Electronic offer management system and method thereof

Abstract

An electronic offer management system and method thereof is disclosed. In particular, the system comprises means for receiving information related to a plurality of offers distributed by a plurality of different offer distributors to customer for redemption at plurality of stores, means for automatically routing the information related to an offer to a point-of-sale system of each store in which the offer can be redeemed, and means for automatically clearing the offers redeemed by the customer at the stores. The system further comprises means for automatically reconciling financial obligations associated with each cleared offer, as well means for dynamically profiling customers so that improved offer targeting can be achieved.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an electronic offer management system and method thereof, and more particularly to a system that enables the electronic management of offers distributed by a plurality of different offer distributors to customers and the dynamic profiling of such customers so that improved offer targeting can be achieved.

Today, about twenty percent (20%) of all sales in grocery retail are covered by some promotion or offer. These offers are found in a variety of forms including temporary price reductions, in-store displays, manufacturer-sponsored coupon offers, advertisements, and frequent shopper (i.e., loyalty) discounts. Traditionally, such offers have been distributed to customers via “physical” media (i.e. direct mailers, printers, displays at the register, Sunday coupon inserts, magazines, etc.). Given the manual nature of such a system of distribution, however, customer-specific offers based on a variety of factors, such as demographics, past purchasing behavior, and price sensitivity are impractical. This in turn has a substantial impact on the effectiveness and cost of providing offers through such a system. For retailers having numerous competing product lines, such as supermarkets, this offer targeting capability is critical. Moreover, clearing and settlement of offers distributed in such a manner is technically infeasible with respect to time, labor and thus, cost intensive.

With the advent of the Internet as a new ecommerce tool, offers are now also being distributed “virtually” to customers. For example, companies such as Cool Savings, PlanetU and ValuPage are operating websites from which customers can obtain coupons redeemable at various retail stores and supermarkets, as well as at stores having an online presence. Traditional retailers are also beginning to distribute offers online. For example, Schnucks supermarket provides its weekly advertisements, as well as coupons online. Offer targeting across a plurality of different offer distributors or based on “non-customer” data, such as price, is not allowed. Moreover, the clearance and settlement of such offers are still performed largely through a manual process and in a decentralized manner. As a result, fraudulently fabricated offers cannot be accurately tracked and thus, prevented.

Finally, under current methods of offer distribution, retailers must customize their point-of-sale (POS) system according to each offer distributor's technical design structure. In addition, the entire offer transaction from creation through redemption, clearance and settlement is not centralized, thereby increasing the complexity of the interfaces needed between the parties to the entire transaction. Moreover, data relevant to the transaction and necessary for sophisticated levels of targeting cannot be obtained from a single source, thereby decreasing its accessibility, accuracy and completeness. Given that the primary purpose of providing such offers is to drive up the number of new sales, the inability to manage electronic offers in a centralized manner and to dynamically profile customers and target offers increases the overall costs and effectiveness of the offers.

Accordingly, there is a need for an electronic offer management system in which offers can be distributed by a plurality of different offer distributors for automatic routing to a store's point of sale system, and in which such offers can be automatically cleared and settled once redeemed, such that an electronic audit of the entire offer transaction, and dynamic profiling of customers for improved offer targeting can be achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An electronic offer management system for offer transactions is disclosed. The system comprises receiving means for receiving information related to a plurality of offers distributed by a plurality of different offer distributors to customers for redemption at a plurality of stores, routing means for automatically routing the information related to each offer to a point-of-sale system of each store in which the offer can be redeemed, and clearing means for automatically clearing the offers redeemed by the customers at the stores. The plurality of offer distributors comprises at least one of an internet offer distributor, a retailer offer distributor, a kiosk offer distributor, a direct mail offer distributor, and an email offer distributor.

The clearing means comprises means for receiving redemption information from the stores, and means for comparing the redemption information to the offer information whereby each offer redeemed by the customers can be validated. The system further comprises settlement means for automatically reconciling financial obligations associated with each offer cleared by the clearing means, whereby a single, electronic audit of each offer transaction can be achieved.

The system further comprises activation means for selectively activating and deactivating each offer. The system also further comprises profiling means for dynamically profiling the customers so that the offers can be targeted to specific customers, and offer consolidation means for consolidating the offers available through the system for presentation to the customer at a plurality of levels. The profiling means preferably comprises at least one of a static profile, a persistent profile and a dynamic profile. The plurality of levels comprises at least one of an offer distributor level and a store level. Each offer corresponds to a reward, and the system further comprises reward deferral means for deferring issuance of the reward to a third party. The offer information comprises at least one condition, which is at least one of an item purchase condition, a department purchase condition, a total purchase condition, a time of day condition and a day of the week condition.

A method of electronic management of offer transactions is also disclosed. The method comprises receiving information related to a plurality of offers distributed by a plurality of different offer distributors to customers for redemption at a plurality of stores, automatically routing the information of each offer to a point-of-sale system of each store in which the offer can be redeemed, and automatically clearing the offers redeemed by the customers at the stores.

The method further comprises the step of automatically reconciling financial obligations associated with each cleared offer whereby a single, electronic audit of each offer transaction can be achieved. The method also further comprises the step of receiving redemption information from the stores, and comparing the redemption information to the offer information whereby each offer redeemed by the customers can be validated. The method also preferably comprises the step of selectively activating each offer, and consolidating the offers for presentation to the customer at a plurality of levels, such as offer distributor level and a store level. The method also further comprises the step of dynamically profiling the customers so that the offers can be targeted to specific customers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the flow of information in an electronic offer management system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart representing the process of dynamic profiling provided by the system of FIG. 1

FIG. 3A is a spreadsheet showing an example of a non-targeted offer.

FIG. 3B is a spreadsheet showing an example of a static profile-targeted offer generated through the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3C is a spreadsheet showing an example of a persistent profile-targeted offer generated through the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3D is a spreadsheet showing an example of a dynamic profile-targeted offer generated through the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to an electronic offer management system and method thereof. FIG. 1 illustrates the main components of the system represented as 10, as well as the flow of information there through. In summary, offers are distributed to customers by a plurality of different offer distributors 12. The details of the offers are communicated to an electronic clearing network 13 and routed to the appropriate store 28 for redemption by customers. Transaction log files containing point-of-sale transaction details are forwarded back to network 13 where a clearing process identifies what offers have been redeemed and validates them against the offers communicated to network 13. Settlement details are also prepared for processing by a settlement agent 30. For the purposes of discussion only, system 10 will be described with respect to offers written in extensive Markup language (XML) having a representative documentation convention for XML element and attribute tags as described below. It can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, however, that the offer may be defined using other languages or formats that allow for the functionality described herein, such as for example the Hypertext Markup language.

Element/Attribute Tag         Description
/SOX                          Element aggregate tag.
/SOX/@Version                 Element attribute tag identified with a @.
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/     Shortened form for:
OfferProperties               /SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/OfferProperties/MemberOffer
../MemberOffer
../RewardSet[ ]/ItemPurchase/ Element list has [ ] appended (occurrence indicator). In
ItemList/Item[ ]              the example ../RewardSet[ ] is an aggregate element that
                              must appear once or many times.
                              In this example, the ../Item[ ] element must appear once or
                              many times within each instance of /RewardSet[ ].

Referring to FIG. 1, the process starts through the distribution of an offer to a customer by an offer distributor 12 that is available for redemption at one or more stores 28, which can be traditional brick-and-mortar stores, direct mail stores, online stores or any other type or form of store. In one embodiment, this is done in conjunction with a manufacturer (not shown) who is the sponsor of the offer and thus, bears the cost of it. Offers are distributed via a plurality of different offer distributors including but not limited to Internet offer distributors 14, in-store kiosk offer distributors 16, retailer offer distributors 18, and direct mail/email offer distributors 20. System 10 operates using five (5) XML document types, namely Offer, CustomerOffer, OfferAck, CustomerOfferAck and ErrorResponse.

