Patent Publication Number: US-2015073912-A1

Title: System and computer program product for providing targeted marketing and sales

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is generally related to targeted marketing and sales, and more particularly to a system and computer program product for providing targeted marketing and sales of products and/or services. 
     2. Discussion of the Background 
     Marketing through the Internet is well known in the art. Individuals using the Internet are frequently presented with advertisements, promotions, and other content that is at least intended to be targeted to their demographic attributes, and individual characteristics. In a typical scenario, an advertiser, promoter or other entity selects a set of target demographics for its content and makes the content accessible to users either electronically or in printed form. However, whether a sale actually occurs with respect the marketed product and/or service depends on many factors, including the marketing content and the quality of the data collected for each user to determine such marketing content. Because this information is often collected based on indirect means, the products and/or services marketed are often not focused on the appropriate target audience and, instead, are often directed towards users who have no interest in the particular products and/or services being marketed and no sale occurs. 
     Thus, there currently exist deficiencies associated with targeted marketing and sales, and, in particular, with collecting detailed and accurate user information and matching that user information to categories of products which are being offered, promoted or sold which the user has an interest. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a system for providing targeted marketing and sales. The system includes a plurality of remote computers, a central server, a network interface in communication with the central server and the plurality of remote computers over a network, and a shared database in communication with the central server. The network interface is configured to provide targeted marketing and sales. The central server is configured to collect user product data in a user profile from a user, collect vendor product data in a vendor profile from one or more vendors, compare the user profile, including information derived from the user product data, to the vendor product data, and present the user with content based on the comparison. The user product data includes one or more categories of products of interest defined by the user. The vendor product data includes one or more categories of products offered for sale by the one or more vendors. 
     Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium for providing targeted marketing and sales. The computer program is implemented by one or more processors executing processor instructions. The computer program product includes (i) a first computer code for collecting user product data in a user profile from a user, (ii) a second computer code for collecting vendor product data in a vendor profile from one or more vendors, (iii) a third computer code for comparing the user profile, including information derived from the user product data, to the vendor product data, (iv) a fourth computer code for presenting the user with content based on the comparison, (v) a fifth computer code for automatically receiving a payment from the user, and (vi) a sixth computer code for automatically communicating a shipment instruction to a shipping entity. The user product data includes one or more categories of products of interest defined by the user and one or more special states defined by the user. The vendor product data includes one or more categories of products offered for sale by the one or more vendors and one or more special states defined by the one or more vendors in near real-time. The comparison ignores vendor product data that does match the one or more special states defined by the user. The content includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an advertisement, a promotion, and a discount for a product. The user profile includes billing and shipping information defined by the user. The billing and shipping information includes options to enable or disable automated billing and shipping. The fifth computer code for automatically receiving the payment from the user only occurs if the automated billing option is enabled by the user and uses the billing information. The sixth computer code for automatically communicating the shipment instruction only occurs if the automated shipping option is enabled by the user and includes the shipping information. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIGS. 1A-1B  are block diagrams illustrating a system for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 2A-2H  are flow charts illustrating a method for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3A-3C  illustrate exemplary user interfaces for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described. 
     The present invention provides a system and computer program for delivering targeted marketing and sales to Internet users, including users of mobile phone technologies, PDAs, messaging technologies, and the like. The present invention provides retailers, promoters and/or advertisers with the ability to offer promotions to users that have opted to receive promotions, advertisements or offers for sale in specific purchasing categories which the user has indicated an interest. Thus, the present invention may allow a retailer, promoter and/or advertiser to target specific users according to what they are actually interested in, and not simply by demographic statistics that merely predict what a typical user (sometimes referred to herein as a “consumer”) in a given category may possibly want to purchase. This type of focused marketing may provide the retailer, promoter and/or advertiser with more confidence that their marketing efforts will provide a greater success rate in increasing consumer traffic to their establishments and/or promotions, and increase their sales of products and/or services. 
     Because every person and every business may have a different opinion on what categories they should be considered, the present invention may provide a vendor the ability to define their own marketable boundaries and categories. Users, through their selections may provide without limitation a geographic region, what purchasing categories they have an interest, a start and end time frame(s) (which may be repeated), a product status and the like. Vendors may thus target users within whatever categories, regions and time frames in which the users have an established interest. 
