Processing Online Transactions

• US 20130275242A1
• Filed: 08/31/2012
• Published: 10/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramaratnam, Arjun, Hansen, Kenneth, Dar, Murad, Srivastava, Puneet, Gerry, Richard Brett, Shah, Ruchitkumar A., Dharaneedharan, Sathya N.
• Application Number:
  US13/600,920
• Publication Number:
  US 20130275242A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/21
• 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 20/202 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 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/407 Cancellation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0637 Approvals

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for managing transactions in which an order is specified online and payment is received at a point of sale (POS). Methods are disclosed for managing payment for such transactions at a POS, including transactions involving payment for both in-store purchases and online orders. Methods are also disclosed for managing inventory and price changes for such transactions where payment can occur at any time in a pay period following order creation. Also disclosed are methods for processing refunds for online orders for which payment was made at a POS. Finally, methods for preventing fraud and abuse as well as restricting the availability of this payment method for certain items are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a transaction comprising:

receiving, by a server, an order for an item, the order having a purchase price associated therewith;

if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment, adjusting, by the server, the purchase price associated with the order; and

authorizing, by the server, fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from a point of sale (POS).

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising authorizing fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from the POS within an expiry period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the order has an order identifier associated therewith, the method further comprising:

receiving from the POS the order identifier; and

in response to receipt of the order identifier, returning the purchase price currently associated with the order to the POS.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the order further has a price change history associated therewith, the method further comprising:

recording in the price change history any changes to the purchase price associated with the order;

evaluating the price change history upon detection of a change in the price for the item prior to changing the purchase price associated with the order; and

changing the purchase price associated with the order according to the evaluation effective to avoid duplicate changes to the purchase price.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the purchase price associated with the order if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment further comprises:

updating a catalog of items and prices; and

upon completion of updating the catalog;

retrieving pending orders;

comparing purchase prices associated with the pending orders to the catalog; and

adjusting the purchase prices associated with the pending orders according to the comparison.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if a decrease in a price for the item is detected within a refund window of receipt of acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price, authorizing refund of the decrease in price.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price for the order by the order management system from the POS further comprises receiving a batch of payments received by the POS.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

analyzing the batch of payments relative to price changes detected for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments;

authorizing refunds for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments for which changes to corresponding prices occurred between receipt of the order and receipt of the batch of payments.

9. A system for conducting a transaction comprising one or more processors operably coupled to one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing executable and operational data operable to cause the processor to:

receive an order for an item, the order having a purchase price associated therewith;

if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment, adjust the purchase price associated with the order; and

authorize fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from a point of sale (POS).

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to authorize fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from the POS within an expiry period.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the order has an order identifier associated therewith;

and

wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to;

receive from the POS the order identifier; and

in response to receipt of the order identifier, return the purchase price currently associated with the order to the POS.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the order further has a price change history associated therewith, the executable and operational data further effective to cause the one or more processors to:

record in the price change history any changes to the purchase price associated with the order;

evaluate the price change history upon detection of a change in the price for the item prior to changing the purchase price associated with the order; and

change the purchase price associated with the order according to the evaluation effective to avoid duplicate changes to the purchase price.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to adjust the purchase price associated with the order if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment by:

updating a catalog of items and prices; and

upon completion of updating the catalog;

retrieving pending orders;

comparing purchase prices associated with the pending orders to the catalog; and

adjusting the purchase prices associated with the pending orders according to the comparison.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to authorize refund of the decrease in price if the decrease in the price for the item is detected within a refund window of receipt of acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to receive acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price for the order by the order management system from the POS further comprises receiving a batch of payments received by the POS.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to:

analyze the batch of payments relative to price changes detected for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments;

authorize refunds for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments for which changes to corresponding prices occurred between receipt of the order and receipt of the batch of payments.

17. A computer program product for managing a transaction, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving an order for an item, the order having a purchase price associated therewith;

if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment, adjusting the purchase price associated with the order; and

authorizing fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from a point of sale (POS).

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions for authorizing fulfillment of the order only if acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price currently associated with the order is received by the server from the POS within an expiry period.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the order has an order identifier associated therewith, the computer program product further comprising computer instructions for:

receiving from the POS the order identifier; and

in response to receipt of the order identifier, returning the purchase price currently associated with the order to the POS.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the order further has a price change history associated therewith, the computer program product further comprising computer instructions for:

recording in the price change history any changes to the purchase price associated with the order;

evaluating the price change history upon detection of a change in the price for the item prior to changing the purchase price associated with the order; and

changing the purchase price associated with the order according to the evaluation effective to avoid duplicate changes to the purchase price.

21. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein adjusting the purchase price associated with the order if a change in a price for the item is detected prior to receipt of acknowledgment of payment further comprises:

updating a catalog of items and prices; and

upon completion of updating the catalog;

retrieving pending orders;

comparing purchase prices associated with the pending orders to the catalog; and

adjusting the purchase prices associated with the pending orders according to the comparison.

22. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions for:

if a decrease in a price for the item is detected within a refund window of receipt of acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price, authorizing refund of the decrease in price.

23. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein receiving acknowledgment of payment of the purchase price for the order by the order management system from the POS further comprises receiving a batch of payments received by the POS.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

analyzing the batch of payments relative to price changes detected for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments;

authorizing refunds for orders corresponding to the payments of the batch of payments for which changes to corresponding prices occurred between receipt of the order and receipt of the batch of payments.