The Offer document type defines the generic offer setup (i.e. offer properties, conditions, and rewards) and routing instructions. In a preferred embodiment, each Offer document is limited to information related to a single offer being distributed by a particular offer distributor 12. The maintenance actions supported by the Offer document type are to add, replace or delete an offer, and are identified in a tabular format as shown below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Offer:
				Always	The /SOX/Offer aggregate element
					may contain:
					One /SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq
					aggregate element and one
					/SOX/Offer/OfferRouteReq aggregate
					element;
					OR
					One /SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq
					aggregate element only;
					OR
					One /SOX/Offer/OfferRouteReq
					aggregate element only.
../@OfferID	String	12	Once	Required	Offer ID:
				Always	Number is provided by offer
					distributor and must be unique for
					that distributor.
../OfferMaintReq	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Maintenance Request:
					Encapsulates Offer maintenance
					request details for @OfferID
					above.
../OfferMaintReq/@	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action:
Action	String				Offer maintenance action
					requested.
					Valid values:
					Add
					Replace
					Delete

The CustomerOffer document type defines any customer-specific offer setup and routing instructions. The OfferAck document type represents the positive acknowledgement returned by the network 13 upon its successful processing of an Offer document type. Likewise, CustomerOfferAck document type represents the positive acknowledgement returned by the network 13 upon its successful processing of a CustomerOffer document type. Finally, ErrorResponse document type represents the negative acknowledgement returned by the network 13 upon encountering an error in the course of processing an Offer or CustomerOffer document type. These document types preferably adhere to the document type definition (DTD) as identified in Appendix 1.

There are three (3) main components to each offer, namely offer properties, conditions, and rewards, Offer properties are the data elements that serve to generally describe an offer, such as a description, valid date range, and the number of times a customer may receive the reward(s) associated with that offer. Each Offer document includes a header, a representative sample of which is identified in a tabular format below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Document Root Element:
				Always	Identifies this as a SOX XML
					document.
../@OfferDistributor	String	6	Once	Required	Offer Distributor ID:
ID				Always	Assigned by the ECN.
					Value = 1-999999
../@SenderDocUID	String	12	Once	Required	Sender's Document Unique ID:
				Always	Sender's unique reference code
					for this document for audit
					trail purposes.
../@Version	String	3	Once	Required	SOX Version of File:
				Always	Version of SOX to which this
					document conforms.
					Value = 1.0
../@AckRequested	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Acknowledgement Requested:
	String			Always	Defines type of
					acknowledgement requested.
					Supported values:
					Normal
					Terse
					Verbose
../@SOXType	Enumerated	5	Once	Required	Sox Type:
	String			Always	Indicates type of SOX XML
					document. All SOX documents
					have this attribute with
					appropriate values.
					Value = Offer

The header includes an @Offer DistributorID parameter that represents an identifier assigned by the network 13 for each offer distributor 12 of system 10. The @SenderDocUID parameter represents a unique reference code which identifies the XML document to its sender so he or she can later refer to it. This parameter is used for audit trail purposes. The @Version parameter represents the version of the specification to which the Offer document conforms. The @AckRequested parameter defines the type of acknowledgement requested for the Offer document (i.e., normal, terse, verbose). The @SOXType document identifies the type of XML document (in this case, “Offer”).

A representative sample of the plurality of offer properties available through system 10 is identified in a tabular format as shown below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaint	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Properties:
Req/					Contains Offer Properties for
OfferProperties					@OfferID above.
					This element is required when
					/SOX/Offer/@Action = “Add” or
					“Replace”.
					It is not required when
					/SOX/Offer/@Action = “Delete”.
../MemberOffer	String	3	Once	Required	Member Offer:
					Is loyalty program membership
					required?
					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
					When membership is not a
					requirement, all customers are
					eligible to participate in the
					Offer.
../StaffAllowed	String	3	Once	Required	Staff Allowed:
					Can staff participate in this
					offer?
					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../OfferType	String	6	Once	Required	Offer Type:
					Coupon type for monetary
					rewards. (For tax calculations.)
					Valid values:
					Vendor
					Store
../OfferXactLimit	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Transaction Limit:
					Maximum number of times this
					offer may be used per
					transaction.
					Value = 0-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
					If value = 0, this offer is not
					active.
../OfferCustLimit	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Customer Limit:
					Total number of times this offer
					may be used, across
					transactions.
					Value = 0-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
../OfferStartDateTime	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time:
					Date/time when the offer becomes
					active.
					Encapsulates the elements that
					define the timestamp.
../OfferStartDateTime/	String	4	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time: Year
Year					Format: CCYY
../OfferStartDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time: Month
Month					Format: MM
					Value = 01-12
../OfferStartDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time: Day
Day					Format: DD
					Value = 01-31
../OfferStartDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time: Hour
Hour					Format: HH
					Value = 00-23
../OfferStartDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer Start Date Time: Minute
Minute					Format: MM
					Value = 00-59
../OfferEndDateTime	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time:
					Date/time after which the offer
					expires.
					Encapsulates the elements that
					define the timestamp.
../OfferEndDateTime/	String	4	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time: Year
Year					Format: CCYY
../OfferEndDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time: Month
Month					Format: MM
					Value = 01-12
../OfferEndDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time: Day
Day					Format: DD
					Value = 01-31
../OfferEndDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time: Hour
Hour					Format: HH
					Value = 00-23
../OfferEndDateTime/	String	2	Once	Required	Offer End Date Time: Minute
Minute					Format: MM
					Value = 00-59
../OfferDescription	String	40	Once	Required	Offer Description:
					Text description of the
					promotion - printed on checkout
					receipt.
					Format on checkout receipt: 2
					lines of 20 characters each.
../OfferReportDescription	String	40	Once	Required	Offer Report Description:
					Text description of the offer
					for reporting purposes.
../OfferSponsorSettlement	String	9	Once	Required	Offer Sponsor Settlement ID:
ID					Assigned by the ECN.
					Value = 1-999999999
../DeferredReward	String	3	Once	Required	Deferred Reward:
					Is reward to be received in a
					deferred manner (or directed to
					another party), or is it to be
					received at checkout.
					Valid values:
					“Yes” = Deferred receipt.
					“No” = Checkout receipt.

MemberOffer is a field representing whether an offer is open to the public or requires membership to a frequent shopper, loyalty or similar-type program. StaffAllowed is a field representing the employees of the store to which the offer has been routed. OfferType is a field representing whether the offer is being offered by a vendor or a store. OfferXactLimit is a field representing the maximum number of times the offer may be used by a customer per transaction. OfferCustLimit is a field representing the maximum number of times the offer may be used by a customer across transactions. OfferStartDateTime is an aggregate field representing the date and time when the offer becomes active (broken down by year, month, day, hour and minute), while OfferEndDateTime is an aggregate field representing the date and time after which the offer may not be used (broken down by year, month, day, hour and minute). OfferDescription is a field representing a text description of the offer, which is preferably printed out on the customer's checkout receipt upon redemption. OfferReportDescription is a field representing a text description of the offer for reporting purposes, such as offer performance analysis. OfferSponsorSettlementID is a field representing the unique number used to identify the sponsor of each offer. DeferredReward is a field indicating whether a reward associated with an offer is to be received in a deferred manner or directed to another party. One skilled in the art can appreciate that the number and type of offer properties may vary depending on the application.

