[Patents] EPO patent on distributing cooking recipes in a supermarket

[PILCH Hartmut phm@openecs.org]

EPO patent number 0870264 
title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SHOPPING AIDS AND INCENTIVES TO 
CUSTOMERS THROUGH A COMPUTER NETWORK
owner: CATALINA MARKETING INT (US) 
date: 1998-10-14

   Claims
   
   We claim:
   1. A method for distributing purchasing incentives to retail
   customers, comprising the following steps performed at a central site
   in cooperation with a communication device at a customer site:
   logging in a remotely located customer using identity data and region
   data transmitted by the customer over a communication network;
   transmitting over the communication network a plurality of incentive
   offers to the registered customer, the incentive offers being
   exercisable in the customer's region;
   receiving incentive offer selection data from the customer over the
   communication network, the offer selection data including the
   designation of a retailer at which selected offer or offers may be
   exercised;
   generating a purchasing incentive containing in encoded form the
   identity of the retailer designated by the customer and the identity
   of the customer;
   transmitting at least one incentive to the customer over the
   communication network, wherein the transmitted incentive is encoded
   with the identity of the retailer selected by the customer; and
   communicating with the customer concerning the use of other shopping
   aids, wherein the step of communicating with the customer includes
   transmitting a list of recipes to the customer,
   receiving customer selection of one or more recipes,
   transmitting back to the customer a shopping list that includes
   ingredient products needed in each selected recipe, and
   transmitting to the customer at least one purchase incentive
   pertaining to an ingredient product used in a selected recipe.
   2. A method for distributing purchasing incentives and other shopping
   aids to customers over a communication network, the method comprising
   the steps of:
   logging in as a customer by providing at least an individual
   identification, a postal region code, and retail store selection;
   transmitting from a central site and receiving at a remote customer
   site, a plurality of incentive offers, each of which is exercisable
   only in the customer's postal region;
   selecting at the customer site one or more of the incentive offers and
   transmitting these selections back to the central site;
   generating at least one purchasing incentive containing in encoded
   form the identity of the retail store selected by the customer and the
   identity of the customer;
   transmitting the at least one incentive to the customer;
   in response to a customer's action, transmitting a recipe list to the
   customer for possible selection of a recipe;
   receiving the customer's selection of one or more recipes; and
   transmitting a complete recipe to the customer, including a list of
   ingredients, and transmitting any purchasing incentives tied to
   ingredients of the recipe.
   3. A system for distributing purchasing incentives to retail
   customers, comprising:
   a communication network establishing two-way communication between a
   central site and each of a plurality of customer devices;
   a file at the central site containing a plurality of incentive offers;
   a computer located at the central site, the computer including
   means for storing customer information at the central site, based on
   information transmitted from any of the customer devices to the
   central site computer, over the communication network, the customer
   information including geographical region data and identification
   data;
   means for retrieving incentive offers from the file of incentive
   offers, based on the customer's geographical region, and transmitting
   the retrieved offers to the customer over the communication network;
   means for receiving customer selections made from the incentive offers
   transmitted to the customer, and for receiving a customer designation
   of a retailer at which the selected incentives are to be exercised;
   means for generating at least one purchasing incentive containing in
   encoded form the identity of the retailer designated by the customer
   and the identity of the customer; and
   means for transmitting the generated purchasing incentive to the
   customer over the communication network; and
   another file at the central site containing a list of recipes
   available for customer use; and
   wherein the computer at the central site further includes means,
   responsive to a customer request, for transmitting the list of recipes
   to the customer, receiving customer selections from the list, and
   transmitting complete recipes back to the customer, together with an
   ingredients shopping list and any associated purchasing incentives.
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