have a substantial interest in receiving such particularized information on a regular basis.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system whereby organizations which “enable” discounts and benefits from third-party service and/or goods providers could do so in a manner which allows the members to more advantageously make use of such benefits and discounts. It is a further object of this invention to supply third-party providers of goods and services with a marketing medium whereby consumers seeking specific travel services or other products, may be made aware of special discounts or benefits on very short notice. It is yet a further object of this invention to provide consumers who have an interest in a particular activity, cultural matter or geographic area with a means to receive timely and accurate benefit information relevant to their area of interest.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, a purchase-planning system is provided for permitting a consumer to more effectively make use of a variety of available discounts and benefits from a plurality of goods and service providers. The system is advantageously designed for situations wherein the discounts or benefits (hereinafter collectively referred to as “benefits”) are limited in availability to those consumers having an association or affiliation with one or more third-party enabling organizations.
Generally speaking, the system is comprised of a database containing certain specific types of data relating to enabling organizations, the specific benefits enabled by such organizations, and consumer information identifying one or more enabling organizations to which an individual consumer has an association. The system preferably includes at least one data entry device, such as a computer keyboard, for entering data concerning a consumer and the type of goods or services he wishes to purchase. Also at least one display device, such as a CRT, is preferably used for displaying benefits and to prompt a user regarding entry of data. An electronic processor is provided, coupled with the data base, and each of the data entry devices, and display devices.
The processor is designed to be responsive to the data entry device, so that it may determine whether a particular consumer is associated with one or more of the third-party enabling organizations which enable benefits. If the consumer has such an affiliation, the system will compare the consumer's purchase information with those specific benefits enabled by the enabling organizations, and determine which of the benefits, if any, will be potentially useful to the consumer for a given set of purchase plans. This “correlated” benefit information is then displayed by the system on the display device, whereupon the consumer may determine which, if any, of the correlated benefits will actually be used.
Significantly, while the system may be used with any type of goods or services a consumer might wish to purchase, it is particularly advantageous in connection with travel planning, which may involve a sometimes complex set of logistical parameters associated with a travel itinerary. Under these circumstances, the system's ability to correlate available benefits with a consumer's travel plans can be especially useful.
In an alternative embodiment, a method for permitting a consumer to more effectively make use of a variety of available benefits from a plurality of goods and service providers, wherein the benefits are offered specifically to those consumers having an association with one or more enabling organizations. The method includes the steps of: (a) storing in a memory in the computer system consumer information, enabling organization information and benefit correlation information, the consumer information including consumer identification information and consumer interest data for identifying a set of interests for a consumer; b)analyz
Hafiz Tariq R.
Kalinowski Alexander
Senterfitt Akerman
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