A representative sample of the plurality of conditions required for redeeming an offer through system 10 is identified in tabular format as shown below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaint	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Conditions:
Req/					Encapsulates the Conditions
OfferConditions					applicable to @OfferID. This
					element is required when
					../Offer/@Action = “Add” or
					“Replace”.
					It is not required when
					../Offer/@Action = “Delete”.
/@ConditionSetCount	String	1	Once	Required	Condition Set Count:
					Number of Condition Set
					instances in this document.
					Value = 1-7
../ConditionSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Condition Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of a
			Many		single Condition Set. This
					element must contain only one of
					the following available
					Condition Set type elements:
					ItemPurchase
					DeptPurchase
					TotalPurchase
					TimeOfDay
					DayOfWeek
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Condition Set ID:
@ConditionSetID	String				Value = 0-7
					Value must be mutually exclusive
					with other @ConditionSetID
					values and
					/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/OfferRewards/
					RewardSet[ ]/@RewardSetID values.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Item Purchase:
ItemPurchase					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the ItemPurchase
					Condition Set type.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Enumerated	8	Once	Required	Measure:
ItemPurchase/@Measure	String				Defines the basis on which this
					Condition Set type is measured.
					Valid values:
					Quantity
					Weight
					Amount
					Where “Amount” is a monetary
					amount.
					If “Weight” is specified, the
					Offer Distributor is responsible
					for ensuring that Items in
					ItemList are sold by weight.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Item List:
ItemPurchase/ItemList					Encapsulates items that may be
					purchased interchangeably to
					meet this Condition.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	4	Once	Required	Item Count:
ItemPurchase/ItemList/					The number of ..ItemList/Item[ ]
@ItemCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	12	One	Required	Item:
ItemPurchase/ItemList/	List		or		UPC/EAN Code of eligible item
Item[ ]			Many		without the check digit. All 12
					digits must be specified even if
					leading zero's are needed.
					Compressed UPC is not permitted.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	1	Once	Required	Condition Check Flag:
ItemPurchase/CondChk					Valid values:
Flg					“0” = Once conditions are met,
					rewards issued for all
					qualifying items thereafter.
					“1” = Conditions must be met
					each time to receive rewards.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	10	Once	Required	Measure Value:
ItemPurchase/Measure					Metric of
Value					../ItemPurchase/@Measure
					required to be purchased.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					If ../ItemPurchase/@Measure = Quantity,
					Value is in units. = Weights,
					Value is in hundredths
					of pounds. = Amount,
					Value is in cents.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Department Purchase:
DeptPurchase					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the DeptPurchase
					Condition Set type.
					The Offer Distributor is
					responsible for the correct
					identification of departments.
					It is recommended that only the
					store operator uses this
					Condition Set type.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Department List:
DeptPurchase/DeptList					Element encapsulating the store
					departments from which items may
					be purchased interchangeably to
					meet this Condition.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	4	Once	Required	Department Count:
DeptPurchase/DeptList/					The number of ..DeptList/Dept[ ]
@DeptCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	4	One	Required	Department:
DeptPurchase/DeptList/	List		or		Store department from which
Dept[ ]			Many		items must be purchased.
					Value = 1-9999
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	1	Once	Required	Condition Check Flag:
DeptPurchase/CondChk					Valid values:
Flg					“0” = Once conditions are met,
					rewards issued for all
					qualifying items thereafter.
					“1” = Conditions must be met
					each time to receive rewards.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	10	Once	Required	Amount:
DeptPurchase/Amount					The monetary amount required to
					be purchased expressed in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Total Purchase:
TotalPurchase/					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the TotalPurchase
					Condition Set type.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Enumerated	12	Once	Required	Includes:
TotalPurchase/@Includes	String				Defines whether “All” items or
					only those that are
					“Discountable” are included in
					the total of purchases to be
					evaluated.
					Valid values:
					All
					Discountable
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	1	Once	Required	Condition Check Flag:
TotalPurchase/Cond					Valid values:
ChkFlag					“0” = Once conditions are met,
					rewards issued for all
					qualifying items thereafter.
					“1” = Conditions must be met
					each time to receive rewards.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	10	Once	Required	Amount:
TotalPurchase/Amount					The total monetary amount
					required to be purchased
					expressed in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Time Of Day:
TimeOfDay					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the TimeOfDay
					Condition Set type.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Start Time:
TimeOfDay/StartTime					Encapsulates the details of
					StartTime.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Hour:
TimeOfDay/StartTime/					Format: HH
Hour					Value: 00-23
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Minute:
TimeOfDay/StartTime/					Format: MM
Minute					Value: 00-59
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	End Time:
TimeOfDay/EndTime					Encapsulates the details of
					EndTime.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Hour:
TimeOfDay/EndTime/					Format: HH
Hour					Value: 00-23
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Minute:
TimeOfDay/EndTime/					Format: MM
Minute					Value: 00-59
../ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Day Of Week:
DayOfWeek					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the DayOfWeek
					Condition Set type.
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Sunday:
DayOfWeek/Sunday					Indicates whether the Offer is
					available on Sundays. Note that
					at least one of the days should
					have a “Yes” value.
					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Monday:
DayOfWeek/Monday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Tuesday:
DayOfWeek/Tuesday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Wednesday:
DayOfWeek/Wednesday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Thursday:
DayOfWeek/Thursday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Friday:
DayOfWeek/Friday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No
../ConditionSet[ ]/	String	3	Once	Required	Saturday:
DayOfWeek/Saturday					Valid values:
					Yes
					No

Conditions are the rules or requirements for receiving the reward(s) associated with a particular offer. The conditions associated with an offer are defined by a plurality of condition sets. In one embodiment, there are five (5) types of condition sets, namely an item purchase condition set, a department purchase condition set, a total purchase condition set, a time of day condition set and a day of week condition set. The item purchase condition set identifies the item or items that must be purchased, which can be broken down by quantity, weight and/or amount. The department purchase condition set identifies the department or departments from which each item must be purchased. The total purchase condition set identifies the amount of total purchases required. The time of day condition set identifies a time period during which rewards may be received. The day of week condition set identifies the day(s) of the week on which the rewards may be received. Each condition set is programmed such that once conditions are met, rewards are issued for all qualifying items. While only one condition set type is allowed for each condition set, more than one condition set may contain the same condition set type. One skilled in the art can appreciate, however, that the number and type of condition sets may vary depending on the application. In one embodiment, seven (7) condition sets may be defined. When multiple condition sets are specified, all of the conditions in each set must be met in order to receive the corresponding rewards.

A representative sample of the plurality of reward parameters available through system 10 is identified in tabular format below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaint	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Rewards:
Req/					Encapsulates the Rewards
OfferRewards					applicable to @OfferID.
					This element is required when
					/SOX/Offer/@Action = “Add” or
					“Replace”.
					It is not required when
					/SOX/Offer/@Action = “Delete”.
../@RewardSetCount	String	1	Once	Required	Reward Set Count:
					Number of Reward Set instances
					in this document.
					Value = 1-7
../RewardSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Reward Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of a
			Many		single Reward Set. This element
					must contain only one of the
					following available Reward Set
					type elements:
					ItemDiscount
					DeptDiscount
					TotalDiscount
					FreeItem
					ReplacementPriceMethod1
../RewardSet[ ]/@Re	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Reward Set ID:
wardSetID	String				Value = 0-7
					Value must be mutually exclusive
					with other @RewardSetID values
					and
					/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/OfferConditions/
					ConditionSet[ ]/@ConditionSetID
					values.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Item Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the ItemDiscount
					Reward Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Basis:
Discount/	String				Defines the basis on which
@Basis					Rewards will be given:
					Vaild values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Item List:
Discount/					Element encapsulating the items
ItemList					that may receive this Reward.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	String	4	Once	Required	Item Count:
Discount/					The number of ..ItemList/Item[ ]
ItemList/@ItemCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	String	12	One	Required	Item:
Discount/	List		or		UPC/EAN Code of eligible item
ItemList/Item[ ]			Many		without the check digit. All 12
					digits must be specified even if
					leading zero's are needed.
					Compressed UPC is not permitted.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	String	2	Once	Required	Reward Limit:
Discount/					Maximum number of Rewards which
RewardLimit					can be issued each time the
					Conditions of the Offer are met.
					Value = 1-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/					Metric of ../ItemDiscount/@Basis
BasisValue					to be applied.
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../ItemDisconut/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the price of an item
					will never be reduced below
					zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Department Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the DeptDiscount
					Reward Set type.
					The Offer Distributor is
					responsible for the correct
					identification of departments.
					It is recommended that only the
					store operator uses this Reward
					Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Basis:
Discount/	String				Defined the basis on which
@Basis					Rewards will be given:
					Valid values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Department List:
Discount/					Element encapsulating the store
DeptList					departments whose items are
					eligible to receive this Reward.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	String	4	Once	Required	Department Count:
Discount/					The number of ..DeptList/Dept[ ]
DeptList/@DeptCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	String	4	One	Required	Department:
Discount/	List		or		Store department whose items are
DeptList/Dept[ ]			Many		eligible to receive this Reward.
					Value = 1-9999
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	String	2	Once	Required	Reward Limit:
Discount/					Maximum number of Rewards which
RewardLimit					can be issued each time the
					Conditions of the Offer are met.
					Value = 1-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/					Metric of ../DeptDiscount/@Basis
BasisValue					to be applied.
					If ../DeptDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../DeptDiscount/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the total value of
					purchases of items in eligible
					departments will never be
					reduced below zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Total Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the TotalDiscount
					Reward Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Basis:
Discount/@Basis	String				Defines the basis on which
					Rewards will be given:
					Valid values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	String	2	Once	Required	Reward Limit:
Discount/RewardLimit					Maximum number of Rewards which
					can be issued each time the
					Conditions of the Offer are met.
					Value = 1-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/BasisValue					Metric of
					../TotalDiscount/@Basis to be
					applied.
					If ../TotalDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../TotalDiscount/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the total value of
					purchases will never be reduced
					below zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/Free	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Free Item:
Item					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the FreeItem Reward
					set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Free	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Item List:
Item/					Element encapsulating the items
ItemList					that may receive this Reward.
../RewardSet[ ]/Free	String	4	Once	Required	Item Count:
Item/					The number of ..ItemList/Item[ ]
ItemList/@ItemCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999
../RewardSet[ ]/Free	String	12	One	Required	Item:
Item/	List		or		UPC/EAN Code of eligible item
ItemList/Item[ ]			Many		without the check digit. All 12
					digits must be specified even if
					leading zero's are needed.
					Compressed UPC is not permitted.
../RewardSet[ ]/Free	String	2	Once	Required	Reward Limit:
Item/					Maximum number of Rewards which
RewardLimit					can be issued each time the
					Conditions of the Offer are met.
					Value = 1-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
../RewardSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Replacement Price Method 1:
ReplacementPriceMethod1					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the
					ReplacementPriceMethod1 Reward
					Set type.
					The replacement price to be
					applied follows IBM 4690
					Supermarket Application pricing
					method 1 logic. Pricing methods
					0, 2, 3, and 4 may be supported
					in future versions of the
					system, if required.
					This Reward Set type may not be
					used for weighed or NSC 02
					items.
../RewardSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Item List:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					Element encapsulating the items
ItemList					that my receive this reward.
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	4	Once	Required	Item Count:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					The number of ..ItemList/Item[ ]
ItemList/@ItemCount					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-9999
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	12	Once	Required	Item:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/	List		or		UPC/EAN Code of eligible item
ItemList/Item[ ]			Many		without the check digit. All 12
					digits must be specidfied even if
					leading zero's are needed.
					Compressed UPC is not permitted.
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	8	Once	Required	Deal Price:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					Total price, in cents, of
DealPrice					DealQuantity units.
					Value = 1-99999999
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Deal Quantity:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					Number of units received for
DealQuantity					DealPrice.
					Value = 1-99
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Reward Limit:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					Maximum number of Rewards which
RewardLimit					can be issued each time the
					Conditions of the Offer are met.
					Value = 1-9, or −1 (= unlimited).

