Patents by Inventor Shafiq Shariff

Shafiq Shariff has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210035171
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for forecasting demand. An example method comprises generating a virtual offer for one or more combinations of a category or sub-category, location, and price range, accessing consumer data comprising one or more users and user data related to each of the one or more users, calculating a probability that a particular user would buy a particular offer in a particular time frame for at least a portion of the plurality of users and for each of the virtual offers, and determining an estimated number of units of to be sold for at least a portion of the one or more virtual offers as a function of at least the probability associated with each of the one or more virtual offers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Rajesh Parekh, Bob Beaty, Feili Hou
  • Publication number: 20210019775
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for managing a sales pipeline, and in some embodiments, generating demand based on real time demand and predicted demand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2020
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Publication number: 20210004846
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for identifying a service need via a promotional system, and offering the service need to a third party. Promotions may be offered via a promotional system for a consumer to purchase in exchange for a discounted product or service from a provider. Demand information, which may be collected based on promotions and/or other sources. A residual demand may be calculated based on the demand information and available inventory. The residual demand may be utilized to identify a service need. The service need may be identified in a geographic area having a similar demographic to a geographic area having an associated successful promotion. A service need may be provided to a third party or provider, and may indicate the need for a new business or expansion of a current business.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Publication date: January 7, 2021
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Tyler Jennings
  • Patent number: 10853836
    Abstract: The unified payment system, product and method provide an effective and efficient way to better communicate to a merchant the value of running a promotion and determine a deal structure that works for the merchant, the customer, the promotion system, or any combination thereof. The unified payment system, product and method provide real-time ROI calculations that a merchant and sales representative can collaboratively simultaneously work on to identify a deal structure for the merchant to select. In this way, the merchant and sales representative may arrive at a mutually acceptable payment plan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: GROUPON, INC.
    Inventors: Jadam Kahn, Mike Aparicio, Michael Hines, Shafiq Shariff, Todd Webb, Derek Nordquist
  • Publication number: 20200357010
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for managing a sales pipeline, and in some embodiments, calculating supply based on travel propensity. An example method comprises identifying a total demand for a promotion tuple at a geographic location, determining, using a processor, a promotion area for the promotion tuple, the promotion tuple comprising at least a category, price information and a geographic area, identifying one or more promotions offered by a promotion and marketing service that comprise at least the category and the price information of the promotion tuple, determining whether the total demand for the promotion tuple at the geographic location is satisfied, wherein the total demand is satisfied in an instance in which the geographic location is within the promotion area for the one or more promotions, and identifying a demand gap in an instance in which the total demand for the promotion tuple at the geographic location is not satisfied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Publication date: November 12, 2020
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Publication number: 20200349805
    Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating the awarding of prizes in chance-based contests in various ways, such as chance-based contests which are part of promotional advertising, etc. In at least some embodiments, the techniques include facilitating the awarding of prizes at the time a contestant enter or plays the contests, while awarding a selected number of prizes, which may be determined before the contest starts. In at least some embodiments, the techniques include employing an award counter to control awarding of prizes in a chance-based contest. For example, an award counter may be incremented at random or pseudo-random times. In at least some embodiments, the contest is associated with a location-based virtual group of users that has one or more associated geographical areas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Inventors: Gregory J. CONKLIN, Alison ALLGOR, David CRAWFORD, Naresh DHIMAN, Jeffrey A. HOLDEN, Shafiq SHARIFF
  • Patent number: 10817886
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for identifying a service need via a promotional system, and offering the service need to a third party. Promotions may be offered via a promotional system for a consumer to purchase in exchange for a discounted product or service from a provider. Demand information, which may be collected based on promotions and/or other sources. A residual demand may be calculated based on the demand information and available inventory. The residual demand may be utilized to identify a service need. The service need may be identified in a geographic area having a similar demographic to a geographic area having an associated successful promotion. A service need may be provided to a third party or provider, and may indicate the need for a new business or expansion of a current business.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Tyler Jennings
