Small store system
AssigneeCatalina Marketing Corporation
InventorsSteven J. Greenfield, Darren Moss
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and methods of use are discloses that default routing of an ID read by an ID reader as part of a purchase transaction in a retail store, to a first computer system (MCS) instead of the POS computer system for the retail store, the first computer system processes the ID, and the POS computer system receives the results of the processing in the form of a IDs recognizable by the POS computer system and for which the POS computer system has associated costs.
Claims29
A device for routing to a point of sale computer product identifications scanned at an identification reader or price lookup identifications used by the point of sale computer to determine price discounts associated with coupons scanned at the identification reader, the device comprising:
- an input/output (“I/O”) configured to:
- (i) receive identifiers from the identification reader, wherein the identifiers include product identifications or coupon identifications,
- (ii) receive product lookup identifications from a marketing computer that returns the product lookup identifications when the identifiers identify coupons, and
- (iii) transmit the product identifications or the product lookup identifications to the point of sale computer;
- and
- at least one processor configured to:
- receive a first identifier from the identification reader via the I/O;
- transmit the first identifier to the marketing computer via the I/O;
- determine whether the product lookup identification associated with a price discount is received from the marketing computer, wherein the product lookup identification is received from the marketing computer when the first identifier includes a coupon identification;
- cause the product lookup identification to be transmitted to the point of sale computer when the product lookup identification is received from the marketing computer;
- and
- cause the first identifier to be transmitted to the point of sale computer when the product lookup identification is not received from the marketing computer.
A method for routing to a point of sale computer product identifications scanned at an identification reader or price lookup identifications used by the point of sale computer to determine price discounts associated with coupons scanned at the identification reader, the method comprising:
- receiving, by an input/output (“I/O”), identifiers from the identification reader, wherein the identifiers include product identifications or coupon identifications,
- receiving, by the I/O, product lookup identifications from a marketing computer that returns the product lookup identifications when the identifiers identify coupons, and
- transmitting, by the I/O, the product identifications or the product lookup identifications to the point of sale computer;
- receiving, by at least one processor, a first identifier from the identification reader via the I/O;
- transmitting, by the at least one processor, the first identifier to the marketing computer via the I/O;
- determining, by the at least one processor, whether the product lookup identification associated with a price discount is received from the marketing computer, wherein the product lookup identification is received from the marketing computer when the first identifier includes a coupon identification;
- causing, by the at least one processor, the product lookup identification to be transmitted to the point of sale computer when the product lookup identification is received from the marketing computer;
- and
- causing, by the at least one processor, the first identifier to be transmitted to the point of sale computer when the product lookup identification is not received from the marketing computer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.