Rewards are the benefits received by the customers when the conditions are met. The reward(s) associated with an offer are defined by a plurality of rewards sets. In one embodiment, there are five (5) reward set types, namely the item discount reward, the department discount reward, the total discount reward, the free item reward and the replacement price reward. One skilled in the art can appreciate, however, that the number and type of rewards may vary depending on the application. For example, rewards can be deferred to a third party, such as deposits directly into a mutual fund or a child's college fund.

The item discount reward is applied to the price of a specific item or item(s). The department discount reward is applied to the price of items in a certain department or departments. The total discount reward is applied to the total price of a customer's total purchases. The free item reward is applied to reduce the price of a specific item or items to zero. The replacement price reward is applied to replace an existing price for a specific item or items. While only one reward set type is allowed for each reward set, more than one reward set may contain the same reward set type. When multiple reward sets are specified, all possible rewards are given if the corresponding conditions are met.

Once the offers have been created, they are routed to the appropriate store or stores in which they are valid for redemption. A preferred format for offer store routing is provided below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer/OfferRoute	Aggregate	0	once	Optional	Offer Route Request:
Req					Encapsulates all Offer store
					routing requests.
../StoreList[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store List:
	List		or		Encapsulates details of all
			Many		stores for which the same
					@Action is required for this
					@OfferID.
../StoreList[ ]/@Action	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action:
	String				Defines maintenance
					operation to be performed
					for this @Offer for this
					StoreList[ ].
					Valid values:
					Add
					Replace
					Delete
../StoreList[ ]/@Store	String	10	Once	Required	Store Count:
Count					The number of
					../StoreList/Store[ ] entries
					to follow.
					Value = 1-2147483647
../StoreList[ ]/Store	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store:
[ ]	List		or		Encapsulates the details of
			Many		one store.
../StoreList[ ]/Store	String	10	Once	Required	Store ID:
[ ]/					Assigned by ECN.
StoreID					Unique Store Identifier.
					Valid value: 1-2147483647
../StoreList[ ]/Store	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
[ ]/					Indicates maximum processing
ServicePriority					delay for requested routing
					service.
					Supported values for the
					Pilot:
					“ON” = Overnight
					Beyond Pilot:
					“RT” = Real-time
					“15” = 15 Minutes
					“HR” = 1 Hour

The OfferRouteReq parameter encapsulates all offer store routing requests. The Storelist parameter encapsulates the details of all stores for which the same maintenance action is required for a particular offer. In particular, the @Action parameter defines the particular maintenance action to be performed for the list of stores identified by the Storelist parameter. The Storecount parameter identifies the number of stores to which to apply said action. The Store parameter encapsulates the details of one store, namely the identification value assigned to the store by network 13. The ServicePriority parameter identifies the maximum processing delay for the requested routing service (i.e., overnight, real-time, or set-time).

In a preferred embodiment, customer-specific variations can be introduced with respect to an offer through the CustomerOffer document type, which has the same header format as that for the Offer document type, with the value of the @SOXType parameter being “CustomerOffer.” A customer offer contains replacement values for some of the offer properties and rewards that are “overlaid” on top of the “generic” offer values when a customer identifies himself or herself at the time of purchase, such as through a loyalty card. A preferred format for the maintenance, the offer properties, rewards and offer routing for the Customer Offer document type are similar to that for an Offer document type and are identified in tabular format below, respectively.

Customer Offer Maintenance Request

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Customer Offer:
			or	Always	The /SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]
			Many		aggregate element may contain:
					One
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/CustOfferMaint
					Req aggregate element and one
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/CustOfferRoute
					Req aggregate element;
					OR
					One
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/CustOfferMaint
					Req aggregate element only;
					OR
					One
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/CustOfferRoute
					Req aggregate element only.
../@OfferID	String	12	Once	Required	Offer ID:
				Always	Number is provided by offer
					distributor and must be unique
					for that distributor.
					Value = 1-999999999999
../@MerchantID	String	10	Once	Required	Merchant ID:
				Always	Assigned by ECN.
					Identifies the issuing
					organization for the Customer's
					loyalty card.
					Value: 1-2147483647
../@CustomerID	String	18	Once	Required	Customer ID:
				Always	Normally, the Customer's loyalty
					card number for the merchant
					represented by @MerchantID.
../CustOfferMaintReq	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Customer Offer Maintenance
					Request:
					Encapsulates CustomerOffer
					maintenance request details for
					@OfferID and
					@MerchantID/@CustomerID above.
../CustOfferMaintReq/	Enumerated	8	Once	Required	Action:
@Action	String				CustomerOffer maintenance action
					requested.
					Valid values:
					Add
					Replace
					Delete
					Activate

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/	Aggregate	0		Optional	CustomerOffer Properties:
CustOfferMaintReq/					Contains CustomerOffer
CustOfferProperties					Properties for @OfferID for
					@MerchantID/@CustomerID above.
					This element is required when
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/@Action = “Add”
					or “Replace” or
					“Activate”.
					It is not required when
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/@Action = “Delete”.
../CustOfferXactLimit	String	2	Once	Required	Customer Offer Transaction
					Limit:
					Maximum number of times this
					offer may be used per
					transaction.
					Value = 0-9, or −1 (= unlimited).
					If value = 0, this
					CustomerOffer is not active.
../CustOfferCustLimit	String	2	Once	Required	Customer Offer Customer Limit:
					Total number of times this
					offer may be used, across
					transactions.
					Value = 0-9, or −1 (= unlimited).

