Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONSUMER REWARDS
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial
No.
09/802,082, filed on March 8, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Patent
Application Serial No. 60/221,468, filed on July 26, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to consumer reward or incentive programs and,
more
specifically, to a system and method for providing an automated consumer
reward program.
In the prior art, various consumer reward programs are known. For example, the
airline
industry allows a consumer to make a plane reservation and to specify a
frequent flyer number
that is specific to the airline for which the reservation is made. In this
manner, when the
reservation is fulfilled by the consumer taking the reserved flight, the
consumer is rewarded with
redeemable frequent flyer miles. Such reservations can be made using a
network, for example,
the Internet, by phone, etc.
By way of further example, it is also known in the restaurant industry to
provide a means
by which consumers can make dining reservations and benefit from a rewards
program. In this
regard, reservations can be made via access to a Web site, such as
www.opentable.com.
Reservations made through "OpenTable" allow a consumer to earn "OpenTable
points" that are
redeemable for rewards. To earn the points, the consumer must arrive at the
restaurant before or
at the reservation time and check in with the restaurateur who will then
notify "OpenTable" of
the reservation fulfillment. If the consumer fails to check in with the
restaurateur, the consumer
must mail a copy of the dining receipt to "OpenTable" within three months to
notify
"OpenTable" of the reservation fulfillment. For this service the restaurateur
is charged a fee.
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
While the described systems work for their intended purpose, they do suffer
various
disadvantages. For example, the currently implemented airline consumer reward
program
requires the consumer to remember their appropriate frequent flyer number.
Meanwhile, the on-
line reservation system of "OpenTable" requires the performance of some action
by either the
consumer or the restaurateur (beyond actual fulfillment of the reservation) to
ensure the
awarding of rewards. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved system and
method for
providing consumers rewards.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this need, the subject invention provides an automated
consumer
rewards/incentive program that requires minimal human intervention and which
is substantially
transparent to the consumer and to the business owner. To this end, the
subject system and
method accepts a registration of a consumer that entitles the consumer to
receive the benefits of
the incentive program. To track the fulfillment of reward earning criteria
established by member
businesses, the registration includes information indicative of a credit card
of the consumer. The
system uses the credit card information to determine when member customers
perform a
transaction at a member business. When a member customer performs a
transaction at a member
business using the registered credit card, the system and method examines the
credit card
transactional information to determine if the consumer fulfilled the
requirements of the incentive
program for the member business, e.g., purchased goods/services from a member
business,
fulfilled a reservation at a member business, etc. If the transactional
information indicates that
the consumer fulfilled the criteria of the rewards program of the member
business, the consumer
is rewarded in accordance with the benefits of the incentive program. The
system and method
also tracks and communicates information to members and business such as, for
example,
accumulated rewards, summaries of transactions and balances.
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In a further embodiment of the invention, the system may be implemented on-
line to
leverage the functionality of the Internet. In this manner, the system
provides a versatile tool for
meeting a variety of needs of both consumers and businesses. For example, a
business can use
the Internet to change information in real-time using an online connection
with the system.
In yet a further embodiment of the invention, the system may track member
consumer
credit card transactions without receiving personal information for non-
members by using a one-
way hash function.
A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and
relationships
of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and
accompanying
drawings which set forth an illustrative embodiment and which are indicative
of the various ways
in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to a
preferred
embodiment shown in the following drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a flow chart diagram of a system for determining consumer
awards in
accordance with the subject invention;
Figure 2 illustrate a block diagram of an exemplary network in which the
principles of
the subject invention may be employed;
Figures 3a-3e illustrate an exemplary Web page map for use in connection with
the
subject invention;
Figures 4a-4b illustrate data flow in the exemplary network illustrated in
Fig. 2; and
Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method for determining if an
incentive
has been met by a consumer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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Turning now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like
elements, there
is illustrated a system and method for providing consumer rewards. While the
invention is
particularly described in the context of the restaurant business, it is to be
understood that this
description is exemplary only and is not meant to be limiting. As will be
described in greater
detail hereinafter, the subject system and method generally functions by
capturing and
processing credit card transactions originating from restaurants to thereby
generate rebates and
rewards for member consumers. The system and method also maintains member
restaurant
information, maintains member consumer information, and maintains audit
trails.
To become eligible to participate in the rewards program, both consumers and
restaurants
register to become members. Restaurant registration will include a credit card
merchant number
as well as the details of an awards program. Consumer registration will
include a major credit
card number. When the consumer uses the registered credit card at a member
restaurant, all or
part of the credit card transaction information, e.g., credit card number,
merchant identification
information, purchase amount, day of transaction, time of transaction, etc, is
examined to
1 S determine if the member consumer has dined at the member restaurant and,
if so, whether the
member consumer has fulfilled the requirements of the incentive program of the
member
restaurant. In exchange for becoming a member restaurant, a restaurant can
allow the plan
provider to derive income from the proceeds of the credit card transaction.
To provide an automated system that essentially eliminates the need for human
intervention, the credit card transactional information is subjected to a two-
tier filtration process
as illustrated in Fig. 1. In one step, credit card transactions are filtered
to determine if a
transaction took place at a member restaurant (e.g., by checking merchant
identification numbers
against a list of member merchant identification numbers). In another step,
credit card
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
transactions are filtered to determine if a transaction was made by a member
consumer (e.g., by
checking credit card numbers against a list of member consumer credit card
numbers). The
illustrated steps can occur in any order. If the credit card transactional
information indicates that
a member consumer purchased goods or services from the member restaurant, the
remaining
credit card transactional information can be examined to determine if the
transaction fulfills the
criteria for receiving awards as established by the member restaurant.
To transparently provide rewards to member consumers, the system may receive
one or
more daily files, which are comprised of credit card transaction information
such as credit card
numbers, transaction information and merchant identification numbers. In
addition, the credit
card transaction information may also include personal information for both
member and non-
member consumers associated with each of the underlying transactions. To
comply with the
existing and future state and federal privacy laws that pertain to medical,
educational and
financial information, such as Graham-Leach-Bliley and California State Bill
1386, and to
maintain the confidentiality of personal information (as defined by applicable
state and federal
laws) for non-member consumers that may be included within the daily files,
all or part of the
personal information included within the daily file may be converted into
unique transaction
fingerprints by using a one-way hash function.
