Systems and methods to process referrals in offer campaigns

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10360591-B2
Application number	US-201615252670-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2016
Priority date	Sep 20, 2011
Publication date	Jul 23, 2019
Grant date	Jul 23, 2019

Abstract

In one aspect, a computing apparatus is configured to represent offer rules based on requirements for the detection of predefined types of events, and actions scheduled to be performed in response to the detection of each occurrence of the events. The events are processed independently from each other and are linked via prerequisite conditions to formulate the requirements of an offer campaign. In one embodiment, the requirements for the detection of the events are specified based on predetermined types of events, including a first type for an event specified for interaction with a first user when the first user performs an action as a result of a referral from a second user, and a second type for an event specified for interaction with the second user in response to the first user performing the action.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
defining, based on electronic data received from a merchant via a portal, a first offer campaign and a second offer campaign of the merchant, each offer campaign defined in terms of a set of required events linked by prerequisite conditions;
sending, by a computing apparatus to a data warehouse, transaction data associated with authorization requests to cause storage of the transaction data in the data warehouse, wherein the authorization requests are received from transaction terminals;
in response to an electronic action by a referring user, transmitting, by the computing apparatus, a first notification to a first computing device of an enrolling user, wherein the first notification comprises a link, the link including a unique identifier for the referring user;
subsequent to the enrolling user activating the link, receiving, by the computing apparatus, enrollment information associated with an enrollment request from the enrolling user;
identifying the referring user based on the enrollment information; and
in response to the enrollment of the enrolling user:
determining, by the computing apparatus, whether the enrolling user has completed a first requirement associated with a first event in the first offer campaign, the determining based at least in part on the transaction data,
determining, by the computing apparatus, whether the referring user has completed a second requirement associated with a second event in the second offer campaign;
performing a first action for the enrolling user for the first event, wherein the first action comprises transmitting, via the portal, a second notification to the enrolling user, the transmitting to cause a display of the second notification in a first user interface of the first computing device of the enrolling user,
performing a second action for the referring user for the second event, wherein the second action comprises transmitting, via the portal, a third notification to the referring user, the transmitting to cause a display of the third notification in a second user interface of a second computing device of the referring user, and
sending at least one electronic communication to cause recording, by the data warehouse, of data in a first data record to track progress of the enrolling user in the first offer campaign and data in a second data record to track progress of the referring user in the second offer campaign.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data in the first data record indicates a new milestone achieved by the enrolling user in the first offer campaign.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first event is one of filling out a form, clicking a link, or swiping a card.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the set of required events is based on a respective pre-defined event type.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each respective pre-defined event type allows the merchant to define criteria for matching user actions to referred enrollment events that qualify as achieving a milestone in the first offer campaign.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the link is activated by the enrolling user clicking the link to visit an enrollment service, and the referring user is identified based on a web page that hosts the link.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the referring user is required to identify the enrolling user prior to the enrolling user performing the enrollment.

8. A computing apparatus, comprising:
a data warehouse configured to store records associated with offer campaigns of merchants;
a portal configured to receive electronic data regarding the offer campaigns from computing devices of the merchants;
at least one processor; and
memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to:
define, based on electronic data received from a merchant via the portal, a first offer campaign and a second offer campaign of the merchant, each offer campaign defined in terms of a set of required events linked by prerequisite conditions;
in response to an electronic action by a referring user, transmit a first notification to a first computing device of an enrolling user;
receive enrollment information associated with an enrollment request from the enrolling user;
identify the referring user based on the enrollment information; and
in response to the enrollment of the enrolling user:
determine whether the enrolling user has completed a first requirement associated with a first event in the first offer campaign,
determine whether the referring user has completed a second requirement associated with a second event in the second offer campaign;
perform a first action for the enrolling user for the first event, wherein the first action comprises transmitting, via the portal, a second notification to the enrolling user, the transmitting to cause a display of the second notification in a first user interface of the first computing device of the enrolling user,
perform a second action for the referring user for the second event, wherein the second action comprises transmitting, via the portal, a third notification to the referring user, the transmitting to cause a display of the third notification in a second user interface of a second computing device of the referring user, and
send at least one electronic communication to cause recording, by the data warehouse, of data in a first data record to track progress of the enrolling user in the first offer campaign and data in a second data record to track progress of the referring user in the second offer campaign.

9. The computing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to send, to the data warehouse, transaction data associated with authorization requests received from transaction terminals to cause storage of the transaction data in the data warehouse.

10. The computing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein determining whether the enrolling user has completed the first requirement associated with the first event is based at least in part on the transaction data.

11. The computing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first notification comprises a link, the link including a unique identifier for the referring user.

Assignees

• Visa Int Service Ass

Inventors

• Carlson Mark
• Spears Joseph
• Stan Patrick

Classifications

• G06Q30/0214

  Referral reward systems · CPC title

• G06Q30/0258 Primary

  Registration · CPC title

• G06Q30/0277

  Online advertisement · CPC title