Patent ID: 7653571

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of providing a discount-per-gallon for fuel to a customer who purchases a threshold amount of goods or services, said method comprising: awarding by a store computer a first discount-per-gallon for the fuel to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of at least a first threshold amount of goods or services; storing the first discount-per-gallon in a discount database; awarding by the store computer a second discount-per-gallon for the fuel to the customer in response to a purchase by the customer of at least a second threshold amount of goods or services; adding by the store computer the second discount-per-gallon to the first discount-per-gallon stored in the discount database to determine a total discount-per-gallon for the fuel; receiving by a fueling station controller, an indication that the customer has initiated a subsequent purchase of fuel, said indication including an identifier associated with the total discount-per-gallon stored in the discount database; retrieving by the fueling station controller in response to the indication that the customer has initiated a subsequent purchase of fuel, the total discount-per-gallon from the discount database; dispensing a number of units of fuel to the customer at a posted price-per-gallon to determine a preliminary cost of the fuel; calculating by a fuel controller a financial discount by multiplying the total discount-per-gallon by the number of units of fuel dispensed; and reducing by the fuel controller the preliminary cost by the calculated financial discount to determine a final cost of the fuel.