U.S. patent application number 12/577225 was filed with the patent office on 2010-02-04 for affinity shopping portal.
This patent application is currently assigned to CardinalCommerce Corporation. Invention is credited to Chandra S. Balasubramanian, Ravishankar S. Bhagavatula, Michael A. Keresman, III, Francis M. Sherwin.
Application Number | 20100030625 12/577225 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26915743 |
Filed Date | 2010-02-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100030625 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sherwin; Francis M. ; et
al. |
February 4, 2010 |
AFFINITY SHOPPING PORTAL
Abstract
A method of administering a commercial transaction carried out
over a communications network (20) used for shopping includes
receiving a shopper (50) at a first web-site maintained on the
communications network (20). The shopper (50) has an affinity group
(40) associated therewith. The method further includes forwarding
the shopper (50) to a second web-site maintained on the
communications network (20), and obtaining a generated
click-through fee related thereto. A portion of the obtained
click-through fee is distributed to the affinity group (40)
associated with the shopper (50), and it is communicated to the
shopper (50) how much was distributed.
Inventors: |
Sherwin; Francis M.;
(Cleveland Heights, OH) ; Keresman, III; Michael A.;
(Kirtland Hills, OH) ; Bhagavatula; Ravishankar S.;
(Yorba Linda, CA) ; Balasubramanian; Chandra S.;
(Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FAY SHARPE LLP
1228 Euclid Avenue, 5th Floor, The Halle Building
Cleveland
OH
44115
US
|
Assignee: |
CardinalCommerce
Corporation
|
Family ID: |
26915743 |
Appl. No.: |
12/577225 |
Filed: |
October 12, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09917143 |
Jul 27, 2001 |
7624039 |
|
|
12577225 |
|
|
|
|
60221397 |
Jul 28, 2000 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.52 ;
705/26.1; 705/27.1; 715/744 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0273 20130101;
G06Q 30/0641 20130101; G06Q 30/0254 20130101; G06Q 30/0253
20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0601 20130101; G06Q 30/0225
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/10 ; 705/26;
715/744 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00; G06Q 10/00 20060101 G06Q010/00; G06F 3/01 20060101
G06F003/01 |
Claims
1. A method for creating a customized shopping portal for an
affinity group, said customized shopping portal being accessible by
shoppers over a communication network and referring shoppers to
shopping sites on the communications network such that upon the
shoppers making purchases at the shopping sites a fee is generated
at least a portion of which is returned to the affinity group, said
method comprising: (a) maintaining a server on the communication
network; (b) supporting a portal creation application on the
server, said application being accessible over the communications
network; (c) collecting data via the application from a
representative of the affinity group accessing the application over
the communications network; and (d) using the collected data to
dynamically create a program that provides the customized shopping
portal.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) comprises: providing a
series of prompts or web pages to the representative to collected
the data from the representative.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the collected data includes
information about the affinity group for which the customized
shopping portal is being created.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the collected data includes a
selection of a template that dictates the physical layout of the
customized shopping portal.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the collected data includes a
selection of one or more colors to be used at particular locations
in the layout of the customized shopping portal.
Description
[0001] This application is a divisional application of application
Ser. No. 09/917,143, filed Jul. 27, 2001, which claims the benefit
of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/221,397 filed Jul. 28,
2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the art of Internet
commerce. It finds particular application in conjunction with a
shopping portal and business model for generating contributions to
charitable, non-profit, and other affinity groups or organizations,
and will be described with particular reference thereto. However,
it is to be appreciated that the present invention is also amenable
to other like applications.
[0003] Internet commerce, or e-commerce as it is otherwise known,
relates to the buying and selling of goods and services over the
Internet. The convenience of shopping over the Internet has sparked
considerable interest in e-commerce on behalf of both consumers and
merchants. For merchants desiring to increase sales, it would be
advantageous to have high levels of Internet traffic from
interested consumers. Toward this end, merchants with a presence on
the Internet will often pay fees in an effort to attract consumers
to their web-site. Often, these fees are advertising fees and/or
referral commissions, otherwise known as "click-through fees."
