Flexible magazine management service
View Patent ↗A method for managing a magazine subscription management service is disclosed. A magazine package is associated with a consumer, wherein the package includes a price based on a number of magazines in the package. Selections for the number of magazines are received from a consumer, each selected magazine having a corresponding publication frequency including a number of issues and a period for delivery. Distribution of issues of each of the selected magazines according to the corresponding publication frequency is enabled.
1. A method for managing a magazine management service, comprising:
associating a magazine package with a user, wherein the magazine package includes a set number of different magazine titles and a periodic fee;
receiving, by a computer, selections for the number of magazine titles to include in the magazine package from the user, each selected magazine title having a corresponding publication frequency including a number of issues and a period for delivery;
processing purchase of the magazine package based on the periodic fee without establishing subscription contracts to the selected magazine titles;
enabling distribution of issues of each of the selected magazine titles according to the corresponding publication frequency;
providing an order-by date and a corresponding estimated delivery date for an issue of one of the magazine titles selected by the user, and
when the user selects the issue by the order-by date, enabling delivery of the issue to the user on or about the corresponding estimated delivery date.
2. A method for managing a magazine management service, comprising:
associating a magazine package with a user, wherein the magazine package includes a set number of different magazine titles and a periodic fee;
receiving, by computer, selections for the number of magazine titles to include in the magazine package from the user, each selected magazine title having a corresponding publication frequency including a number of issues and a period for delivery;
processing purchase of the magazine package based on the periodic fee without establishing subscription contracts to the selected magazine titles;
receiving from the user a selection of a subset of the number of issues in the period for delivery, and
enabling distribution of the selected subset of issues of each of the selected magazine titles according to the corresponding publication frequency.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the user with access to customer service of the flexible magazine management service by electronic means.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
enabling the user to submit reviews of a magazine title managed by the flexible magazine management service, and
enabling the user to read reviews submitted by other users.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the user with an incentive to refer the flexible magazine management service to other users,
wherein the incentive may include a number of free magazine titles from the user's wish list.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
enabling the user to search for magazine titles based on criteria including at least one of title, price, publication frequency, and content.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
collecting user demographic data for single issue magazine sales based on the distribution of issues to the user, and
providing the collected data to an auditing agency.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
allowing the user to purchase products associated with a magazine title via the flexible magazine management service; and
allowing the user to purchase magazine content in electronic form via the flexible magazine management service.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
allowing the user to order and receive magazine-specific digital content related to the user's magazine package.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
collecting market research data on a user using the flexible magazine management service.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the user with parental control features to control access to the user's selected magazine titles.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the user with wireless account management of the flexible magazine management service,
wherein a user account may be accessed by devices including at least one of a cell phone, personal data assistant, and smart phone.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user may select at least one magazine title as a substitute for a magazine title in the user's magazine package.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user may suspend delivery of all magazine titles ordered through the flexible magazine management service for at least one delivery period.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein advertisements and information may be presented to the user in video format within the flexible magazine management service, by at least one of an embedded video player, streaming video, and downloadable video files.
16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating revenue shares for each magazine title in the magazine package;
allocating the revenue shares;
generating reports based on revenue allocation; and
performing at least one of auditing and accounting based on the revenue allocation reports.