A one-way hash function is a mathematical algorithm that takes a variable-
length
message and produces a fixed-length fingerprint or hash, which is nearly
impossible to reverse
and unrecognizable. Moreover, if a one-way hash fimetion is applied to the
same variable-length
message, it will always produce the same fingerprint. For example, if a one-
way hash f~.mction is
applied to a specific credit card number by computer A and the same one-way
hash function is
applied to the identical credit card number by computer B, each of the
resulting fingerprints
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
produced by computer A and computer B will be exact matches. Therefore, non-
member credit
card transaction information may be filtered out of the daily file by
utilizing hashed
representations of the personal information without actually providing
recognizable or usable
forms of the personal information to the system computer. Those with skill in
the art will
appreciate that the unique fingerprints may be of varying lengths, such as
thirty-two bit or sixty-
four bit strings, depending on the need for and availability of longer and
more complex
fingerprints.
More particularly, the one-way hash function may be applied to the personal
information
included within the daily file to produce unique transaction fingerprints,
which are representative
of the personal information for each of the respective transactions. before
the daily file is sent to
the system computer. Also, it should be understood by those with skill in the
art that the daily
file may include one or more types of personal information, such as a credit
card number, a name
or an address, and that the one-way hash function may be applied to each oiv
these types of
personal information separately or as a whole. 'Therefore, if the daily file
provides the credit card
transaction information in a database format, one or mare columns in the daily
file may be
populated by transaction fingerprints. For example, the one-way hash could be
applied to all or
part of a credit card number. The same one-way hash function should also be
applied to the
identical personal information for member consumers that is stored by the
system computer,
which should have been entered into the system computer when the member
consumer registered
with the system and which is representative of personal information for member
consumers only.
Then, the system computer will compare the transaction fingerprints included
in the daily file to
the member fingerprints stored in the system computer. Any credit card
transaction infornzation
associated with transaction fingerprints that do not match one of the member
fingerprints stored
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in the system computer will be f leered out and discarded in accordance with
the system
requirements. Therefore, by applying the one-way hash function to personal
information, the
system is able to f Iter out non-member transaction information, without
actually receiving
personal information for the respective non-member consumer.
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention compares hashed
versions of
personal information, it should be understood that the type of personal
information that is used to
filter out non-member transactions is not restrictive. Rather, it is only
important that the type of
information to which the one-way hash function is being applied be consistent
between the daily
file and the system computer. Thus, the hash function could be applied to
information in the
daily file, such as the name of the consumer, the credit card number or any
other type of
information that may serve as a unique consumer identifier, as long as it is
applied to congruent
information in the system computer, i.e., information that is of the same
format and type.
Once the system filters out the non-member credit card transaction
information, it can use
a look-up table or similar methodology to generate the personal information
for the
corresponding member consumer. It should also be appreciated, however, that
the system may
apply the one-way hash function when the member consumer registers for the
system and only
use the unique member fingerprint throughout the filtering and qualification
process. Once the
system computer determines that it is dealing with member consumer credit card
transaction
information, the system will analyze the credit card transaction information
to determine if the
member consumer fulfilled the requirements of the incentive program for the
member business;
this is also referred to the qualification process. If the member consumer
fulfills the
requirements of the incentive program, the consumer is rewarded in accordance
with the benefits
of the incentive program. It should also be understood that the method of
using a one-way hash
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
fixnction to filter out non-member information without the accessing any of
the underlying
confidential information may also be used in connection with the transfer of
other information
besides credit card information.
While not required, the system and method described hereinafter seeks to
maximize the
potential of a network, such as the Internet, to change the relationship
between restaurants and
their customers. This goal is particularly achieved by building a
comprehensive, dependable,
and useful network resource that links businesses and consumers with
sophisticated interactive
marketing, yield management, and customer relationship management
capabilities. Both
consumers and businesses will benefit from a centralized resource that
combines unbiased
information, an incentive program, and value-added activities such as online
reservations,
promotions, and/or auctions to facilitate and enhance the experience of the
consumer.
It will also be appreciated that various types of components can be utilized
to achieve the
objects of the subject invention. For example, while the invention is
described as including the
components illustrated in Fig. 2, namely, a consumer computer 10, a restaurant
computer 12, a
merchant credit card reader 14, a credit card aggregator service server and
associated database
16, and the Web site/rewards processing/reservation taking, etc. system server
and associated
database 18, one of skill in the art will readily appreciate that other
components and
arrangements can be utilized. By way of example, while the operation of the
invention is
described in the general context of computer executable instructions, or
program modules, being
executed on the illustrated components, the tasks performed by these modules
may also be
performed by equivalent hardware. Still further, it is to be understood that
the components
illustrated in Fig. 2 are not intended to be limited to any particular type of
computing device and
may include hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor based or
programmable
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consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, etc.
With respect to
the use of a network, the invention may be practiced in a distributed
processing environment
where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through
a
communications network. Alternatively, various of the components, such as the
Web site system
server and the credit card aggregator server, can be integrated on a single
machine.
In accordance with the description that follows, the system and method will
provide
consumers with a one-stop shop approach to dining. Users will not only gain
access to a trusted
information resource on dining choices (listings, surveys, ratings,
promotions) but also to a
convenient tool for following through with their dining decisions by making
reservations online.
In addition, users will receive special incentives, such as discounts or
points, when they dine at
member restaurants. The trigger for awarding incentives will be transparent
and accomplished
via a registered credit card. The system and method may also be adapted to
offer
personalization, e.g., recommendations of restaurants based on past dining
activities, etc., and
premium member status.
To restaurants, the system and method is designed to become the dominant
interactive
partner. With a comprehensive focus on improving top and bottom lines of
restaurants, the
system and method will help restaurants move traditional marketing and
promotional activity to
the Internet and offer a completely new customer yield management tool,
namely, variable
dining incentives. This tool will enable restaurants to post variable
incentives, discounts or
dining points, to stimulate demand during off peak periods.
During operation, there will be two different types of users of the system.
One type of
user will be the consumer, who will use the site to perform restaurant
searches, make dining
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reservations, etc. The other type of user is the restaurant. The restaurant
will use the site to
manage their reservations, dining incentive offerings and table allocation.
To maximize the functionality of the system, the system is adapted to provide
for
different levels of use by consumers and restaurants. Examples of different
levels of use may
include:
~ Anonymous user - Can be either a consumer or a restaurateur. This user will
not
be recognized by the site but will be marketed to by offering different
promotional opportunities to the user for increasing his level of
participation on
the site. This user can perform most functionality such as restaurant searches
or
reservations. However, this user will not have a "personalized" home page that
will track the user's pending reservations and dining history and will not be
able
to take advantage of the incentives offered by the different restaurants.