Customer Offer Rewards

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	CustomerOffer Rewards:
CustOfferMaintReq/					Contains CustomerOffer Rewards
CustOfferRewards					for @OfferID for
					@MerchantID/@CustomerID above.
					This element is required when
					/SOX/CostomerOffer[ ]/@Action = “Add”
					or ”Replace”.
					It is not required when
					/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/@Action = “Delete”
					or “Activate”.
../@RewardSetCount	String	1	Once	Required	Reward Set Count:
					Number of Reward Set instances
					in this CustomerOffer[ ].
					Value = 1-7
../RewardSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Reward Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of a
			Many		single Reward Set. This
					element must contain only one
					of the following available
					Reward Set type elements:
					ItemDiscount
					DeptDiscount
					TotalDiscount
					ReplacementPriceMethod1
					Note that CustOfferRewards for
					FreeItem are not meaningful.
../RewardSet[ ]/@Reward	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Reward Set ID:
SetID	String				Value = 0-7
					Value is determined by the
					@RewardSetID from the global
					@OfferID which is to be
					overlaid with the data in this
					RewardSet[ ].
					Additionally, the @RewardSetID
					must refer to the same Reward
					Set type and be measured on
					the same @Basis as the global
					@OfferID, or an error will
					result.
					The system cannot successfully
					overlay the customer-specific
					data values onto the global
					Offer unless they are
					comparable.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Item Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the ItemDiscount
					Reward Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Basis:
Discount/	String				Defines the basis on which
@Basis					Rewards will be given:
					Valid values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
					See comments above regarding
					the need for compatibility
					with default rewards.
../RewardSet[ ]/Item	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/					Metric of
BasisValue					../ItemDiscount/@Basis to be
					applied.
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the price of an item
					will never be reduced below
					zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Department Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the DeptDiscount
					Reward Set type.
../Reward	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Basis:
Set[ ]/Dept	String				Defines the basis on which Rewards will
Discount/					be given:
@Basis					Valid values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
					See comments above regarding the need
					for compatibility with default rewards.
../RewardSet[ ]/Dept	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/					Metric of
BasisValue					../ItemDiscount/@Basis to be
					applied.
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the price of an item
					will never be reduced below
					zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Total Discount:
Discount					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the TotalDiscount
					Reward Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	Enumerated	8	Once	Required	Basis:
Discount/@Basis	String				Defines the basis on which
					Rewards will be given:
					Valid values:
					“Percent” = Percentage off.
					“Amount” = Amount off.
					See comments above regarding
					the need for compatibility
					with default rewards.
../RewardSet[ ]/Total	String	10	Once	Required	Basis Value:
Discount/BasisValue					Metric of
					../ItemDiscount/@Basis to be
					applied.
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Percent,
					then the value is the
					percentage discount in whole
					numbers.
					Value = 1-99
					If ../ItemDiscount/@Basis = Amount,
					then the value is the
					discount amount in cents.
					Value = 1-2147483647
					Note that the price of an item
					will never be reduced below
					zero.
../RewardSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Replacement Price Method 1:
ReplacementPriceMethod1					Element which encapsulates the
					details of the
					ReplacementPriceMethod1 Reward
					Set type.
../RewardSet[ ]/	String	8	Once	Required	Deal Price:
ReplacementPriceMethod1/					Total price, in cents, of
DealPrice					DealQuantity units, where
					DealQuantity is defined in the
					default Rewards for @OfferID.
					Value = 1-99999999

Customer Offer Store Routing

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	CustomerOffer Route Request:
CustOfferRouteReq					Encapsulates CustomerOffer[ ]
					store routing request details.
. . . /StoreList[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store List:
	List		or		Encapsulates details of all
			Many		stores for which the same @
					Action is required for this @
					OfferID and @
					MerchantID/@CustomerID.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@Action	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action:
	String				Defines maintenance operation
					to be performed for this
					StoreList[ ].
					Valid values:
					Add
					Replace
					Delete
					Activate
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@StoreCount	String	10	Once	Required	Store Count:
					The number of
					. . . /StoreList/Store[ ] entries
					to follow.
					Value = 1-2147483647
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of
			Many		one store.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	10	Once	Required	Store ID:
StoreID					Assigned by ECN.
					Unique Store Identifier.
					Valid value: 1-2147483647
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
ServicePriority					Indicates maximum processing
					delay for requested routing
					service.
					Supported values for the
					Pilot:
					“15” = 15 Minutes
					“HR” = 1 Hour
					“ON” = Overnight
					“RT” = Real-time

As previously mentioned, the OfferAck document type is the positive acknowledgement returned by network 13 upon its successful processing of an offer document type. A preferred format for this type of document, including its header, is identified in a tabular format as shown below.

Header

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Document Root Element:
				Always	Identifies this as a SOX XML
					document.
. . . /@Version	String	3	Once	Required	SOX Version of File:
				Always	Version of SOX to which this
					document conforms.
					Value = 1.0
. . . /@SOXType	Enumerated	8	Once	Required	Sox Type:
	String			Always	Indicates type of SOX XML
					document. All SOX documents
					have this attribute with
					appropriate values.
					Value = OfferAck

Offer Document Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/OfferAck	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Offer Acknowledgement:
					Encapsulates the acknowledgement
					of the receipt of the Offer
					document.
. . . /DistributorID	String	10	Once	Required	Distributor ID: @
					OfferDistributorID in the Offer
					document.
. . . /AckRequested	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Acknowledgement Requested: @
	String				AckRequested in the Offer
					document.
. . . /SenderDocUID	String	12	Once	Required	Sender's Document Unique ID: @
					SenderDocUID in the Offer
					document.
. . . /SessionID	String	12	Once	Required	Session ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN ID for the session in which
					the Offer document was
					transmitted to the ECN.
					May be used for audit trail
					purposes.
. . . /OffRcptCtrlID	String	10	Once	Required	Offer Receipt Control ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN identifier used for tracking
					the Offer document.
. . . /SenderID	String	8	Once	Required	Sender ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN user ID under which the
					Offer document was transmitted
					to the ECN.
. . . /Date	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Date:
					Generated by ECN.
					Date of OfferAck creation.
. . . /Date/Year	String	4	Once	Required	Year:
					Format: CCYY
. . . /Date/Month	String	2	Once	Required	Month:
					Format: MM
. . . /Date/Day	String	2	Once	Required	Day:
					Format: DD
. . . /Time	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Time:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time of OfferAck creation.
. . . /Time/Hour	String	2	Once	Required	Hour:
					Format: HH
. . . /Time/Minute	String	2	Once	Required	Minute:
					Format: MM
. . . /Time/Second	String	2	Once	Required	Second:
					Format: SS
. . . /TimeZone	String	3	Once	Required	Time Zone:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time Zone for OfferAck creation
					timestamp.

With respect to the Offer Document Acknowledgement format, the DistributorID parameter identifies a unique identification value for the offer distributor distributing the offer. The AckRequested parameter reflects the requested level of acknowledgement identified in the @AckRequested parameter of the header of the Offer document. The SenderDocUID parameter identifies the unique code identifying the XML document to its sender for audit trail purposes. The SessionID parameter is a unique identification value generated by network 13 identifying the session in which the Offer document was transmitted to it, and may also be used for audit trail purposes. The OffRcptCtrlID parameter is a unique identifier generated by network 13 for tracking the Offer document. The SenderID parameter is a unique identifier generated by network 13 representing the identity of the sender of the offer document under which the Offer document was transmitted to network 13. The Date and Time parameters are generated by the network 13 and identify the date and time, respectively, of the creation of the OfferAck document. A preferred format for the Offer Maintenance Request Acknowledgment and Offer Store Routing Acknowledgement are identified in tabular format below.

Offer Maintenance Request Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Offer:
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					processing.
. . . /@OfferID	String	12	Once	Required	Offer ID: @
					OfferID in the Offer document.
. . . /OfferMaintReq	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Maintenance Request:
					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					Offer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					maintenance processing.
. . . /OfferMaintReq/@	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action: @
Action	String				Action in the Offer document.
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/	Aggregate	0		Optional	Offer Properties:
OfferProperties					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					Offer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					Properties processing.
. . . /Staus	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
. . . /Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Conditions:
OfferConditions					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					Offer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					Conditions processing.
. . . /@ConditionSetCount	String	1	One	Required	Condition Set Count:
					Count of . . . /ConditionSet[ ]
					elements to follow.
. . . /ConditionSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Condition Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the results of
			Many		processing this @ConditionSetID.
. . . /ConditionSet[ ]/	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Condition Set ID: @
@ConditionSetID	String				ConditionSetID in the Offer
					document.
. . . /ConditionSet[ ]/	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
Status					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
. . . /ConditionSet[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
Result					See result structure above.
/SOX/Offer/OfferMaintReq/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Rewards:
OfferRewards					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					Offer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					Rewards processing.
. . . /@RewardSetCount	String	1	Once	Required	Reward Set Count:
					Count of . . . /RewardSet[ ] elements
					to follow.
. . . /RewardSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Reward Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the results of
			Many		processing this @RewardSetID.
. . . /Rewardset[ ]/@RewardSetID	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Reward Set ID: @
	String				RewardSetID in the Offer
					document.
. . . /RewardSet[ ]/Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
. . . /RewardSet[ ]/Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.