     Using the present invention, the user provides information regarding the categories in which the user has an interest in purchasing. This information may include a region and a timeframe. The collected data is used to create a user profile to target specific content to the user. When selecting content to display to the user, the system automatically selects the content that best matches the user&#39;s interest determined using the user profile. In addition, on certain web pages, electronic media and/or printed materials, content that best matches may be displayed more prominently to the user than other content displayed on the web page, electronic media and/or printed material. Each of the above, is designed to increase sales. 
     The user profile may also be used to create personalized advertisements, marketing materials, entertainment, or educational materials tailored for an individual user. The present invention may provide this one-to-one relationship not only in advertising, but likewise in assessing user loyalty, and may enable a company to have real time data on individualized purchasing patterns for specific consumers, which may then reveal to the retailer when a user abandons usage of, or changes preferences for, particular products. Businesses may engage in more targeted promotions, thus expediting of the movement of merchandise and the effectiveness of its marketing efforts. Thus, the present invention may provide traceable data to retailers for determining the effectiveness of their individual promotions and their ability to build and maintain loyal consumers. Such data may provide retailers, promoters and/or advertisers with the ability to strategically plan for future sales. 
     Further, the present invention may provide targeted marketing and sales at a significantly lower cost than conventional market analysis and sales systems, due to the accuracy of the information collected, and the use of automated billing and shipping. Because advertising schemes may be localized to a category that the user already has an interest, businesses may determine which market they wish to target and may compare results from different markets. Periodic surveys and/or questionnaires may also be available through the present invention to solicit user feedback data. It should be evident to those skilled in the art that any existing market analysis model may be incorporated into or used in combination with the present invention to enhance the quality of the marketing analysis system. 
     According to one embodiment, the present invention allows a user to create a notification and streaming-based web site. The web site allows the user to configure only those products and/or services which the user has an interest using any Internet connected device, such as without limitation, a computer, laptop, cell phone, PDA, network device, and the like. The information provided regarding the products and/or services can be pulled through queries or pushed based on notification alerts using without limitation a time based workflow, real time streaming, and the like. 
     The system also allows a user to define special states in which that product and/or service should be in before there is an interest by the user, such as without limitation a promotional activity, a discount, a special state and the like. For example, a user may only be interested in Louis Vuitton® purses when there is an upcoming or ongoing sales promotion for the purse, or when the purse is sold below a certain discount percentage from the normal price or below a certain threshold price. Once the purse reaches the user-defined special state, a communication may be automatically transmitted to the user by the system using any known means including a streaming message or notification communicated to the user or the user&#39;s web site. The message may include without limitation a special offer for the product and/or service. Depending on who streamed the promotion, the message may also include without limitation physical or virtual location details. For example, the message may include the physical location of a retail location, the web address of a particular web site, or other vendor information. Further, the message may include one or more hyperlinks or scannable codes (such as a bar code) that the user may utilize to complete the sale. The user may use the system to specify, without limitation, the products and/or services they care about, the type of promotions they want to see and where the products and/or services may be available, as well as other filtering criteria. 
     The user may use the system to control what advertising will be allowed to communicate with the user&#39;s web site. For example, the user may use the system to specify that the user is only interested in new advertisements for a particular new pair of sun glasses or a next generation television soon to be made available. 
     According to one embodiment, the system establishes a true many-to-many multi-party service that allows retailers, promoters and/or advertisers to easily onboard their products and/or services and specify new states of the products and/or services. For example, the retailers, promoters and/or advertisers may set the state to, without limitation, a new product introduction, a product on promotion, a limited product availability, a discontinued product and/or service, and the like. The system may include a search criteria to allow the user to configure the types of products, services and advertisements they want to allow and where. The system may be configured such that the vendor may provide new promotion information using a simple web service in near real-time. The vender may also configure the necessary fulfillment activities that are required in order to deliver the products to the user. For example, the vendor may specify that the product is only available for pick up at a particular retail location. The system may also be configured to automatically create outbound web service messages to retailers for product reservations. 
     The system may include integration with major parcel and less than load (LTL) trucking carriers as well as white glove delivery services. The vendor and/or user may specify shipping options, such as without limitation, overnight parcel shipping, two or three day shipping, delivery to a home or office, delivery time(s), and the like. Multiple products may also be configured to be shipped as a single shipment to a home, office or other location. Further, all of the tracking events from source to delivery may be communicated to the user using any known communication means or using the user&#39;s web site as described herein. 