[0004] Typically, advertising fees refer to those fees paid by the
merchant to another web-site owner for providing space on the
latter's web-site to display the merchants "banner ads." The banner
ads are used to advertise the merchant's web-site and/or goods. In
addition to advertising the merchant's web-site and/or goods, the
banner ads will often provide a hyper-link directing the consumer
to the merchant's web-site. Another type of fee often paid by
merchants is the click-through fee. The click-through fee can be
likened to a commission that is paid to a web-site owner when a
consumer referred to the merchant's web-site makes a purchase. The
consumer is considered referred to the merchant's web-site when
they hyper-link or are otherwise directed there from or through a
web-site owner's web-page, typically, by an object or link on the
web-site owner's web-page. For example, a "click-through fee"
referral system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,141 to Bezos,
et al., incorporated herein by reference.
[0005] Often, consumers are members or supporters of non-profit
organizations, fraternal organizations, charities, unions, school
alumni, associations, or other like affinity groups. Many of these
affinity groups rely on and/or appreciate donations, gifts, or
other financial support to carry out their mission. Moreover,
depending on the affinity group, donations made thereto may be tax
deductible with respect to the donor. Accordingly, it would be
advantageous if consumers could financially support their desired
affinity group or groups while maintaining a record thereof so
that, e.g., any available tax deductions could be obtained, or so
that the contributions could be recognized in some manner, or so
that the donor may simply reflect and take pleasure in the
charitable contributions he has generated, etc. Moreover, it is
desirable that the consumers not be overburdened in this pursuit so
that participation by the consumers is maximized and in turn
financial support for the affinity groups is maximized. Therefore,
the foregoing goal is best achieved when the consumers'
participation is made relatively easy such as when the consumers'
participation amounts to doing that which they would already do
anyway, e.g., by shopping for needed or desired goods or services
on the Internet.
[0006] Accordingly, the present invention contemplates a new and
improved affinity shopping portal which achieves the
above-referenced goals and others.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide, maintain
and/or administer an Internet shopping portal for the mutual
benefit of merchants, affinity groups and consumers.
[0008] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a
method of administering a commercial transaction carried out over a
communications network used for shopping is provided. The method
includes receiving a shopper at a first web-site maintained on the
communications network. The shopper has an affinity group
associated therewith. The method further includes forwarding the
shopper to a second web-site maintained on the communications
network, and obtaining a generated click-through fee related
thereto. A portion of the obtained click-through fee is distributed
to the affinity group associated with the shopper, and it is
communicated to the shopper how much was distributed.
[0009] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention,
a method of conducting commercial transactions on a communications
network to raise funds for affinity groups includes receiving
shoppers at a first web-site on the communications network. Each
shopper is associated with one of a plurality of affinity groups.
The method further includes forwarding each shopper to a selected
one of a plurality of second web-sites maintained on the
communications network, and obtaining generated click-through fees
related thereto. On behalf of each shopper, a portion of each
obtained click-through fee is distributed to the respective
affinity group associated with that shopper; and it is
communicating to each shopper how much was distributed to their
associated affinity group on their behalf.
[0010] In accordance with still another aspect of the present
invention, a shopping portal is provided that includes: mean for
maintaining a presence on a communications network such that
shoppers employing the communications network can be received;
means for identifying received shoppers; means for forwarding
shoppers to selected shopping sites maintained on the
communications network; means for monitoring forwarded shoppers'
activities at the shopping sites to which they are forwarded; means
for obtaining click-through fees based upon the monitored
activities of shoppers at the shopping sites to which they were
forwarded; means for distributing a portion of each obtained
click-through fee to an affinity group associated with the shopper
responsible for generating the click-through fee; and, means for
reporting to shoppers an amount distributed to their associated
affinity groups by the distributing means.
