METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING A REWARD PROGRAM
In accordance with the present invention, a central controller stores a series of registrations, each of which corresponds to a purchaser of a product. The central controller calculates a measurement of product success, such as the number of products sold or the market share of the product. The central controller determines if the measurement is within a predetermined range. For example, the central controller may determine if the number of products sold exceeds a predetermined threshold. A selected set of registrations which are “early-adopter” registrations are selected. The set of registrations thereby defines a set of early-adopter purchasers. For example, the central controller may select a set of registrations having ordinal positions within a predetermined range of positions, such as the first hundred registrations. Thus, one hundred early-adopter purchasers are defined. If the measurement of product success is within the predetermined range, a reward, such as a refund or a free product, is provided to each early-adopter purchaser. For example, if sales of the product exceed 1,000,000 units, a reward is provided to each early-adopter purchaser.
1 - 20 . (canceled)
21 . A method for facilitating the introduction of new products to market, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of early-adopter registrations, wherein the early-adopter registrations comprise registrations occurring early in the life cycle of a product;
determining, by a processor, a measurement of success associated with the early-adopter registrations;
determining, by the processor, whether the measurement of success satisfies a predetermined threshold; and
upon determining that the measure of success satisfies the predetermined threshold, facilitating provision of a reward to a user associated with at least one of the early-adopter registrations.
22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising receiving payment associated with the one or more early-adopter registrations.
23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the reward comprises a product, a prize, a gift certificate, or establishment or adjustment of an account balance.
24 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the predetermined threshold comprises at least a predetermined price, revenue, or profit.
25 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising associating the early-adopter registrations with at least one group of a set of groups.
26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:
transmitting a group membership message indicating the at least one group associated with each early-adopter registration.
27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein at least one of the set of groups has a maximum number of associated users.
28 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the reward provided to the user is based on the group associated with the at least one early-adopter registration associated with the user.
29 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising providing a reward to an additional user associated with at least one of the one or more early-adopter registrations.
30 . The method of claim 21 , wherein facilitating provision of the reward to the user comprises providing the reward to the user.
31 . The method of claim 21 , wherein facilitating provision of the reward to the user comprises facilitating provision of the reward by a manufacturer, credit card account issuer, or other party.
32 . A method for facilitating the introduction of new products to market, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of product registrations, wherein the plurality of product registrations comprise early-adopter registrations;
determining, by a processor, a measurement of success associated with the product registrations;
determining, by the processor, whether the measurement of success satisfies a predetermined threshold; and
upon determining that the measure of success satisfies the predetermined threshold, facilitating provision of a reward to a user associated with at least one of the early-adopter registrations.
33 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
determining the early-adopter registrations from the plurality of product registrations based on an ordinal position associated with each of the plurality of product registrations.
34 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
transmitting a message to users associated with the plurality of product registrations indicating an early-adopter registration status.
35 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
determining the early-adopter registrations from the plurality of product registrations by randomly selecting a subset of the product registrations.
36 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
determining the early-adopter registrations from the plurality of product registrations based on geographic areas associated with each of the plurality of product registrations.
37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the geographic areas associated with each of the plurality of product registrations comprise states or metropolitan areas.
38 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
determining the early-adopter registrations from the plurality of product registrations based on dates of payment associated with each of the plurality of product registrations.
39 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising:
transmitting at least one status update message to users associated with the plurality of product registrations indicating predetermined threshold status information.
40 . The method of claim 39 , wherein the status update message further indicates an amount of payment necessary to reach the predetermined threshold.
41 . The method of claim 39 , further comprising:
transmitting at least one additional status update message to users associated with the plurality of product registrations indicating predetermined threshold status information,
wherein the at least one status update message and the at least one additional status update message are transmitted at periodic intervals.
42 . The method of claim 32 , further comprising receiving payments associated with the plurality of product registrations.
43 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the reward comprises a product, a prize, a gift certificate, or establishment or adjustment of an account balance.
44 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the predetermined level of product success comprises at least a predetermined price, revenue, or profit.
45 . The method of claim 32 , wherein facilitating provision of the reward to the user comprises providing the reward to the user.
46 . The method of claim 32 , wherein facilitating provision of the reward to the user comprises facilitating provision of the reward by a manufacturer, credit card account issuer, or other party.