  • Patent number: 10817887
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for setting a benchmark conversion rate. An example method comprises accessing user search data, the user search data generated by a user interacting with a promotion and marketing service to identify a requested promotion, generating an identification pair for the search data, the identification pair comprising an identification of a promotion tuple and a geographic subdivision, generating a search velocity based on the generated identification pairs, accessing a conversion rate for the promotion tuple in a plurality of geographic subdivisions and setting a benchmark rate for a promotion tuple, the benchmark rate corresponding to the conversion rate of a subdivision of the plurality of subdivisions based on the subdivision satisfying at least one of a search velocity threshold, a prime merchant metric threshold or a conversion rate threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Patent number: 10798524
    Abstract: Techniques are described for providing location-based information and functionality to people and computing devices in various ways. In at least some situations, the techniques include enabling multiple people in a common geographic area to interact in various ways, such as via devices capable of communications (e.g., cellular telephones, computing devices with wired and/or wireless communications capabilities, etc.), while in other situations at least some users who are remote from a particular geographic area may be allowed to intercommunicate with one or more other users or other entities in or related to that geographic area. In addition, the techniques include enabling the creation and maintenance of location-based virtual groups of users (also referred to as “clouds”), such as for users of mobile and/or fixed-location devices. Such clouds may enable various types of interactions between group members, and may be temporary and/or mobile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Alan Holden, Jeffrey M. Ayars, Gregory J. Conklin, Shafiq Shariff, Nathaniel Blake Scholl, John Kim
  • Publication number: 20200302473
    Abstract: The method, apparatus and computer program product described herein is configured to train and deploy a predictive model that is configured to generate a predicted ROI value for a provider with respect to a current promotion or a future promotion. An example embodiment may comprise receiving input indicative of one or more attributes of a provider or a promotion. The example embodiment may further comprise generating at least one of a predicted return on investment (ROI) value or a predicted ROI component value based at least in part on the one or more attributes of the provider or the promotion and a ROI prediction model. The method may further still comprise generating a merchant impact report including the at least one of the predicted ROI value or the predicted ROI component value for the promotion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2020
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Inventors: Latife Genc-Kaya, Kamson Lai, Raju Balakrishnan, Natalia Corominas, Cristian Orellana, Amit Koren, Gaston L'Huillier, Francisco Larrain, Adam Geitgey, Jadam Kahn, Mike Aparicio, Michael Hines, Shafiq Shariff, Todd Webb, Derek Nordquist
  • Patent number: 10733621
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for providing sales pipeline automation. An example method comprises calculating a forecasted demand, the forecasted demand comprising at least one or more virtual offers and a demanded quantity of at least a portion of the one or more virtual offers, identifying one or more merchants, wherein the one or more merchants are identified as able to supply at least a portion of the residual demand, assigning the one or more merchants to one or more sales resources in accordance with at least a calculated sales value of the one or more merchants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Rajesh Parekh, Matt Deland, Brian Mullins, Kris Urie, Derek Nordquist, Shawn Jeffery, Bob Beaty
  • Publication number: 20200234343
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed for updating a structure database. The method includes accessing a corpus of machine readable text generated based on a plurality of promotions, wherein each of the plurality of promotions comprises at least one promotion option associated with at least one service, and extracting features from the promotion options, the features being mapped to services associated with respective promotion options from which the features are extracted. The method further includes identifying one or more components associated with the extracted features, tagging, using a processor, each promotion option with every component associated with at least one feature of the promotion option, and updating a structure database using the tagged promotion options. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2019
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventors: Mechie NKENGLA, Kavita KOCHAR, Shafiq SHARIFF, Gaston L'HUILLIER, Rajesh PAREKH, Logan Tyler JENNINGS
  • Publication number: 20200226641