[0011] One advantage of the present invention is on-line merchants
receive Internet traffic from interested consumers.
[0012] Another advantage of the present invention is affinity
groups receive financial support.
[0013] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that
consumers maintain records of donations to their chosen affinity
groups such that any available tax deductions can be readily
obtained.
[0014] Still further advantages and benefits of the present
invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
art upon reading and understanding the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0015] The invention may take form in various components and
arrangements of components, and in various steps and arrangements
of steps. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating
preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the
invention.
[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a network employed
in connection with aspects of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing a shopping
experience using an Internet portal in accordance with aspects of
the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a screen shot of an exemplary affinity group
shopping site or web-page in accordance with aspects of the present
invention.
[0019] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration showing a periodic
settlement and reporting process carried out in accordance with
aspects of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration showing a customized
shopping portal creation protocol in accordance with aspects of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0021] With reference to FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment, a
coordinator 10, acting as a shopping portal, maintains a presence
on the Internet 20 or other like on-line network via a server 12. A
merchant 30 also maintains a presence on the Internet 20 via a
server 32. Likewise, an affinity group 40 maintains a presence on
the Internet 20 via a server 42. A consumer 50 gains access to the
affinity group 30 and/or the coordinator 10 over the Internet 20
using a computer 52 with an appropriate web browser or other like
software running thereon. The consumer 50 is optionally an
individual, a business, a manufacturer, or any other customer or
entity which purchases goods and/or services.
[0022] Of course, the shopping portal is preferably administered to
multiple similarly situated merchants 30, affinity groups 40, and
consumers 50. However, in the interest of simplicity herein, only
one of each are shown in FIG. 1. Moreover, it is to be appreciated
that security is optionally maintained by encrypting, with known
encryption techniques, communications relayed or otherwise
transmitted over the Internet 20. Alternately or in conjunction
with the foregoing, other known security measures may be
employed.
[0023] In a preferred embodiment, the coordinator 10 also maintains
a database 14 wherein records or information is stored regarding
those merchants 30, affinity groups 40, and consumers 50 to which
the shopping portal is administered. For each entity (i.e.,
merchant, affinity group, or consumer), the records preferably
include one or more of the following: name; address; identifying
information, such as a user name or the like; security information,
such as a password or the like; account information; etc.
Alternately, separate interfaced databases are maintained for each
entity type.
[0024] With further reference to FIG. 2, the consumer 50 accesses
the affinity group 40 over the Internet 20 at the latter's web-site
which is administer via the affinity group's server 42.
Alternately, the coordinator 10 administers the affinity group's
web-site for them via the coordinator's server 12. In any event,
the affinity group's home page 100 or other designated web-page is
called up by the consumer 50 or it is otherwise provided thereto by
the affinity group 40. Preferably, the home page 100 includes a
hyper-link 102 thereon that directs the consumer 50 to the
coordinator 10. When the consumer 50 visiting the affinity group's
web-site wishes to shop, he or she "clicks-on" or otherwise
activates the hyper-link 102. Preferably, the hyper-link 102
references its purpose by appearing on the home page 100 as, e.g.,
the phase "SHOPPING LINKS" or other such suggestive phases and/or
indicia.
[0025] As stated, upon activation of the hyper-link 102, the
consumer 50 is directed to the coordinator 10. Optionally, the
consumer 50 may choose to access the coordinator 10 directly.
Initially, the coordinator 10 provides a "login" page 200 to the
consumer 50. Via the login page 200, if the consumer 50 has already
signed up or registered with the coordinator 10, he may log in
and/or identify himself by entering a user name and password or
other identifying information. The entered identifying information
is preferably verified against the records maintained in the
database 14. Otherwise, if the consumer 50 has not previously
signed up or registered with the coordinator, he may do so via the
login page 200 such that a new record is created for him in the
database 14. The consumer 50 signs up with the coordinator 10 by
supplying the coordinator 10 with the information used to create
the new record. Preferably, the record includes one or more of the
following: the consumer's name, the consumer's identifying
information (e.g., user name, password, etc.), the consumer's
electronic mail (e-mail) address, the consumer's home and/or work
addresses, the consumer's home and/or work phone numbers, the
consumer's social security number, and other like personal
information.
