U.S. patent application number 11/896559 was filed with the patent office on 2007-12-27 for method and apparatus for marketing products over the internet.
This patent application is currently assigned to Time Consumer Marketing, Inc.. Invention is credited to Amy Mulderry, William J. Stutzman, Holley Vantrease.
Application Number | 20070299745 11/896559 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38874588 |
Filed Date | 2007-12-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070299745 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mulderry; Amy ; et
al. |
December 27, 2007 |
Method and apparatus for marketing products over the internet
Abstract
A method and apparatus is disclosed for permitting an online
user to buy merchandise over the Internet from multiple vendor
sites, after a single entry of their credit card information. In a
preferred embodiment, the present invention includes an online
impulse marketing system including a plurality of customer and
merchant servers/computers. A customer computer is programmed to
provide a user with access to a computer network for the purpose of
contacting a plurality of online merchant sites for the purpose of
purchasing merchandise. The merchant computer is programmed to:
store product information and order processing software in the form
of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) pages for use by requesting
customer computers; process requests for merchandise; request an
impulse sale offer from a second merchant; display the offer;
process the customer's response; and then automatically transmit
the customer's credit card information to the second merchant, if
necessary.
Inventors: |
Mulderry; Amy; (New York,
NY) ; Stutzman; William J.; (Branford, CT) ;
Vantrease; Holley; (New York, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT & DUNNER;LLP
901 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20001-4413
US
|
Assignee: |
Time Consumer Marketing,
Inc.
|
Family ID: |
38874588 |
Appl. No.: |
11/896559 |
Filed: |
September 4, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09473649 |
Dec 28, 1999 |
|
|
|
11896559 |
Sep 4, 2007 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/0603 20130101; G06Q 30/0635 20130101; G06Q 30/04 20130101;
G06Q 30/0601 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/027 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Claims
1-31. (canceled)
32. A method of establishing a subscription to a periodical on a
computer network involving at least one customer computer and a
plurality of merchant computers, said method comprising the
following steps: transmitting an offer comprising at least one free
issue of a periodical from a first merchant computer to a second
merchant computer; transmitting said offer from said second
merchant computer to a customer computer; receiving an acceptance
of said offer by said first merchant computer, said acceptance
comprising a payment method and customer identification data; and
causing said periodical to be delivered to a customer associated
with said customer identification data.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein said step of receiving an
acceptance is further comprised of the following steps:
transmitting an acceptance of said offer from said customer
computer to said second merchant computer; and transmitting said
acceptance from said second merchant computer to said first
merchant computer.
34. The method of claim 32 further comprising the step of
automatically debiting a customer account in accordance with said
payment method.
35. The method of claim 32 further comprising the steps of:
automatically debiting a customer account in accordance with said
payment method, upon expiration of said predetermined period of
time; and maintaining uninterrupted delivery of said periodical,
provided said subscription has not been canceled.
36. A computer system for completing a plurality of transactions on
a computer network involving at least one customer computer and a
plurality of merchant computers, comprising: a memory having
program instructions; and a processor configured to use the program
instructions to access customer-inputted information to complete a
first electronic commerce transaction between a customer computer
and a first merchant computer, wherein said customer-inputted
information contains a payment method and customer identification
data required by said first merchant computer to process said first
electronic commerce transaction; to transmit an offer from a second
merchant computer to said customer computer; and to transmit said
customer-inputted information from said first merchant computer to
said second merchant computer, provided said customer computer
accepts said offer.
37. The computer system according to claim 36, wherein the
transmitting instruction is further comprised of the following
instructions: send an offer from said second merchant computer to
said first merchant computer; and present said offer by said first
merchant computer to said customer computer.
38. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the processor is
further configured to: process said customer-inputted information
by said second merchant computer; and cause merchandise to be
delivered to a customer associated with said customer-inputted
information.
39. The computer system of claim 38, wherein the merchandise is a
predetermined number of issues of a periodical.
