Patent ID: 9704173
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: G06Q

Claim:
1. A method for managing coupons used for purchasing an item of goods comprised by a plurality of items, said method comprising: receiving, by a transceiver of a coupon issuance control server in real time, notification that a user has exercised a coupon for purchasing the item of goods, of information identifying the user, and of a coupon identifier (ID) that identifies a coupon for purchasing the item, wherein a discount for discounting a purchase price of the item is incorporated into the coupon, in response to said received notification, said coupon issuance control server incrementing, in real time, a coupon count of coupons exercised for purchase of the item; after said incrementing, said coupon issuance control server calculating, in real time, a number of remaining exercisable coupons for purchasing the item by subtracting the coupon count from a preset number of coupons; and said coupon issuance control server transmitting via the transceiver in real time, through a network, the calculated number of remaining exercisable coupons to an advertising contents management server to facilitate display, in real time with respect to when the user exercised the coupon, of the number of remaining exercisable coupons to users requesting coupons for purchase of the item, wherein item availability data in a coupon information database comprised by the coupon issuance control server includes real-time information as to the calculated number of said remaining exercisable coupons currently available for purchasing the item.