Financed Customer Engagement Campaign System

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Solution Overview

Problem

Merchants face challenges in implementing customer engagement campaigns due to resource and capital constraints, and existing mobile payment systems lack effective mechanisms to spread the cost of incentives over time, leading to potential revenue drops.

Innovation Solution

A financed customer engagement campaign system that allows merchants to receive financing for discounts offered to customers, with the payment processing system determining eligibility and calculating financing terms, spreading the cost through incremental distribution and repayment based on transaction volume.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If a merchant implements a customer engagement campaign with incentives, then customer engagement and sales volume increase, but the merchant's capital and resources are depleted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesales volumeVSAvoidmerchant capital

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The payment processing system acts as an intermediary that provides financing to merchants for customer engagement campaigns. The system advances funds to cover incentive costs and recovers them through a portion of transaction revenues, enabling merchants to run campaigns without depleting their own capital reserves

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The financing arrangement is dynamic, with repayment terms adjusted based on actual campaign performance and transaction volumes. The system monitors campaign effectiveness and adjusts financing parameters accordingly, allowing flexible capital management for merchants

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Adaptability or versatility

If a merchant offers discounts to customers, then customer engagement improves, but immediate revenue is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomer engagementVSAvoidrevenue

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The payment processing system provides preliminary financing before the campaign begins, allowing merchants to offer discounts without experiencing immediate revenue loss. The system pre-advances the capital needed for incentives and recovers it gradually through transaction-based repayments

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the temporal parameters of revenue recognition by spreading the impact of discounts over time. Instead of recognizing the full revenue loss upfront, the system structures repayments to occur gradually as transactions are processed, effectively changing when the revenue impact is realized

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11379868B1Dynamically financed customer engagement campaign

Publication Date: 2022.07.05 BLOCK INC

AI summary

In some examples a payment processing system processes transactions between a merchant and customers during a time period, and may determine financing terms including a redemption amount to offset discounts given by the merchant for the transactions during the time period. The payment processing system may identify an amount of the discount given by the merchant to respective customers for the transactions and payment amounts received from the respective customers. In addition, the payment processing system may deposit an amount in an account associated with the merchant. For instance, the amount may be based at least on the redemption amount determined based on the discounts given by the merchant for the transactions during the time period.