Server-Based Product Substantiation with Local Filtering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for managing product promotions lack efficiency in redeeming substantiated purchases across multiple retailers, as they fail to accurately apply complex discounts and promotions in real-time, leading to inefficiencies in discount calculation and reimbursement processes.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a remote server and approved product lists to manage promotions, where a server system communicates with retail store systems to filter eligible products, calculate discounts, and update benefits, ensuring accurate discount application and reimbursement through a network connection, using a database to track promotions and user benefits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a server-based system is used to manage promotions across multiple retailers, then the accuracy of discount calculation and reimbursement is improved, but the system complexity and communication overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an approved product list (APL) as an intermediary data structure that is generated by the server system and distributed to retail store systems. This APL contains pre-calculated promotion eligibility information for multiple products, allowing the retail store system to perform local filtering without requiring complex real-time server communication for each product evaluation. This intermediary approach maintains calculation accuracy while reducing system complexity at the point of sale.
Solution Approach 2:
The server system performs preliminary processing by generating and distributing the approved product list before actual purchases occur. This pre-computation includes identifying which products qualify for promotions across multiple retailers, so that when a purchase is made, the retail store system can quickly apply the correct discounts using the pre-prepared APL without needing to perform complex real-time calculations.
2Productivity
If real-time discount calculation is performed across multiple retailers, then the efficiency of promotional redemption is improved, but the computational load and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the promotion evaluation process into two distinct phases: (1) server-side pre-processing where the approved product list is generated by evaluating promotion rules against product catalogs, and (2) client-side execution where the retail store system applies the pre-evaluated APL to actual purchases. This segmentation allows computationally intensive operations to be performed in advance, making real-time application fast and efficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The server system performs the time-consuming promotion eligibility evaluation in advance and stores the results in the approved product list. When a purchase is made at any participating retailer, the system simply needs to match the purchased products against the pre-computed APL, which dramatically reduces processing time while maintaining the ability to handle multiple retailers and complex promotion rules.
3Measurement precision
If an approved product list is maintained and distributed to retail store systems, then the accuracy of product filtering is improved, but the data synchronization and network communication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server system performs preliminary filtering and generates the approved product list in advance, incorporating all promotion rules and product eligibility criteria. This pre-computed APL is then distributed to retail store systems, allowing them to perform accurate local filtering without needing to maintain complex synchronization with the server for each product evaluation. The data is synchronized once in advance rather than continuously.
Solution Approach 2:
Each retail store system receives a customized approved product list that is specific to its location and participating promotions. This allows each store to perform accurate product filtering locally using data that is optimized for its specific context, rather than requiring all stores to maintain identical data sets or communicate frequently with the central server for validation.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method is presented for product substantiation and promotion redemption. A purchased product list is transmitted from a retail store system to a promotion analysis server along with a user identifier. The promotion analysis server identifies promotions available to the user, and then considers whether the benefits under the promotions are still available to the user. Discounts for available promotions related to the purchased product list are calculated and transmitted to the retail store system for deduction from the transactions. An approved product list can be provided that filters the purchased product list before transmittal. The approved product list can include promotions from a plurality of programs.