40. The computer system of claim 39, wherein the processor is
further configured to automatically debit a customer account in
accordance with said method of payment after said predetermined
number of issues have been delivered, provided said customer does
not cancel future delivery of said periodical.
41. A computer system for establishing a subscription to a
periodical on a computer network involving at least one customer
computer and a plurality of merchant computers, comprising: a
memory having program instructions; and a processor configured to
use the program instructions to transmit an offer comprising at
least one free issue of a periodical; to transmit said offer from
said second merchant computer to a customer computer; to receive an
acceptance of said offer by said first merchant computer, said
acceptance comprising a payment method and customer identification
data; and to cause a subscription to said periodical to be
delivered to a customer associated with said customer
identification data for a predetermined period of time.
42. The computer system according to claim 41, wherein the
receiving instruction is further comprised of the following
instructions: transmit an acceptance of said offer from said
customer computer to said second merchant computer; and transmit
said acceptance from said second merchant computer to said first
merchant computer.
43. The computer system according to claim 42, further comprised of
the instruction to automatically debit a customer account in
accordance with said payment method.
44. The computer system according to claim 41, wherein the
processor is further configured to: automatically debit a customer
account in accordance with said payment method, upon expiration of
said predetermined period of time; and maintain uninterrupted
delivery of said periodical, provided said subscription has not
been canceled.
45. A system for completing a plurality of transactions on a
computer network involving at least one customer computer and a
plurality of merchant computers, comprising: means for utilizing
customer-inputted information to complete a first electronic
commerce transaction between a customer computer and a first
merchant computer, wherein said customer-inputted information
contains a payment method and customer identification data required
by said first merchant computer to process said first electronic
commerce transaction; means for transmitting an offer from a second
merchant computer to said customer computer; and means for
transmitting said customer-inputted information from said first
merchant computer to said second merchant computer, provided said
customer computer accepts said offer.
46. The system according to claim 45 wherein the means for
transmitting an offer is further comprised of the following steps:
sending an offer from said second merchant computer to said first
merchant computer; and presenting said offer by said first merchant
computer to said customer computer.
47. The system according to claim 45 wherein the means for
transmitting an offer is further comprised of the following steps:
sending an offer from said second merchant computer to said first
merchant computer; storing said offer on said first merchant
computer; and presenting said offer by said first merchant computer
to said customer computer.
48. The system according to claim 45, further comprising means for:
processing said customer-inputted information by said second
merchant computer; and causing merchandise to be delivered to a
customer associated with said customer-inputted information.
49. The system of claim 48 further comprising means for
automatically debiting a customer account in accordance with said
payment method after said predetermined number of issues have been
delivered, provided said customer does not cancel future delivery
of said periodical.
50. A system for establishing a subscription to a periodical on a
computer network involving at least one customer computer and a
plurality of merchant computers, comprising: means for transmitting
an offer comprising at least one free issue of a periodical from a
first merchant computer to a second merchant computer; means for
transmitting said offer from said second merchant computer to a
customer computer; means for receiving an acceptance of said offer
by said first merchant computer, said acceptance comprising a
payment method and customer identification data; and means for
causing a predetermined number of said periodicals to be delivered
to a customer associated with said customer identification
data.
51. The system according to claim 50, wherein the means for
receiving an acceptance is further comprised of: means for
transmitting an acceptance of said offer from said customer
computer to said second merchant computer; and means for
transmitting said acceptance from said second merchant computer to
said first merchant computer.
52. The system according to claim 51, further comprising the means
for automatically debiting a customer account in accordance with
said payment method.