~ Level 1 consumer - A level 1 user has accessed the system and has supplied
the
system with a name, e-mail address, zip code, user ID and password. This user
will be acknowledged by the system and will have a "personalized" home page.
The user will be able to use most all of the functionality offered by the site
but
will not be able to take advantage of the incentives offered by the different
restaurants.
~ Level 2 consumer - A level 2 user has accessed the system and has agreed to
all
of the requirements of the system. The user has provided the system with his
credit card information along with the necessary billing information, and the
required information for a Level 1 consumer. A level 2 consumer will be able
to
take full advantage of the site's functionality including earning incentive
points or
dollars back by dining at participating restaurants. The level 2 consumer will
have a "personalized" page that will track the user's pending reservations,
the
incentives that the consumer has registered for and any incentive points that
the
consumer has earned by dining.
~ Type 0 restaurant - This is a restaurant that has not signed up to be a
member of
the system and method but is nevertheless listed in the restaurant search
results.
~ Type 1 restaurant - This is a restaurant that has signed up to be a member
of the
system and method interested only in editing its content page.
~ Type 2 restaurant - A restaurant that has signed up to be a member of the
system
and method interested only in online reservations exclusive of an incentives
program.
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
~ Type 3 restaurant - A restaurant that has signed up to be a member of the
system
and method interested only in the incentives program exclusive of on-line
reservations. Editable content regarding the restaurant will be available.
~ Type 4 restaurant - A restaurant that has signed up to be a member of the
system
and method interested in both on-line reservations and incentives. Editable
content regarding the restaurant will be available.
~ Type 5 restaurant - a restaurant participating only in redemptions. The
restaurant
will accept member redemption at his restaurant but will not offer incentives.
When a user accesses the system via the Internet, without regard to their
level of use, they
will be given access to certain Web pages, retrieved from server 18, that may
be tailored to meet
the needs of the user.
With reference to Fig. 3a-3e, illustrating a Web page site map for use in
connection with
the subject system and method, the following Web pages may be made available
to the user:
~ "What's New" - This is an area that provides the users information about new
features of the system site, and press releases from the public.
~ "Become a Registered Member" - This area will take the user to an area where
he will enter personal account information in order to join the system. The
preferred information that the system requests to move the user to a member is
the
user's name, email address, zip code, user ID, password, credit card number
and
billing information. From this screen the user does not have to enter all
information to become a member, but in order to be recognized as even a Level
1
consumer the user must enter his name, email address, zip code, user ID,
password, and password hint/answer.
~ "How iDine can bring the Restaurant and Consumer together" - This will be an
area explaining to the consumer and the restaurant what the incentives program
is
and the benefits that are available to both the consumer and the restaurant.
~ "Benefits" - This area will detail to the user the benefits of joining the
programs
provided by the system. It reviews the different levels of membership for both
the
restaurant and the consumer, it will provide consumer/restaurant testimonials,
and
details about the ability for a member to purchase a dining gift for another
person.
There will also be a link on this page to get the consumer user to create an
account with the system.
~ "Create a Personal Page" - This will be an area that is only available on
the
system home page to anonymous users. It will link the user to an area to enter
account information, requiring the user's name, email address, zip code, user
ID,
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password, and password hint/answer. By giving the system this information the
anonymous user will be promoted to a Level 1 consumer and will be a recognized
user of the site.
~ "I'm a Restaurant" - This area will link the user to an area that describes
the
benefits for a restaurant joining the programs provided by the system. It will
also
provide an area for the restaurant to request a visit from sales staff.
~ "Login" - This area of the screen will provide an opportunity for a user,
either a
consumer or restaurant, to log into the site as a valid user.
~ "Promotional Advertisement" - This will be an advertisement area that will
make offers to users to join the system. An example of this would be "Just for
visiting the site get 100 points. Click here for details on how to take
advantage of
this offer." The rotation of these promotions may occur per user session.
~ "Featured Restaurant" - The featured restaurant will be an advertisement for
a
member restaurant that is offering incentives to users that either are members
or
join the system. In the future it may also be incentives other than restaurant
advertisements such as dinners with the chef and other opportunities. This
restaurant may be picked to match as much of the consumer's profile
information
as possible. An example of this will be if the user is an anonymous user but
has
visited the site before and has given his city/zip code to the system, a
cookie will
store the last geographic area searched on and this information will be used
to
pick the featured restaurant that will be displayed.
~ "Make a Reservation" - The user will be able to make a reservation at a
restaurant whether or not he is a member of system. This selection will take
the
user to an area to perform a search for a restaurant.
~ "Search for a Restaurant" - The user will be able to search for different
restaurants based on the different user entered criteria.
~ "Help" - This section will provide the user with some frequently asked
questions
and answers, an overall site map, contact numbers and a way to contact
customer
service with either a comment or question.
~ "About" - This section will detail information about the system. It will
cater to
both the restaurant and consumer users of the site. It will provide the user a
place
to look at investor relation information, press releases, contact information,
caxeer
opportunities available, and for the restaurants, information about having a
sales
representative contact them.
~ "Registered Incentives Advertisement" - This area of the screen will provide
the
user of the site with advertisements for restaurants. These advertisements
will be
for incentive participating restaurants that are offering incentives for
member
customers to register for.
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It may be preferred that the site follow the consumer through the Web pages so
that he/she has
one-click access to the different opportunities.
To provide a secure login process for both consumers and restaurateurs, the
system may
check for a user ID and password and, if valid, will recognize the user with a
personal page. The
user's access to the different programs of the site will be determined by the
restrictions on his/her
login. If the user cannot remember his/her password then he/she can indicate
this at the login
screen and will be asked for a password hint. This password hint/answer should
be a required
field in the user's account. If the user has a password hint, the system will
ask the user the hint
question and, if the correct answer is given, a message is shown to the user
that his/her password
will be sent to the email address that is listed in the user's account.
When the anonymous user accesses the Web site he/she will be greeted by the
home page
that is described above. If the system knows that the user is a previous
visitor of the site, for
example by the use of a cookie, the system will display an advertisement to
entice the user to
become a member and try the programs provided by the system. Other than the
advertisements,
this is the only difference in the home page for each visit of the
unregistered user to the site.
When a registered consumer logs into the site, there may be an option for the
site to
remember his/her password. If the consumer chooses to have the system remember
their
password the consumer will be recognized when returning to the site.
