INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF TARGETED AND RECOMMENDED ELECTRONIC OFFERS
According to an embodiment, a data processing system for managing electronic offers comprises: a first logic module adapted to receive a set of target definition data, a targeted offer associated with the target definition data, a recommended offer, a set of offer data relating to the targeted offer, and a set of offer data relating to the recommended offer; and a second logic module adapted to take an action with respect to the targeted offer and a different action with respect to the recommended offer based on the target definition data and on the two sets of offer data. In an embodiment, the system is adapted to distribute either or both of the targeted offer and the recommended offer in manners such as placing the targeted offer and the recommended offer in different sections of a transaction receipt provided to a customer.
1 . A data processing system for managing electronic offers, the system comprising:
a first logic module adapted to receive a set of target definition data, a targeted offer associated with the target definition data, a recommended offer, a set of offer data relating to the targeted offer, and a set of offer data relating to the recommended offer; and
a second logic module adapted to take an action with respect to the targeted offer and a different action with respect to the recommended offer based on the target definition data and on the two sets of offer data.
2 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the system is adapted to distribute either the targeted offer or the recommended offer in response to a request for a receipt, but not both.
3 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the system is adapted to include either the targeted offer or the recommended offer in a transaction receipt transmitted to a customer data processing system, but not both.
4 . The data processing system of claim 3 , wherein the customer data processing system is at least one of: a desktop computer, laptop computer, netbook, electronic notebook, ultra mobile personal computer (UMPC), electronic tablet, client computing device, client terminal, client console, mobile telephone, smartphone, wearable computer, head-mounted computer, or personal digital assistant.
5 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the system is adapted to distribute either or both of the targeted offer and the recommended offer by at least one of: placing the targeted offer and the recommended offer in different sections of a transaction receipt provided to a customer, placing the targeted offer and the recommended offer in a different section of a website, placing one of the targeted offer and the recommended offer in a customer receipt and the other of the targeted offer and the recommended offer on a website, or co-locating the targeted offer and the recommended offer in the same section of a customer receipt or website but denoting the targeted offer and the recommended offer using different identifiers.
6 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the target definition data includes or describes at least one of: a set of target contexts to which the targeted offer is targeted, or a set of events to which the targeted offer is targeted.
7 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the target definition data includes or describes a set of target contexts in response to which an offer provider wishes to distribute the targeted offer.
8 . The data processing system of claim 7 , wherein the set of target contexts includes at least one: demographic information about a consumer on whose behalf a request was likely made, a location associated with a request, information about a retailer associated with a request, transactional or offer-related actions taken by a consumer, one or more items in an electronic shopping list or shopping cart associated with a consumer, or a time or day when a request was made.
9 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the target definition data includes or describes a set of events in response to which an offer provider wishes to distribute the targeted offer.
10 . The data processing system of claim 9 , wherein the set of events includes at least one of: an electronic transaction, a web request, an offer redemption, an offer activation, a visit by a consumer to a specific location, use of a smartphone application, use of an electronic shopping list, an ATM withdrawal, reserving, booking or embarking on an airline flight, the filling or issuance of a medical prescription, a visit to a manufacturer's website, adding an item to an online shopping cart, viewing or activating an offer on the offer distributor's website, viewing a digital receipt, an electronic message to a manufacturer, or an electronic message that references a product from a manufacturer.
11 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the recommended offer is received via an application programming interface (API) and the API is based on a recommendation context.
12 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the action taken with respect to the recommended offer is based on one or more of: a digital receipt, a digital receipt history, a section of a webpage, a footer at the bottom of an email, a shopping cart checkout page, a shopping list, a kiosk, an SMS message, a coupon gallery, an item detail page, a currently viewed item, an item history, a number of recommendations expected for a context, a number of offers to auto-activate, geolocation information, a time zone, a screen size, an IP address, a store identification, or a checkout counter identification.
13 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the action taken with respect to the recommended offer is based on one or more of: a transaction log, a shopping list, a web clickstream for particular consumer entities, an offer clickstream for particular consumer entities, an offer impression log, an offer activation log, an offer redemption log, or a consumer behavioral log.
14 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the data processing system is further adapted to include a recommendation engine, and the recommended offer is produced by the recommendation engine based on the offer data relating to the recommended offer.
15 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the offer data relating to the targeted offer includes at least one bid amount to compensate the offer distributor for selecting a particular targeted offer for a particular target context.
16 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the set of offer data relating to the targeted offer includes at least one of: an offer provider identity, a historical or projected impact of the offer on sales of an item, a historical or projected offer redemption rate, a historical or projected profit per offer impression, a historical or projected profit margin, or a historical trend in offers made available by the offer provider.
17 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the set of offer data relating to the recommended offer includes at least one of: an offer provider identity, a historical or projected impact of the offer on sales of an item, a historical or projected offer redemption rate, a historical or projected profit per offer impression, a historical or projected profit margin, or a historical trend in offers made available by the offer provider.
18 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the offer distributor is compensated differently by one or more offer providers for distribution of the targeted offer and recommended offer.
19 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein information regarding the targeted offer and the recommended offer is merged in a single list that is transmitted to a customer or retailer.
20 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the data processing system is further adapted to automatically activate either the targeted offer or the recommended offer, but not both.
21 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the decision on what actions to take with respect to the targeted offer and the recommended offer is based on a request made by a retailer or web service provider.
22 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the data processing system is further adapted to identify the targeted offer by ranking a plurality of targeted offers associated with a particular target context using a universal scoring mechanism and filtering low-scoring offers.
23 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the decision on what actions to take with respect to the targeted offer and the recommended offer is made based on:
identifying at least one target context that includes a set of events that occur in a timespan; and
generating signals based on the set of events and inputting the signals into one or more scoring functions.
24 . A data processing system for managing electronic offers, the system comprising:
a first logic module adapted to receive a set of target definition data, a targeted offer associated with the target definition data, a recommended offer, a set of offer data relating to the targeted offer, and a set of offer data relating to the recommended offer; and
a second logic module adapted to distribute, based on the target definition data and on the two sets of offer data, either the targeted offer or the recommended offer, but not both the targeted offer and the recommended offer.
25 . A method for managing electronic offers, the method comprising:
receiving a set of target definition data, a targeted offer associated with the target definition data, a recommended offer, a set of offer data relating to the targeted offer, and a set of offer data relating to the recommended offer; and
taking an action with respect to the targeted offer and a different action with respect to the recommended offer based on the target definition data and on the two sets of offer data.
26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising distributing either or both of the targeted offer and the recommended offer by at least one of: placing the targeted offer and the recommended offer in different sections of a transaction receipt provided to a customer, placing the targeted offer and the recommended offer in a different section of a website, placing one of the targeted offer and the recommended offer in a customer receipt and the other of the targeted offer and the recommended offer on a website, or co-locating the targeted offer and the recommended offer in the same section of a customer receipt or website but denoting the targeted offer and the recommended offer using different identifiers.
27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the offer distributor is compensated differently by one or more offer providers for distribution of the targeted offer compared to the recommended offer.
28 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising automatically activating either the targeted offer or the recommended offer, but not both.
29 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising including either the targeted offer or the recommended offer in a transaction receipt transmitted to a customer data processing system, but not both.
30 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising merging the information regarding the targeted offer and the recommended offer in a single list and transmitting the single list to a customer or retailer.