53. The system according to claim 50, further comprising: means for
automatically debiting a customer account in accordance with said
payment method, upon expiration of said predetermined period of
time; and means for maintaining uninterrupted delivery of said
periodical, provided said subscription has not been canceled.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to a distributed
computer information system, and more particularly to a
user-interactive system for selling products from different vendor
sites, over the Internet.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0002] The use of impulse or point of purchase marketing is well
established in supermarkets, department stores and other shopping
venues that attract a large volume of consumers in search of a vast
assortment of goods and services. As they slowly move through a
store, shoppers are repeatedly enticed to purchase one product or
another, through the use of short-term sales, frequent shopper
bargains, rebates, volume discounts, etc. Merchandise that comes
within a shopper's sight or grasp is much more likely to be
purchased than a product that-while desired, is nonetheless unseen.
In fact, according to research conducted by the Gallop
Organization, in many product categories, more than two-thirds of
the purchase decisions made by shoppers are actually made at the
point of purchase. Commercial establishments actually place the
higher profit items at eye level to further enhance their
marketability. As a shopper stands in line waiting to purchase
their merchandise, they continue to be enticed to make last minute
purchases. The frequency of purchase decisions actually goes up at
this point as the shoppers in essence become a "captive audience."
That is, they are no longer moving up and down the merchandise
aisles searching, and are instead relatively immobile. Nearly
three-fourths of purchase decisions are made from this point until
the shopper reaches the cash register.
[0003] Another example of successful point of purchase marketing is
found on television where the Home Shopping Network.TM., QVC.TM.
and other shopping channels offer viewers merchandise at bargain
prices for a limited time.
[0004] Most, and perhaps all such examples of impulse or point of
purchase marketing are based on systems in which the juxtaposition
or placement of merchandise is at a relatively convenient location
for the shopper. Furthermore, in virtually all such systems, the
consumer is given a small amount of time to make a relatively small
purchase and they are required to expend very little effort to
consummate the sale.
[0005] Up until the present, point of purchase marketing on the
Internet or other publicly accessible computer communication
networks has been hampered by the structure and content of online
vendor sites which are routinely limited to one type of product or
service. Consequently, the available product options for impulse
sale offers are restricted. Those on-line sites that offer the
consumer an option of visiting different vendor sites for the
purpose of making an impulse purchase, present the on-line consumer
with yet another dilemma whether to expend the additional effort to
re-input credit card and contact information, further risking
unauthorized use of the data by network hackers, or simply exit the
site. The anxiety experienced by on-line shoppers, concerned over
the possibility the information will be filched by an unscrupulous
interloper often prevents them from repeatedly entering their
credit card data over such a short period of time, regardless of
how they feel about the offered product.
[0006] There are also examples of computer programs that give the
user the opportunity to make an instantaneous decision to purchase
merchandise. In all such examples known to the inventor, the
merchandise is either permanently embedded in the computer programs
or it is stored such that it cannot be easily updated.
[0007] As previously discussed, accurate online impulse marketing
systems are notoriously difficult to model and implement.
Techniques widely used in conventional point of purchase marketing
schemes (e.g., a large selection of products, limited time to make
the purchase decision and ease in actually purchasing the product)
require a large and varied assortment of online merchants operating
from the same website with compatible transaction processing
mechanisms Such cooperation thus far has been extremely limited in
large-scale computer networks. As a result, true impulse marketing
systems have thus far enjoyed relatively little success in computer
network-based purchasing systems.
[0008] It is therefore a goal of the present invention to provide a
method of providing an impulse purchasing capability to online
users that is convenient, secure and practical.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Systems and methods consistent with this invention provide
an apparatus and method for permitting an online user to buy
merchandise over the Internet from multiple vendor sites, after a
single entry of credit card information. In a preferred embodiment,
the present invention includes an online impulse marketing system
including a plurality of customer and merchant computers. A
customer computer is programmed to provide a user with access to a
computer network for the purpose of contacting a plurality of
online merchant sites and purchasing merchandise from the online
merchant. The merchant computer is programmed to: (1) store product
information and order processing software in the form of hypertext
transfer protocol (HTTP) pages for use by requesting customer
computers; (2) process requests for merchandise; (3) request an
impulse sale offer from a second merchant; (4) display the offer;
(5) process the customer's response; and (5) automatically transmit
the customer's credit card information to the second merchant, if
necessary.
