# US 2014/0207556 A1 · Point of sale offer redemptions

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- Number: US 2014/0207556 A1
- Document ID: US20140207556A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/222,558
- Filed: 2014-03-21
- Published: 2014-07-24
- Earliest claimed: 2012-05-09
- Assignees: Google Inc.
- Applicants: Google Inc.
- Inventors: Philipp Hertel; Paul Lee; Sheldon I. Walfish; Alexander W. Hertel; Steven Viavant; Dan Moisa; Gene Sokolov
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140207556A1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0238: at point-of-sale [POS]
- G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Processing of point of sale (“POS”) redemptions via a “tap” of a contactless device comprises a POS data collector that facilitates a connection with a contactless device. A merchant scans items for purchase using a POS scanner, which captures product identification information. The POS scanner forwards the product identification information to a POS terminal. The POS data collector intercepts the product identification information between the POS scanner and the POS terminal. A user taps the contactless device in the POS data collector's radio frequency field, and a communication channel is established between the contactless device and the POS data collector. The POS data collector identifies the user via the contactless device and identifies coupons, merchant offers, and other value-added services to redeem with the transaction. The POS data collector forwards this information to the POS terminal, the redemptions are applied to the transaction, and the communication is terminated.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method for providing point of sale processing of offers, comprising:
scanning, by a point of sale scanner, one or more items for a purchase transaction to capture product identification information for each item;
receiving, by a point of sale data collector from the point of sale scanner, the product identification information for each item;
forwarding, by the point of sale data collector, the received product identification information to a point of sale terminal;
detecting, by the point of sale data collector, a mobile communication device in proximity to the point of sale data collector;
establishing a communication channel between the mobile communication device and the point of sale data collector;
receiving, by the point of sale data collector via the communication channel with the mobile communication device, identifying information for a user of the mobile communication device;
communicating, by the computer, the identifying information for the user, the product identification information, and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction for use in identifying one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction;
receiving, by the computers, one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction, the one or more offers having been identified based on at least one of the identifying information for the user, the product identification information, and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, each of the one or more offers comprising a redemption code;
transmitting, by the point of sale data collector, the redemption code for each of the one or more offers to the point of sale terminal; and
redeeming, by the point of sale terminal, the one or more redemption offers based on the redemption code for each of the one or more offers.

### Claim 2

A computer-implemented method for providing point of sale processing of offers, comprising:
receiving, by a computer, product identification information for each item in a purchase transaction;
communicating, by the computer, the received product identification information to a point of sale terminal;
detecting, by the computer, a mobile communication device in proximity to the computer;
establishing a communication channel between the mobile communication device and the computer;
receiving, by the computer via the communication channel with the mobile communication device, identifying information for a user of the mobile communication device;
communicating, by the computer, the identifying information for the user, the product identification information, and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction for use in identifying one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction;
receiving, by the computers, one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction, the one or more offers having been identified based on at least one of the identifying information for the user, the product identification information, and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, each of the one or more offers comprising a redemption code; and
communicating, by the computer, the redemption code for each of the one or more offers to the point of sale terminal to be redeemed in connection with the transaction.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is established using at least one of near field communication (NFC), Bluetooth communication, or Wi-Fi communication.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the product identification information for each item in the transaction is obtained from a corresponding machine-readable identifier on each respective item.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more offers comprise at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving an input of a selection identifying a particular one of the offers to be redeemed in connection with the transaction.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, further comprising:
receiving, by a remote computer, the identifying information for the user, the product identification information, and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction;
identifying, by the remote computer, offers available to the user of the mobile communications device;
comparing, by the remote computer, the available offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the transaction;
selecting, by the remote computer, the offers to apply based on the offers that have redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and
communicating, by the remote computer, the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction.

### Claim 8

A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for providing point of sale processing of offer redemptions, the computer-readable medium comprising:
computer-readable program code to intercept, between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device, product identification information for an item in a purchase transaction;
computer-readable program code to receive, from a mobile communication device, information associated with a plurality of stored offers;
computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction;
computer-readable program code to obtain information to redeem the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction; and
computer-readable program code to transmit the redemption information to the transaction processing device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising computer-readable program code to establish and to terminate a communication channel with the mobile communication device.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the communication channel is established using at least one of a near field communication (NFC) protocol, a Bluetooth communication protocol, and a Wi-Fi communication protocol.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the product identification information for the item in the transaction is obtained from a machine-readable identifier on the item.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the plurality of stored offers comprises at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
computer-readable program code to read the product identification information for the item in the transaction and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction;
computer-readable program code to identify the plurality of stored offers based on the information associated with the plurality of stored offers;
computer-readable program code to compare the stored offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and
computer-readable program code to select the offer to apply based on which offers have redemption rules that are met by the transaction.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising computer-readable program code to receive an input of a selection identifying a particular one of the offers to be redeemed in connection with the transaction.

### Claim 15 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
computer-readable program code to communicate, to a remote computer, the product identification information for the item in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the plurality of stored offers; and
computer-readable program code to receive, from the remote computer, the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.

### Claim 16 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
computer-readable program code to communicate, to the mobile communication device, the product identification information for the item in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the plurality of stored offers; and
computer-readable program code to receive, from the mobile communication device, the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.

### Claim 17

A system for providing point of sale processing of offer redemptions, comprising:
a data collecting device configured to
intercept, between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device, product identification information for each of a plurality of items in a purchase transaction,
forward the product identification information to the transaction processing device,
receive, from a mobile communication device, information associated with a plurality of stored offers, and
communicate the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the stored offers; and
a remote computer configured to
receive, from the data collecting device, the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction, the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the stored offers,
identify the stored offers based on the information associated with the stored offers,
identify at least one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction based on the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, and
communicate, to the data collecting device, redemption information for each of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction,
wherein the data collecting device is further configured to communicate the redemption information to the transaction processing device for redemption in connection with the transaction.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the information associated with the stored offers comprises information identifying an account of a user of the mobile communication device, the account operated by the remote computer and having the stored offers associated therewith.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a communication channel established with the mobile communication device.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a near field communication channel established with the mobile communication device.

### Claim 21 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi communication channel established with the mobile communication device.

### Claim 22 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction is obtained from a machine-readable identifier on each respective one of the items.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of stored offers comprises at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward.

### Claim 24 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the data collecting device is further configured to:
communicate, to the mobile communication device, a plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction; and
receive an input of a selection identifying a particular one of the plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction,
wherein the redemption information communicated to the transaction processing device comprises redemption information for the particular one of the plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.

### Claim 25

A computer-implemented method for providing point of sale processing of offers, comprising:
receiving, by a computer, identifying information for a user of a mobile communications device, product identification information for each of a plurality of items in a purchase transaction, and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the purchase transaction, the product identification information having been intercepted between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device during the purchase transaction;
identifying, by the computer, offers available to the user of the mobile communications device;
comparing, by the computer, the available offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the transaction;
selecting, by the computer, the offers to apply based on the offers that have redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and
communicating, by the remote computer, the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction.