Patent ID: 8572002

Claim:
A method for applying a shipping incentive for a customer receiving inbound shipments from a plurality of parties, the method comprising the steps of: receiving information on the inbound shipments to be received from the plurality of parties; identifying parties of the plurality of parties shipping respective inbound shipments not using a preferred common carrier; for at least one of the identified parties shipping the respective inbound shipment coming from the particular party by using a carrier other than the preferred common carrier, determining an incentive, by at least one computer processor, that can be applied for the customer if the at least one of the identified parties were to ship the respective inbound shipment using the preferred common carrier; and in response to at least one of the at least one of the identified parties switching from shipping the respective inbound shipment by using the carrier other than the preferred common carrier to shipping the respective inbound shipment using the preferred common carrier, applying the corresponding incentive for the customer.