Recognition may be
accomplished with a greeting and tailored marketing, however, the user should
still be required
to give his/her password when trying to view any account information or
history information. If
the user does not want the site to remember his/her password, or does not set
their browser
accordingly, then, when the user access the Web site, he/she will be taken to
the home page.
From the home page the user will be able to log in and view their personalized
content. If the
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
user accessing the site is a restaurant, the user will be required to log into
the site. Therefore,
each time a restaurant access the system they will see the home page and will
have to enter their
password to access their personalized page. This is done for security
purposes.
To manage all of the user's information, an account management module is
provided.
This module may manage each of the accounts in the database, both consumer and
restaurant. It
may also manage all of the user's information, including both profile and
account information.
To access the consumer or the restaurant account information the user must
enter his/her
password. This will occur even if the user has cookies enabled on his computer
and has been
recognized on the site.
To allow restaurants to be become members of the system, it is preferred that
a restaurant
be visited by the sales force and sign a contract indicating their level of
membership. More
specifically, there will be an area on the home page where the restaurants can
access information
about the programs provided by the system, enter some minor contact
information about
themselves, and request to be contacted by the sales department. This
information will be
returned to the system via e-mail. The creation of a restaurant account will
be the responsibility
of the sales force and customer service. However, once a restaurant is
established as a member
on the system, the restaurant may gain access to and change their account
information via a visit
to the Internet site. For example, using the Internet access provided by the
system, the restaurant
will be able to update their incentives and reservations information.
The sales representative will gather sales information about the restaurant
and record this
information. This information will be kept whether or not the restaurant signs
up with the
system. For member restaurants, after the initial account has been set up and
entered into the
database, the restaurant is given confirmation of their registration and
verification of the
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
restaurant's data in the database. The account information may be comprised
of: 1 ) name of
restaurant; 2) name of contact; 3) address of restaurant; 4) phone number; 5)
E-mail; 6) fax
number; 7) number of seats; 8) price point (average price for a meal); 9)
restaurant legal name;
10) tax ID; 11) credit cards that are accepted; 12) other billing information;
13) neighborhood;
14) cuisine; 15) atmosphere; 16) kid friendly; 17) handicap access; 18) cigar
friendly; 19) hours
of operation; 20) dress code; 21) entertainment; 22) takeout; 23) delivery;
24) catering; 25)
special awards; 26) long description (for home page); 27) user ID; 28)
password and 19)
password hint/answer.
While restaurants will have access to the system via the Internet, it is
preferable that the
restaurants not be able to delete their account online. Rather, the deletion
of accounts should be
performed by a customer service representative. Nevertheless, when an account
is deleted, all
data will be maintained and the account's status will be changed to inactive.
To provide an added level of security, the system will require the user to
change the
password at first login. The user id will be permanent, but the password can
be changed as often
as needed. The Restaurant can change their password by accessing their
account/profile
information on the personalized page. To change the password, a page will be
displayed that
will ask for the restaurateur's current password, for the new password, and a
confirmation of the
new password. The restaurant can also change their email address by accessing
their
account/profile information on the personalized page.
For providing additional information that may assist a restaurateur to better
understand
their business, the system may be configured to provide the restaurateur with
information, such
as system usage/feedback information, based upon a restaurant profile. This
profile is generally
created by posing the following questions to the restaurateur: 1 ) do you want
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
reviews/feedback from member customers; 2) do you have a profile preference
for these
potential reviewers; 3) do you have a computer; where is this computer
located; 4) do you have
Internet access; 5) do you use a customer data management system; 6) do you
take reservations
by fax/Internet browser; 7) what are the best times to contact; 8) how the
restaurant wishes to be
contacted (phone, email, in person); 9) what are gross sales; and 10) do you
use a restaurant
management system?
For maintaining the restaurant's content page, a module may be provided to
allow
individual restaurants to view their content information. Content information
is most of the data
that will be displayed on the restaurant's home page. For example, the
restaurant menu will be
considered content information. In one embodiment, merchant services will scan
the menus) for
the restaurant for display on the Internet site. If the restaurateur wants to
change the menus or
the pictures of the restaurant--the process will be to go through merchant
services via email or a
phone call. When displaying the restaurant's home page, it is preferred that
the home page have
a predefined format since it is easier for the consumer to view restaurant
pages on the Web site if
the layout is predictable. In this regard, the restaurant's content pages)
should consist of some
or all of these items: 1) the restaurant's contact information (address, phone
number, fax
number) - from the restaurant's account information; 2) hours of operation -
from the restaurant's
account information; 3) photographs of the restaurant; 4) scanned in food
menu; 5) scanned in
wine menu; 6) map to restaurant; 7) registered incentives; 8) base incentives;
9) reviews; 10) if
the restaurant takes online reservations; and 11 ) if the restaurant takes
reservations.
For creating a customer account, the system includes a consumer's account
module.
When the customer either creates a "personalized" page or joins the system as
a member a
consumer account will be created. The consumer will be allowed to view, but
preferably not be
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
allowed to update, the information in their personal account directly via the
Internet. It is
preferred that updates to the consumer account be handled via an email or
phone call to customer
service. The consumer account consists of at least: name, email address, zip
code, user ID,
password, password hint/answer. The member account (level 2) consists of the
above personal
account information plus: address, phone number, and credit card number(s).
Verification will
be run on the credit card information. A level 2 consumer who requests removal
of his credit
card information will temporarily give-up membership status. This action will
move the
consumer from a Level 2 to a Level 1 consumer and will not allow usage of the
incentive
program without re-registering a credit card number.
In addition to the consumer account information noted above, profile
information about
the consumers may be asked for/volunteered during sign-up for a personal page
and member
registration. In addition, the system, via cookies, may keep track of what
geographic areas the
consumer searches for restaurants in and will use this to drive
personalization in the future. This
profile information may be used to enhance the consumer's enjoyment of the
system by, for
example, sending the consumer promotional materials for which the consumer has
indicated an
interest. The profile information may consist of some or all of the following:
1 ) price range; 2)
cities that are visited often; 3) neighborhood/location; 4) typical credit
card used; 5) cuisine
preferences; 6) send me emails alerting me to special deals; 7) frequent flyer
program
memberships; 8) use of the services such as limousine, valet parking, travel
agent, rental cars,
hotel frequency programs; 9) household income, profession; 10) frequency of
business dining;
11 ) use of dining membership benefits (business, celebrations, holidays,
every time I dine, etc.);
12) send me emails about new restaurants in my area, (and my favorite areas);
13) loyalty
program numbers) - Frequent flyer numbers, hotel card numbers, etc; 14) dine
out most often
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
alone, with friends or family, with children; 15) send me email to review or
give feedback to
restaurants where you have recently visited; 16) types of marketing would you
like to receive;
17) types of promotions preferred, such as points per dollar spent or a
percentage off the meal;
and 18) important dates. The important dates and a description of these dates
(e.g. birthdays)
may allow the system to drive aspects of the personalization. The sending of
emails would be
managed by the system.
