SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONFIRMING PURCHASES OF PRODUCTS FROM A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT USING A MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20110145092A1
• Filed: 12/13/2010
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AisleBuyer LLC (Intuit, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mercado, Jose H. JR., Preston, Dan Richard, Paradise, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,396,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0081 the reader being a portable scanner or data reader G07G1/009 takes precedence

Abstract

Techniques for confirming purchases of products from a retail establishment using a mobile device allow for loss prevention personnel at a retail establishment to confirm that users exiting the retail establishment in possession of physical products have legitimately purchased those products via their mobile devices while within the retail establishment. When a purchase facilitating server, in communication with a user'"'"'s mobile device, transacts the user'"'"'s purchase of one or more products within the retail establishment, the purchase facilitating server may generate a purchase confirmation as a receipt of the transaction. The receipt may include a purchase confirmation code and/or one or more visual indicators of an estimated likelihood of theft associated with the corresponding transaction. The receipt may be transmitted to a loss prevention device at the retail establishment, for use by loss prevention personnel in matching against the user'"'"'s physical cart before the user exits the retail establishment.

Claims

1. A method of transacting a user'"'"'s purchase of one or more products from a retail establishment, the method performed, at least in part, by a computer system comprising at least one hardware processor, the method comprising:

receiving an indication from a mobile device in the retail establishment to purchase the one or more products from the retail establishment, the indication comprising payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

processing at least the payment information via at least one processor to transact the user'"'"'s purchase of the one or more products from the retail establishment;

generating a purchase confirmation identifying the one or more products purchased by the user; and

transmitting the purchase confirmation to a loss prevention device at the retail establishment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises including in the purchase confirmation a visual indicator of an estimated likelihood of theft associated with the transaction.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator indicates an extent to which one or more products that the user intends to remove from the retail establishment are to be visually inspected by loss prevention personnel to confirm that the one or more products are represented in the purchase confirmation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the visual indicator indicates the extent of inspection by color coding.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the profiling information comprises information related to past purchases of the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user further comprises:

identifying the user based on information received from the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a history of results of comparisons between purchase confirmations and products the user has attempted to remove from the retail establishment.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the one or more products identified in the purchase confirmation.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a length of time that the user and the mobile device were within the retail establishment prior to the transaction.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the mobile device while within the retail establishment.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a location of the retail establishment.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the purchase confirmation as part of profiling information for the user.

14. At least one tangible computer-readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method of transacting a user'"'"'s purchase of one or more products from a retail establishment, the method comprising:

receiving an indication from a mobile device in the retail establishment to purchase the one or more products from the retail establishment, the indication comprising payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

processing at least the payment information to transact the user'"'"'s purchase of the one or more products from the retail establishment;

generating a purchase confirmation identifying the one or more products purchased by the user; and

transmitting the purchase confirmation to a loss prevention device at the retail establishment.

15. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the generating comprises including in the purchase confirmation a visual indicator of an estimated likelihood of theft associated with the transaction.

16. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the visual indicator indicates an extent to which one or more products that the user intends to remove from the retail establishment are to be visually inspected by loss prevention personnel to confirm that they are represented in the purchase confirmation.

17. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the visual indicator indicates the extent of inspection by color coding.

18. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user.

19. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the profiling information comprises information related to past purchases of the user.

20. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the act of determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user further comprises:

identifying the user based on information received from the mobile device.

21. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a history of results of comparisons between purchase confirmations and products the user has attempted to remove from the retail establishment.

22. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the one or more products identified in the purchase confirmation.

23. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a length of time that the user and the mobile device were within the retail establishment prior to the transaction.

24. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the mobile device while within the retail establishment.

25. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a location of the retail establishment.

26. The at least one tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises storing the purchase confirmation as part of profiling information for the user.

27. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

at least one memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method of transacting a user'"'"'s purchase of one or more products from a retail establishment, the method comprising;

receiving an indication from a mobile device in the retail establishment to purchase the one or more products from the retail establishment, the indication comprising payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

processing at least the payment information to transact the user'"'"'s purchase of the one or more products from the retail establishment;

generating a purchase confirmation identifying the one or more products purchased by the user; and

transmitting the purchase confirmation to a loss prevention device at the retail establishment.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the generating comprises including in the purchase confirmation a visual indicator of an estimated likelihood of theft associated with the transaction.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the visual indicator indicates an extent to which one or more products that the user intends to remove from the retail establishment should be inspected to confirm that they are represented in the purchase confirmation.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the visual indicator indicates the extent of inspection by color coding.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the profiling information comprises information related to past purchases of the user.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on profiling information for the user further comprises:

identifying the user based on information received from the mobile device.

34. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a history of results of comparisons between purchase confirmations and products the user has attempted to remove from the retail establishment.

35. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the one or more products identified in the purchase confirmation.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a length of time that the user and the mobile device were within the retail establishment prior to the transaction.

37. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the mobile device while within the retail establishment.

38. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises determining the estimated likelihood of theft based at least in part on a location of the retail establishment.

39. The system of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises storing the purchase confirmation as part of profiling information for the user.

40. A method of purchasing one or more products from a retail establishment, the method being implemented in part on a mobile device comprising at least one hardware processor, the method comprising:

receiving, at the mobile device, input from a user of the mobile device, the input comprising an indication to purchase one or more products and payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

transmitting the payment information from the mobile device to the purchase facilitating service provider;

receiving at the mobile device, in response to transmitting the payment information, a purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider; and

communicating the purchase confirmation code to loss prevention personnel prior to the user removing the one or more products from the retail establishment.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the communicating comprises displaying the purchase confirmation code for the loss prevention personnel on a display of the mobile device.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the communicating comprises transmitting the purchase confirmation code from the mobile device to a device operated by the loss prevention personnel.

43. The method of claim 40, further comprising receiving, at the mobile device, a replacement purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider after the communicating.

44. At least one tangible computer-readable storage medium in a mobile device encoded with a plurality of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of the mobile device, perform a method of purchasing one or more products from a retail establishment, the method comprising:

receiving, at the mobile device, input from a user of the mobile device, the input comprising an indication to purchase the one or more products and payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

transmitting the payment information from the mobile device to the purchase facilitating service provider;

receiving at the mobile device, in response to transmitting the payment information, a purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider; and

communicating the purchase confirmation code to loss prevention personnel prior to the user removing the one or more products from the retail establishment.

45. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the communicating comprises displaying the purchase confirmation code for the loss prevention personnel on a display of the mobile device.

46. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the communicating comprises transmitting the purchase confirmation code from the mobile device to a device operated by the loss prevention personnel.

47. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the method further comprises receiving, at the mobile device, a replacement purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider after the communicating.

48. A mobile device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method of purchasing one or more products from a retail establishment, the method comprising;

receiving input from a user of the mobile device, the input comprising an indication to purchase the one or more products and payment information for purchasing the one or more products;

transmitting the payment information from the mobile device to the purchase facilitating service provider;

receiving at the mobile device, in response to transmitting the payment information, a purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider; and

communicating the purchase confirmation code to loss prevention personnel prior to the user removing the one or more products from the retail establishment.

49. The mobile device of claim 48, wherein the communicating comprises displaying the purchase confirmation code for the loss prevention personnel on a display of the mobile device.

50. The mobile device of claim 48, wherein the communicating comprises transmitting the purchase confirmation code from the mobile device to a device operated by the loss prevention personnel.

51. The mobile device of claim 48, wherein the method further comprises receiving, at the mobile device, a replacement purchase confirmation code from the purchase facilitating service provider after the communicating.