[0026] After logging in, the affinity group's shopping site or
web-page 300 is called up by the consumer 50 or it is otherwise
provided thereto by the coordinator 10 which preferably maintains
and/or administers the same on the affinity group's behalf. See
FIG. 3 for an exemplary screen shot of an affinity group shopping
site or web-page 300. In a preferred embodiment, the coordinator 10
similarly maintains and/or administers a plurality of shopping
sites or web pages for a corresponding plurality of affinity groups
40. With respect to a consumer 50 which arrived by way of a
particular affinity group's home page 100, the consumer 50 is
automatically direct to that same affinity group's shopping site or
web-page 300. Alternately, the consumer 50 may select the shopping
site or web-page 300 he wishes to visit or access. In particular,
the consumer selection route is used when the consumer 50 did not
arrive via a particular affinity group's home page 100, e.g., where
the coordinator 10 was accessed directly. The consumer 50 may also
directly access the affinity group's shopping site or web-page 300
which may optionally include the log in function and/or the sign up
or registration function. In the case where the affinity group's
shopping site or web-page 300 includes the log in function and/or
the sign up or registration function, the consumer 50 activating
hyper-link 102 may optionally be directly routed thereto without
first stopping at the login page 200.
[0027] In any event, once logged in and identified, the consumer's
activities are monitored so that ultimately click-through fees
generated by the consumer's activities can be tracked and
associated with the consumer 50 and the affinity group 40 through
which the consumer 50 is shopping.
[0028] Preferably, each shopping site or web-page 300 is
individually styled and/or designed for its associated affinity
group, and each contains one or more hyper-links which direct the
consumer 50 activating a selected hyper-link to a corresponding
contracting merchant 30. The hyper-links on the affinity group's
shopping site or web-page 300 are preferably organized so that they
may be easily located by a consumer 50 accessing the same. For
example, they may be organized alphabetically under the merchants'
names, or by categories of goods and/or services offer by the
merchants, or some combination thereof, etc. Optionally, the style
or manner of organization may be selected by the consumer 50 from a
plurality of defined organizational schemes. Additionally, a search
engine is optionally provided to locate particular contracting
merchants 30 and/or text of interest.
[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the contracting merchants 30 are
registered with the coordinator 10 and have negotiated with the
coordinator 10 or individual affinity groups 40 to have hyper-links
to their online web-sites included in selected ones or in all the
affinity group shopping sites or web-pages 300 maintained and/or
administered by the coordinator 10. In return, the contracting
merchants 30 have agreed to pay click-through fees for directing
consumers 50 to them. The click-through fees are optionally
calculated as a flat fee for each referral, a flat fee for each
referral which makes a purchase, a percentage of each referral's
purchases, or an otherwise determined amount. Records regarding
registered merchants 30 are preferably maintained in the
coordinator's database 14. The merchant records preferably include
one or more of the following pieces of information: identification
information (e.g., type of merchant, type of goods and/or services
sold, a designated user name or ID, physical address, e-mail
address, web address or Universal Resource Locator (URL) address,
merchant's name, corporate name and/or tax ID, etc.); security
information, such a secret password; click-through fee information,
such as the negotiated or agreed upon click-through fee rate or
amount; financial account information, such as financial account
numbers from which click-through fees are to be paid; etc.
