Systems and methods for data collection and providing coupons at a point of return
First Claim
1. A method of processing a merchandise return comprising:
- generating with a merchandise return device a request to authorize a merchandise return made by a consumer at a merchant'"'"'s point of return;
determining with one or more computer devices whether to authorize a credit for the merchandise return made by the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on whether the consumer has made prior merchandise returns;
determining with the one or more computer devices whether to offer a coupon to the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on the authorization of the merchandise return, wherein the coupon incentivizes the consumer to make a purchase with at least a portion of the credit; and
electronically transmitting to the merchandise return device, a recommendation that displays on the merchandise return device whether to offer the coupon to the customer.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are described for collecting data at a merchant'"'"'s point of return for use in processing a merchandise return transaction that is being requested by a customer. In various embodiments, the data may be collected using a wide variety of data collection technologies and may be used in conjunction with stored data, including data collected from other merchants, by a return authorization system to make a determination whether to accept or deny the requested merchandise return and whether to provide a coupon to the customer. The data may additionally or alternatively be used to determine whether to issue a warning to the customer about limitations on future return transactions presented by the customer. Examples of data categories that may be collected include, but are not limited to, information about: the merchant, the customer, the requested transaction, the merchandise being returned, one or more receipts, a clerk processing the transaction, and other general applicable information.
70 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of processing a merchandise return comprising:
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generating with a merchandise return device a request to authorize a merchandise return made by a consumer at a merchant'"'"'s point of return; determining with one or more computer devices whether to authorize a credit for the merchandise return made by the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on whether the consumer has made prior merchandise returns; determining with the one or more computer devices whether to offer a coupon to the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on the authorization of the merchandise return, wherein the coupon incentivizes the consumer to make a purchase with at least a portion of the credit; and electronically transmitting to the merchandise return device, a recommendation that displays on the merchandise return device whether to offer the coupon to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for processing a merchandise return comprising:
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a merchandise return device comprising computer hardware, the merchandise return device configured to generate a request to authorize a merchandise return made by a consumer at a merchant'"'"'s point of return; a return authorizer device comprising computer hardware, the return authorizer device configured to determine whether to authorize a credit for the merchandise return made by the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on whether the consumer has made prior merchandise returns; and a coupon qualifier device comprising computer hardware, the coupon qualifier device configured to determine whether to offer a coupon to the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of return based at least in part on the authorization of the merchandise return, wherein the coupon incentivizes the consumer to make a purchase with at least a portion of the credit, wherein the coupon qualifier device is further configured to electronically transmit to the merchandise return device, a recommendation that displays on the merchandise return device whether to offer the coupon to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification