Processing Online Transactions

• US 20130275247A1
• 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 Inc (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramaratnam, Arjun, Hansen, Kenneth, Dar, Murad, Srivastava, Puneet, Gerry, Richard Brett, Shah, Ruchitkumar A., Dharaneedharan, Sathya N.
• Application Number:
  US13/601,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20130275247A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/22
• 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 an online transaction identifier at a point of sale (POS);

retrieving, by the POS, order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier, the order information including an online purchase amount and an item identifier;

adding, by the POS, the online purchase amount to a purchase total of a POS transaction stored on the POS;

adding, by the POS, at least one in-store purchase amount to the purchase total of the POS transaction for at least one in-store purchase;

receiving, by the POS, notification of tender of the purchase total; and

notifying, by the POS, an order management system of payment for an order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying a POS host associated with the POS of sale of the at least one in-store purchase.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating, by the POS, whether an indication of a customer choosing in-store purchase of an item corresponding to the item identifier has been received; and

if an indication of the customer choosing in-store purchase of the item has been received, notifying, by the POS, the order management system of payment and fulfillment of the order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

searching, by the POS, inventory for a store corresponding to the POS for availability of the item; and

if the item is found to be available in the inventory for the store, prompting, by the POS, an employee to notify the customer of in-store availability of the item.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying an order management system of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

evaluating availability of the order management system;

if the order management system is found to not be available;

adding a record of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier to a batch;

upon detecting availability of the order management system, transmitting the batch to the order management system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

transmitting a request for the order information to the order management system; and

receiving the order information from the order management system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

receiving pending order data pushed to the POS from the order management system; and

retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier from the pending order data.

8. A point of sale (POS) system comprising one or more processors and one or more memory devices operably coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable and operational data effective to cause the one or processors to:

receiving an online transaction identifier at a point of sale (POS);

retrieve order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier, the order information including an online purchase amount and an item identifier;

add the online purchase amount to a purchase total of a POS transaction stored on the POS;

add at least one in-store purchase amount to the purchase total of the POS transaction for at least one in-store purchase;

receive notification of tender of the purchase total; and

notify an order management system of payment for an order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

9. The POS system of claim 8, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the processor to:

notify a POS host associated with the POS of sale of the at least one in-store purchase.

10. The POS system of claim 8, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the processor to:

evaluate, whether an indication of a customer choosing in-store purchase of an item corresponding to the item identifier has been received; and

if an indication of the customer choosing in-store purchase of the item has been received, notify the order management system of payment and fulfillment of the order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

11. The POS system of claim 10, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the processor to:

search inventory for a store corresponding to the POS for availability of the item; and

if the item is found to be available in the inventory for the store, prompt an employee to notify the customer of in-store availability of the item.

12. The POS system of claim 8, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the processor to notify an order management system of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier by:

evaluating availability of the order management system;

if the order management system is found to not be available;

adding a record of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier to a batch;

upon detecting availability of the order management system, transmitting the batch to the order management system.

13. The POS system of claim 8, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to retrieve order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier by:

transmitting a request for the order information to the order management system; and

receiving the order information from the order management system.

14. The POS system of claim 8, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to retrieve order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier by:

receiving pending order data pushed to the POS from the order management system; and

retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier from the pending order data.

15. 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 online transaction identifier at a point of sale (POS);

retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier, the order information including an online purchase amount and an item identifier;

adding the online purchase amount to a purchase total of a POS transaction stored on the POS;

adding at least one in-store purchase amount to the purchase total of the POS transaction for at least one in-store purchase;

receiving notification of tender of the purchase total; and

notifying an order management system of payment for an order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions for:

notifying a POS host associated with the POS of sale of the at least one in-store purchase.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions for:

evaluating whether an indication of a customer choosing in-store purchase of an item corresponding to the item identifier has been received; and

if an indication of the customer choosing in-store purchase of the item has been received, notifying the order management system of payment and fulfillment of the order corresponding to the online transaction identifier.

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

searching inventory for a store corresponding to the POS for availability of the item; and

if the item is found to be available in the inventory for the store, prompting an employee to notify the customer of in-store availability of the item.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein notifying an order management system of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

evaluating availability of the order management system;

if the order management system is found to not be available;

adding a record of tender of payment corresponding to the online transaction identifier to a batch;

upon detecting availability of the order management system, transmitting the batch to the order management system.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

transmitting a request for the order information to the order management system; and

receiving the order information from the order management system.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier further comprises:

receiving pending order data pushed to the POS from the order management system; and

retrieving order information corresponding to the online transaction identifier from the pending order data.