Gift-registry apparatus and method
AssigneeWal-Mart Stores, Inc.
InventorsStuart Argue, Anthony Emile Marcar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is disclosed for administering a gift registry. Within the method, a computer system may associate or link a gift registry to a computing device in the possession of a customer. A point-of-sale system forming part of the computer system may then initiate a transaction comprising the purchase of an item by the customer. The computer system may identify a link between the computing device and the transaction, determine that the item is listed within the gift registry, and receive confirmation that the item was purchased for the gift registry. Accordingly, the computer system may modify the gift registry to reflect the purchase of the item.
Claims20
A method for administering a gift registry, the method comprising:
- creating, by a computer system corresponding to a retailer, a gift registry identifying one or more products that a first customer would like to receive as gifts;
- generating, by the computer system, a record designating a second customer as a potential participant in the gift registry;
- initiating, by the computer system after the generating, a transaction comprising the sale by the retailer of an item to the second customer;
- determining, by the computer system after the initiating, that the item was purchased by the second customer as a gift for the first customer, the determining comprising
- using, by the computer system, the record to identify the second customer as a potential participant in the gift registry,
- determining, by the computer system, that the item is a product of the one or more products listed within the gift registry,
- sending, by the computer system, a query to a computing device of the second customer inquiring whether the second customer purchased the item for the first customer, and
- receiving, by the computer system from the computing device, confirmation that the item was purchased for the first customer;
- and
- modifying, by the computer system, the gift registry to indicate that the product has been purchased.
A method for administering a gift registry, the method comprising:
- creating, by a computer system corresponding to a retailer, a gift registry identifying one or more products that a first customer would like to receive as gifts;
- initiating and completing, by a point-of-sale system forming part of the computer system, a transaction comprising the sale by the retailer of an item to a second customer;
- determining, by the computer system after the initiating, that the item is a product of the one or more products listed within the gift registry;
- sending, by the computer system after the determining, a query to a mobile device possessed by the second customer inquiring whether the second customer purchased the item for the first customer;
- receiving, by the computer system from the mobile device after the sending, confirmation that the item was purchased for the first customer;
- and
- modifying, by the computer system after the receiving, the gift registry to indicate that the product has been purchased.
A computer system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- one or more memory devices operably connected to the one or more processors;
- and
- the one or more memory devices collectively storing
- a data store containing records corresponding to a gift registry, the records identifying one or more products that a customer would like to receive as gifts from one or more friends or relatives thereof,
- a distribution module programmed to link a plurality of mobile computing devices to the gift registry, each mobile computing device of the plurality of mobile computing devices corresponding to a different friend or relative of the one or more friends or relatives,
- a comparison module programmed to identify within one or more point-of-sale transactions involving any of the one or more friends or relatives one or more matching items, each matching item thereof being a product of the one or more products listed within the gift registry,
- the comparison module further programmed to query one or more of the plurality of mobile computing devices to determine whether the one or more matching items were purchased for the gift registry, and
- an update module programmed to update the gift registry in accordance with purchases made therefor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.