     I. Targeted Marketing and Sales System 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1A-1B , block diagrams illustrating a system  100  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The system  100  includes one or more computers and/or servers  106  in communication with one or more databases  110 . According to one embodiment, the one or more databases  110  include, without limitation, a user database  112 , a user profile database  114 , a vendor profile database  116 , an advertisement/promotion database  118 , an administration database  120 , a configuration database  122 , an access and permissions database  124 , a user web site database  126 , an electronic marketing distribution channel database  128 , a shipping database  130 , and an other sources database  132 . It is understood, however, that other databases and/or combinations thereof are possible within the scope of the present invention and that the above databases are provided for exemplary purposes. 
     Individuals/entities accessing the system  100  include, without limitation, one or more system administrators, one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ), one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ), and the like. According to one embodiment, the one or more system administrators, one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ), and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) access the system  100  via network  104  using an interface device. The interface device may include without limitation a computer, laptop, PDA, smart phone, server, network device, and the like. The network may include without limitation the Internet, Intranet, LAN or WAN, other proprietary network, and the like. The one or more system administrators, one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ), and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may utilize a web browser or other software to communicate with the system  100 . 
     The one or more system administrator, one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may access to the system  100  using a secure socket connection to a web server running on the system  100 . A web-based graphical user interface allows the one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ), and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ), having the appropriate permission, to access the user interfaces and modules of the system  100  or portions thereof. One or more system administrators use the administration and configuration module  250  to assign appropriate permissions to the one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ). 
     II. Targeted Marketing and Sales Processing 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2A-2H , flow charts illustrating a method for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, are shown. The system  100  includes, without limitation, modules for (i) administration and configuration  250 , (ii) user profile management  300 , (iii) user-defined web site management  320 , (iv) vendor profile management  350 , (v) near real-time advertisement and promotion management  400 , (vi) product and/or service correlation  450 , and (vii) notification, billing and shipping management  500 . It is understood that these modules may be accessed in any order and that other modules and/or combinations thereof are possible within the scope of the present invention. 
     Administration and Configuration Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2B , a flow chart illustrating the administration and configuration module  250  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  252 , the user and vendor accounts are configured. The configuration includes, without limitation, setting up login accounts, passwords and access permissions for one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) and one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) to different user interfaces and portions of the system  100 . According to one possible implementation, the user and vendor account login and password information are stored in the user database  112 , and the user and vendor access and permissions are stored in the access and permissions database  124 . 
     At block  254 , electronic marketing distribution channel and shipping connections are collected and configured. This configuration includes, without limitation, electronically linking the system  100  with electronic marketing distribution channels for communicating to the user the promotions and/or advertisements relating to the products and/or services which the user has expressed an interest. For example, the system  100  may be configured to work with, without limitation, pay per click (PPC) advertising networks, cost per mille (CPM) advertising networks, direct banner advertising networks, text link marketplaces and networks, affiliate marketplaces and networks, monetization widgets, sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks, RSS feed advertisements, pop-up and pop-under networks, and the like, to provide targeted promotions and/or advertisements to the user based on what products and/or services the user  102  has indicated an interest using one of the user interfaces of the system  100 . PPC advertising networks include, without limitation, Google Adsense, Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN), BidVertiser, Chitika, Clicksor, and the like. PPC advertising networks include, without limitation, Casale Media, Burst Media, Value Click, Advertising.com, Tribal Fusion, Right Media, and the like. Text link marketplaces and networks include, without limitation, DigitalPoint Link Sales Forum, Text-Link-Brokers, TNX, LinkWorth, and the like. Affiliate marketplaces and networks include, without limitation, Commission Junction. ClickBank, Azoogle Ads, Link Share, and the like. Monetization widgets include, without limitation, WidgetBucks, ScratchBack, SmartLinks, and the like. Sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks include, without limitation, PayPerPost, Sponsored Reviews, ReviewMe, BlogVertise, Smorty, and the like. RSS feed advertisements include, without limitation, Feedburner, BidVertiser, and the like. Pop-up and pop-under networks include, without limitation, Tribal Fusion, PayPopup, PopupAd, Adversal, and the like. The promotions and/or advertisements communicated to the user by those electronic marketing distribution channels could be configured to provide only those products and/or services in which the user  102  has an interest that are within a region or time frame and/or match a special status, as defined by the user  102 . Thereby, the effectiveness of those existing electronic marketing distribution channels may be improved. According to one possible implementation, the electronic marketing distribution channel information is stored in the electronic marketing distribution channel database  128 . 
