METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SELLING AN AGING FOOD PRODUCT

• US 20070150378A1
• Filed: 01/09/2007
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inventor Holdings LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Van Luchene, Andrew, Otto, Jonathan, Tedesco, Daniel, Gelman, Geoffrey, Walker, Jay
• Granted Patent: US 7,756,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/201 Price look-up processing, e.g. updating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 15/005 with dispensing of lottery tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/24 with change-giving
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0036 Checkout procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/12 : electronically operated digital data processing aspects G06Q20/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 5/00 : Receipt-giving machines cash registers giving receipts G07G1/00

Abstract

In accordance with some described embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided for determining a food product and determining a price range defining a maximum price and a minimum price. An indication is stored that the food product may be offered, as a set of one or more food products, in exchange for a round-up amount associated with a purchase, if the round-up amount is in the price range.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing, on a machine-readable medium, a pricing database accessible by a computer, the pricing database organized according to a data structure which defines;

a plurality of representations of food products; and

a plurality of price ranges, each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of food products and each defining a maximum price and a minimum price for which the corresponding food product may be sold in exchange for a round-up amount associated with a purchase.

2. A method comprising:

storing, on a machine-readable medium, a pricing database accessible by a computer, the pricing database organized according to a data structure which defines;

a plurality of age categories corresponding to a food product; and

a plurality of price ranges, each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of age categories and defining a maximum price and a minimum price for which the corresponding food product may be sold in exchange for a round-up amount associated with a purchase when an age of the food product corresponds to the one of the plurality of age categories.

3. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

determining a time until expiration of at least one food component of a food product;

determining a time until expiration of the food product based on the time until expiration of the at least one food component;

setting a price range for the food product, wherein the price range defines a minimum price and a maximum price; and

causing an offer to exchange the food product for a round-up amount if the round-up amount is within the price range to be output, in which the round-up amount is a difference between a purchase price and a rounded price of a purchase.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 3 in communication with the processor.

5. A method comprising:

determining a food product;

determining a price range defining a maximum price and a minimum price; and

storing, on a storage device, an indication that the food product may be offered, as one of a set of one or more food products, in exchange for a round-up amount associated with a purchase if the round-up amount is in the price range.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

establishing at least one age category for the food product.

7. The method of claim 6, in which determining the price range comprises:

determining a respective price range corresponding to each at least one age category established for the food product.

8. The method of claim 7, in which the maximum price is the same as the minimum price.

9. The method of claim 6, in which the maximum price is a retail price for the food product.

10. The method of claim 5, in which the set of food products comprises a plurality of food products.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting the set of one or more food products.

12. The method of claim 11, in which selecting the set of one or more food products comprises:

identifying a plurality of food products based on the round-up amount and a respective retail price for each food product.

13. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 5.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 13 in communication with the processor.

15. A method comprising:

determining an age category corresponding to a food product;

determining a price range defining a maximum price and a minimum price; and

storing, on a storage device, an indication that the food product may be offered in exchange for a round-up amount associated with a purchase if the round-up amount is in the price range and an age of the food product corresponds to the age category.

16. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 15.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 16 in communication with the processor.

18. A method comprising:

determining a probability that a food product will be sold within a predetermined amount of time;

determining a minimum price for the food product based on the determined probability; and

storing, on a storage device, an indication of the determined minimum price for the food product.

19. The method of claim 18, in which the predetermined amount of time comprises an amount of time until expiration of the food product.

20. The method of claim 18, in which determining the minimum price comprises:

determining the minimum price for the food product based on the determined probability and a retail price of the food product.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

based on the determined minimum price, selecting the food product to offer to a customer.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

outputting an indication of the determined minimum price for the food product.

23. The method of claim 22, in which outputting comprises:

outputting the indication of the determined minimum price for the food product to a customer before the customer initiates a transaction.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

displaying, via a digital price display, an indication of the determined minimum price for the food product.

25. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 18.

26. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 25 in communication with the processor.

27. A method comprising:

determining a probability that a food product will be sold within a predetermined amount of time; and

based on the determined probability, selecting the food product to offer to a customer.

28. The method of claim 27, in which the predetermined amount of time comprises an amount of time until expiration of the food product.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining a price for the food product; and

in which selecting the food product to offer comprises;

selecting the food product to offer to the customer based on the determined probability and the price.

30. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 27.

31. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 30 in communication with the processor.

32. A method comprising:

determining a minimum price for a food product, the food product being associated with an amount of time until expiration; and

based on the determined minimum price, selecting the food product to offer to a customer.

33. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 32.

34. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 33 in communication with the processor.

35. A method comprising:

determining a round-up amount, the round-up amount being a difference between a purchase price of a purchase and a rounded price;

identifying a food product associated with a price range,

in which the round-up amount is within the price range, in which identifying

the food product is based on at least one of the following;

information about a customer associated with the purchase,

at least one characteristic of the purchase,

a current inventory of the food product,

respective inventory quantities of each of a plurality of food products,

a temperature,

a time,

a preference for the food product,

an indication of a promotion for the food product, and

a weather condition; and

offering the identified food product in exchange for the round-up amount.

36. The method of claim 35, in which identifying the food product is based on the information about the customer, and in which the information about the customer comprises at least one of the following:

a number of people in the customer'"'"'s party,

at least one previous purchase of the customer,

at least one offer previously accepted by the customer,

at least one offer previously rejected by the customer,

an age of the customer,

a weight of the customer, and

a gender of the customer.

37. The method of claim 35,

in which identifying the food product is based on the at least one characteristic of the purchase, and

in which the at least one characteristic of the purchase comprises an indication of at least one product of the purchase.

38. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving an identifier that uniquely identifies the customer; and

accessing a previous purchase history associated with the customer based on the received identifier.

39. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving the information about the customer from an operator.

40. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to perform the method of claim 35.

41. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

the computer readable medium of claim 40 in communication with the processor.