Seamless promotion redemption

• US 10,552,868 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2014
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Kim, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Reagan, James A
• Application Number:
  US14/312,588
• Time in Patent Office: 2,052 Days
• Field of Search: 705 141
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and related methods of providing seamless transactions, including payments and promotion redemptions, are discussed herein. Some embodiments may provide for a system including a communication beacon and one or more servers. The communication beacon may be configured to communicate with consumer devices via a direct wireless connection when the consumer devices are within a wireless direct communicable range of the communication beacon. The one or more servers may be configured to associate the communication with a merchant and receive consumer presence data from the communication beacon such that consumer presence at the merchant may be determined. In response, the one or more servers may be configured to perform a seamless transaction on behalf the consumer that allows the consumer to provide payments or redeem promotions, among other things, simply by self-identifying with the merchant while carrying the consumer device.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a communication beacon having a fixed location, wherein the communication beacon comprises of at least a beacon processor and a beacon non-transitory memory associated with the beacon processor, wherein the beacon non-transitory memory comprises a first set of instructions, when executed by the beacon processor, cause the communication beacon to;

communicate with a consumer device via a direct wireless connection when the consumer device is within a wireless direct communicable range of the communication beacon, wherein the direct wireless connection is a wireless personal area network (PAN) connection;

transmit consumer presence data, wherein the consumer presence data comprises;

a beacon identifier that identifies the communication beacon,

consumer device location data received from the consumer device, and

signal characteristics of the direct wireless connection, wherein the signal characteristics comprise a wireless signal strength value indicating a wireless signal strength between the communication beacon and the consumer device;

one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers comprise of a least a server processor and a server non-transitory memory associated with the server processor, wherein the server non-transitory memory comprises a second set of instructions, when executed by the server processor, cause the one or more servers to;

receive the consumer presence data from the communication beacon;

determine a merchant location based on the beacon identifier by using the beacon identifier to retrieve the fixed location of the communication beacon; and

determine a consumer location based on at least one of the consumer device location data received from the communication beacon and the wireless signal strength value received from the communication beacon;

determine, based on comparing the merchant location and the consumer location, an in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop location indication to be associated with the consumer device;

determine an in-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated with the outside-of-shop location indication, the in-shop redeemable promotion or the outside-of-shop redeemable promotion each being redeemable at, the merchant location; and

provide an in-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the outside-of-shop location indication via the communication beacon and the direct wireless connection, wherein the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or the outside-of-shop location indication is separate from the communication beacon.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more servers are further configured to, subsequent to receiving the consumer presence data, provide an indication of a redeemable promotion to a merchant device associated with the merchant location.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the merchant device includes the communication beacon.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more servers are further configured to provide a merchant interface to the merchant device, the merchant interface including the indication of the redeemable promotion.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the merchant interface further includes an indication of consumer identifying data that identifies a consumer associated with the consumer device.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:

provide to the merchant interface indications of consumer identifying data identifying one or more consumers associated with consumer devices having direct wireless connections with the communication beacon, the one or more consumers including the consumer;

receive a selection of consumer identifying data identifying the consumer associated with the consumer device; and

in response to receiving the selection of the consumer identifying data, provide the indication of the redeemable promotion to the merchant interface.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the indication of consumer identifying data identifying the consumer includes at least one of a consumer name and a consumer image.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein:

the indication of the redeemable promotion includes a redeem button; and

the one or more servers are further configured to;

receive an instruction to redeem the redeemable promotion from the merchant device based on a selection of the redeem button; and

in response to receiving the instruction to redeem the redeemable promotion,

facilitate redemption, of the redeemable promotion.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more servers configured to facilitate the redemption of the redeemable promotion includes the one or more servers being configured to facilitate the redemption without requiring a redeem instruction from the consumer device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more servers configured to facilitate the redemption of the redeemable promotion includes the one or more servers being configured to at least one of:

deduct a promotional value of the redeemable promotion from a total cost of a transaction; and

disassociate the redeemable promotion with a consumer account of the consumer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:

determine a proximity value based upon the wireless signal strength value, wherein the proximity value indicates a proximity between the consumer device and a merchant device, wherein the merchant device is located in the merchant location and comprises a merchant interface for facilitating transactions; and

update the merchant interface based on the proximity value.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more servers are configured to determine a duration of time associated with the consumer location; and

determining the in-shop location indication or the outside-of-shop location indication comprises determining whether the duration of time exceeds a threshold period of time.