     The configuration may also include, without limitation, linking the system  100  with shipping fulfillment channels for shipping the products and/or services which the user expressed an interest. Shipping fulfillment channels may include, without limitation, major parcel and LTL carriers, white glove delivery services, and the like. According to one possible implementation, the shipping fulfillment channel information is stored in the shipping database  130 . Other shipping information, such as without limitation, vendor and/or user defined shipping options and tracking information may be stored in the shipping database  130 , the user profile database  114  and/or the vendor profile database  116  as appropriate. 
     At block  256 , billing connections are collected and configured. This configuration includes, without limitation, electronically linking the system  100  with credit card processing entities, such as without limitation, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, banking institutions, and the like. 
     User Profile Management Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2C , a flow chart illustrating the user profile management module  300  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  302 , personal user information is collected from the user. Personal information may include, without limitation, the user&#39;s name, shipping address, billing address, web site or online social media addresses, email address, phone number, birthday information, credit card or other payment information, and the like. The products and/or services and/or categories of products and/or services that the user  102  has an interest, are collected, at block  304 . This information may be provided, without limitation, using online surveys, questionnaires, and the like, or by drilling down through graphical or textual categories provided by the user interfaces of the system  100  to select one or more products and/or services or general areas of interest to the user. At block  306 , special states, starting and ending time frame(s), regional information, and the like, relating to the products and/or categories of products and/or services are collected from the user  102 . Optionally, the starting and ending time frame(s) may be specified by the user  102  as repeating, such as without limitation, every month, quarter, year, and the like. The starting time(s) may include a future time and date when the user  102  is interested in purchasing a particular product and/or service. For example, the user  102  may specify that a starting time should begin two months from the current date. Because the billing and shipping may be automated as detailed herein, the user  102  could expect that a product and/or service matching the user&#39;s interest or search criteria would be purchased and shipped in approximately two months. Further, because the starting and ending time frame(s) may be specified as repeating, this feature might be used for replenishment of a particular product. 
     At block  308 , billing, shipping options and notification options are collected. The user  102  may control, without limitation, whether the user  102  wishes to enable or disable automated billing and/or shipping, and the like. Notification options may include whether the user  102  wants to receive notifications using, without limitation, the user&#39;s web site, popups, pop-unders, text messages, online social media, email, electronic marketing distribution channels, mailing address, and the like. 
     According to one possible implementation, the user defined personal user information, billing options, shipping options, notification options, product and/or services information, special states, and the like, are stored in the user profile database  114 . Other information relating to the user including, without limitation, historical purchasing information, demographic information, and the like, may also be stored in the user profile database  114 . 
     User-Defined Web Site Management Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2D , a flow chart illustrating the user-defined web site management module  320  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. An optional user-defined web site is configured for the user  102 , at block  322 . The system may automatically or manually configure the user web site using input from a system administrator the user  102  or a combination of both. According to one possible implementation, the user  102  selects from a list of web-site templates for the general design of the user-defined web site. 
     The user  102  may control, without limitation, whether the user  102  wishes to receive notifications on the user&#39;s web site, what advertising content will be allowed to communicate with the user&#39;s web site, and whether the user  102  wishes to allow comparison shopping and/or reverse bidding from multiple vendors. 
     The user web site may be hosted locally by the system  100  on the one or more computers and/or servers  106 , or hosted remotely on one or more computers and/or servers external to the system  100 , as specified by the system administrator or the user  102  or a combination of both. According to one possible implementation, the user web site configuration and customization information is stored in the user web site database  126 . At block  324 , the user-defined web site content and notifications are managed by the system  100 . At block  326 , an online marketplace between a user and one or more vendors is managed by the system  100  within the user-defined web site (using the notification, billing and shipping module  500 ). The online marketplace may include an area for comparison shopping and/or reverse bidding from multiple vendors, along with streaming video, audio or text feeds relating to the products and/or services that the user  102  has expressed an interest, and/or information about the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) that sell or offer for sale such products and/or services. 
