SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATING DIVERSE POINT OF SALE SYSTEMS

• US 20120054050A1
• Filed: 08/27/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ethor IP Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ethor Media Limited
• Inventors: Ziegler, Gary Kenneth, Finall, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 10,460,363 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/21
• 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 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, method and computer program for integrating point of sale systems by providing a common data model. A system of the invention may include one or more point of sale agents linkable to one or more diverse point of sale systems. The system may also include an order manager linked to the point of sale agents. The one or more point of sale agents are operable to communicate point of sale data between the one or more diverse point of sale systems and the order manager by mapping the point of sale data to a common data model. The present invention also provides a system, method and computer program for enabling dissemination of promotions to consumers based on point of sale data.

Claims

1. A system for integrating diverse point of sale systems, the system comprising:

(a) one or more point of sale agents linkable to one or more diverse point of sale systems; and

(b) an order manager linked to the one or more point of sale agents;

wherein the one or more point of sale agents are operable to communicate point of sale data between the one or more diverse point of sale systems and the order manager by mapping the point of sale data to a common data model.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the order manager comprises an order interface enabling one or more consumers to access the order manager and thereby interact with the one or more diverse point of sale systems.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the order interface enables one or more of the consumers to make purchases corresponding to point of sale data.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a campaign manager linked to the order manager, the campaign manager operable to:

(a) disseminate one or more promotions to one or more consumers based on the point of sale data; and

(b) direct the one or more consumers to access the order interface.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the order interface is a website and the one or more promotions include a hyperlink to the website.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more promotions are disseminated through a medium selected from the group consisting of contextual advertisements, social media feeds, emails, Internet-enabled messaging, or any combination thereof.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein a promotion is created using the order manager or one of the diverse point of sale systems.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a point of sale database linked to the order manager, the point of sale database operable to store the point of sale data for the one or more diverse point of sale systems.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the order manager is operable to:

(a) compare the point of sale data at the one or more diverse point of sale systems with the point of sale data stored in the database; and

(b) selectively update the database based on the comparison.

10. A network implementable method of integrating diverse point of sale systems, the method comprising:

(a) mapping point of sale data communicated by each of the diverse point of sale systems to a common data model; and

(b) communicating, or facilitating the communication of, by means of one or more point of sale agents, the point of sale data between each of the diverse point of sale systems and an order manager in accordance with the common data model.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the order manager comprises an order interface, and wherein the method further comprises the step of enabling one or more consumers to access the order manager by the order interface to interact with the one or more diverse point of sale systems.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of enabling one or more of the consumers to make purchases corresponding to point of sale data.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of linking a campaign manager to the order manager, wherein the campaign manager is operable to:

(a) disseminate one or more promotions to one or more consumers based on the point of sale data; and

(b) direct the one or more consumers to access the order interface.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the order interface is a website and the one or more promotions include a hyperlink to the website.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more promotions are disseminated through a medium selected from the group consisting of contextual advertisements, social media feeds, emails, Internet-enabled messaging, or any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of enabling the creation of a promotion using the order manager or one of the diverse point of sale systems.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

(a) linking a point of sale database to the order manager; and

(b) storing the point of sale data for the one or more diverse point of sale systems to the point of sale database.

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

(a) comparing the point of sale data at the one or more diverse point of sale systems with point of sale data stored in the database; and

(b) selectively updating the database based on the comparison.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

(a) the one or more point of sale agents notifying the order manager of a modification to the point of sale data; and

(b) the order manager updating the database with modified point of sale data in response to a notification of modification.

20. A system for integrating point of sale systems, the system comprising:

(a) one or more point of sale systems;

(b) one or more point of sale agents linked to the one or more point of sale systems; and

(c) an order manager linked to the one or more point of sale agents;

wherein the one or more point of sale agents are operable to communicate point of sale data between the one or more point of sale systems and the order manager by mapping the point of sale data to a common data model.