Abstract:
A marketing system is disclosed comprising a merchant server including means for providing a vendor website; a point of sale terminal in communication with the merchant server, the point of sale terminal for conducting a retail transaction with a customer; a tracking server in communication with the merchant server, the tracking server for acquiring customer statistics and providing the customer statistics to the merchant server; and an internet-ready device in communication with a marketing system application disposed in the tracking server, the internet-ready device for utilizing a token received in the retail transaction.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present Application is related to Provisional Patent Application entitled “Real Time Redemption Tracking System,” filed 4 May 2011 and assigned filing No. 61/482,600, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to a commercial marketing system and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for real-time or non-real-time or eventually up-to-date, location-based tracking of the redemption of offers made to consumers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is a functional illustration of a real-time or non-real-time or eventually up-to-date, location-based marketing system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention; and 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the marketing system of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. 
         [0006]    The disclosed marketing system provides for offer/coupon redemption tracking by making use of a software token generator or a hardware security token to issue and track transaction points earned by a customer. The merchant may be required to push a physical button to obtain a token from a hardware token generator, or to “push” a virtual button from a software token generator. Alternatively, the merchant may be required to enter a coupon code into the hardware token generator to obtain a token. 
         [0007]    There is shown in  FIG. 1  a marketing system  10 , in accordance with the present invention. The marketing system  10  operates in accordance with a marketing system application  14  resident in a tracking server  12 . The marketing system application  14  may be in communication with a network, such as the Internet  20 , via a tracking communication link  22 . Similarly, a merchant server  30 , operated by a retailer, a merchant, or a vendor may be in communication with the Internet  20  via a merchant communication link  24 . 
         [0008]    The merchant server  30  may further support a vendor website  32  that communicates with the marketing system application  14 , as described in greater detail below. It should be understood that, although the marketing system  10  comprises a real-time system, the operations of the marketing system  10 , as described in greater detail below, may also function in non real time, or in “eventually p to date” mode, by using token generators in customer transactions. 
         [0009]    The merchant server  30  may also be in communication with an electronic point-of-sale (POS) terminal  34  via local merchant communication link  36 . In an exemplary embodiment, the POS terminal  34  may be used in a retail commerce establishment (not shown) operated by the retailer, offering real-time deals and related information for dining, entertainment, and other retail resources. A local, potential customer  16  may execute a retail transaction  38  with the merchant by visiting the retail facility of the merchant, as described in greater detail below. 
         [0010]    The customer  16  preferably has access to a Internet-ready device  40 , such as a PDA, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a Tablet, a personal computer, or a SmartPhone, for example. In an exemplary embodiment, the Internet-ready device  40  may include an Internet device application  42  which functions to communicate with the vendor website  32  and with the marketing system application  14  via a customer communication link  16 , as described in greater detail below. 
         [0011]    The Internet-ready device  40  may thus access a vendor webpage  44 , which enables the customer  16  to view and consider the offers and information provided by the merchant, such as a coupon  52 . In this manner, the customer  16  may avail himself of merchant offers for real-time deals, entertainment, dining, and other services, essentially “anytime and anywhere.” The customer  16  thus has available a self-serve space to find out what is going on in his neighborhood or community. It should be understood that, for the purpose of the present disclosure, the terms “vendor,” “retailer,” and “merchant” may be used interchangeably, 
         [0012]    A vendor webpage  46  may be similarly accessed by a remote potential customer  18  using a Internet-ready device  50 . The Internet-ready device  50  may also function to access the Internet  20 , via a remote customer communication link  28 . In an exemplary embodiment, the customer  18  may reside or work in a geographical location different from that of the local customer  16 . Accordingly, the vendor webpage  46  may a coupon  54  that is different from the coupon  52  displayed on the vendor webpage  44 . In general, the vendor webpage  46  comprises offers and information directed to the geographical location of the remote customer  18 , to display information and offers attractive to the customer  18 . 
         [0013]    The innovative method executed with the marketing system  10  can be described with reference to a flow diagram  60 , shown in  FIG. 2 . The offer, or coupon  52 , having a unique offer number, may be generated via the vendor website  32 . The unique offer number may be entered into the merchant server  30  by the merchant or by an administrator of the tracking server  12 , at step  62 . 
         [0014]    The coupon  52  may be provided to the customer  16  based on one or more preferences, such as age, location, gender, at step  64 . It can be appreciated that, although preference details may be optional with the customer  16 , the more information that can be provided by the customer  16 , the better an offer and associated coupon can be customized or tailored to the preferences of the customer  16 . 
