patent "business method"
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USD 21,000,000.00 |
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USD 21,000,000.00 |
| Time Left |
7 days 3 hours 17 minutes |
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| Start Time |
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 |
| End Time |
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 |
| Location |
zanè, VI |
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Description
PROJECT … 2 steps forward … ___________________________________________________ Application patent data: Title: A Method of Organizing Consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services. Application Number -USA- 120 58658 28-MAR-2008 Application Number -ITALY- PD2007A000120 02-APR-2007 Inventors: Claudio PANOZZO e-mail: claudiopanozzo@yahoo.it Emanuele SERAFIN e-mail: emanuele.ser@gmail.com ___________________________________________________ TITLES: 1. How the idea was born 2. Definition of the Project 3. Diagrams illustrating the project 4. Application for patent of industrial invention 5. Assessment of the advantages for ... 6. Hypothesis on the development of the Project 7. Prudent estimates and simulations of the profitability of the Project ___________________________________________________ 1. How the idea was born The idea was born of a desire to set up an innovative operation which produces savings for a large number of consumers with poor purchasing power and, in general, for all those who appreciate savings. Taking the example of the ever more widespread “purchasing groups” or “cooperatives” of traders who get together in order to have greater purchasing capacity and power with respect to large producers, the project is to create a strong consumer structure in order to obtain discount with trader, retailers and every type of commercial concern or provider of services in general. The object to create an Association to witch all consumers can turn and which they can join without incurring any financial burden and without obligation to purchase or constraint of any type. The Association will negotiate the purchase conditions directly with the commercial concerns, entering into contracts with discounts and favourable conditions for all of its members. The consumers will be provided with a list of the member retailers from witch they can make their purchases and enjoy the previously agreed discounts. Naturally, all of the “member” consumers will be channelled, for their purchases, towards the contracting Commercial concerns, which will see their volume of business increase. Upon every purchase made by the member consumers, the Association will receive a previously agreed percentage calculated on the full price of each item or, alternatively, on the increase in the volume of business of the concern, which will vary on the basis of the type of product. The consumers will thus be provided with a complete service which is totally free; they can benefit from discounts and advantages for all of their needs and those of their family by going to the contracting concerns. 2. Definition of the Project A method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services, comprising the steps of forming an Organizational Structure which a plurality of consumers can join and establishing with at least one point of sale of goods or services, by means of Structure, a discount percentage to be given to the member consumers for the purchase of at least one of the goods or services so as to facilitate their purchase by the consumers at the point of sale. According to this method, membership of Organizational Structure is free for the consumers and the points of sale provide the Structure with a monetary fee on the basis of the sale of the goods or services to the member consumers. 3. Diagrams illustrating the project General remarks on the diagrams For this PROJECT it should be borne in mind that the desire of the “Association” is: To create the Market of Contracting Consumers at zero cost to natural persons and bodies corporate; admission to the market is consequently free; To set up various contracts that relate to points of sale differing not only from the structural point view and hence comprising various types of Output (Commercial concerns, Providers of Services, Craftsmen, Professionals, Credit Institutions…) but also from the qualitative point of view, thus creating various levels of supply and demand within the same sector, and hence diversifying the contracting Points of Sale with regard to the quality of the products offered; To arrange for the previously agreed percentage on the purchases made by the member consumers or on the volume of business added by the Market of Contracting Consumers to be payable by the Contracting Point of Sale as a recompense for such channelling. The two illustrative diagrams are shown on the pictures. 4. Application for patent of industrial invention A method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services Description Technical field The present invention relates to a method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services according to the characteristics set out in the preamble to the main claim. Background art In wholly general terms, in the conventional market model developed in western commercial society, when a large number of consumers need to make a retail purchase of an item or service, they individually and independently establish a contractual relationship with one or more points of sale which are able to offer the item or service in question. Naturally, in this situation, the negotiating power of the individual consumer is somewhat limited and he is at such an objective disadvantage with respect to the point of sale that the everyday reality, especially at points of sale of some size, is that the selling