[0010] The invention provides a simple design architecture that
allows the merchant computer to receive an order for merchandise
from a customer computer and consummate the sale by accepting and
processing the customer's credit card information. After the sale
has been completed, but before the customer computer is logged off
the first merchant computer, an offer for presentation to the
customer computer is received from a second merchant computer. In
the event the user accepts the second offer, the first merchant
computer automatically transmits the previously-provided credit
card information to the second merchant computer for processing.
Once the information is received and processed by the second
merchant computer, confirmation is transmitted to the first
customer computer via the first merchant computer, and the customer
computer is logged off the first merchant computer. In the event
the user rejects the second offer, the customer computer is logged
off the merchant computer site upon completion of the first
transaction.
[0011] In an alternate embodiment, the invention transmits a free
gift offer from a second merchant through a first merchant computer
to a customer computer. The user at the customer computer is
informed that acceptance of the free gift (e.g., predetermined
number of free issues of a periodical) will lead to a future
obligation to pay for continued receipt of the item. Credit card
information is transmitted to the second merchant computer for
authorization, upon acceptance of the free gift.
[0012] Advantageously, this invention creates an attractive avenue
for providing seamless communication of credit card information to
a plurality of online merchant vendor sites through a single input
of the credit card information.
[0013] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The accompanying drawings, that are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently
preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the
general description given above and the detailed description of the
preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles
of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network system architecture
in accordance with the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the customer
computer of FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of the merchant
computer of FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a pictorial representation of a Web page depicting
Billing and Shipping Information;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the online ordering system of the
present invention;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation of a Web page depicting
a virtual shopping cart;
[0021] FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation of a Web page depicting
the first stage of checking out from a virtual shopping
session;
[0022] FIG. 8 is a pictorial representation of a Web page depicting
the "Review Order" stage of a virtual shopping session;
[0023] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the "Review Order" process in
accordance with the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 10 is a pictorial representation of a Web page
depicting a free trial offer in accordance with the present
invention; and
[0025] FIG. 11 is a pictorial representation of a Web page
depicting the last stage of a virtual shopping session.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] In the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that
form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a
specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. This
embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those
skilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be
understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that
structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of
the present invention. The following detailed description is,
therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense.
[0027] The embodiments of the invention described herein are
implemented as logical operations in a computing system. The
logical operations of the present invention are implemented: (1) as
a sequence of computer implemented steps running on the computing
system and (2) as interconnected machine modules within the
computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice
dependent on the performance requirements of the computing system
implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical operations
making up the embodiments of the invention described herein are
referred to variously as operations, steps, or modules.
[0028] The operating environment in which the present invention is
used encompasses general distributed computing systems wherein
general purpose computers, work stations, or personal computers are
connected via communication links of various types. In a client
server arrangement, programs and data, many in the form of objects,
are made available by various members of the system.
[0029] In accordance with the invention, users at remote terminals
in a network communicate through the network to a server or a web
site and are able to download data from the server or web site to
the user's client work station. As this embodiment of the invention
is described herein, a web browser program on a client station for
browsing a network, such as the Internet, will be referred to as
the browser, while the server work station with which the browser
station is communicating during a download will be referred to as
the server.
[0030] A system in accordance with the present invention, comprises
a plurality of merchant and customer computers. Each type of
computer may be generally similar to every other type of computer
including a central processing unit, display device, and operator
input device. Moreover, it will be appreciated that each type of
computer may also perform operations described herein as being
performed by every other type of computer. The distributed system
may comprise any one of a number of types of networks over which
client computers and server computers communicate, including local
area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet and
any other networks that distribute processing and share data among
a plurality of nodes. The on-line services typically provide
functionality such as electronic mail (email), file transfer
protocol (FTP), and World Wide Web (WWW) access.