     According to one non-limiting alternate implementation, the user web site is configured to be used by a user  102  as their primary web site and may be accessed by third parties to see content provided by the user  102  using templates configured by the user  102 . As such, the user  102  is motivated to use the system  100  not only for the benefits described herein, but also for the purpose of maintaining their own personal web site. 
     Vendor Profile Management Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2E , a flow chart illustrating the vendor profile management module  350  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  352 , vendor information is collected from the vendor  103 . Vendor information may include, without limitation, the vendor&#39;s  103  entity name, retail location(s), web site and/or online social media information, special shipping information, vendor preferences and options, and the like. The products and/or services and/or categories of products and/or services that the vendor  103  offers for sale is collected, at block  354 . The one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) are provided a user interface on the system  100  where they can onboard their products and/or services to the system  100 . At block  356 , special states, promotion starting and ending time frame(s), regional information, pricing information, and the like, relating to the products and/or categories of products and/or services, are collected from the vendor  103 . The one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may also configure the necessary fulfillment activities that are required in order to deliver the products to the user  102 . For example, the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may specify that the product is only available for pick up at a particular retail location. 
     According to one possible implementation, the vendor information, vendor preferences and options, product and/or services information, and special states, fulfillment activities and the like, are stored in the vendor profile database  116 . Other information relating to the vendor  103 , such as without limitation, notification information and customer satisfaction information may also be stored in the vendor profile database  116 . Notification information may include whether the vendor  103  wants to receive notifications using, without limitation, the vendor&#39;s web site, popups, text messages, online social media, email, mailing address, and the like. 
     Real-Time Advertisement and Promotion Management Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2F , a flow chart illustrating the near real-time advertisement and promotion management module  400  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  402 , near real-time advertisement and/or promotions from vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources is collected. Near real-time special state update information from vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources is collected, at block  404 . The special state may be set to, without limitation, a new product introduction, a product on promotion, a limited product availability, a discontinued product and/or service, and the like. 
     The information collected from the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources relating to the advertisement and/or promotions and advertisement and/or promotions may be collected (blocks  402  and  402 ) by any means including extracting the information from the vendors&#39; ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources&#39; web sites automatically, or by the vendor  103  provided information by logging into the system  100  and either entering this information manually using an online user interface provided by the system  100  or by uploading a data file containing such information. Using user interfaces provided by the system  100 , the system  100  may be configured by a system administrator to either collect this information (i) continuously, (ii) at pre-defined times, and/or (ii) upon the occurrence of an update to any portion of the information provided by a vendor  103  using the user interfaces provided by the system  100 . The collection of information relating to the advertisement and/or promotions and advertisement and/or promotions may include, without limitation, searching the databases  110  of the system  100  for products and/or services or the categories of products and/or services offered by the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ), or by searching the Internet, other networks, and the like. According to one embodiment, web robots, spiders, and the like may be utilized to search the Internet or other network for advertisements and/or promotions, and special state update information, from vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources. As discussed above, these technologies may be configured to run periodically, based upon some event, and/or manually activated by a system administrator. 
     The data file may utilize any now known or future data formats, including without limitation data objects, SQL statements, XML, ASCII or proprietary data files, and the like. The data file may be automatically pushed or pulled between the system  100  and the vendor&#39;s database and/or computer system, or a third party maintaining such information. According to one possible implementation, the information relating to the advertisement and/or promotions, and the special state update information, from vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources is stored in the advertisement/promotion database  118 , and additional information relating to the other sources is stored in the other sources database  132 . 
     At block  406 , the product and/or service correlation is automatically triggered upon the system  100  receiving one or more advertisement, promotion and/or special state update. 
     Correlation Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2G , a flow chart illustrating the product and/or service correlation module  450  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  452 , the product and/or service information collected from the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources is compared against the products and/or category information collected from the user  102 . Both exact match and fuzzy logic comparisons may be utilized. If there is a match, then processing continues at block  456 . If there isn&#39;t a match, then then processing continues to loop through the other comparisons. At block  456 , special states, region, and time frame information collected from the user  102  are compared against the promotions and/or advertisements collected from the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources. Both exact match and fuzzy logic comparisons may be utilized. If there is a match, then processing continues at block  460 . If there isn&#39;t a match, then processing continues to loop through the other comparisons. At block  460 , the notification, billing and shipping management module  500  may be triggered if one or more matches were found. 