prices as well as the offers and discounts made are not the result of free negotiation between the parties but rather are decided and fixed by the point of sale; in this situation, the consumer normally has the option purely to accept the conditions proposed or not. Consumer groups of a more or less structured nature have emerged in order to increase consumers' negotiating power with respect to one or more points of sale and thus to achieve forms of discount on selling prices of goods or services. The most common types of organization provide for consumers to belong to an association or cooperative; all of these organizations will be defined generically in this context by the term "Organizational Structure"; the "Structure" provides for a series of contracts to be entered into with a number of points of sale in order to fix a discount percentage on the purchase prices of predetermined goods or services which the consumers belonging to the "Structure" can enjoy. The advantages connected with groups of this type are determined, on the one hand, by the discounts to which the consumers have access by virtue of their membership of the Organizational Structure and, on the other hand, by the establishment of customer loyalty which enables the agreed deal to be obtained. Examples of organizations of this type are represented by some consumer associations or by associations of a specific nature such as sports or cultural associations which negotiate favourable financial conditions for their members with some commercial concerns. However, organizations of this type have some disadvantages which limit their spread and efficiency. A first of these disadvantages is that membership of these Organizational Structures involves at least a financial burden to be borne by the consumer which, for more hesitant consumers, often constitutes a factor dissuading them from joining. Moreover, the consumer tends to feel "forced" to make purchases from contracting businesses in order to recoup the costs sustained for membership of the Structure. There are also other known types of organization which provide for the formation of a kind of cooperative between, for example, people living in the same building or in the same district, in order to negotiate favourable prices with some specific point of sale. However, these Organizational Structures are necessarily limited in the number of members and the purchases often have to be made wholesale, resulting in organizational burdens owing to the need to collect the requirements of the member consumers and then to divide the goods purchased between them. Description of the invention The object of the present invention is to provide a method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services which overcomes the limitations discussed above with reference to the prior art mentioned. This object is achieved by the present invention by means of a method of organizing consumers implemented in accordance with the appended claims. Brief description of the drawings The characteristics and the advantages of the invention will become clearer from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof which is described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagram representing the conventional relationship between consumers and points of sale, Figure 2 is a diagram representing the relationship between consumers and points of sale that is achieved by the method according to the invention. Preferred embodiment of the invention Figure 1 shows schematically the conventional market relationship between consumers 10 and points of sale of goods or services, all indicated 11. In this model, the limitations of which have already been described briefly in the introductory part of the description, the consumers act substantially independently of one another to establish the market relationships which are most advantageous and which best respond to their own needs, giving rise to a dynamic equilibrium in which a certain number of different consumers will be associable with each point of sale. The method proposed by the present invention proposes to group together the largest possible number of consumers so as to be able to negotiate the largest possible discounts with each point of sale precisely by virtue of the large number of potential customers. In order advantageously to address and manage the necessary negotiations with the points of sale and the other necessary tasks, such as the registration of consumers, it is proposed to create a dedicated Organizational Structure, for example, in the form of an intermediary association. According to a principal characteristic of the method according to the invention, membership of the Structure will be completely free for the consumers except, at most, for the cost of a means of recognition which indicates the consumer's membership of the Structure. No other burden, constraint or obligation will be imposed on the consumer joining the association so that he will not even partially have to give up his complete freedom to purchase or not to purchase an item or a service or to purchase it at one point of sale rather than at another. Any barrier to the consumers' admission to the Structure is thus removed, facilitating to the greatest possible extent the membership of a large number of consumers and building up the negotiating strength of the Organizational Structure. Joining preferably consists of the registration of the consumer concerned and the consequent issuing by the Structure of a means of recognition, preferably of the magnetic card type, which will be used by the consumer at the time of purchase, as explained in detail below. In view of the fact that the greater negotiating strength of the Structure depends on the number of consumers belonging to it, the consumer membership campaign will be advertized