Conditional purchase offer management system
View Patent ↗A conditional purchase offer (CPO) management system is disclosed for receiving CPOs from one or more customers, such as airline passengers, and for evaluating the received CPOs against a number of CPO rules defined by a plurality of sellers, such as airlines, to determine whether any seller is willing to accept a given CPO. A CPO is a binding offer containing one or more conditions submitted by a customer for purchase of an item, such as airline travel, at a customer-defined price. A CPO rule is a set of restrictions defined by a given seller, such as an airline, to define a combination of restrictions for which the seller is willing to accept a predefined price. The CPO rules may be securely stored by one or more servers. The CPO management system permits a seller to correct for forecasting errors, if necessary, or other competitive forces which have produced excess capacity, by providing inventory for sale to CPO customers.
1. A computer-implemented method for processing sale of goods and services, comprising:
receiving a conditional purchase offer including an offer price from a customer for purchasing goods and services;
processing said conditional purchase offer received from the customer to determine whether said conditional purchase offer should be rejected as part of a deterrence action;
receiving a payment identifier specifying a financial account for use in providing guaranteed payment for at least the amount of said offer price for said goods and services if said conditional purchase offer is accepted;
comparing, via a computer system, said conditional purchase offer with seller inventory and comparing said offer price with seller pricing information to determine if said conditional purchase offer is acceptable;
accepting said conditional purchase offer on behalf of the seller; and
charging said payment identifier.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising offering said conditional purchase offer to a plurality of sellers in a predefined sequence.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon historical acceptance rate of each seller.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon seller-negotiated priorities.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon commission rates paid by the seller.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditional purchase offer includes an expiration date.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
creating a record of said conditional purchase offer, said record including the offer price and associated status of said conditional purchase offer.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said financial account is a debit account.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said financial account is a credit account.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising pre-authorizing said offer price of said conditional purchase offer with a financial clearinghouse.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining pre-authorization to charge said financial account for said good and services prior to consideration of the conditional purchase offer.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said goods and services includes at least one of: an airline ticket, an automobile, insurance, computer equipment, a hotel accommodation and travel services.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer submits said conditional purchase offer via a web page.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the customer accesses the web page using a web browser.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said comparing the received conditional purchase offer against conditional purchase offer rules further comprises:
accessing information in at least one of a computer reservation system and an airline reservation system.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing further comprises:
determining whether said conditional purchase offer is one of multiple conditional purchase offers received from the customer within a predefined time period.
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
notifying the customer of acceptance of said conditional purchase offer; and
wherein comparing said conditional purchase offer further comprises:
accessing an ordered seller list, wherein sellers are ranked based on a conditional purchase offer acceptance rate associated with each seller; and
comparing said conditional purchase offer against conditional purchase offer rules of each seller in order as listed on the ordered seller list until a matching seller is found for which said conditional purchase offer is acceptable;
wherein accepting said conditional purchase offer further comprises:
accepting said conditional purchase offer on behalf of the matching seller;
creating a record of said conditional purchase offer and associated status; and
transmitting the record to a central reservation system.
18. A system, comprising:
a storage device storing a program;
a processor in communication with said storage device, said processor operative with said program to:
receive a conditional purchase offer including an offer price from a customer for purchasing goods and services;
process said conditional purchase offer received from the customer to determine whether said conditional purchase offer should be rejected as part of a deterrence action;
receive a payment identifier specifying a financial account for use in providing guaranteed payment for at least the amount of said offer price for said goods and services if said conditional purchase offer is accepted;
compare said conditional purchase offer with seller inventory and comparing said offer price with seller pricing information to determine if said conditional purchase offer is acceptable;
accept said conditional purchase offer on behalf of the seller; and
charge said payment identifier.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein said conditional purchase offer is offered to a plurality of sellers in a predefined sequence.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon historical acceptance rate of each seller.
21. The system of claim 19 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon seller-negotiated priorities.
22. The system of claim 19 , wherein said predefined sequence is based upon commission rates paid by the seller.
23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the customer submits said conditional purchase offer via a web page.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the customer accesses the web page using a web browser.
25. The system of claim 18 , wherein said conditional purchase offer includes an expiration date.
26. The system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further operative with said program to create a record of said conditional purchase offer, said record including the offer price and associated status of said conditional purchase offer.
27. The system of claim 18 , wherein said financial account is a debit account.
28. The system of claim 18 , wherein said financial account is a credit account.
29. The system of claim 18 , said processor is further operative with said program to pre-authorize said offer price of said conditional purchase offer with a financial clearinghouse.
30. The system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further operative with said program to obtain pre-authorization to charge said financial account for said good and services prior to consideration of the conditional purchase offer.
31. The system of claim 18 , wherein said goods and services includes at least one of: an airline ticket, an automobile, insurance, computer equipment, a hotel accommodation and travel services.
32. The system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further operative with said program to compare the received conditional purchase offer against conditional purchase offer rules by accessing information in at least one of a computer reservation system and an airline reservation system.
33. The system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further operative with said program to determine whether said conditional purchase offer is one of multiple conditional purchase offers received from the customer within a predefined time period.