To provide for customization of the system Web pages to the specific user, the
consumer
profile may be utilized. For example, the system will create a personalized
page for its Level 1
and 2 consumer. The customized page may offer marketing that will eventually
be targeted to
the consumer's account and profile information. Other personalization features
may include:
consumer's name, localized restaurants and some level of promotion and
incentive segregation.
When created, the personalized page will be used as the default home page for
the user whenever
he accesses the system Web site. It will contain functionality options that
have been carried over
from the home page plus some personalization as described above.
It is contemplated that personal pages could be created without the consumer's
direct
knowledge. For example, when the consumer requests to get a benefit from a
restaurant his
name and e-mail address is required. By entering this information the
anonymous consumer has
just been promoted to a Level 1 consumer and will, by default, have a
customized page.
In a preferred embodiment, the personalized page may contain the following:
~ My Dining Plans - This section will give the consumer an overview of his
pending reservations and registered incentives. It will show a maximum of five
reservations with the option that the consumer can one-click in to a more
expanded list. For each reservation the consumer will be shown the
restaurant's
name, the time and the date of the reservation. The consumer will be able to
select the individual reservations and be given even more details of the
reservation and the ability to cancel or edit it.
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
~ New in Area - This area of the site will give a listing of the restaurants
that are
new to the consumer's area. The area will be defined by the zip code on the
consumer's account and the definition of "new" will be defined by customer
service.
~ My Account - This area of the site will show the consumer a summarization of
the total amount of incentive points, etc. he has collected by participating
in the
system.
~ The view may include a view of the consumer's historical transactions or
allow
the consumer to view his registered cards. Basic account information should be
available for viewing only (level 1 required info as described above).
~ Redeem Points - In this area the consumer will be able to redeem his
incentive
points for dining vouchers, frequent flyer miles, or other rewards. This may
be
handled via an email form to customer service release.
Turning now to the restaurant personal page, the purpose of the restaurant
personal page
is different from the consumer's personal page in that it is intended to be
purely functional. The
restaurant will be accessing this page for the purpose of managing their
reservations, incentives
or seating allocation. With this in mind, the restaurant's personal page may
be presented in a
tabular format. Each tab on the page will represent different functionality
that is available to the
restaurant, such as:
~ My Reservations - In this area the restaurant will be able to manage the
reservation book and table allocation. The restaurant will be allowed to view
the
different reservations that have been made at the restaurant and get more
detailed
information about the reservation including comments made by the person who
made the reservation. This is also where the restaurant can add comments to
the
consumer who made the reservation for future use.
~ My Benefits - This section will detail the benefits that the restaurant
receives by
using the incentive or the online reservation program and details the current
benefits that the restaurant is entitled to.
~ My Promotions/Incentives - In this section the restaurant can view and edit
their
incentive program. This includes both the base and the registered incentives.
~ My Account/Profile - From this section the restaurant can view their account
information and change their password or email account. There will be an area
for the restaurant to contact a sales representative or merchant services to
update
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
other entries. The restaurant can also view their content page, which will
consist
of both menus and pictures of the restaurant.
~ Contact a Sales Representative.
~ My Customers - This is where the restaurant can see any reviews that pass
the
S webmaster's edits.
As a user aide, there may be a help menu on the left side of the web page that
will summarize the
functionality of each tabbed section. This will give the restaurants an
overview of what can be
done on the site and help them by providing links to key areas.
To handle any actions that can be performed by both consumers and restaurants,
an all
account relations management module is provided. One such action is the
providing of user
feedback about the system to the system administration. Both restaurants and
consumers may
have the ability to provide feedback from the Help menu on any of the site
pages. This feedback
may be received by the system administration and confirmed by email.
Another function available to consumers and restaurants is contacting customer
service.
Both the consumer and the restaurant will have the ability to contact the
systems' customer
service with either a comment or a question. This can be done via the Help
menu that will be
located on all site pages.
For use in creating and storing consumer reviews, a create review module is
provided.
This module will allow consumers to create and store the consumer reviews for
the restaurant
and other relationship management actions. A review is consumer generated
information about a
restaurant that may be made available to all visitors of the system site. To
create a review, a
consumer will perform a search and then click through to a restaurant's home
page. There will
no limit on the number of reviews that a consumer can create on one
restaurant. The review will
be a very simple template that will consist of ratings (i.e. likeability
scale, food quality, etc...)
and a comment section. The ratings information and the comment information
will be viewed as
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
two separate things by the system. The consumer's rating information may be
simply stored
without review. However, if the consumer enters text in the comment section,
it is preferred that
the consumer's comments be read by the system's webmaster and edited if
necessary before
being posted into the restaurant's account. In this regard, there will be
informational messages to
tell the user that if comments are entered the text must go through a review
process prior to being
posted to the site.
After performing a restaurant search of any type, be it for making a
reservation or
performing a general search, the consumer will be able to read the reviews
that have been given
for a selected restaurant by other consumers. These reviews will initially
consist of an overall
rating, indicating an average rating and the number of people that were
averaged in, and textual
comments. The comment reviews may be ranked by the amount of information
available about
the person giving the review. For example, if the person giving the review has
an associated
dining experience at the restaurant they will be listed first. If there is no
information on the
person giving the review, except the name and email address, it will be listed
last. While
restaurants may use this method to also view reviews which are written about
their restaurant, the
system will make such reviews available on the restaurant's personal page.
To enhance the desire to use the system, the system will provide an incentive
management module. This module will manage the types and amounts of incentive
given to the
consumer for dining at particular restaurants. On a dynamic basis,
restaurateurs can
createlupdateldelete incentives. Incentives include points given to the
consumer per dollar spent,
a percent off the bill total, etc. These incentives can be managed either
online by the restaurateur
or they can call a system sales representative. It is also contemplated that a
voice response
system may be used for restaurateurs to update incentives.