[0030] The affinity groups 40 are also registered with the
coordinator 10 and have negotiated with the coordinator 10 to have
their online shopping sites or web-pages 300 maintained and/or
administered by the coordinator 10. In return, the affinity groups
40 have agreed to share derived or generated click-through fees
with the coordinator 10. Records regarding registered affinity
groups 40 are preferably maintained in the coordinator's database
14. The affinity group records preferably include one or more of
the following pieces of information: identification information
(e.g., type of affinity group, a designated user name or ID,
physical address, e-mail address, web address or URL address,
affinity group name, corporate name and/or tax ID, etc.); security
information, such as a secret password; share information, such as
the negotiate or agreed upon share of the click-through fee to be
had by the affinity group 40 and the coordinator 10; financial
account information, such as financial account numbers to which the
affinity group's share of click-through fees are to be posted;
etc.
[0031] When a consumer 50 activates one of the hyper-links on an
affinity group's shopping site or web-page 300, they are directed
to the corresponding merchant 30 where they may call up or are
otherwise provided access to the merchant's shopping site or
web-page 400. Thereafter, in the usual manner, the consumer 50 is
free to shop online from the merchant's shopping site or web-page
400. The consumer's shopping activities are monitored and records
thereof are maintained in the coordinator's database 14. The
shopping activity records are preferably correlated with the
records of identified registered consumers 50 already in the
database. The shopping activity records preferably include one or
more of the following pieces of information: identification
information regarding the consumer 50; identification information
regarding the merchant 30 where the shopping took place;
identification information regarding the affinity group 40 or the
affinity group's shopping site or web-page 300 through which the
consumer 50 arrived at the merchant's shopping site or web-page
400; sales information regarding the purchases made (e.g., item(s)
purchased, quantity, purchase price, etc.); the time and/or date of
the purchases made; etc.
[0032] With further reference to FIG. 4, the coordinator 10
periodically collects or otherwise receives payment for the
click-through fees from the contracting merchants 30 in accordance
with the agreed upon terms. This may be done in a variety of
manners as are known in the art, e.g., via electronic funds
transfer, traditional settlement techniques, etc. Payments for the
click-through fees may be verified against and/or correlated with
shopping records maintained in the coordinator's database 14.
[0033] The coordinator 10 preferably retains a percentage, a flat
fee or rate, or an otherwise determined share of the click-through
fees as payment to cover the overhead and/or services rendered by
the coordinator 10. What remains of the click-through fees is
distributed to the affinity groups 40 in accordance with terms
agreed upon between the coordinator 10 and the affinity groups 40.
Preferably, each affinity group 40 receives an agreed upon amount
(flat fee, percentage, or otherwise) for each click-through fee
resulting from a consumer referral associated with their particular
affinity group shopping site or web-page 300. Having been
correlated with their respective records in the database 14, each
amount distributed to the affinity groups 40 can be, and are
preferably, designated as being from the specific consumer 50
responsible for generating the affinity group's share of each
click-through fee. Accordingly, the affinity groups 40 can
recognize each supporter's contribution as they see fit, e.g., via
a letter of thanks to the supporter, an annual award for achieving
a threshold level of support, etc.
[0034] A consumer 50 that is not registered with the coordinator 10
may still be referred to a contracting merchant 30 through one of
the affinity group shopping sites or web-pages 300. In this case,
click-through fees may still be generated. Such click-through fees
that result in a distribution to one of the affinity groups 40 is
optionally designated as being from "anonymous."
[0035] In a preferred embodiment, periodically (preferably monthly,
quarterly, or yearly), the coordinator 10 complies information from
the database 14 into reports which are forwarded to each registered
consumer 50. The reports are optionally forwarded to their
respective consumers 50 via e-mail, regular U.S. mail, or
otherwise. The reports give a detailed summary of each consumer's
shopping activities for the given period and communicate the amount
of financial support or donations that were generated by each
consumer 50 for respective affinity groups 40 due to their shopping
activities. That is to say, each report communicates to its
respective consumer 50 the amount or share of click-through fees
received by each of the affinity groups 40 that are attributable to
that consumer 50 for the given period.