Offer Store Routing Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/Offer/OfferRouteReq	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Offer Routing Request:
					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					Offer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					routing processing.
. . . /StoreList[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store List:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of
			Many		stores for which the same @
					Action is required.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@Action	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action: @
	String				Action in the Offer document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@StoreCount	String	10	Once	Required	Store Count:
					Count of . . . /Store[ ] elements to
					follow.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of one
			Many		store.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/StoreID	String	10	Once	Required	Store ID:
					Store in the Offer document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
ServicePriority					ServicePriority in the Offer
					document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
					Scheduled
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
Result					See result structure above.

Likewise, a preferred format for the CustomerOfferAck document type (which has the same header format with a value for the @SOXType parameter being “CustomerOfferAck,” and includes Offer Document Acknowledgement, CustomerOffer Maintenance Request Acknowledgement and CustomerOffer Store Routing Acknowledgement are provided below.

Offer Document Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustOfferAck	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	CustomerOffer Acknowledgement:
					Encapsulates the acknowledgement
					of the receipt of the
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /DistributorID	String	10	Once	Required	Distributor ID: @
					OfferDistributorID in the
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /AckRequested	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Acknowledgement Requested: @
	String				AckRequested in the
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /SenderDocUID	String	12	Once	Required	Sender's Document Unique ID: @
					SenderDocUID in the
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /SessionID	String	12	Once	Required	Session ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN ID for the session in which
					the CustomerOffer document was
					transmitted to the ECN. May be
					used for audit trail purposes.
. . . /OffRcptCtrlID	String	10	Once	Required	Offer Receipt Control ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN identifier used for tracking
					the CustomerOffer document.
. . . /SenderID	String	8	Once	Required	Sender ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN user ID under which the
					CustomerOffer document was
					transmitted to the ECN.
. . . /Date	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Date:
					Generated by ECN.
					Date of CustomerOfferAck
					creation.
. . . /Date/Year	String	4	Once	Required	Year:
					Format: CCYY
. . . /Date/Month	String	2	Once	Required	Month:
					Format: MM
. . . /Date/Day	String	2	Once	Required	Day:
					Format: DD
. . . /Time	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Time:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time of CustomerOfferAck
					creation.
. . . /Time/Hour	String	2	Once	Required	Hour:
					Format: HH
. . . /Time/Minute	String	2	Once	Required	Minute:
					Format: MM
. . . /Time/Second	String	2	Once	Required	Second:
					Format: SS
. . . /TimeZone	String	3	Once	Required	Time Zone:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time Zone for CustomerOfferAck
					creation timestamp.

Customer Offer Maintenance Request Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer	Aggregate	0	One	Required	CustomerOffer:
			or		Encapsulates results of
			Many		CustomerOffer processing.
. . . /@OfferID	String	12	Once	Required	Offer ID: @
					OfferID in the CustomerOffer
					document.
. . . /@MerchantID	String	10	Once	Required	Merchant ID: @
					MerchantID in the CustomerOffer
					document.
. . . /@CustomerID	String	18	Once	Required	Customer ID:
					CustomerID in the CustomerOffer
					document.
. . . /CustOfferMaintReq	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	CustomerOffer Maintenance
					Request:
					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					CustomerOffer document.
					Encapsulates results of
					CustomerOffer maintenance
					processing.
. . . /CustOfferMaintReq/	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action: @
@Action	String				Action in the CustomerOffer
					document.
/SOX/CustomerOffer/	Aggregate	0		Optional	CustomerOffer Properties:
CustOfferMaintReq/					This element will exist if it
CustOfferProperties					was present in the processed
					CustomerOffer document.
					Encapsulates results of
					CustomerOffer Properties
					processing.
. . . /Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
. . . /Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.
/SOX/CustomerOffer/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	CustomerOffer Rewards:
CustOfferMaintReq/					This element will exist if it
CustOfferRewards					was present in the processed
					CustomerOffer document.
					Encapsulates results of
					CustomerOffer Rewards
					Processing.
. . . /@RewardSetCount	String	1	Once	Required	Reward Set Count:
					Count of . . . /RewardSet[ ] elements
					to follow.
. . . /RewardSet[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Reward Set:
	List		or		Encapsulates the results of
			Many		processing this @RewardSetID.
. . . /RewardSet[ ]/@RewardSetID	Enumerated	1	Once	Required	Reward Set ID: @
	String				RewardSetID in the
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /RewardSet[ ]/Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
. . . /RewardSet[ ]/Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.

Customer Offer Store Routing Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/CustomerOffer/	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	CustomerOffer Routing Request:
CustOfferRouteReq					This element will exist if it
					was present in the processed
					CustomerOffer document.
					Encapsulates results of Offer
					routing processing.
. . . /StoreList[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store List:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of
			Many		stores for which the same @
					Action is required.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@Action	Enumerated	7	Once	Required	Action: @
	String				Action in the CustomerOffer
					document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/@StoreCount	String	10	Once	Required	Store Count:
					Count of . . . /Store[ ] elements to
					follow.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Store:
	List		or		Encapsulates the details of one
			Many		store.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	10	Once	Required	Store ID:
StoreID					StoreID in the Offer document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
ServicePriority					ServicePriority in the Offer
					document.
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
Status					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
					Scheduled
. . . /StoreList[ ]/Store[ ]/	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
Result					See result structure above.

As previously mentioned, the ErrorResponse document type is the negative acknowledgement returned by the network 13 upon encountering an error in the course of processing an Offer or Customer Offer document type. ErrorResponse documents adhere to the DTD represented as SOXErrorResponse.dtd in Appendix 1. The header for this document type is the same as that for the OfferAck and CustomerOfferAck document types, with the exception that the value for @SOXType parameter is “ErrorResponse.” A preferred format for this document is shown in tabular format below.

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/ErrorResponse	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Error Response:
					Encapsulates the acknowledgement
					of the receipt of the Offer or
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /SenderDocUID	String	12	Once	Required	Sender's Document Unique ID: @
					SenderDocUID in the Offer or
					CustomerOffer document.
. . . /ErrorCode	String	10	Once	Required	Error Code:
					Generated by ECN.
					Assigned according to the type
					and source of the Error Code.
. . . /ErrorDescription	String	255	Once	Required	Error Description:
					Generated by ECN.
					The Error default text.
. . . /ErrorCondition	String	255	Once	Required	Error Condition:
					Generated by ECN.
					Used to further explain the
					conditions that cause this Error
					code.
. . . /ErrorMessage	String	255	Once	Required	Error Message:
					Generated by ECN.
. . . /ErrorSource	String	255	Once	Required	Error Source:
					Generated by ECN.
. . . /Date	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Date:
					Generated by ECN.
					Date of ErrorResponse creation.
. . . /Date/Year	String	4	Once	Required	Year:
					Format: CCYY
. . . /Date/Month	String	2	Once	Required	Month:
					Format: MM
. . . /Date/Day	String	2	Once	Required	Day:
					Format: DD
. . . /Time	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Time:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time of ErrorResponse creation.
. . . /Time/Hour	String	2	Once	Required	Hour:
					Format: HH
. . . /Time/Minute	String	2	Once	Required	Minute:
					Format: MM
. . . /Time/Second	String	2	Once	Required	Second:
					Format: SS
. . . /TimeZone	String	3	Once	Required	Time Zone:
					Generated by ECN.
					Time Zone for ErrorResponse
					creation timestamp.
. . . /SessionID	String	12	Once	Required	Session ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN ID for the session in which
					the CustomerOffer document was
					transmitted to the ECN. May be
					used for audit trail purposes.
. . . /OffRcptCtrlID	String	10	Once	Required	Offer Receipt Control ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN identifier used for tracking
					the Offer or CustomerOffer
					document.
. . . /SenderID	String	8	Once	Required	Sender ID:
					Generated by ECN.
					ECN user ID under which the
					Offer or CustomerOffer document
					was transmitted to the ECN.
. . . /DTDErrorList	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	DTD Error List:
					Generated by ECN.
					Encapsulates reporting of DTD
					violations.
. . . /DTDErrorList/	String	10	Once	Required	DTD Error Count:
@DTDErrorCount					Count of . . . /DTDError[ ] elements
					to follow.
. . . /DTDErrorList/	Aggregate	0	One	Required	DTD Error:
DTDError[ ]	List		or		Encapsulates the details of one
			Many		DTD error.
. . . /DTDErrorList/	String	255	Once	Required	Path Name:
DTDError[ ]/PathName					Path of DTD Error within the XML
					document.
. . . /DTDErrorList/	String	10	Once	Required	Error Code:
DTDError[ ]/ErrorCode					Assigned according to the type
					and source of the Error Code.
. . . /DTDErrorList/	String	255	Once	Required	Error Message:
DTDError[ ]/ErrorMessage					Text description of the DTD
					Error.