appropriately by every suitable means, for example, in the press, on television, on the internet, by leafleting, etc. Procedures for collaboration with third-party associations such as cultural associations, trade unions, or the like are also provided for; for these, the Structure may recognize a proportion of the income of the Structure resulting from the purchases made by the consumers who also belong to such third-party associations. By virtue of the number of actual and potential members, the Organizational Structure will enter into a series of contracts with the largest possible number of points of sale in order to agree with them a percentage discount to be given to the consumers belonging to the Structure on one or, preferably, more goods or services offered by the point of sale in question. It is pointed out that the point of sale may be a commercial concern of any type which can offer goods or services upon payment, including concerns which operate preferably, or even exclusively, on the internet. In fact the points of sale that have entered into agreements with the Structure preferably range across the most diverse market sectors from food to clothing, to restaurants, to skilled and professional services, to pharmacies, to credit and/or insurance institutions, to furnishings, to large-scale distribution, and even to gymnasia, vehicle workshops, or dentists. In theory, there are no exclusions to the establishment of contracts with any supplier of services or goods. Moreover, within each market sector, contracts will preferably entered into with points of sale of different qualitative levels so as to satisfy consumers of every type. In addition to the quantification of the discount percentage, the negotiation with the point of sale also provides for the quantification of a monetary maintenance fee which the point of sale will pay, for example, monthly, to the Organizational Structure. In particular, the fee will be established according to the income received by the point of sale as a result of purchases made by consumers belonging to the Structure. This fee should more preferably be established as a percentage of the increased number of goods/services sold by the point of sale as a result of the purchases made by member consumers. In this latter case, it will be useful to define, during negotiations between the Structure and the point of sale, a reference number of goods/services, understood as the average number sold by the point of sale within a predetermined period of time prior to entering into the contract with the Structure. It will be appreciated that the point of sale thus has sufficient guarantee that its own financial contribution to the Structure is made solely with respect to the increased income which is actually attributable to its entering into the contract with the Structure. Naturally, the method according to the present invention provides for each member consumer to be sent a detailed list of the points of sale which have established a contract with the Structure and, for each point of sale, the goods/services on which a discount is given and, naturally, the size of the discount. There is no obligation or constraint on the consumer to make his purchases at a point of sale that has entered into a contract but, by virtue of the discounts which can be enjoyed at those points of sale, the member consumer will prefer to get his supplies from them. A net increase in the number of consumers acquired by the point of sale can consequently be expected, with a corresponding net increase in profits. This situation is shown schematically in appended Figure 2 in which a group of consumers 12 belonging to the Structure is formed within the body of consumers 10. The group 12 will preferably be persuaded to obtain goods or services from a contracting point of sale 13 rather than from the remaining points of sale 11, thus leading to the acquisition of a new group of purchasers 14 by the contracting point of sale 13. In detail, the method of purchase is as follows. When purchasing an item or a service from a contracting point of sale, the consumer will supply the vendor with his magnetic recognition card so that the purchase of the item/service will be duly recorded by the vendor. In a preferred procedure, the consumer may pay for the item/service by normal payment means (cash, cheque, debit or credit card) with immediate deduction of the discount previously agreed between the point of sale and the Structure for each of the goods/services which are subjects of the contract. Alternatively, the member consumer may pay the full price for the item/service and the Structure may then partially reimburse the member consumer, for example, by means of periodic bank transfers or by direct reimbursement at credit institutions. In a variant of the method, the member consumer will be reimbursed with shopping vouchers for use at agreed points of sale. In a further embodiment of the invention, the Structure will issue member consumers with a magnetic card on which an amount prepaid by the consumer directly to the Organizational Structure is recorded in addition to the consumer recognition elements. In this case, it will not be necessary to use cash or other payment means at the time of purchase, but the cost of the goods/services purchased by the consumer, duly discounted as agreed with the Structure, will be deducted directly from the prepaid sum. The sum can be topped up successively in the most convenient ways, for example, by bank transfers or directly with the Structure. The Organizational Structure will provide the points of sale with means for reading the member consumers' magnetic cards, for use in recording purchases. Moreover, the Structure will have the necessary data-processing means which enable information relating to the purchases made to be received from the