Mobile point-of-sale (POS) techniques

• US 10,043,167 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2012
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Hardin, Clay Norris, Blevins, Charles David, Burke, Dustin, Burks, Jamie Grant, Parker, Lawrence David
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, Florian M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Buchanan, Christopher R
• Application Number:
  US13/548,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20140019274A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,216 Days
• Field of Search: 705 16, 705 21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]

Abstract

Mobile POS techniques are presented. A POS interface is configured and distributed to a mobile device over a network connection. The POS interface is a self-contained retail transaction system for a retailer. The mobile device is configured to execute the retail transaction system providing remote network or cloud-based services for data retrieval, and data storage to the retail transaction system on the mobile device. One or more retail transactions are processed on the mobile device via the POS interface.

Claims

1. A method for portable retail processing, the method programmed in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as executable instructions that are executed by a mobile device, the method comprising:

remotely and dynamically acquiring, at the mobile device, a self-contained retail transaction system as a point-of-sale (POS) interface;

dynamically installing, by the mobile device, the POS interface;

dynamically initiating, by the mobile device, the POS interface;

performing, by the mobile device, one or more retail transactions via the POS interface, and wherein the POS interface wirelessly controls peripheral devices by wirelessly interacting with a hub to which the peripheral devices have a wired connection and the POS interface wirelessly communicates with the hub to interact with peripheral devices that include a barcode scanner, a camera, a printer, a remote monitor, a magnetic card reader, a cash drawer, and a weighing device for produce when performing the one or more retail transactions and continues to conduct transactions when the mobile device is offline by recording transaction information when the device is offline and automatically processes the recorded transactions upon the mobile device returns to an online state, and wherein the POS interface operating as an encapsulated interface for a complete POS system, and wherein performing further includes accessing, by the POS interface a backend retail transaction processing system over a network when performing the retail transaction for accessing backend retail transaction services that include;

retail accounting processing, retail reporting processing, and loyalty processing, thereby providing the portable retail processing from the mobile device;

controlling, from the mobile device, a cash drawer on direction of the POS interface, the cash drawer wirelessly controlled during the one or more retail transactions; and

emailing, by the mobile device, receipts for the retail transactions to consumer email accounts.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, interacting, via the mobile device, with a credit card processing service on direction of the POS interface, the interaction with the credit card processing service performed wirelessly during the one or more retail transactions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein remotely acquiring further includes obtaining the PUS interface from a network-based application store.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing further includes interacting with a remote cloud processing environment to obtain details and record other details used with the one or more transactions, the POS interface wirelessly interacts with the remote cloud processing environment during the one or more transactions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing further includes performing at least one transaction via the POS interface after the mobile device has lost network connectivity.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising, updating a remote cloud processing environment with details for the at least one transaction when the mobile device has network connectivity restored.

7. A system for portable retail processing, comprising:

a processor of a server machine configured with point-of-sale (POS) distribution service implemented within a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and that executes on the processor; and

a POS interface implemented within a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and that executes on a mobile device;

wherein;

the POS distribution service is configured to dynamically distribute the POS interface to the mobile device as a self-contained retail transaction processing system over a network connection, the POS interface is a encapsulated interface representing a complete POS system through interactions a backend cloud-based environment to interact with backend retail transaction services and information, and the POS interface configured to perform retail transactions from the mobile device and interact with the backend cloud-based environment for details used with the retail transactions and to record other details associated with performing the retail transactions,

the POS interface is configured to record specific transactions when the mobile device is offline and automatically process the recorded specific transactions when the mobile device reconnects to the backend cloud-based environment,

the backend retail transaction services include;

retail accounting processing, retail reporting processing, and loyalty processing, thereby providing the portable retail processing from the mobile device,

the POS interface further configured to one or more of;

email receipts for the retail transactions and text the receipts for the retail transaction, and

the POS interface is further configured to interact with a hub to which peripheral devices have a wired connection and the POS interface wirelessly communicates with the hub to interact with peripheral devices that include a barcode scanner, a camera, a printer, a remote monitor, a magnetic card reader, a cash drawer, and a weighing device for produce during the retail transactions, the cash drawer being wirelessly controllable when backend retail transaction services are not available with cash drawer activity being reconciled when the backend retail transaction services again become available.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the mobile device is one of:

a phone, a laptop, and a tablet.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the POS distribution service is configured to interact with a network-based application store to publish and distribute the POS interface.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the POS interface is configured to wirelessly control peripheral devices when performing the retail transactions.