PROMOTION INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORTING AUTOMATIC SHOPPING CART PRICE REDUCTION
An online sales/automatic rebate and coupon redemption system provides online customers automatic retrieval and redemption of all applicable rebates and coupons during purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system purchases from merchants using applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system makes it possible to automatically retrieve coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site. The system provides coupons to potential customers via email, based on customer profile, geographical information, etc. Manufacturers and merchants can update coupon value and content based on ongoing sales and volume of customer activity.
1 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
a server system that receives, via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;
said server system assembles, based on the input of the given user, a shopping cart including the one or more products;
said server system identifies, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, one or more promotions relating the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and
said server system automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.
2 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication.
3 . The infrastructure of claim 2 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages.
4 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet.
5 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein said server system stores the shopping cart.
6 . The infrastructure of claim 5 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
7 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
8 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons.
9 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity.
10 . The infrastructure of claim 9 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
11 . The infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
12 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
a user interface service that receives via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;
a transaction service that, based on the input of the given user, assembles a shopping cart including the one or more products;
a search service that, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, performs searching of promotion database for one or more promotions relating to the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and
the transaction service automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.
13 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication.
14 . The infrastructure of claim 13 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages.
15 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet.
16 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein said transaction service stores the shopping cart.
17 . The infrastructure of claim 16 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
18 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
19 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons.
20 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity.
21 . The infrastructure of claim 20 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
22 . The infrastructure of claim 12 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
23 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
a server system that receives, via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;
said server system assembles, based on the input of the given user, a shopping cart including the one or more products;
said server system, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, causes performance of a search of promotion database for one or more promotions relating the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and
said server system automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.
24 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication.
25 . The infrastructure of claim 24 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages.
26 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet.
27 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein said server system stores the shopping cart.
28 . The infrastructure of claim 27 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
29 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein said server system sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
30 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons.
31 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity.
32 . The infrastructure of claim 31 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
33 . The infrastructure of claim 23 , wherein the server system completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
34 . An infrastructure that supports sales between a plurality of users and a plurality of sellers in a communication network, the infrastructure comprising:
a user interface service that receives via a user interface and the communication network, input from a given user of the plurality of users, the input selecting one or more products being offered for sale online;
a transaction service that, based on the input of the given user, assembles a shopping cart including the one or more products; and
a promotion service that, based on information relating to the one or more products in the shopping cart, causes performance of a search of a promotion database for one or more promotions relating to the shopping cart, the one or more promotions offering a reduction in a purchase price of at least one of the one or more products in the shopping cart; and
the transaction service automatically applies the one or more promotions to reduce a shopping cart purchase price, prior to completion of a transaction involving the shopping cart.
35 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein the user interface comprises an electronic communication.
36 . The infrastructure of claim 35 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more web pages.
37 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein the communication network comprises the Internet.
38 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein said transaction service stores the shopping cart.
39 . The infrastructure of claim 38 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
40 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , further comprising an email service that sends an email related to the shopping cart to the computing device of the given user.
41 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein the one or more promotions comprises one or more rebates and/or one or more coupons.
42 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein the one or more products being offered for sale online comprises a first product from a first entity and a second product from a second entity, and wherein the one or more promotions comprises a first promotion of the first entity and a second promotion of the second entity.
43 . The infrastructure of claim 42 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.
44 . The infrastructure of claim 34 , wherein the transaction service completes the transaction involving the shopping cart using the reduced shopping cart purchase price.