In particular, the parameter SenderDocUID represents the unique code identifying the XML document to its sender. The ErrorCode parameter represents the code assigned by the network 13 for the type and source of the error. The ErrorDescription parameter represents a description of the error generated by the network 13. The ErrorCondition parameter is generated by the network 13 and represents the condition(s) that caused the generation of the error code. The ErrorMessage parameter identifies an error message generated by the network 13 based on the error code. The ErrorSource parameter represents the source of the error generated by the network 13. The Date and Time parameters identify the date and time, respectively, in which the ErrorResponse document is created. The SessionID parameter represents the identification value assigned by the network 13 for the session in which the Offer or CustomerOffer document was transmitted to the network 13. The OfrRptCtrlID parameter represents an identifier generated by the network 13 which is used for tracking the Offer or CustomerOffer document. The ServerID parameter represents the identification value generated by the network 13 under which the Offer or OfferCustomer document was transmitted to the network 13. The DTDErrorList element encapsulates the reporting of DTD violations, including the count of error containing elements to follow, the details of each DTD error, which comprises the path of the DTD error within the XML document, the error code, and the error message.

The details of the offers being distributed by each offer distributor 12 are electronically communicated to a network server 22 of system 10, such as an IBM RS6000 server, preferably in real time. Connections to server 22 are made over the Internet via the HTTP protocol using X.509 certificates to identify and authenticate the sender. Server 22 is configured to receive and authenticate all offers having a uniform format such as that previously described herein. With respect to offers distributed to customers in a non-interactive medium, the offer details are communicated to server 22 prior to being presented to the customers. In the case of a kiosk offer distributor, the offer is distributed via a communications network (not shown), such as the Internet, to a kiosk 16 in communication therewith. Kiosk 16 may be directly in communication with the POS system 27 of the store in which it is located.

System 10 generates point-of-sale (POS) maintenance files that reflect all of the offers received from the offer distributors 12 and authenticated by server 22. These files are stored within a database of network 13 (not shown), preferably in a consolidated manner whereby information related to all offers available from various offer distributors at a given retailer can be viewed online by customers via a browser interface 30 thereto. These files may be forwarded to the appropriate retailer 26 for placement on the POS systems 27 of the relevant stores 28 in which the offer is valid or a server of network 13 such as server 22 may place the files directly on the POS system 27 of the relevant stores 28 in which the offer is valid.

In one embodiment, network 13 provides for the possibility of coooperation between agents and partners in presenting offers to customers or in recording the customer's acceptance of an offer. Once a business relationship between the cooperating parties is established, the network 13 sets up the proper information pathways so that the XML documents created by the network 13 can be routed to agents or partners for the purpose of synchronizing information between the parties so that everyone has an exact copy of the information received by the network 13 from the offer distributors 12. The preferred formats of the relevant Offer Agent Server Routing, CustomerOffer Agent Server Routing, Agent Server Offer Acknowledgement and Agent Server Customer Offer Acknowledgement documents are described below.

Offer Agent Server Routing

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/TargetServerList	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Target Server List:
					This element is not required.
					Defines Agent servers to which
					this document is to be
					forwarded.
. . . /@ServerCount	String	6	Once	Required	Server Count:
					The number of
					. . . /TargetServerList/Server[ ]
					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-999999
. . . /Server[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Server:
	List		or		Encapsulates details for one
			Many		Agent server.
. . . /Server[ ]ServerID	String	6	Once	Required	Agent Server ID:
					Assigned by the ECN
					Target Agent Server ID to
					Receive a copy of this document.
					Value = 1-999999
. . . /Server[ ]/ServicePriority	String	2	One	Required	Service Priority:
					Indicates maximum processing
					delay for requested routing
					service.
					Supported values:
					“15” = 15 Minutes
					“HR” = 1 Hour
					“ON” = Overnight
					“RT” = Real-time

Customer Offer Agent Server Routing

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/TargetServerList	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Target Server List:
					This element is not required.
					Defines Agent servers to which
					this document is to be
					forwarded.
../@ServerCount	String	6	Once	Required	Server Count:
					The number of
					../TargetServerList/Server[ ]
					entries to follow.
					Value = 1-999999
../Server[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Server:
	List		or		Encapsulates details for one
			Many		Agent server.
../Server[ ]/Server	String	6	Once	Required	Agent Server ID:
ID					Assigned by the ECN.
					Target Agent Server ID to
					receive a copy of this document.
					Value = 1-999999
../Server[ ]/Service	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
Priority					Indicates maximum processing
					delay for requested routing
					service.
					Supported values:
					“15” = 15 Minutes
					“HR” = 1 Hour
					“ON” = Overnight
					“RT” = Real-time

Agent Server Offer Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/TargetServerList	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Target Server List:
					This element will exist if it
					was present in the Offer
					document, and encapsulates the
					results of Server Routing
					Request processing.
../@ServerCount	String	6	Once	Required	Server Count:
					Count of
					../TargetsServerList/Server[ ]
					elements to follow.
					Value = 1-999999
../Server[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Server:
	List		or		Encapsulates details for one
			Many		Agent server.
../Server[ ]/Server	String	6	Once	Required	ServerID:
ID					Requested ServerID.
../Server[ ]/Service	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
Priority					Requested service priority.
../Server[ ]/Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
					Scheduled
../Server[ ]/Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.

Agent Server Customer Offer Acknowledgement

XML Element/Attribute		Max
Tag	Data Type	Len	Occur	Usage	Description
/SOX/TargetServerList	Aggregate	0	Once	Optional	Target Server List:
					This element will exist if it
					was present in the CustomerOffer
					document, and encapsulates the
					results of Server Routing
					Request processing.
../@ServerCount	String	6	Once	Required	Server Count:
					Count of
					../TargetServerList/Server[ ]
					elements to follow.
					Value = 1-999999
../Server[ ]	Aggregate	0	One	Required	Server:
	List		or		Encapsulates details for one
			Many		Agent server.
../Server[ ]/Server	String	6	Once	Required	ServerID:
ID					Requested ServerID.
../Server[ ]/Service	String	2	Once	Required	Service Priority:
Priority					Requested service priority.
../Server[ ]/Status	String	9	Once	Required	Status:
					Generated by ECN.
					Valid Values:
					Success
					Scheduled
../Server[ ]/Result	Aggregate	0	Once	Required	Result:
					See result structure above.

Customers redeem offers at a store electronically preferably via their loyalty cards or some other identification mechanism during the checkout process. The POS system 26 of that store integrates the offer details in the POS maintenance files received from server 22 into its POS master offer detail files so that the condition(s) associated with the offers can be validated. In a preferred embodiment, the validation is performed by FREEDOM-Shopper sold by Matra Systems. In one embodiment, this process is performed in batch mode given the processing-intensive nature of the operation that could adversely affect daily checkout operations.

POS system 26 generates transaction log files for any transactions at the stores 28 involving offers distributed by the offer distributors 12. These transaction log files are forwarded to system 10 for clearance and settlement. Clearing is the set of functions required to collect and analyze the transaction log files received by POS system 26 to extract the detail of the rewards given or due to customers, and to prepare the details of settlement required by the settlement agent. Clearing also includes extracting information from the transaction log files and comparing it against the corresponding offer details stored within the databases of network 13 in order to validate same. In one embodiment, clearance is performed via a program on the server 22 of the network 13. In a preferred embodiment, offer distributors 12 are notified of the redemption of their respective offers by means of a query service or XML-based data feed provided by server 22.

