METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FULFILLING PURCHASES

• US 20140222600A1
• Filed: 04/09/2014
• Published: 08/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 9,600,812 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 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method and apparatus for fulfilling purchases is disclosed. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure can include, for example, a portable communication device having a controller element that receives from an online system a barcode image as an object of acknowledgment of a product purchased from said online system, and presents on a display of the portable communication device said barcode image to complete a purchase fulfillment process by way of at least one among a visual inspection of the barcode image by a merchant employee and processing of said barcode image by a point of sale (POS) device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A server comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the controller performs operations comprising;

selecting a format for an object of acknowledgment, the format being compatible with capabilities of a communication device and capabilities of a merchant device, the object of acknowledgment being associated with a previous transaction;

generating the object of acknowledgment in the format, the object of acknowledgment including a security feature; and

providing the object of acknowledgment to the communication device for presentation to the merchant device for completion of a fulfillment process for the previous transaction.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise automatically determining the capabilities of the communication device and of the merchant device, wherein the transaction comprises a previous transfer of funds for a product, wherein the fulfillment process comprises delivery of the product, and wherein the security feature enables authentication of the object of acknowledgement at the merchant device.

3. The server of claim 2, wherein the automatically determining of the capabilities comprises determining the capabilities of the merchant device based on information previously provided by a merchant system associated with the merchant device and recorded on a database accessible by the server.

4. The server of claim 1, wherein the security feature prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement with another device and causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date.

5. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise automatically associating the communication device with the transaction based on information previously provided by the communication device, wherein the server is in communication with an online system for facilitating purchase transactions, wherein the information is user input provided while establishing an account on the online system, and wherein the information is recorded on a database accessible by the server.

6. The server of claim 1, wherein the object of acknowledgment is both human-readable and machine-readable.

7. The server of claim 1, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises an audio signal.

8. The server of claim 1, wherein during the presentation to the merchant device, the communication device is communicatively coupled to the merchant device, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises instructions to perform a fulfillment routine in the communication device interacting with the merchant device, and wherein the fulfillment routine comprises a transfer of funds to a merchant system associated with the merchant device.

9. The server of claim 1, wherein the format of the object of acknowledgment that is selected is compatible with each of a plurality of merchant devices having different working specifications.

10. The server of claim 1, wherein the server provides the object of acknowledgment for display at a user interface of the communication device, and wherein the security feature of the object of acknowledgment enables authentication by inspection by a merchant associated with the merchant device.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device comprising executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

automatically associating a communication device with a previous online purchase of a product, based on information previously provided by the communication device from user input;

automatically determining capabilities of the communication device and of a merchant device of a merchant performing a fulfillment process for the previous online purchase;

selecting a format for an object of acknowledgment, the format being compatible with the capabilities of the communication device and of the merchant device, the object of acknowledgment corresponding to the previous online purchase;

generating the object of acknowledgment in the format; and

delivering the object of acknowledgment to the communication device for presentation via the merchant device, to thereby prompt completion of the fulfillment process by delivering the product.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises a visual object.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises instructions to perform a fulfillment routine in the communication device interacting with the merchant device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement with another device and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the object of acknowledgment is delivered to the communication device for wireless transmission to the merchant device.

16. A method comprising:

associating, by a server comprising a processor, a communication device with a previous online purchase of a product, based on information previously provided by a user of the communication device;

determining, by the server, capabilities of the communication device and of a merchant device of a merchant performing a fulfillment process for the purchase;

selecting, by the server, a format for an object of acknowledgment, the format being compatible with the capabilities of the communication device and of the merchant device;

the object of acknowledgment corresponding to the previous online purchase;

generating, by the server, the object of acknowledgment in the format; and

delivering, by the server, the object of acknowledgment to the communication device for presentation to thereby prompt completion of the fulfillment process.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the fulfillment process is completed by delivery of the product that was previously purchased.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises a barcode image, an audio signal, a coded message, or a combination thereof.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises instructions to perform a fulfillment routine in the communication device interacting with the merchant device.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement with another device and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date.