[0031] WWW is a graphical subnetwork of the Internet. With common
"web browser" software of the type of Mosaic or Netscape Navigator,
the users may easily access Internet information and services on
WWW. The web browser handles the function of locating and targeting
information on the Internet and displaying information provided by
a web server. WWW utilizes the technology called "hypertext" to
organize, search and present information on the Internet. Using the
browser, a user can select a word ("hypertext word") from a viewed
document, and be linked to another document featuring information
related to the word. These links are within the Web server domain
and result in a progressively deeper search or base of choices.
[0032] In the business arena, a service provider can, with an
Internet address and a hypertext editor, develop a hypertext
document called a "home page," which a user may explore when he/she
visits the provider's Web server. The home page furnishes
information about the service offered by the provider through use
of graphic images, sound, hyperlink choices, etc. With that
information, the user is guided through the online Web site to
select desired services and products.
[0033] Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals
represent like elements throughout the several figures, the present
invention will be described.
[0034] Referring first to FIG. 1, a networked data handling system
5 of the present invention is comprised of a plurality of
interconnected computers and microprocessors hosting a plurality of
operating systems. By way of example, the network can be comprised
of pentium.TM. based microprocessors operating on Windows/NT, UNIX
and/or Windows/CE operating systems. The present invention may also
be embodied on a variety of different platforms, including
Macintosh, UNIX, NextStep, MS-DOS, and the like. For the sake of
clarity, FIG. 1 shows two merchant computers and a single customer
computer. It is understood that the present invention permits any
number of merchant or customer computer systems, each of which
operates as described below.
[0035] Network 5 includes customer computer 10, a first online
merchant computer 12, and a second online merchant computer 14. The
online merchant computers (12 and 14) and customer computer 10 are
coupled to the Internet 14 via a communications link 20. Online
merchant computers (12 and 14) are preferably operated by retail
establishments (Macy's, K-mart, Border's, etc.) Their main role is
to collect merchandise orders from customer computers 12, process
credit card transactions, and serve as an intermediary for other
merchant computers wishing to offer goods and services to customer
computer 12.
[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, customer computer 10 preferably includes
a main memory 100, a display device 110, input device 120 such as a
keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., mouse, track ball, pen, slide
pointer or similar device), a mass storage device 140, and a
central processing unit (CPU) 130 for performing various functions
related to retrieving and viewing Web pages stored on the Internet.
These components communicate through a system bus or similar
architecture. Additionally, customer computer 10 is preferably
connected to an internal or external modem 150 or like device for
communication with network 5. Alternatively, customer computer 10
may be connected via an ISDN adapter and an ISDN line for
communications with network 5. FIG. 2 also shows an Internet
browser 160 stored on mass storage device 140 for directing CPU 130
to perform various functions related to retrieving and viewing Web
pages stored on the Internet.
[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an online
merchant computer (12 and 14) in accordance with the present
invention. As shown in FIG. 3, online merchant computer (12 and 14)
is comprised of a main memory 200, a display device 210, input
device 220, a mass storage device 240, a CPU 230 and an internal or
external modem 250. As further shown in FIG. 3, mass storage device
240 maintains customer credit card transaction records 400 and a
merchant's product database 270. A customer credit card transaction
record 400 (shown in FIG. 4) is created every time a customer
purchases merchandise with a credit card. Once all the necessary
information is collected, it is verified and a credit card
transaction record 400 is stored on mass storage device 240 for
record-keeping purposes. The merchant product database 270 is
comprised of information on various merchant products available
online through a series of interconnected Web pages. Once a user
accesses a merchant's home page, he/she will be able to access all
of the merchant's product pages associated with the home page.
Individual pages are generally sent in the form of Hyper-Text
Markup Language (HTML) pages across communication link 20 to a Web
browser 160 operating on a requesting customer computer 10.