Once each offer is cleared, settlement of the offer with the appropriate settlement agent is performed. Settlement is the process of ensuring that the financial obligations associated with each offer are carried out. Specifically, the retailer is reimbursed for the value of rewards deducted from customer transactions involving offers. Payment must be arranged for fees due to the retailer and other parties for the processing and handling of the offer. Such settlement details are communicated electronically to a settlement agent 34 to complete settlement of the offer with the respective parties to the transaction.

Due to the centralized nature of the system 10 and the standardization of offers provided by the network 13, retailers can automatically accept offers from a plurality of different offer distributors, thereby relieving their burden to maintain sophisticated customer/price management systems. Moreover, system 10 allows paperless offer clearing at the POS level. In addition, system 10 provides for automatic settlement of offers which helps accelerate payment of the financial obligations associated therewith. In addition, given the centralized nature of the transaction information stored within the network 13, directories can be set up by network 13 whereby offer distributors, customers, stores, and other interested parties can easily look up information related to offers provided thorugh network 13.

Furthermore, network 13 provides for the dynamic targeting of customers. The value of customer targeting is derived from wasting less money on promotional activity. Promotions are inherently wasteful because a large amount of the expenditures are not used to alter customer behavior. Promotion costs can be classified primarily into three areas; namely media costs, redemption costs and handling and administrative costs. Media costs are the cost of exposing customers to a promotion offer. Media costs include the advertising cost for placing promotional ads in newspapers, magazines, or on the Internet offer, and direct mail cost to send offers to households. Redemption costs are the cost of the discount. Cash discounts and other rewards have direct costs. Handling and administrative costs are inherent with coupon offers, which generally have costs associated with having the coupons counted and for billing and administration. Additionally, coupon issuers provide a fee to the retailer to cover their costs in handling the coupon. Moreover, all promotions require systems to accrue, track and generally administer promotions.

The value of an offer is equal to the profit for incremental sales less the sum of media, redemption and handling and administrative costs associated therewith. Targeting offers can impact the value of an offer dramatically by lowering the overall costs and more particularly the cost per incremental case. Dynamic customer targeting is greatly enhanced by the system 10, specifically, due to the centralized nature in which the network 13 manages offer transactions. In particular, system 10 categorizes customer profiles into three types; namely static, persistent and dynamic. Static profiles represent lifestyle and geo-demographic characteristics and are not changed by marketing activities. Persistent profiles are characterized by buying behavior that is relatively stable and only somewhat altered by marketing activities. Dynamic profiles are characterized by buying behavior that can directly be attributed to marketing activities like discounts and new product introductions.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the process of dynamic customer targeting according to the present invention is described. For the purposes of discussion, it will be assumed that customers are identified to the network 13 through a loyalty card. However, it can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that any method of customer identification can be used. At 100, a customer is identified via a loyalty card being scanned at the checkout counter of a store. At 102, the POS system of that store tracks a plurality of information such as the customer's identification number, the time, the checkout lane, the products purchased, the prices paid and the quantities purchased. At 104, the POS system matches this information with information stored within the POS system, such as full pricing information, discount information, display activity, advertising activity and baseline sales, to create a customer profile. At 106, the profile is transmitted to the network 13 and at 108, the profile is appended to a “master” database stored within a database of the network 13. At 110, the customer profile is queried against this database to create the static, persistent and dynamic profiles at 112. At 114, the customer profiles are forwarded to the appropriate offer distributor 12 so they can dynamically target customers based on such profiles.

To illustrate the advantages of dynamic profiling, FIGS. 3A-D illustrate an example of an offer for spaghetti sauce distributed based on a non-targeted profile, a static profile, a persistent profile and a dynamic profile, respectively. As shown, the dynamic profile provides a net value of $24,000, while the non-targeted and static profiles provide no value, and the persistent profile provides only a $3,975 value. Therefore, for spaghetti sauce, it is unlikely that static profile will greatly distinguish large numbers of spaghetti sauce customers from non-spaghetti sauce customer. In other words, static profile type offers will not add to the value of the promotion.

The foregoing constitutes a description of various features of a preferred embodiment. Numerous changes to the preferred embodiment are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Hence, the scope of the invention should be determined with reference not to the preferred embodiment, but to the following claims.

Claims

1. An electronic offer management system for electronic offer transactions, comprising: receiving means for receiving information related to a plurality of electronic offers redeemable at a plurality of stores, the electronic offers being distributed by a plurality of competitive offer distributors to customers of the plurality of stores; routing means for automatically routing the information related to each offer to a point-of-sale system of each store in which the offer can be redeemed; and clearing means for automatically clearing the offers redeemed by the customers at the stores.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising settlement means for automatically reconciling financial obligations associated with each offer cleared by the clearing means, whereby a single, electronic audit of each offer transaction can be achieved.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the clearing means comprises: means for receiving redemption information from the stores; and means for comparing the redemption information to the offer information whereby each offer redeemed by the customers can be validated.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of offer distributors comprises at least one of an internet offer distributor, a retailer offer distributor, a kiosk offer distributor, a direct mail offer distributor, and an email offer distributor.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising activation means for selectively activating and deactivating each offer.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising profiling means for dynamically profiling the customers so that the offers can be targeted to specific customers.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein each offer corresponds to a reward, and wherein the system further comprises reward deferral means for deferring issuance of the reward to the customer.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising offer consolidation means for consolidating the offers available through the system for presentation to the customer at a plurality of levels.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of levels comprises at least one of an offer distributor level and a store level.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the offer information comprises at least one condition and wherein the at least one condition is at least one of an item purchase condition, a department purchase condition, a total purchase condition, a time of day condition and a day of the week condition.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the profiling means comprises at least one of a static profile, a persistent profile and a dynamic profile.

12. A method of electronic management of electronic offer transactions, comprising: receiving information related to a plurality of electronic offers redeemable at a plurality of stores, the electronic offers being distributed by a plurality of competitive offer distributors to customers of the plurality of stores; automatically routing the information of each offer to a point-of-sale system of each store in which the offer can be redeemed; and automatically clearing the offers redeemed by the customers at the stores.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of automatically reconciling financial obligations associated with each cleared offer whereby a single, electronic audit of each offer transaction can be achieved.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the method further comprises the step of receiving redemption information from the stores, and comparing the redemption information to the offer information whereby each offer redeemed by the customers can be validated.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of selectively activating each offer.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein each offer corresponds to a reward, and wherein the method further comprises the step of deferring issuance of the reward to the customer.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of consolidating the offers for presentation to the customer at a plurality of levels.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of levels comprises at least one of an offer distributor level and a store level.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of dynamically profiling the customers so that the offers can be targeted to specific customers.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the offer information comprises at least one condition and wherein the at least one condition is at least one of an item purchase condition, a department purchase condition, a time of day condition and a day of the week condition.

21. A method of electronically managing electronic offer transactions, the method comprising: electronically receiving an electronic offer from an offer distributor, the offer having at least one offer property, at least one condition, and at least one reward; storing the offer; electronically distributing the offer to a point-of-sale system of a store in which the offer can be redeemed; electronically receiving a redeemed offer from the point-of-sale system; and comparing the redeemed offer with the stored offer.

22. A method as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising authenticating the received offer from the distributor.

23. A method as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising viewing the stored offer via a browser interface.

24. A method as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising viewing the stored offer via a kiosk.

25. A method as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising: creating one or more settlement details using information from the redeemed offer; and electronically transmitting the one or more settlement details to a settlement agent.

26. A method as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising: accruing data relating to the redeemed offer; and profiling the accrued data.

27. A method as set forth in claim 26 wherein the profile is selected from the group of a static profile, a persistent profile, and a dynamic profile.

28. A method as set forth in claim 21 wherein the offer is a consumer-specific offer.

29. A method as set forth in claim 21 wherein the step of electronically receiving an electronic offer from an offer distributor comprises: providing a customer information tracking system operatively connected to the point of sale system, the customer information tracking system being enabled to collect buying behavior information associated with a customer; collecting customer buying behavior information from the customer information tracking system; providing the customer buying behavior information to the offer distributor in such a manner so as to allow the offer distributor to create terms for the electronic offer that match profiles of the customer buying behavior information.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the customer buying behavior information comprises at least one of a date, a time, a checkout lane, an identification of a product purchased, a price paid for a purchased product, a quantity of a product purchased, and a unique identifier associated with a customer.