contracting points of sale so as to be able to determine the size of the fee due to the Structure from the point of sale and, if necessary, the amount to be reimbursed to the member consumer. The implementation of the method of the present invention affords many advantages both for the consumers and for the contracting points of sale. Amongst the advantages for consumers are, in particular, immediate savings on the prices of goods and services, saving of time in the search for a suitable point of sale, and complete freedom from financial burdens and obligations with respect to the Structure. Amongst the advantages for the agreed points of sale are the increase in the customer portfolio, customer loyalty, the increase in the volume of business, as well as considerable indirect publicity. CLAIMS 1. A method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services, comprising the steps of: - forming an Organizational Structure which a plurality of consumers can join, - establishing with at least one point of sale of the goods or services, by means of the Structure, a discount percentage to be given to the plurality of member consumers for the purchase of at least one of the goods or services so as to facilitate the purchase of the goods or services by some of the member consumers at the point of sale, the method being characterized in that membership of the Organizational Structure is free for the plurality of consumers, and in that the at least one point of sale provides the Structure with a monetary fee on the basis of the sale of the goods or services to the plurality of member consumers. 2. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the monetary fee is established on the basis of a percentage of the income from which the at least one point of sale has benefited as a result of the purchases made by the plurality of member consumers. 3. A method according to Claim 2 wherein the monetary fee is established on the basis of a percentage of the income resulting from the greater number of goods or services sold by the point of sale with respect to a predetermined historical value preceding the contract of the sales point with the Structure for the discount percentage to be applied to the goods or services. 4. A method according to one or more of Claims 1 to 3 wherein each purchase of the goods or services made by the member consumers is recorded at the at least one point of sale by means of a personal magnetic card issued by the Organizational Structure to the member consumers. 5. A method according to Claim 4 wherein, after the recording, the consumers can pay for the item or service directly in discounted form, as established between the Structure and the point of sale. 6. A method according to Claim 4 wherein, after the recording, the consumers pay for the item or service in full and are reimbursed periodically by the Organizational Structure with the amounts resulting from the discounts made by the at least one point of sale. 7. A method according to Claim 4 wherein an amount prepaid by the consumer is recorded on the magnetic card by the Structure and the cost of the purchase of the good or service is deducted from that amount. 8. A method according to one or more of the preceding claims wherein the Structure provides the member consumers with a list of the points of sale, of the goods and services sold in discounted form, and of the respective discount percentages established. 9. A method according to one or more of the preceding claims in which the purchase is made on the internet. ABSTRACT A method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services comprises the steps of forming an Organizational Structure which a plurality of consumers can join and establishing with at least one point of sale of goods or services, by means of the Structure, a discount percentage to be given to the member consumers for the purchase of at least one of the goods or services so as to facilitate the purchase thereof by some of the consumers at the point of sale. According to this method, membership of the Organizational Structure is free for the plurality of consumers and the points of sale provide the Structure with a monetary fee on the basis of the sale of the goods or services to the plurality of member consumers. 5. Assessment of the advantages for ... … The Consumer Savings on purchases without the need to bargain Saving of time Knowing that a competent person has already negotiated the best purchase conditions Earmaking and accumulation of financial resources No burden, obligation or constraint on the consumer and no membership cost …The member businesses Increase in customer portfolio Customer loyalty Increase in volume of business Indirect publicity … The Association The model has infinite applications The Association could have further returns throught more or less indirect advertising to the member commercial concerns The Association would not suffer in any way from unfavourable economic circumstances since its activity is not focused on any particular sector Potentially unlimited returns 6. Hypothesis on the development of the Project Payment methods for the Consumer In view of the fact that the Association will have to receive a percentage on the purchases made by the member consumers, there is a need for such purchases to be monitored and recorded. For this purpose, the following methods of payment have been considered: 1) Magnetic Card Each consumer would be provided with a magnetic card on which, at the time of purchase, the merchant would have to record the items or services, complete with the corresponding price paid by the consumer. Each magnetic card would be identified by a progressive number connected with the customer’s personal data. Customers would be assigned a password so that they could monitor, on the internet, the items purchased and the discount enjoyed. In support of the recording, payment would always take through conventional channels: cash, ATM, credit card, cheques. 