[0038] As shown in FIG. 4, electronic credit card transaction
records 400 consist of information identifying the customer 410,
and the credit transaction 420. The customer information 410 is
comprised of data on the credit card customer including the
customer's name 412 and address 414. Credit transaction information
420 is comprised of information necessary to consummate a
transaction. It consists of the credit card number 422, the
expiration date 424 and the credit card type 426. Credit card type
426 consists of data identifying a credit card processing
institution (e.g., Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover,
etc.). The "Cancel Order" button 430 and the "Submit Order" button
440 will be explained below.
[0039] The merchant computers (12 and 14), and customer computer 10
shown in FIG. 1 independently run interrelated software programs
and function as a group to process customer requests for
merchandise in accordance with the present invention. As shown in
FIG. 5, customer computer 10 in step 500 first "visits" an
e-commerce site for the purpose of making a purchase. The
e-commerce site is hosted on a merchant computer (12 and 14) and is
used to advertise merchandise offered by the merchant for purchase.
To visit a site, a user logged onto customer computer 10 need only
load a merchant's home page onto customer computer 10. Once
customer computer 10 has gained access to a merchant's home page
operating on merchant computer 12, the user may then place products
he/she wishes to buy into a virtual shopping cart (step 510).
Placing an item into the virtual shopping cart is not a commitment
to purchase the item. However, it does indicate that the shopper is
preparing to purchase the item. Modeling the common shopping cart
in the online shopping environment simply requires the user be
given numerous opportunities to cancel the sale and in effect,
return the item to the shelves. As an example, FIG. 6 is a
pictorial representation of a typical e-commerce virtual shopping
cart.
[0040] As shown in FIG. 6, the user has accessed the "bigstar.com"
Web page and he/she has selected the movie "Babe" for purchase 610.
At this point, the user may also be informed of a promotional offer
620 that further encourages the user to purchase more of the
merchant's products. After selecting an item for purchase, the user
determines whether he/she would like to further shop at that
particular merchant's Web site (step 520). If the user has more
shopping, he/she selects the "click here to continue shopping"
button 640 (FIG. 6) and the process flows to step 510. If the user
does not have any more shopping, he/she selects the "Checkout"
button 630 (FIG. 6) and the process flows to step 530. In step 530,
the system begins to process the user's selection(s) by first
loading the "Begin Checkout" Web page (FIG. 7) onto customer
computer 10. Once the "Begin Checkout" page is loaded, process
flows to step 540 where the user inputs his/her billing information
710 and shipping address 720.
[0041] As shown in FIG. 4, once billing information 420 and
shipping address 410 are inputted, the user is given an opportunity
to cancel the order by selecting "Cancel Order" button 430. If the
user selects the "Cancel Order" button 430 (step 550), process
flows to step 570 and terminates. If the user selects "Submit
Order" button 440, process flows to step 560 and the user is
presented with the screen shown in FIG. 8. It is at this time that
the user is provided with an opportunity to review his/her order
before finally making the purchase.
[0042] As shown in FIG. 8, the user's billing information 420,
shipping information 820 and merchandise information 830 is
pre-populated. That is, the information is automatically
transferred to this page without any user intervention. More
specifically, billing information 420 (FIG. 4) is assumed to match
shipping information 820 (FIG. 8) unless the customer indicates
otherwise. The "Review Order" page of FIG. 8 also contains a "Send
Order" button 850 and a "Cancel Order" button 860.
[0043] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart depicting the software process
performed when a user reaches the "Review Order" stage of the
merchandise ordering process (step 560). As shown in FIG. 9, the
user first checks the inputted information for correctness (step
910). If, in step 920, the user determines the information is not
correct, process flows to step 930, and the user is given an
opportunity to re-input the correct information. If, on the other
hand, the information is correct, process flows to step 940 and the
user is presented with an offer from a second merchant. In a
preferred embodiment, the second merchant information is displayed
in a region indicated by the label 840 in FIG. 8. The offer is
conveyed to the user in the form of a cryptic message indicating
the general nature of the second merchant's offer. However, to view
the entire offer as shown in FIG. 10, the user must first
manipulate the input device 120 (FIG. 2) into the region indicated
by 840, and then select the offer. Processing then flows to step
950.