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
In a preferred embodiment, there will be two types of incentives that can be
offered to the
consumer. The first is a base incentive, which will be offered on a daily
basis and does not
require the consumer to register acceptance of the offer with the system or
make an online
reservation. The second type of incentive is a registered incentive that
requires the consumer to
S register an intent to dine or to make an online reservation. Restaurants can
choose to offer any
combination of these incentives, to be offered at anytime of the week, or no
incentives at all.
Once a consumer has made a reservation or has registered for the incentive the
incentive is
locked in, and the conditions of the registered incentive can not be changed.
Restaurateurs will
be able to modify registered incentives as needed, however, base incentives
should only be
updated seven days prior to the set incentive date. For example, if a
restaurateur wants to update
the next week's base incentives he should do it before the Monday of the
current week.
To provide a convenient means for allowing restaurateurs to sign up for the
incentive
plan, a description and the benefits of the restaurant incentives program can
be viewed online or
be explained by a sales representative. If the restaurant requests, a sales
representative can come
out to the restaurant to describe how the program works and the benefits to
joining the program.
Once the restaurant has decided to join the systems' incentives program a
sales representative
will meet with the restaurateur to discuss and decide on the terms of the
agreement which will be
agreed upon and signed. The sales representative will ensure the restaurant is
added to the
system database and is properly designated as a restaurant being signed up
with incentives. Base
incentives may be initialized to a predetermined amount. Thereafter, the
default effective date
on the base incentive may be 10 days after the date the restaurant receives
incentives to provide
the restaurant a window to change their default base incentives before they go
into effect.
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
Base incentives will be stored at the day level along with an effective date.
When
updating a restaurant's base incentives, a business rule (which the web
administrator can change)
will resolve any conflicts. As an example of a rule, given that there may be
updates to the base
incentives over time, the active base incentive may be designated to be the
one with the highest
effective date that is less than or equal to the current date.
TABLE 1: BASE INCENTIVE EXAMPLE
Effective
Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun. Date
10% 20% 20% 10% 1 / 1 /2000
15% 20% 20% 3/1/2000
20% 20% 20% 20% 10% 10% 10% 6/ 1 /2000
In the example illustrated in TABLE 1, the active base incentive would be the
record with the
effective date of '3/1/2000' on the date 5/25/00.
To ensure that consumers have ample time in viewing and understanding
restaurants'
base discounts, restaurants should give consumers seven days prior notice to
changes of their
base incentives. The restaurants can enter as many base incentive records as
they would like as
long as the effective date is greater than seven days from the current date.
Furthermore, pre-
defined black-out days may be offered by the system in a drop-down menu
format. Black-out
days-if selected-will over-ride the base incentive for the day. They will be
listed in the "base
incentive" explanation for each restaurant that chooses black-out days. The
consumer will be
able to tell in advance if a black-out day has been chosen by a restaurant.
After a restaurateur has signed up for incentives they have the ability to
make changes to
their registered incentives any time they want via the Internet or over the
phone with a customer
service or sales representative. Registered incentives will be stored at the
day level along with
an effective date and expiration date. Restaurants are not required to have
registered incentives.
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
Registered incentives may be given in addition to any base incentives that a
consumer might
receive.
At any single point in time a restaurant can only have one active registered
incentive
record. This is enforced by ensuring that an incentive record can not have an
effective date that
is less than another incentive record's expiration date and also greater than
that same record's
effective date. The restaurant will also specify the maximum number of times
they are willing to
extend the registered promotional incentive per any given day.
TABLE 2: EXAMPLE OF INCENTIVE RECORDS
EffectiveExpire Max.
Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun. Date Date Offers
10% 1/1/2000 3/1/20005
15% 3/1/20 6/1/20 5
00 00
20% r ~ _ _ 5
_ 6/1/2000 ~
In the scenario presented in Table 2, the active registered incentive would be
15% off on
all Thursdays until 6/1/2000 when it goes up to 20% off. The restaurateur can
change their
registered incentives at any time, but once a customer has made a reservation
or has registered
for the incentive (made an "intent to dine") the incentive is locked in, and
the amount can not be
changed for that particular consumer. Once the maximum number of consumers
have registered
their intent to take advantage of the incentive on any given day, the
incentive will no longer be
offered on that day.
As a further incentive, points may be accumulated through dining experiences
which can
be redeemed for electronic dining vouchers, frequent flyer miles, etc. With
respect to dining
vouchers, the amounts may be in increments, for example, of $25.00 with the
smallest amount
being $25.00. The assumption will be that any amount of the voucher that the
consumer does
not use on his meal is lost. The number of points required to purchase a
voucher may be
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
dynamic and may be determined by a business rule which takes into account the
type of
restaurant and the day-of the-week. By way of example, the cost of a voucher
will depend on
whether the diner wishes to dine during off peak hours (5,000 points = $100
voucher) or peak
hours (6,500 points = $100 voucher). Each restaurant will indicate peak and
off peak times. The
consumer must specify the name of the restaurant where the voucher will be
used and the date
that the voucher will be used. There will be a link to the online reservation
page of the site from
this part of the application. A confirmation of the redemption will be sent to
the consumer after
the redemption transaction is completed, and the consumer's customized page
will indicate
existing and unused redemption points.
To redeem incentive points, consumers will be able to view their total points
from the
consumer's personal page and select the option to redeem their points for
dining vouchers. Once
the user has selected the option to redeem their points, they will be taken to
a new page where
they can select from a drop down list of predefined dining vouchers, such as
"Dinner for 2, up to
$100." Next the consumer will select the day of the week and the restaurant
where the diner will
1 S occur. Depending on whether the restaurant has defined the preferred day
of the week as off
peak or peak will effect the number of points needed to earn the dining
voucher. The restaurant
selected must be a Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5 restaurant. A search will be
offered to help the
user in selecting a participating restaurant. If the restaurant allows
reservations one can be made
at this time, or a later date.
Upon submitting their dining voucher request, the system performs a validation
to ensure
the user has enough points to honor the request. If the user does not have
enough points the
system them will help make a dining voucher match by offering the user an
alternative restaurant
or day to dine. Upon the successful redemption of points, a confirmation will
be sent to the user
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
confirming the amount of the virtual voucher, the restaurant and day of the
week it is good for,
and a voucher unique tracking number. If the voucher is redeemed for less than
the voucher's
dollar amount, then the operators of the system will be credited with the
dollar balance. If the
consumer does not use the dining voucher by dining on the chosen date and at
the chosen
restaurant, then their voucher will expire and their points will revert back
to their point bank.