         [0015]    Accordingly, the customer  18  may then patronize a retail location to redeem the offer issued by the merchant, by presenting the coupon  52  on his Internet-ready device  40  to the merchant, at step  66 . The merchant may subsequently generate a unique tracking token for the customer  16 , at step  68 . This may be accomplished, for example, using a two-factor dynamic password generating key device such as the battery-powered two factor token OTP1001 available from Shenzhen Justtide Technology Co., Ltd., of China. The token, typically an alphanumeric key, may be generated via the Internet device application  42  in the Internet-ready device  40 , or through an API interface in the vendor website  32  or at the marketing system application  14 . The unique, identifying code can be used as a scan code, or a human-readable code. In an exemplary embodiment, the coupon  52  may be posted at selected places online, or may be available in printed form in magazines and newspapers. 
         [0016]    In an alternative embodiment, that can be used with printed coupons, the merchant may use a code associated with the coupon  52  to generate a unique tracking token for the customer  16 , at step  70 . This may be accomplished, for example, using a three-factor dynamic password generating key device such as the three factor token OTP2000 available from Shenzhen Justtide Technology Co., Ltd. It should be understood that the merchant can use either battery-powered token generator described above without requiring access to the Internet  20 . Accordingly, the customer  16  may enter his token in real-time, immediately upon obtaining the token from the merchant, or may enter his token at a later time, that is, in non-real time. 
         [0017]    As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the coupon code may be encrypted via the public key of a cryptographic algorithm system such as used via Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or Secure Socket Layer (SSL) by the merchant, and later decrypted by the tracking server  12  using the private key of the merchant. If the hardware token generator does not have a keyboard, the hardware token generator will only track and validate the merchant. However if the hardware token generator does include a keyboard, then the hardware token generator can encrypt the coupon code and track each individual coupon or offer. In comparison, a software token generator may always encrypt the coupon into the token and can, therefore, track the merchant and the coupon. 
         [0018]    It should he understood that a two-factor hardware token may comprise a code which identifies the merchant only. A three-factor hardware token generator, which includes a keyboard, and a software token generator, may both identify the merchant as well as the coupon code. The customer  16  can enter the token into his mobile communication device  40 , or any other Internet-ready web device, such as a personal computer or a tablet, for example, to redeem the coupon  52 . The marketing system  10  may function to measure such real-time or “eventually updated” consumer offers and redemption activity. The marketing system  10  may further function to present the merchant with statistics from the tracking statistics database  56  in the tracking server  12 . 
         [0019]    At step  72 , the customer  16  may enter the token number into the tracking statistics database  56  by accessing a coupon redemption field in the Internet device application  42 , and thereby receives points. However, if the customer  16  is not known to the marketing system  10 , the customer  16  may not earn points for the transaction. 
         [0020]    At step  74 , the customer  16  can track earned points in real time by accessing the vendor web site  32  via the customer communication device  40 . The customer  16  can redeem his earned points using a method similar to that used for credit card points or frequent flyer points, for example. At step  76 , the merchant may be given real-time access to a detailed report outlining offer performance and related analytics, stored and updated in the tracking server  12 . The merchant may have an option to receive the reports on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, for example. 
         [0021]    It can be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that an exemplary embodiment of the marketing system  10  may function without a requirement that software be installed at manufacturer side or business point-of-sale (POS) side. The marketing system  10  comprises the hardware or software token which, preferably, can generate and display a code with the merchant pressing a real or virtual button. The merchant thus creates the token, and provides the token to the customer  16 . 
         [0022]    It can be appreciated to one skilled in the art that some of the advantages provided by the marketing system  10  includes; (i) no software for the customer to install, to use, or to learn if the customer uses the hardware token; (ii) no clearinghouse connection or hardware and maintenance are needed; and (iii) relatively inexpensive components used in the marketing system  10 . The software token has an only one-time development cost and can be replicated at very little cost. The corresponding software can be installed on a merchant&#39;s desktop machine, or in a POS system, or on a mobile device as an API. Alternatively, the merchant can use a web token generator by logging into an account in the marketing system  10 . 
         [0023]    It can be further appreciated to one skilled in the art that the marketing system  10  also makes it easier for the merchant or vendor to collect and track data, as well as making it easier for offerings, redeeming activity, and administering the marketing system  10 . The marketing system  10  may provide the merchant with an inexpensive unique token generator and a website where the merchant can publish offers. The token generator, a unique vendor number, and an offer number are all correlated with one another. The customer  16 , who redeems the offer using the marketing system application  14 , the application platform, and the vendor website  32 , essentially “closes the circle.” 
         [0024]    The marketing system  10  thus offers the advantage that detailed information can be tracked inexpensively an unobtrusively with minimal distraction to the participants. In particular, the marketing system  10  can also track the vendor offerings, the customers, the times of customer transactions, the transaction locations, and most or all possible demographic data. Further, as described above, the merchant may track his customer transactions without requiring an Internet connection. That is, making use of the marketing system  10  in non-real time. 
         [0025]    it is to be understood that the description herein is exemplary of the invention only and is intended to provide an overview for the understanding of the nature and character of the invention, The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of various features and embodiments of the method and apparatus of the invention which, together with their description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention. Thus, while the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to the particular constructions and methods herein disclosed and/or shown in the drawings.