     Notification, Billing and Shipping Management Module 
     Referring to  FIG. 2H , a flow chart illustrating the notification, billing and shipping management module  500  for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. At block  502 , one or more product and/or service match notifications are communicated to the user  102  based on the user profile configuration and whether the user wants to receive such notifications. One or more product and/or service match notifications are communicated to the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) based on their respective vendor profiles, at block  504 . 
     Match notifications may be communicated using, without limitation, a web site, popups, text messages, online social media, email, electronic marketing distribution channels, mailing address, and the like. Match notifications may include, without limitation, the matching products and/or services offered or promoted by the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ), the states of those products and/or services, any promotion information associated with those products and/or services, and the necessary fulfillment activities. Further, the match notification may include one or more hyperlinks or scannable codes (such as a bar code) that the user  102  may utilize to complete the sale. 
     The notification information may be arranged by the system  100  to facilitate comparison shopping information and/or reverse auctions. For example, based on the products and/or services of interest to the user  102 , multiple offers from multiple vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may be present directly to the user  102  using the user interface  600 . This allows the user to compare the different vendor  103  offerings and select a particular vendor  103  offering that best matches the need of the user  102 . Further, multiple vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may be directed by the user  102  offer the user  102  their lowest bid and the lowest offer may be either manually selected by the user  102  or automatically by the system  100 . The notification information may also include customer satisfaction information or other vendor related information designed to allow the user  102  to make the best decision regarding the purchase. 
     A vendor  103  may opt-in to participate in the comparison shopping and/or reverse bidding arrangement using the user interfaces of the system  100 . Using the user interfaces provided by the system  100  (such as, without limitation, the user-defined web site), the one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) may directly collaborate and negotiate with the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) using any known or future communication means, or the user&#39;s web site. For example, a vendor  103  may utilize the user interfaces provided by the system  100  to offer a different price for delayed delivery or a different shipment methodology (two packages instead of one, etc.). Further, a user  102  may utilize the user interfaces provided by the system  100  to specify a price that must be offered by the vendor  103  in order for there to be a match (e.g., “I&#39;ll buy it for $x negotiations.”). Using the user interface of the system  100 , the user  102  may directly communicate with a representative of a particular vendor  103  using a live video, audio and/or chat connection. 
     At block  506 , the system  100  may automatically bill and/or ship the products and/or services based upon whether the user  102  has enabled respectively automatic billing and/or automatic shipping in the user profile (using block  308  of the user profile management module  300 ). If the billing and/or shipping fulfillment did not already occur in the previous step (block  506 ), then the system  100  may automatically bill and/or ship the products and/or services based upon the user&#39;s  102  response to a match notification, at block  508 . For example, without limitation, the user  102  may click one or more hyperlinks or scan one or more scannable codes (such as a bar code) that may be contained within the match notification to complete the sale. 
     Depending upon the configuration, the system  100  may ship the products and/or services using major parcel, less than load (LTL) trucking carriers, and/or white glove delivery services. The products and/or services may be shipped based upon vendor  103  and/or user  102  specified shipping options, including without limitation, overnight parcel shipping, two or three day shipping, delivery to a home or office, delivery time(s), and the like. Multiple products may also be configured to be shipped as a single shipment to a home, office or other location, using the user interfaces of the system  100 . Further, all of the tracking events from source to delivery may be communicated to the user  102  using any known communication means or using the user&#39;s web site as described herein. 
     Accordingly, as described above, the information collected from the vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources relating to the advertisement and/or promotions may be (i) collected in near real-time (using the near real-time advertisement and promotion management module  400 ), (ii) searched for matching user-desired products and/or services (using the correlation module  450  described below), and (iii) pushed to the appropriate one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) (using the notification, billing and shipping management module  500  described below). Further, the system  100  may be configured by the appropriate one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) to bill the respective users ( 102   a - 102   n ) and ship the products and/or services automatically. 
     As such, the present invention provides a multi-party real-time/streaming system that allows for promised availability, delivery and spot negotiation of goods between a consumer and multiple brands/manufacturers. 