13. A machine-implemented method, comprising:

associating, by circuitry associated with one or more servers, a communication beacon with a fixed location;

receiving, by the circuitry, consumer presence data from the communication beacon indicating that a consumer device and the communication beacon has formed a direct wireless connection when the consumer device is within a wireless direct communicable range of the communication beacon, wherein the consumer presence data includes a beacon identifier that identifies the communication beacon, consumer device location data received from the consumer device, and signal characteristics of the direct wireless connection, wherein the signal characteristics comprise a wireless signal strength value indicating a wireless signal strength between the communication beacon and the consumer device; and

in response receiving the consumer presence data, and by the circuitry;

identifying a merchant location based on the beacon identifier by using the beacon identifier to retrieve the fixed location of the communication beacon;

determining a consumer location based on at least one of the consumer device location data received from the communication beacon and the wireless signal strength value received from the communication beacon;

determining, based on comparing the merchant location and the consumer location, an in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop location indication to be associated with the consumer device;

determining an in-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated with the outside-of-shop location indication, the in-shop redeemable promotion or the outside-of-shop redeemable promotion each being redeemable at the merchant location; and

providing an in-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the outside-of-shop location indication via the communication beacon and the direct wireless connection, wherein the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or the outside-of-shop location indication is separate from the communication beacon.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising, by the

circuitry and subsequent to receiving the consumer presence data, providing an indication of a redeemable promotion to a merchant device associated with the merchant location.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the merchant device includes the communication beacon.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising, by the circuitry, providing a merchant interface to the merchant device, the merchant interface including the indication of the redeemable promotion.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the merchant interface further includes an indication of consumer identifying data that identifies a consumer associated with the consumer device.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising, by the circuitry:

providing to the merchant interface indications of consumer identifying data identifying one or more consumers associated with consumer devices having direct wireless connections with the communication beacon, the one or more consumers including the consumer;

receiving a selection of consumer identifying data identifying the consumer associated with the consumer device; and

in response to receiving the selection of the consumer identifying data, providing the indication of the redeemable promotion to the merchant interface.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the indication of consumer identifying data identifying the consumer includes at least one of a consumer name and a consumer image.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the indication of the redeemable promotion includes a redeem button; and

the method further includes, by the circuitry;

receiving an instruction to redeem the redeemable promotion from the merchant device based on a selection of the redeem button; and

in response to receiving the instruction to redeem the redeemable promotion, facilitating redemption of the redeemable promotion.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein facilitating the redemption of the redeemable promotion includes facilitating the redemption without requiring a redeem instruction from the consumer device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein facilitating the redemption of the redeemable promotion includes at least one of:

deducting a promotional value of the redeemable promotion from a total cost of a transaction; and

disassociating the redeemable promotion with a consumer account of the consumer.

23. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and computer program instructions stored therein, the computer program instructions comprising program instructions for:

associating, by circuitry associated with one or more servers, a communication beacon with a fixed location;

receiving, by the circuitry, consumer presence data from the communication beacon indicating that a consumer device and the communication beacon has formed a direct wireless connection when the consumer device is within a wireless direct communicable range of the communication beacon, wherein the consumer presence data includes a beacon identifier that identifies the communication beacon, consumer device location data received from the consumer device, and signal characteristics of the direct wireless connection, wherein the signal characteristics comprise a wireless signal strength value indicating a wireless signal strength between the communication beacon and the consumer device; and

in response receiving the consumer presence data, and by the circuitry;

identifying, a merchant location based on the beacon identifier by using the beacon identifier to retrieve the fixed location of the communication beacon;

determining a consumer location based on at least one of the consumer device location data received from the communication beacon and the wireless signal strength value received from the communication beacon;

determining, based on comparing the merchant location and the consumer location, an in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop location indication to be associated with the consumer device;

determining an in-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion for the consumer device associated, with the outside-of-shop location indication, the in-shop redeemable promotion or the outside-of-shop redeemable promotion each being redeemable at the merchant location; and

providing an in-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or an outside-of-shop redeemable promotion indication to the consumer device associated with the outside-of-shop location indication via the communication beacon and the direct wireless connection, wherein the consumer device associated with the in-shop location indication or the outside-of-shop location indication is separate from the communication beacon.