To view the incentives that restaurants are offering, the user can access the
information
by looking at the restaurant's personal page. There will be a link from the
page to this
information. Alternatively, when making a reservation (selecting the time,
number in party,
etc...) the consumer can choose to view the incentives offered by the
restaurant. Still further, the
user can click through one of the rotating "restaurant incentives" ads and be
taken to the
restaurant's personal page to view the incentives. Thereafter, the consumer
can register for a
promotional incentive in several different ways: 1 ) by clicking through an ad
in the rotating
"restaurant incentive" banner and then accepting the offer with a click on
"yes"; 2) by
performing a biased search for the registered incentives on restaurants,
viewing the registered
incentive and then clicking "accept" on a particular incentive to select it;
and 3) by performing a
regular search on a restaurant, viewing the registered incentive and then
clicking on "accept."
If the consumer has not given the system their credit card information they
will be
required to do so before they can register for the promotional incentive.
Also, in order to take
advantage of a registered incentive a date the user intends to dine must be
provided by the user.
If the promotion is still available on that day the user will be registered
for the incentive,
otherwise they will be notified that the promotion is full on their intended
dining date and will be
offered the next available registered incentive. The consumer will be able to
view their
registered incentives on their personal page. All future dining experiences,
both registered
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
incentives and reservations will be listed together and can be easily viewed
on the user's
personal page.
To assist in taking online reservations, the system includes a reservation
book that is
created and updated with those reservations that are made through the system.
The reservation
book will keep track of the number of open seats available in a restaurant and
will re-open tables
after a reservation has been made if the restaurant wants to keep a fixed
number of tables open
online. The restaurant may specify the total number of tables in the
restaurant that are to be
included in the system database and then choose a number of these tables as
eligible for online
reservations. The tables will by allocated by percentages or raw numbers and
may also be
allocated by day of the week. For example, Monday may have 5% of the tables
allocated for
online reservation but Tuesday has 10%. The minimum number of tables that can
be allocated
for online reservation is one. Table allocation can be changed using a browser
and interacting
with a system account or by calling or faxing a system administrator and
asking for help with
setting up or updating the online reservation service. In this manner, the
restaurateur may
manage the number of seats that are available to the consumer online at any
time thereby
providing for real time adjustment.
When an online reservation is made, the restaurants will be notified when a
table in their
restaurant has been reserved. This may be done via the Restaurant's system
account, on-line,
phone, or by fax. The information that the restaurant will receive should be
the customer's
name, the number in the party, the time, their smoking preference, any
comments that have been
made by the consumer regarding his reservation and a tracking number. The
restaurant will also
have the ability to add comments to the consumer's reservation. These comments
will be
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
displayed for the restaurant along with the consumer's current reservation
information at his next
reservation at this restaurant.
To obtain an online reservation, a consumer need only click on an online
reservations
icon that is displayed next to a desired restaurant. The consumer will be
required to enter the
date and time of the reservation, the number in the dining party and the
smoking preference. If
the consumer selects the "Make a Reservation" heading, a search page will be
presented with the
above information requested, as well as an option for the consumer to search
for all available
reservations, for the chosen date/time, for all restaurants defined by the
search area. For
example, the consumer selects "Make a Reservation," enters March 26 at 7:00
p.m. as the date
and time of the dine and chooses to see all available reservations. The
consumer will be required
to define an area (city/state, zip proximity, or state/neighborhood) to
perform the search. Once
the consumer chooses an area, the consumer can further limit the search by
choosing the cuisine
of the restaurant. The search will return all available reservations for March
26 at 7:00 p.m., for
all restaurants within the chosen area and with the chosen cuisine. The
consumer then chooses
one of these restaurants from the list to complete the reservation. The
consumer does not have to
be a member of the system to make a reservation but incentives will be
contingent on
membership.
If there is a reservation available at the restaurant, a message will be
displayed offering
the consumer the time desired plus two alternate times (one at least 15
minutes before the desired
time and one at least 15 minutes after the desired time). The consumer can
then confirm to
reserve the table. However, if no reservation at the desired time is
available, alternate times that
night will be shown and the consumer will also be given the opportunity to
perform a search for
restaurants with open reservations at the desired time. Once the reservation
is made the
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
consumer will have the option to send the restaurant and reservation
information to a friend via
email.
One preferred constraint to the online reservation is that a consumer is not
allowed to
make more than three reservations on a given night or with in a 4 hour time
period. There will
also be a warning message shown to the user if he makes a reservation that
either conflicts or is
within the four-hour window. The user can override this message. The consumer
will be
reminded the day of the reservation of the existence of reservations at
conflicting times.
If the consumer chooses not to show up for a reservation made at a restaurant
online then
a record is kept of the number of no-shows for this consumer and he runs the
risk of losing
online reservation privilege. The restaurant can also require that the
consumer enter a credit card
number and expiration date explaining that a no-show will result in a monetary
penalty. In this
instance the credit card information will be kept in the database and the
restaurant will be given
access to this information if needed. The charge penalty for a no-show will be
the responsibility
of the restaurant.
To avoid no-shows, the consumer will be sent an e-mail reminder of the
reservation on
the day of the reservation. On the consumer's personal page there will also be
an area for the
consumer to view his pending reservations, a link to more detail about the
reservation and the
ability to update or delete the reservation. The reservation can be edited up
to one hour before
the reservation time.
To search for restaurants at which to dine, a search may be performed that
will return to
the consumer a list of the restaurants that match the criteria. A short
description of the
restaurants may also be provided. If the restaurant participates as a system
member that takes
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
online reservations, then the consumer can make an online reservation or link
to the restaurant's
personal page.
More specifically, the consumer can search based upon the following criteria:
~ Search on the area where the restaurant is located. This requires that the
consumer enter the state and location information to use in the search. The
location information will be the city and neighborhood to search.
~ Search on proximity of the restaurant to a given zip code. The default zip
code
will be the consumer's account zip code. The consumer will be able to select
the
number of miles from a list of 5 miles, 10 miles or 15 miles.
~ Search on detailed information about the restaurant. The consumer will be
required to enter the city and state to search in. Optional information will
be the
name of the restaurant.