     III. Exemplary User Interfaces 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3A-3C , exemplary user interfaces for providing targeted marketing and sales in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, are shown. As shown in  FIG. 3A , the user interfaces may include, without limitation, a search area (as represented by text field  606  and button  608 ), a user profile and options pull down or menu option  604 , a web page content area  610  and a product and/or services match notification area  612 . The search area ( 606  and  608 ) allows the user  102  to search for products and/or services, and/or make other queries with the system  100 , the Internet and/or other network. The user profile and options pull down or menu option  604  is configured to allow the user  102  to configure their user profile and to specify options and preferences on their user web site as described above. The web page content area  610  may provide web content defined by the user  102  and/or the system administrator. For example, the web content may include, without limitation, news information, user-defined content, information about specific products, services, vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources, or may operate as a web portal for the user  102 . The information about specific products, services, vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources may include comparison shopping information and or reverse auction information. For example, based on the products and/or services of interest to the user, multiple vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may present multiple offers directly to the user  102  using the user interface  600  so that the user may compare the different vendor  103  offerings and select an particular vendor  103  offering that best matches the need of the user  102 . Further, multiple vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may be directed by the user  102  to offer the user  102  their lowest bid and the lowest offer may be manually selected by the user  102  or automatically selected by the system  100 . 
     The product and/or services match notification area  612  may include text or graphical information relating to the product and/or services. Products and/or services from multiple vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) and/or other sources may be displayed for comparison shopping purposes, and clicking on one products and/or services in the product and/or services match notification area  612  may result in additional detail being displayed in the web page content area  610  relating to the selected products and/or services. Content that best matches the product and/or services match notification area  612  may be displayed more prominently to the user than other content displayed on the user web page. Further, according to an alternative embodiment, vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ) may pay a service fee to have their products and/or services displayed more prominently than products and/or services offered by other vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ). It is understood that the user interface shown in  FIG. 3  is shown for exemplary purposes and that other arrangements are obviously possible within the scope of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3B , the user interfaces may include, without limitation, a personal user information section  652 , a billing information section  654 , a user-defined web site section  656 , a bill and ship options section  658 , and a product notifications section  660 . The personal user information section  652 , may include, without limitation, the user&#39;s name, shipping address, billing address, web site or online social media addresses, email address, cell and/or phone number, birthday information, and the like. The billing information section  654  may include, without limitation, credit card or other payment information, and the like. The user-defined web site section  656  may include, without limitation, the web site address, template used to create the web site, other customization information, and the like. The bill and ship options section  658  may include, without limitation, preferred shipping options, an option to allow products and/or services to be billed and shipped automatically upon a match, preferred shipping vendor information, other billing and shipping information, and the like. The product notifications section  660  may include, without limitation, whether the user  102  wants to receive notifications using, without limitation, the user&#39;s web site, popups, pop-unders, text messages, online social media, email, electronic marketing distribution channels, mailing address, and the like. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3C , the user interfaces may include, without limitation, a filter section  704 , a hierarchical category drill down selection section  702 , and a graphical selection section  710 . The filter section  704  may include one or more filter options, such as without limitation, by brand(s), vendor(s) ( 103   a - 103   n ), vendor  103  retail location(s), region, start and end time frame(s), maximum price threshold, discount percentage, keyword(s), and the like. The hierarchical category drill down selection section  702  may be configured to allow the user to drill down through graphical or textual categories to select one or more products and/or services or general areas of interest to the user. The graphical selection section  710  may be configured to allow the user to select products and/or services or general areas of interest to the user simply by selecting a graphical representation of a category, product and/or service. One or more fields may also be included to for the user to provide a unique name associated with the product and/or service match request. Alternatively, a unique name may be automatically generated by the system  100 . 
     Using the system  100  detailed above, a true many-to-many multi-party service may be established between the one or more users ( 102   a - 102   n ) and the one or more vendors ( 103   a - 103   n ). 
     IV. Other Modifications and Variations 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims. 
     This invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. 
     As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the invention may be embodied as a method, device, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” 
     The present invention thus includes a computer program product which may be hosted on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium and includes instructions which perform the processes set forth in the present specification. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java@, Smalltalk, C# or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or in a visually oriented programming environment, such as VisualBasic. 
     The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention in any manner. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the disclosed concept, the invention may be practiced otherwise then as specifically described.