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed to score elements of a structure database. The method includes accessing a structure database comprising one or more promotion options, one or more promotion option structures, and one or more promotion structures, wherein each promotion structure comprises one or more of the promotion option structures, each promotion option structure corresponds to one or more of the promotion options, and each promotion option is associated with at least one service. The method further includes generating a promotion option score for each promotion option in the structure database, generating, by a processor, a promotion option structure score for each promotion option structure in the structure database, and generating a promotion structure score for each promotion structure in the structure database. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Publication date: July 16, 2020
    Inventors: Mechie NKENGLA, Kavita KOCHAR, Shafiq SHARIFF, Gaston L'HUILLIER, Rajesh Girish PAREKH, Logan Tyler JENNINGS
  • Patent number: 10706435
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for managing a sales pipeline, and in some embodiments, calculating supply based on travel propensity. An example method comprises identifying a total demand for a promotion tuple at a geographic location, determining, using a processor, a promotion area for the promotion tuple, the promotion tuple comprising at least a category, price information and a geographic area, identifying one or more promotions offered by a promotion and marketing service that comprise at least the category and the price information of the promotion tuple, determining whether the total demand for the promotion tuple at the geographic location is satisfied, wherein the total demand is satisfied in an instance in which the geographic location is within the promotion area for the one or more promotions, and identifying a demand gap in an instance in which the total demand for the promotion tuple at the geographic location is not satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Patent number: 10692101
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for providing a dashboard. An example method comprises determining, using a processor, a total demand for one or more promotion tuples, identifying a current supply, wherein the current supply is identified in an instance in which the current supply is usable to satisfy the total demand, determining one or more demand gaps based on a difference between the total demand and the current supply, providing a first view in a lead dashboard, the first view comprising at least one of a total demand, current supply or one or more demand gaps, receiving a selection of one of a plurality of granularities of either a location or category, and refining the first view into a second view, the second view comprising additional granularity of at least one of a total demand, current supply or one or more demand gaps when compared to the first view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Publication number: 20200193467
    Abstract: The unified payment system, product and method provide an effective and efficient way to better communicate to a merchant the value of running a promotion and determine a deal structure that works for the merchant, the customer, the promotion system, or any combination thereof. The unified payment system, product and method provide real-time ROI calculations that a merchant and sales representative can collaboratively simultaneously work on to identify a deal structure for the merchant to select. In this way, the merchant and sales representative may arrive at a mutually acceptable payment plan.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist, Michael Hines, Mike Aparicio, Todd Webb, Jadam Kahn, Raju BALAKRISHNAN, Natalia COROMINAS, Adam GEITGEY, Latife GENC-KAYA, Amit KOREN, Kamson LAI, Francisco Jose LARRAIN, Gaston L'HUILLIER, Cristian ORELLANA
  • Patent number: 10685362
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for managing a sales pipeline, and in some embodiments, generating demand based on real time demand and predicted demand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Patent number: 10679265
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for assigning leads. An example for method for assigning leads comprises receiving a list of one or more merchants, wherein the one or more merchants comprise a sales value and an indication of an ability to provide a service associated with at least one demanded offer, accessing sales resource data comprising at least one or more sales resources and an associated capacity for contacting one or more merchants, assigning one or more sales resources an assignment probability number, wherein an assignment probability number represents a probability that a sales resource will be randomly assigned a next supply source in an assignment process, adjusting an assignment probability number based on the associated capacity, and assigning at least a portion of the one or more merchants according to at least the assignment probability number of the one or more sales resource and the sales value of the one or more merchants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Kris Urie, Derek Nordquist, Bodaniel Jeanes, Kevin Baribeau
  • Patent number: 10657560
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for classifying user search data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Derek Nordquist
  • Patent number: 10657567
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for forecasting demand. An example method comprises generating a virtual offer for one or more combinations of a category or sub-category, location, and price range, accessing consumer data comprising one or more users and user data related to each of the one or more users, calculating a probability that a particular user would buy a particular offer in a particular time frame for at least a portion of the plurality of users and for each of the virtual offers, and determining an estimated number of units of to be sold for at least a portion of the one or more virtual offers as a function of at least the probability associated with each of the one or more virtual offers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Rajesh Parekh, Bob Beaty, Feili Hou