2) Prepaid card In this case, the consumer would be provided with a magnetic card which he could load with a chosen sum via the internet, or by going to an agency of the association or to a branch of an agreed bank. When presented to the merchant, they will record on the card the items or services purchased with the consequent deduction from the card of the amount spent. The consumer will not have to provide for further payments by the appointed means in support of this recording. The merchant will receive the amounts owing (net of the percentage for the association) periodically after presentation of the invoice. 3) Magnetic card with Periodic Reimbursements Purchases would again be recorded on magnetic card (as in point one) with the difference that the consumer would have to pay the full price initially and the amounts relating to the discount enjoyed would be paid to him periodically (by internet, voucher, cheque). 4) By Internet The purchases could also be made on line; in this case, the consumer would have to enter his card number and a password so as to be able to access the discounts which would be recorded automatically. Remarks on the foregoing points. The payment means which seems most suitable is that in point one (magnetic card) with the corresponding immediate cash saving for the consumer. It is a simple method which not require complex support technology and the consumer would be able to see the advantages straight away. Free membership for the Consumer Point No. 1 is greatly preferred since the association does not aim to get its profit from the consumers. The number of consumers is fundamental in order for the association to have ever greater negotiating power in order to enter into contracts and, moreover, since this method also has a communal function (it gives a saving) it seems right to offer membership at zero cost. The consumers can join and request the association’s card autonomously via the internet, by going to an agency, by telephone, or by post, or may be contacted by a call centre. Methods of entering into contracts with Businesses, Merchants. 1) By Internet The merchants or suppliers of service which wish to join the project will be able to enter contract proposals on a suitable site, specifying which items or services they sell and what discounts they are prepared to give. It will then be up to the association to select the best offers and enter into contracts. 2) By means of a Network of Agents In this case, the association will make use of a network of agents/representatives which extends over the territory and which will have the task of contacting the various commercial concerns proposing contracts. 7. Prudent estimates and simulations of the profitability of the Project In order to calculate very prudently the profitability resulting from the application of the project, it is necessary to take account of some data relating to the countries in which the system is to be used. This data relates to the number of families present in the territory under consideration, the average monthly spend the family, the average margin on prices to the consumer of the various commercial concerns. The territories considered are: the United States, Italy, and Europe more generally. The data used is that provided by official data banks such as ISTAT for Italy. EUROSTAT for Europe, and those provided by the United Sated Department of Labor for the U.S.A. United State Estimates From the data in our possession, which is taken from official publications, it is clear that 116,282,000 families (consumer units) live in the United States territory. The average monthly spend per family is 2,749.06 Euros ($3,616.25). (Year of reference: 2004) Italy Estimates From the data in our possession, which is taken from official publications, it is clear that 23,261,386 families live in the Italian territory. The average monthly spend per family is 2,397.54 Euros. (Year of reference: 2005) Europe Estimates From the data in our possession, which is taken from official publications, it is clear that 155,733,000 families (consumer units) live in the European territory. The average monthly spend per family is 2,500 Euros. (Year of reference: 2001) In conclusion How many families will join the system? Since membership of the association is completely free to consumers and does not involve any obligation to purchase, or the like, it is estimated that the number of families joining might be 1%; There would therefore be: UNITED STATES – 1,162,820 families (2004) ITALY – 232,613,90 families (2005) EUROPE – 1.557,730 (2001) What will the percentage due to the Association on the purchases amount to? Since it is not possible to make a realistic estimate on the margins of the commercial concerns for the various sectors and it is consequently not possible to hypothesize the discount to be given to consumers, it has been assumed, very conservatively, that the percentage return to the Association will be 1% of the average monthly spend per family (considering that the family make all of their purchases from contracting concerns). There would therefore be the following return per family. UNITED STATES – 27.50 Euros monthly return per family (2004) ITALY – 23.98 Euros monthly return per family (2005) EUROPE – 25.00 Euros monthly return per family (2001) Possible monthly return for the Association The monthly return in the United State can therefore be estimated as 31,977,550 Euros (2004) The monthly return in Italy can therefore be estimated as 5.578,08.32 Euros (2005) The monthly return in Europe can therefore be estimated as 38,943,250 Euros (2001) ___________________________________________________
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