Patent Application
20250209491
This invention relates generally to a coupon distribution system, and more particularly to a system for distributing digital coupons to consumers within proximity to a business.
Businesses are consistently looking for opportunities to market to consumers. Often businesses market to consumers that fit a certain demographic, such as previous purchases, live in a certain area, are a certain age and the like. Further, businesses also advertise to consumers that are passing by through the use of signs, banners, and the like. Further, most businesses have a desire to bring in consumers during times when the typical and historical customers are lower. There lacks a system that can address all of these issues in a single system.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved coupon distribution system based on proximity of the consumer that utilizes mobile computing, which is popular and now an important platform for communicating with customers. A system that provides real-time advertising while also allowing smaller businesses, that cannot afford regional or national campaigns, to engage in promotions.
The present invention relates to a proximity coupon distribution system that allows businesses to distribute real-time digital coupons to consumers within proximity to the businesses.
An embodiment includes a proximity coupon distribution system comprising: a computer server having a memory storing business data and user data; a business computing device coupled to the computer server; and a user computing device coupled to the computer server, the computer server programmed to: receive from the business computing device a signal to activate real-time coupon distribution and automatically generate and send for auto-execution instructions to establish a proximity zone around the business computing device; receive a signal from a user computing device that the user computing device is within the proximity zone; automatically establish a connection between the server and the user computing device in response to receiving the signal from the user computing device that the user computing device is within the proximity zone; and automatically generate and send for display on the user computing device a real-time coupon associated with the business operating the business computing device.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar items throughout the Figures, and:
As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to a proximity coupon distribution system that allows businesses to distribute real-time digital coupons to consumers within proximity to the businesses.
There are different forms of coupons, such as, without limitation, internet coupons, mobile coupons, mobile app coupons and the like.
A mobile coupon is an electronic ticket delivered to a mobile phone that can be exchanged for financial discount when purchasing products or services. Coupons may also be referred to as “coupon codes”, “promotional codes”, “promotion codes”, “discount codes”, “keycodes”, “promo codes”, “surplus codes”, “portable codes”, “shopping codes”, “voucher codes”, “reward codes”, “discount vouchers”, “referral codes” or “source codes”. A coupon can be in digital form distributed by the system for redemption (discounted value or discounted percentage) used at a point of sale.
Referring to the drawings,
In embodiments, the collection device may be, without limitation, a smartphone or a tablet for electronic donations, or a container with smart electronics or with a smartphone or a tablet coupled to a container for operation within the system while also allowing for proper operation of the system 10. In embodiments where there is a tablet, smart phone or the like, the system 10 may include an application that operates on the devices 12 and 13 in order to communicate with the server 14.
The user computing devices and business computing device may be, without limitation, a smartphone, or a tablet. In embodiments where there is a tablet, smart phone or the like, the system 10 may include an application that operates on the devices 12 and 13 in order to communicate with the server 14.
The computer server 14 may include a memory storing business data corresponding to various businesses and user data. The business data includes coupon information, business contact information and the like. The user data may include name, contact information including address, email and phone number and may include demographic information, and the like. A user computing device 12 and business computing device 13 may be coupled to the computer server 14, and, referring additionally to
The proximity zone 18 may be a predetermined size, such as a radius or space around the business computing device 13. The size of the proximity zone 18 may be determined by the type of business associated with the business computing device 13. The proximity zone 18 may include, but is not limited to a geofence, an NFC zone, a Wi-Fi signal quadrant, such as a 5G Wi-Fi signal quadrant, or another zone established by any other means of establishing a proximity zone.
Referring again to the drawings,
Referring again to the drawings, the business computing device 13 may operate an application that provides a business interface 40 as depicted in
The business interface 40, in general, may operate to show how many people have user computing devices that are activated inside a specified proximity zone or other GPS zone that may be identified by the business through the business interface 40. The system may only share general demographics, as discussed above, of users that have been shared with user permission. The system may not share personal identifying information. Through the business interface 40, the business can put out an instant coupon with or without using the data, the instant or real-time coupon being sent from the server to the user computing device. This instant coupon is sent in real-time to capitalize on the population that is within an immediate purchasing area of the business. For example, and without limitation, the business may be a theater with many empty seats; the business may be a restaurant with fresh pizza that will not be good in two hours, or any goods that may be discounted or promoted for real-time targeting of consumers.
The benefits of a real-time proximity coupon distribution system 10 may include, but are not limited to the following:
Embodiments may be available on or through the internet, such as through domain names reserved and owned by Applicant that include walkingcoupon.com, coupon-circle.com, zip-coupon.com, coupon-gps.com. dash-coupon.com, deal-gps.com or the like.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wire-line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, cloud-based infrastructure architecture, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the present invention and its practical application and to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description and examples have been presented for the purposes of illustration and example only. The description as set forth is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teachings above without departing from the spirit and scope of the forthcoming claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application entitled “PROXIMITY COUPON DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM,” Ser. No. 18/048,936, filed Oct. 24, 2022, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application entitled “PROXIMITY COUPON DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM,” Ser. No. 17/120,528, filed Dec. 14, 2020, which claims priority to United States provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/948,178, filed Dec. 13, 2019, entitled “Proximity Coupon Distribution System,” the disclosures of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62948178 | Dec 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18048936 | Oct 2022 | US |
| Child | 19061712 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17120528 | Dec 2020 | US |
| Child | 18048936 | US |
