METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE SALE OF SUBSCRIPTIONS TO PERIODICALS
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A POS terminal receives a signal that indicates an item, for example, via a bar code scanner. The POS terminal ascertains whether the item is associated with an offer for a rebate. If so, a code is generated and output to the customer, such as on a printed receipt. The code is associated with an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical. If the customer subscribes to a required periodical, he will be credited the amount he paid for the item. Subsequently, the customer requests a subscription to a periodical from a subscription fulfillment house, and provides his code in conjunction with the request. If the code is valid, the customer is provided with a rebate. The rebate may be provided directly by the subscription fulfillment house (e.g. a credit to a credit card account) or may be provided by a merchant (e.g. a discount on a future purchase).
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Citations
148 Claims
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1-90. -90. (canceled)
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91. A method, comprising:
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receiving a signal indicative of at least one item being purchased by a customer at a point of sale terminal;
determining that the at least one item is associated with an offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the item; and
providing the offer to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112)
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113. A computer readable medium storing instructions for directing a computer to:
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receive a signal indicative of at least one item being purchased by a customer at a point of sale terminal;
determine that the at least one item is associated with an offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the item; and
provide the offer to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133)
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134. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor; and
a memory connected to the processor, the memory for storing a program operative with the processor to;
receive a signal indicative of at least one item being purchased by a customer at a point of sale terminal;
determine that the at least one item is associated with an offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the item; and
provide the offer to the customer.
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135. A method, comprising:
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receiving a signal indicating at least one item being purchased by a customer;
determining that the at least one item is associated with at least one offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the at least one item;
providing the offer to the customer;
providing the amount to the customer if the customer accepts the offer to subscribe to the periodical; and
determining an amount owed by a subscription fulfillment house to a merchant. - View Dependent Claims (136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141)
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142. A computer readable medium storing instructions for implementing a method, the instructions directing a computer to:
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receive a signal indicating at least one item being purchased by a customer;
determine that the at least one item is associated with at least one offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the at least one item;
provide the offer to the customer;
provide the amount to the customer if the customer accepts the offer to subscribe to the periodical; and
determine an amount owed by a subscription fulfillment house to a merchant. - View Dependent Claims (143, 144, 145, 146, 147)
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148. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor; and
a memory connected to the processor, the memory for storing a program operative with the processor to;
receive a signal indicating at least one item being purchased by a customer;
determine that the at least one item is associated with at least one offer for an amount in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, wherein the subscription to the periodical is different from the at least one item;
provide the offer to the customer;
provide the amount to the customer if the customer accepts the offer to subscribe to the periodical; and
determine an amount owed by a subscription fulfillment house to a merchant.
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Specification