Merchant Advertising Platform Reward Sub-Account Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current loyalty and reward programs lack user customization, social sharing options, and competitive advertising features, failing to effectively enhance the value of rewards and provide merchants with targeted advertising opportunities based on user preferences.
Innovation Solution
The system allows users to create customizable reward sub-accounts, share information, and publish goals, enabling merchants to distribute targeted advertisements and competitively adjust pricing, while users can redeem rewards for goods and services, transfer values between accounts, and engage in peer-to-peer interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users are provided with basic reward accumulation functionality, then users can store monetary value, but users cannot customize reward purposes or share information with others
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the user's reward account into multiple sub-accounts, each with specific purposes (e.g., vacation fund, emergency fund). This segmentation allows users to customize and track different reward purposes independently while maintaining the overall account structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a social sharing dimension to the reward system by enabling users to publish their sub-account goals and progress to social networks. This transforms a purely personal financial tracking tool into a socially interactive platform without fundamentally changing the core account management functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If merchants are provided with advertising capabilities, then merchants can promote products, but advertisers cannot target users based on specific reward goals or preferences
Solution Approach 1:
Users predefine their sub-account goals and preferences before merchants create advertisements. This preliminary action allows the system to match merchants with relevant users based on established criteria, enabling targeted advertising without requiring real-time data collection or analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where user sub-account information (goals, spending preferences, accumulated rewards) is used to inform advertising delivery. Merchants receive feedback about user segments that match their target criteria, and users receive advertisements relevant to their stated preferences, creating a closed-loop targeting system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If users can redeem rewards for purchases, then users can utilize accumulated value, but users cannot transfer rewards between different purposes or collaborate with others
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the reward system into transferable sub-accounts that can be moved between users or converted to cash. Each sub-account maintains its purpose designation but gains flexibility through transfer capabilities, allowing users to reallocate rewards based on changing needs while preserving the organizational structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes reward sub-accounts multi-functional by enabling them to serve multiple purposes: they can be used for original intended purchases, transferred to other users for collaboration, converted to cash value, or reallocated to different sub-accounts. This universality increases flexibility without requiring fundamentally different systems for each function.
4Productivity
If the system provides competitive advertising between merchants, then merchants can compete for user business, but the system requires monitoring and comparing multiple advertisements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service advertising system where merchants independently create and manage their own advertisements targeting specific user segments. The system automatically matches advertisements with relevant users based on predefined criteria, eliminating the need for complex manual monitoring or comparison of multiple ads by system administrators.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for a merchant advertising platform for generating targeted advertisements to participants in a rewards program who are able to accumulate, manage, and redeem marketing incentives using a rewards platform. Users are able to designate at least one reward sub-account, and publish corresponding information such as purchasing preferences for the sub-account. The platform enables advertisers to view the published information, generate targeted advertisements based on the user's purchase preferences, and compete with other product and service providers for the user's business. The platform, therefore, has the potential to increase the value of the user's accumulated rewards through an open and competitive marketplace.