Groupon, Inc.
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for providing a platform for negotiation and provision of promotions

Abstract:

Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided herein to facilitate negotiation between consumers and merchants for promotions. In one embodiment, a method for generating promotion impressions is provided which includes receiving a consumer request for a promotion, wherein the consumer request comprises one or more indications of consumer preferences for the promotion and determining one or more potential merchants based in part on the consumer request. The method further comprises determining, for each potential merchant, if the potential merchant has pre-established promotion criteria that would meet the consumer request and if the potential merchant has pre-established promotion criteria that would meet the consumer request, storing promotion data for the potential merchant. The method further comprises, if the potential merchant does not have pre-established promotion criteria that would meet the consumer request, providing the consumer request to the potential merchant and, if a response is received from the potential merchant with promotion data, storing promotion data for the potential merchant. The method further comprises generating an impression comprising the promotion data for the one or more potential merchants. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.