Patent ID: 8326705

Claim:
A method for improving utilization of a perishable inventory, comprising: receiving, by an inventory allocation computing device, information regarding the perishable inventory of a merchant stored in a merchant inventory system, wherein the perishable inventory is identified as being within periods of low demand: automatically targeting, by the computing device, a consumer, wherein the targeting comprises: automatically receiving, by the computing device, consumer preferences data from a preferences database; automatically applying a first portion of the consumer preferences to the received information regarding the perishable inventory of the merchant to identify available inventory from the received perishable inventory information, automatically applying a second portion of the consumer preferences to the identified available inventory information and automatically forming a customized available inventory offer list, wherein the customized available inventory offer list is ranked based on the second portion of consumer preferences, and automatically composing, by the computing device, at least one of an email message, a text message, or a voice message to communicate the customized offer list, automatically communicating, by the computing device, the customized offer list to the consumer; receiving, by the computing device, a reservation made by the consumer of a portion of the perishable inventory from the offer list; notifying the merchant of the reservation by the computing device, in response to the reservation of a portion of the perishable inventory from the offer list; debiting, by the computing device, the consumer for a full price of goods or services associated with the reservation; and crediting, by the computing device, the consumer with a difference between the full price of goods or services associated with the reservation and a discounted merchant price or an equivalent value in loyalty points.