Paperless coupon redemption system and method thereof
First Claim
1. A system for providing discounts to products purchased by a customer at a retail establishment, comprising:
- a list of the products to which discounts are to be applied;
a computer system provided with a memory containing said list of the products, a discount amount applied to the products included in said list, the expiration of said discount amount, as well as the retail value of the products included in said list;
at least one checkout station in communication with said computer system, said checkout station including a first terminal for entering information relating to products purchased by the customer and a second terminal provided with a reader/writer device; and
a card retained by the customer, said card provided with an interface device and a memory, said memory initially programmed with a first monetary amount from which discounts based upon the products purchased by the customer are deducted, said first monetary amount read by said second terminal, said second terminal writing a second monetary amount into said memory reflecting the discount applied to the products purchased by the customer based on the information included in said computer system.
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Abstract
A system and method of allowing a shopper to obtain the benefit of reduced prices for certain items without the necessity of redeeming paper coupons is described, The system employs an integrated circuit (IC) smart card containing an erasable memory therein. This memory would contain information relating to a discount coupon amount, as well as information relating to particular products which have been purchased. This card would be inserted into a reader/writer terminal provided at a retailer'"'"'s checkout counter. Items which are purchased are scanned and compared with items to be discounted as well as the information provided by the customer IC smart card. After the cashier has totaled the customer'"'"'s purchases, the information contained in the IC smart card would be altered accordingly.
559 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A system for providing discounts to products purchased by a customer at a retail establishment, comprising:
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a list of the products to which discounts are to be applied; a computer system provided with a memory containing said list of the products, a discount amount applied to the products included in said list, the expiration of said discount amount, as well as the retail value of the products included in said list; at least one checkout station in communication with said computer system, said checkout station including a first terminal for entering information relating to products purchased by the customer and a second terminal provided with a reader/writer device; and a card retained by the customer, said card provided with an interface device and a memory, said memory initially programmed with a first monetary amount from which discounts based upon the products purchased by the customer are deducted, said first monetary amount read by said second terminal, said second terminal writing a second monetary amount into said memory reflecting the discount applied to the products purchased by the customer based on the information included in said computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of providing discounts to products purchased by a customer at a retail establishment, comprising the steps of:
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developing a list of products to which a discount is to be applied at a central location; communicating said list of products to at least one retail establishment; entering said list of products along with their respective discounts, and the expiration date of said discounts, into a local computer system provided at each of the retail establishments, said local computer system also provided with the retail price of said list of products; issuing a card to at least one customer, said card provided with an interface device, and a memory, said memory initially programmed with a first monetary amount from which the discounts based upon the products purchased by the customer are to be deducted; each customer obtaining a plurality of products from the retail establishment; entering information relating to each of the products obtained by the customer at a first terminal in communication with said local computer system; comparing said information relating to each product entered in the previous step to retail price information as well as whether a particular product is subject to a discount, said comparison step performed in said local computer system; inserting said card into a second terminal including a reader/writer; comparing information contained in said memory of said card with information contained in said local computer system relating to the products which are subject to a discount; writing a second monetary amount reflecting the monetary amount of discounts given to the customer in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification