Patent Issued for Online system with browser executable (USPTO 11430000): Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
2022 SEP 15 (NewsRx) -- By a
The patent’s inventors are
This patent was filed on
From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “The World Wide Web has allowed thousands of merchants to offer products for sale via the Internet through stores presented to consumers as websites and other electronically connected purchase environments. Many of these online merchant stores, also known as electronic commerce platforms or ecommerce sites, may offer discounts to consumers who enter a specific code while shopping. These codes may be referred to as coupon codes, discount codes, or promotion codes. These codes may offer free or discounted shipping or a lower price on an entire basket of products, a category of products, a specific product, a certain number of products, products over a certain value, or even a combination of products.
“In addition, various other service providers such as banks, memberships, companies, and other organizations regularly introduce various attractive offers to lure the users to shop online. For example, a bank may offer a certain amount of cash back on a purchase from a particular store using their bank credit or debit card. In another example of a promotion, a store may offer reward points when a user purchases a product using a specific bank card. Many companies also have memberships with several merchants that allow their employees to receive a particular discount. These companies may host a loyalty program that extends similar promotional offers across a variety of merchants.
“Although the users may have multiple promotion benefits available, the users are not able to completely benefit from the promotions and offers available online. In some instances, the discount codes on purchases of products and services are advertised to consumers during the online shopping experience, but frequently, the discount codes are hidden from most consumers and may only be exposed to them through other channels, such as emails and messages. Likewise, users of loyalty programs may benefit only if they remember receiving such promotional offers. As a result, users may not remember these offers and promotion codes when they are looking to buy something or when they are actually conducting a transaction at a merchant site. Moreover, even if the user may recall a particular discount code, the user may not remember an additional promotional offer that may be applicable to the current transaction and may be more financially favorable (e.g., larger discount). Conventional web browsers do not provide a solution to these issues.”
Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “For the aforementioned reasons, it is desirable for a method and a system for specifying various promotional offers available to users while the users are shopping online. The systems and methods disclosed herein attempt to address the above-mentioned shortcomings in the art and provide a variety of other benefits.
“In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method may include, for every webpage accessed on a browser of a user device, querying, by a server via a software module executing on the browser, a database using a uniform resource locator of a first webpage accessed on the browser to retrieve a pre-determined list of webpages, the pre-determined list of webpages comprising uniform resource locators of one or more webpages associated with one or more pre-determined entities while the browser is displaying each webpage. The computer-implemented method may further include, when the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, parsing, by the server, content of the first webpage to identify a string of characters displayed on the first webpage indicating a transaction on the first webpage. The computer-implemented method may further include querying, by the server, the database to retrieve a pre-determined list of string of characters. The computer-implemented method may further include, when the pre-determined list of string of characters in the database comprises at least one identified string of characters on the first webpage, querying, by the server, the database to retrieve a user profile of a user operating the user device, the user profile comprising one or more user membership attributes. The computer-implemented method may further include querying, by the server, the database for a plurality of promotional offers associated with the one or more user membership attributes and the uniform resource locator of the first webpage. The computer-implemented method may further include displaying, by the server via the software module executing on the browser, a graphical component comprising a ranking order of the plurality of promotional offers based on a benefit value offered to the user, the graphical component overlaying the first webpage. The computer-implemented method may further include receiving, by the server in response to interaction of the user with the graphical component, a selection of one promotional offer from the plurality of promotional offers. The computer-implemented method may further include querying, by the server, the database to retrieve a code associated with the one promotional offer, the code comprising a text string of one or more alphanumerical values. The computer-implemented method may further include populating, by the server, a first input field on the first webpage with the code, the first input field corresponding to a text field to input the promotional offer.
“In another embodiment, a system may include a user device comprising a browser. The browser may include software module, and be in connection to a server. The server is configured to, for every webpage accessed on a browser of a user device, query a database using a uniform resource locator of a first webpage accessed on the browser to retrieve a pre-determined list of webpages, the pre-determined list of webpages comprising uniform resource locators of one or more webpages associated with one or more pre-determined entities while the browser is displaying each webpage. The server is configured to, when the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, parse content of the first webpage to identify a string of characters displayed on the first webpage indicating a transaction on the first webpage. The server is configured to query the database to retrieve a pre-determined list of string of characters. The server is configured to, when the pre-determined list of string of characters in the database comprises at least one identified string of characters on the first webpage, query the database to retrieve a user profile of a user operating the user device, the user profile comprising one or more user membership attributes. The server is configured to query the database for a plurality of promotional offers associated with the one or more user membership attributes and the uniform resource locator of the first webpage. The server is configured to display a graphical component comprising a ranking order of the plurality of promotional offers based on a benefit value offered to the user, the graphical component overlaying the first webpage. The server is configured to, in response to interaction of the user with the graphical component, receive a selection of one promotional offer from the plurality of promotional offers. The server is configured to query the database to retrieve a code associated with the one promotional offer, the code comprising a text string of one or more alphanumerical values. The server is configured to populate a first input field on the first webpage with the code, the first input field corresponding to a text field to input the promotional offer.
“Numerous other aspects, features and benefits of the present disclosure may be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“1. A computer-implemented method comprising: for every webpage accessed on a browser of a user device, querying, by a server via a software module executing on the browser as part of a background process, a database using a uniform resource locator of a first webpage accessed on the browser to retrieve a pre-determined list of webpages, the pre-determined list of webpages comprising uniform resource locators of one or more webpages associated with one or more pre-determined entities while the browser is displaying each webpage; determining, by the server as part of the background process, that the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage; responsive to determining that the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, determining, by the server as part of the background process, that the first webpage indicates a transaction by parsing content of the first webpage to identify a string of characters displayed on the first webpage indicating the transaction, the transaction indicating a product selected by a user operating the user device for purchase; responsive to determining that the first webpage indicates the transaction, querying, by the server as part of the background process, the database to retrieve a pre-determined list of string of characters; determining, by the server as part of the background process, that the first webpage includes a field that accepts a promotional code for the transaction by determining that the pre-determined list of string of characters in the database comprises at least one identified string of characters on the first webpage; responsive to determining that the first webpage includes the field that accepts the promotional code for the transaction, querying, by the server as part of the background process, the database to retrieve a user profile of the user operating the user device, the user profile comprising one or more user membership attributes; querying, by the server as part of the background process, the database for a plurality of promotional codes associated with the one or more user membership attributes, the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, and the product selected by the user for purchase in the transaction; ranking, by the server as part of the background process, the plurality of promotional offers codes in a ranking order of a benefit value being offered to the user, wherein the ranking order lists the plurality of promotional codes ordered based on a discount from a retail list price of the product selected for purchase in the transaction and based on a respective rating of each of the plurality of promotional codes; and displaying, by the server via the software module executing on the browser in a pop-up window, a graphical component comprising the ranking order of the plurality of promotional codes based on the benefit value offered to the user, the graphical component overlaying the first webpage.
“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the server via the software module executing on the browser, a navigation to the first webpage associated to a pre-determined entity on the user device by the user, wherein the software module is configured to track one or more of browser cookies, IP addresses, and information embedded in the uniform resource locator on the user device.
“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying, by the server, an authentication prompt on the user device comprising a login field configured to receive login data from the user; receiving, by the server, the login data inputted by the user on the user device; and authenticating, by the server, the user of the user device based on verification of identification data of the user obtained using the login data of the user.
“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the server, the plurality of promotional codes based on a record that store promotional information being offered by the one or more pre-determined entities to the user and a profile information collected about the user in the database.
“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the promotional information comprises referral URL and tracking codes, duration of applicability of the plurality of promotional codes, terms and conditions associated with the plurality of promotional codes, name of merchants, applicable membership levels, and descriptive text about the plurality of promotional codes.
“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of promotional codes are displayed as a message on the user device, and wherein the message is displayed as at least one of an icon, displayed text, or any other visually perceptible format.
“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: utilizing, by the server via the software module executing on the browser, web crawlers to crawl various websites associated with user membership clubs, banks, and merchants in order to retrieve the plurality of promotional codes available for the user.
“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: automatically receiving, by the server, data feeds associated to codes and promotions from the one or more pre-determined entities.
“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: scanning, by the server via the software module executing on the browser, every webpage being accessed by the user to identify one or more promotion codes.
“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising searching, by the server via the software module executing on the browser, characteristics that indicate a signal of a presence of one or more codes on every webpage being accessed by the user.
“11. A system comprising: a user device comprising a browser, the browser comprising a software module, the software module in connection to a server and is configured to: for every webpage accessed on the browser of the user device, query a database as part of a background process using a uniform resource locator of a first webpage accessed on the browser to retrieve a pre-determined list of webpages, the pre-determined list of webpages comprising uniform resource locators of one or more webpages associated with one or more pre-determined entities while the browser is displaying each webpage; determine, as part of the background process, that the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage; responsive to determining that the pre-determined list of webpages in the database comprises the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, determine, as part of the background process, that the first webpage indicates a transaction by parsing content of the first webpage to identify a string of characters displayed on the first webpage indicating the transaction, the transaction indicating a product selected by a user operating the user device for purchase; responsive to determining that the first webpage indicates the transaction, query the database to retrieve a pre-determined list of string of characters as part of the background process; determine, as part of the background process, that the first webpage includes a field that accepts a promotional code for the transaction by determining that the pre-determined list of string of characters in the database comprises at least one identified string of characters on the first webpage; responsive to determining that the first webpage includes the field that accepts the promotional code for the transaction, query the database to retrieve a user profile of the user operating the user device, the user profile comprising one or more user membership attributes as part of the background process; query, as part of the background process, the database for a plurality of promotional codes associated with the one or more user membership attributes, the uniform resource locator of the first webpage, and the product selected by the user for purchase in the transaction; rank, as part of the background process, the plurality of promotional codes in a ranking order based on a benefit value being offered to the user, wherein the ranking order lists the plurality of promotional codes ordered based on a discount from a retail list price of the product selected for purchase in the transaction and based on a respective rating of each of the plurality of promotional codes; and display a graphical component as a pop-up comprising the ranking order of the plurality of promotional codes based on the benefit value offered to the user, the graphical component overlaying the first webpage.
“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to: determine a navigation to the first webpage associated to a pre-determined entity on the user device by the user, wherein the software module is configured to track one or more of browser cookies, IP addresses, and information embedded in the uniform resource locator on the user device.
“13. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to: display an authentication prompt on the user device comprising a login field configured to receive login data from the user; receive the login data inputted by the user on the user device; and authenticate the user of the user device based on verification of identification data of the user obtained using the login data of the user.
“14. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to: determine the plurality of promotional codes based on a record that store promotional information being offered by the one or more pre-determined entities to the user and a profile information collected about the user in the database.”
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