~ Search on the restaurant's area code (use area code/location bar
translation)
~ Enter the restaurant name directly to search on a pattern match
~ Cuisine
~ Promotions/incentives
~ Credit Cards accepted
~ Price Range
~ Reservation availability(both online and not online)
~ Membership in the system
Performing the search will give the consumer a list of the restaurants that
match the
criteria, a short description of the restaurant and an icon for each relevant
content item
held by the system for the restaurant (accepts online reservations, has a map,
offers
base/registered incentives, online menu, etc.). In addition, if the consumer
is recognized
by the Web site as a Level 1 and above consumer, and the restaurant is a
member of the
system, then a checkbox will appear allowing the restaurant to be added to the
consumer's favorite restaurant list. The checkbox will also indicate if the
restaurant is
CA 02498373 2005-02-25
already on the list. This checkbox can be toggled to indicate that it is not
to be included
as a favorite restaurant. The results of the search will be unbiased and in
alphabetical
order unless the consumer chooses to perform a "biased" search, one that gives
preferential treatment to member restaurants, by selecting a checkbox that
will appear on
the search form. Also, if the Consumer has performed a search by proximity the
restaurants will be listed by nearest to farthest.
After the search has completed there may also be provided a link to a more
detailed page
for the restaurant. Listed on this page are consumer reviews, the ability to
send the information
on this restaurant to anyone via email, and the ability for the consumer to
perform another search
that returns the consumer to the detailed search page. The detailed page may
also include
pictures of the restaurant and links to the restaurant's menus. If the
restaurant belongs to the
system and has elected to have online reservations, then the consumer will be
able to access that
restaurant's online reservation book to make an online reservation or link to
the restaurant's
content page. The consumer will also be able to send the results of the
restaurant search to a
friend simply by providing the email address that he would like to send it to.
To validate when rewards are earned, a credit card aggregator 16 is utilized
that matches
credit card charges at member restaurants with credit card account numbers of
enrolled members.
The information returned from the credit card aggregator is compared with
enrollment and
update information stored in the database associated with server 18. With
reference to the data
flow diagrams of Figs. 4a and 4b, the process proceeds with the system sending
enrollments and
redemption/incentive transactions to the database 18. The system also sends a
daily file of
registered credit cards and participating merchant numbers to the credit card
aggregator. The
credit card aggregator compares information received from restaurants with the
received file and
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
matched transactions are forwarded to the server 18. A further verification
can take place at the
server 18 to ensure that the merchant number and/or frequent diner registered
card contained in
the record returned from the credit card aggregator 16 are participating
members.
If a match has occurred, one of the following types of activities has been
launched:
~ frequent diner acceptance of restaurant registered incentives - when a
frequent
diner signals his intent to accept a restaurant's registered incentive offer
by
clicking through the acceptance path and completing the required information,
a
registered incentive transaction is maintained in a daily transaction file. A
registered incentive is valid for a particular day at a particular restaurant
and may
be restricted to a restaurant-determined number of tables. Frequent diners who
attempt to register may find they exceeded the number of tables the restaurant
is
offering. In such a case, a message indicating that there are no more tables
available for this offer on the particular day is sent - highlighting the
scarcity of
the offer and encouraging more timely responsiveness in the future by the
1 S frequent diner. The key used to link a matched transaction from the credit
card
aggregator to a pending, registered incentive is the merchant number and
frequent
diner credit card. If there is a match on both of these elements and a match
between the registered incentive offer date and the transaction date, then the
system creates a reward record for the member to be used in the reward
delivery/qualification process, i.e., updates the customer's point total or
informs
the credit card company to reduce the customer's charges.
~ merchant basic incentive offers - If a merchant chooses to set-up a basic
incentive
for a particular day, a daily file is maintained. The key used to link a
matched
transaction from the credit card aggregator is the merchant number and
frequent
diner registered card which are verified as participating members. If the
members
are participating and the transaction date matches a basic incentive date, the
frequent diner will get the basic incentive reward, i.e., the credit card
company
will be instructed to reduce the customer's charge.
While the foregoing describes the basic features of the subject invention,
additional
features may be added that include online access to consumer and/or restaurant
transaction
history. For example, the Consumer may be able to view his points bank online.
There may also
be a link to contact customer service (via email or phone) so that the
consumer can get historical
transaction information, report any missing items or make comments.
As noted above, the subject system and method allows for a restaurant to set
time of
day/week/month dining incentives by which the consumer can obtain a reward for
dining at an
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
established incentive time. This is particularly advantageous to restaurants
as the incentive plan
may be used to entice diners at otherwise off peak demand times within the
restaurant. To
ensure that the rewards are awarded, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the restaurant
notifies the system
administrator of the time of day/week/month that the incentive is being
offered and the details of
the incentive. This information may then be communicated to consumers whereby
a consumer
can make a reservation through the system to dine at the member restaurant
during the specified
incentive time.
To determine that the consumer has fulfilled the reservation, the time stamp
of the credit
card transaction is compared against the time the reservation was made. For
day of week or day
of month incentives, this comparison need only examine the day field of the
credit card
transaction record to determine if the reservation was fulfilled during the
incentive day. For time
of day incentives, the comparison examines the day and time fields of the
credit card transaction
record to determine if the reservation was fulfilled during the incentive time
of the incentive day.
To ensure that the fulfillment took place at approximately the time the
reservation was
made for time of day incentive plans, a time window is added to the
reservation time and the
credit card time field is examined to determine if it falls within this time
window on the
appropriate day. For example, a restaurant can offer incentives to a consumer
if the consumer
dines at the restaurant between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on a Wednesday. If the
consumer then makes a
reservation for 5 p.m. on Wednesday the consumer is eligible for the incentive
and the system
will determine that the incentive has been earned if the meal is paid for
using the credit card
within a predetermined time window on the incentive day (e.g., using a 2 hour
window the
payment should occur between 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. if the reservation time was met
by the consumer).
It will be appreciated that the time window need not start at the reservation
time but can start at
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CA 02498373 2005-02-25
some predetermined time after the reservation time. In this manner, the system
accounts for the
time between the time of reservation and the time of payment, i.e., the time
taken to seat the
consumer at the restaurant, the time to eat the meal, etc.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it
will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and
alternatives to those details
could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For
example, all events
(such as registration, changing restaurant rewards, changing reservations,
making reservations,
etc.) need not be performed via a computer network but can be accomplished by
placing a phone
call, sending a fax, etc. to a representative of the entity that manages the
rewards program. This
entity can similarly notify the participants by phone, fax, mail, etc. of
changes in rewards
offered, changes in reservations, to make reservations, etc. In addition, it
should be understood
by those with skill in the art that the specific web pages provided by the
system may change and
that specific functionality associated with the web pages may be removed,
changed or added
Accordingly, the particular arrangement disclosed is meant to be illustrative
only and not
limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full
breadth of the appended
claims and any equivalents thereof.
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