[0044] At this point, the user has several options, he/she can
either accept both offers, reject both offers, accept the first
offer and reject the second, or reject the first offer and accept
the second offer. FIG. 10 shows a representative message that may
be communicated to a user as part of the second merchant offer
1015. As shown in FIG. 10, a user is given a description of the
offered product and is provided with an opportunity to accept the
offer, as indicated by the box labeled 1010. If the user would like
to receive the previously selected merchandise in addition to the
second merchant's offer (i.e., the user answers "yes" in step 950),
he/she selects buttons 1010 and 1020. Process then flows to step
960 where order and billing information is transmitted to the first
merchant. Next, the process flows to step 970 where order and
billing information is transmitted to the second merchant.
[0045] If the user decides to accept the first merchant's offer
(the previously selected merchandise) and reject the second
merchant's offer (i.e., he/she answers "no" in step 950, "no" in
step 980, and "yes" in step 990), the user would either: (1) select
the "Send Order" button 850 (FIG. 8), without viewing the second
merchant's offer; or (2) after viewing the second merchant's offer,
select button 1020 (FIG. 10) without also selecting button 1010.
Either action communicates the user's desire to accept the first
offer and reject the second merchant's offer. Processing would flow
to step 995 where order and billing information would be
transmitted to the first vendor for processing.
[0046] In the event the user decides that he/she only wants the
second merchant's offer (i.e., the user answers "no" in step 950
and "yes" in step 980), the user would simply select buttons 1010
and 1030. The processing would then flow to step 970 where the
order and billing information is transmitted to the second
merchant.
[0047] If the user decides to cancel both orders (i.e., he/she
answers "no" in step 950, "no" in step 980, and "no" in step 990),
the user would either: (1) select "Cancel Order" button 860 (FIG.
8); or (2) select "Cancel Order" button 1030 (FIG. 10) without also
selecting button 1010. In this case, processing would flow to step
995 where the order and billing information is transmitted to the
first vendor for processing.
[0048] Upon completion of the transaction, regardless of the user's
selection, a "thank-you" message (FIG. 11) is communicated to the
user (step 975) and the process terminates. Termination of the
"Review Order" process in FIG. 9, results in the process flowing
from step 560 (in FIG. 5) to step 570 where the entire process
terminates.
[0049] While the specification describes the process as involving
two merchant computers and one customer computer, it is understood
that the process may actually involve any number of merchant
computers interacting with the customer computer.
[0050] From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that
the present invention provides an efficient system and method for
combining credit card transaction data with merchant advertising
information and presenting the combined information to a credit
card customer over the Internet. The present invention has been
described in relation to particular embodiments which are intended
in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Those
skilled in the art will appreciate that many different combinations
of hardware will be suitable for practicing the present invention.
Many commercially available substitutes, each having somewhat
different cost and performance characteristics, exist for each of
the components described above.
[0051] Although aspects of the present invention are described as
being stored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that
these aspects can also be stored on or read from other types of
computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like
hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROMs; a carrier wave from the
Internet; or other forms of RAM or ROM. Similarly, the method of
the present invention may conveniently be implemented in program
modules based upon the flow charts in FIGS. 5 and 9. No particular
programming language has been indicated for carrying out the
various procedures described above because it is considered that
the operations, steps and procedures described above and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings are sufficiently disclosed
to permit one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the instant
invention. Moreover, there are many computers and operating systems
which may be used in practicing the instant invention and therefore
no detailed computer program could be provided which would be
applicable to these many different systems. Each user of a
particular computer will be aware of the language and tools which
are most useful for that user's needs and purposes.
[0052] Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those
skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without
departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the
present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the
foregoing description.
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