Patent ID: 8306846
Filing Date: 2012-11-06
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for evaluating transaction data to determine point of location usage, the method comprising: receiving and storing at a host computer system from multiple POS devices located within a specified region a plurality of POS datasets for a plurality of transactions, wherein each POS dataset comprises a merchant identifier, an account identifier, a transaction amount, and a time of day for the transaction, wherein the merchant identifiers are associated with merchant classifications according to market categories; storing at the host computer system residential address information that is associated with the account identifiers; with a processor of the host computer system, evaluating the datasets for transactions involving the same account identifiers over a defined time to determine when the same account identifiers were used during the defined time and with which merchant identifiers; grouping the evaluated datasets into a first group and a second group, wherein the first group comprises transactions with a given merchant of interest and the second group comprises transactions with other than the given merchant but involving transactions that occurred immediately before or immediately after transactions with the given merchant; categorizing the transactions within the second group according to the market categories, wherein the market categories are selected from a group consisting of: fast food restaurants, grocery stores, eating places and restaurants, drug stores and pharmacies, dry cleaners, family clothing stores, book stores, hardware stores, health and beauty stores, cosmetic stores and electrical stores; for each of the market categories, identifying where transactions occurred immediately before or immediately after performing a transaction with the given merchant of interest; identifying at least one competing merchant in the same merchant category that competes with the given merchant of interest; determining transactions in the second group that occurred with the competing merchant; and generating a first report showing at least two of the market categories and how many transactions occurred within each market category immediately before or immediately after performing a transaction with the given merchant; generating a second report showing a summary of transactions occurring with the competing merchant; wherein the second report shows the total number of transactions that occurred with the competing merchant or the percentage of shoppers who performed transactions with the competing merchant; generating a third report showing an average of the number of purchases made by shoppers before and after a transaction made at one of the market categories during a specified time; determining a merchant location for the purchases based on the merchant identifier; and generating a fourth report showing a percentage or number of shoppers within a certain distance of the given merchant and an average purchase amount for the transactions occurring within the certain distance, wherein the certain distance is calculated using the stored residential address information and the merchant location.