[0036] In this manner then, the coordinator 10 acts as a shopping
portal for the mutual benefit of merchants 30, affinity groups 40,
and consumers 50. That is to say, merchants 30 attract Internet
traffic to their online shopping sites or web-pages 400, while
affinity groups 40 receive financial support through the sharing of
the click-through fees. Consumers 50 also receive the benefits of
supporting their selected affinity groups 40 with their support
being tracked and reported back to them and the affinity groups 40
so that appropriate recognition may be received, consumers 50 may
reflect on and/or take pride in their support, tax benefits may be
realized if available, or other desired actions may be taken based
thereon. Moreover, transaction volume is maximized insomuch as the
consumer 50 is encouraged to participate. That is to say, the
consumer 50 is only doing that which he or she would be already
doing otherwise, i.e., shopping online.
[0037] In addition, by having the coordinator 10 maintain and/or
administer the affinity groups' shopping sites or web-pages 300,
the affinity groups are free to devote more of their efforts,
network and/or computer resources, online resources, web-page
space, etc. toward their core objectives, be it charity work or
otherwise. The coordinator 10 is also able to pool the bargaining
power of multiple affinity groups 40 (with an arguably larger
consumer base than individually) when negotiating terms with
merchants 30. In turn, the merchants 30 benefit from the larger
consumer base shopping through the portal.
[0038] Another aspect of the present invention is that it allows
the affinity group 40 to design and build their own shopping portal
with little to no technical expertise. This is achieved by a
representative of the affinity group 40 connecting to the
coordinator's web site and utilizing an application that allows for
the instant creation of a customized shopping portal. Through a
series of questions and answers or otherwise, the desired data is
collected and used to dynamically create a program that provides
for the customized shopping portal. In a preferred embodiment, the
application optionally allows the affinity group 40 to build
additional services into their web site, such as, a calender, news
items, etc. This helps to further build community strength and
support of the affinity group 40.
[0039] With reference to FIG. 5, a customized shopping portal
creation protocol 500 is shown. An affinity group 40 or a
representative 510 thereof (as shown) contacts the coordinator 10
over the Internet 20 and accesses a portal creation application 512
supported on the coordinator's server 12. Preferably, the
representative 510 logs in to application 512 by entering a
username and password or other like authentication data. Via a
series of prompts and/or web pages provided to the representative
510, the application 512 collects data used to create a customized
shopping portal for the affinity group 40. In a preferred
embodiment as shown, a first series of prompts or web page 520 is
used to collect general information about the affinity group, e.g.,
name, contact information, etc. A second series of prompts or web
page 530 is used to collect a chosen theme template that will
dictate the physical layout of the portal. Optionally, the
representative 510 will chose from a number of defined templates or
will be able to selectively arrange the order and/or size of a
number of different regions which will contain the particular
content of the representative's choosing. The theme may also be
used to define the fonts and other like characteristics of the
created portal. A third series or prompts or web page 540 is used
to collect a chosen color scheme that will dictate the colors used
in the layout of the portal. Optionally, the representative 510
will choose from a number of defined color pallets or will be able
to selectively choose specific colors for designated regions. A
final series of prompts of web page 550 allows the representative
510 to optionally upload any logos, trademarks, etc. that he
desires to have included in the customized shopping portal.
[0040] Once all the information has been collected, the application
512 generates the customized portal 560. The portal 560 is
essential a web site, and it may optionally reside on the affinity
group's own server 42 or the coordinator's server 12. Similarly,
the web site 300 may be supported on either server. In any event,
the portal 560 is assigned a unique identification number or other
like data element so that the coordinator 10 may track purchases
made by consumers 50 linking to merchants 30 through the portal
560. In this manner, a designated portion of the collected
click-through fee may be associated with the affinity group 40 on
whose behalf the portal 560 was created and maintained.
[0041] The invention has been described with reference to the
preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations
will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding
detailed description. It is intended that the invention be
construed as including all such modifications and alterations
insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the
equivalents thereof.
* * * * *