Customer-controlled point-of-sale on a mobile device

• US 8,751,316 B1
• Filed: 02/05/2010
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Fletchall, Jason Allen, Compton, Dillon Campbell, Thai, Kristina Lam, Huynh, Andrew Trung, Lintz, Michael Harry
• Primary Examiner(s): Refai, Ramsey
• Application Number:
  US12/701,462
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/20
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/047 using payment protocols involving electronic receipts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3276 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0886 the card reader being portable for interacting with a POS or ECR in realizing a payment transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0081 the reader being a portable scanner or data reader G07G1/009 takes precedence

Abstract

A method to purchase a product by a user in a retail store. The method steps include obtaining a reference of the retail store using a mobile device of the user, accessing a product database for the retail store based on the reference of the retail store, obtaining, in the retail store, a product identifier of the product using the mobile device, retrieving product information from the product database based on the product identifier, and displaying the product information on the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method to purchase a product by a user in a retail store, comprising:

obtaining, in response to a signal broadcast by the retail store in proximity to an entrance of the retail store, a reference of the retail store using a mobile device of the user by;

receiving the signal at the mobile device when brought within a pre-determined range of the entrance as the user enters the retail store instructing the mobile device to obtain geolocation data of the retail store;

obtaining, using a global positioning sensor of the mobile device in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, geolocation data of the retail store; and

sending, in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, the geolocation data from the mobile device to a location-merchant orchestration server separate from the mobile device and the retail store to obtain the reference of the retail store;

accessing a product database for the retail store based on the reference of the retail store;

obtaining, in the retail store, a product identifier of the product using the mobile device;

retrieving product information from the product database based on the product identifier;

displaying the product information on the mobile device;

sending, from the mobile device, payment information of the user to a payment server to execute a payment for purchasing the product;

receiving an electronic receipt based on the payment executed by the payment server; and

sending a signal from the mobile device to the exit station to activate the electronic receipt for inspecting the product using at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner and a radio frequency scanner of the exit station.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a virtual shopping cart on the mobile device, wherein the product information is displayed in the virtual shopping cart and comprises a description and a price of the product.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the product identifier is obtained using at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner, a radio frequency scanner, and a camera of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone comprising a geolocation identifier for obtaining the geolocation data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a command at the mobile device from the user, wherein the mobile device obtains and sends the geolocation data to obtain the reference of the retail store further responsive to receiving the command.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the product database for the retail store to update inventory information based on the payment executed by the payment server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the electronic receipt to an exit station of the retail store, wherein the electronic receipt is used by the exit station to confirm the payment.

8. A system for purchasing a product by a user in a retail store, comprising:

a product database accessible based on a reference of the retail store, configured to;

store product information of the product indexed by a product identifier of the product;

and provide the product information based on the product identifier of the product; and

a mobile device of the user comprising;

a product scanner configured to obtain, in the retail store, the product identifier of the product; and

a mobile point-of-sale (POS) application configured to;

obtain, in response to a signal broadcasted by the retail store in proximity to an entrance of the retail store, the reference of the retail store by;

receiving the signal at the mobile device when brought within a pre-determined range of the entrance as the user enters from the retail store instructing the mobile device to obtain geolocation data of the retail store;

obtaining, using a global positioning sensor of the mobile device in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, geolocation data of the retail store; and

sending, in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, the geolocation data from the mobile device to a location-merchant orchestration server separate from the mobile device and the retail store to obtain the reference of the retail store;

cause the product scanner to obtain the product identifier of the product;

access the product database based on the reference of the retail store;

retrieve product information from the product database based on the product identifier;

display the product information;

a payment server configured to;

receive payment information of the user from the mobile device to execute a payment for purchasing the product, wherein the mobile POS application is further configured to send the payment information from the mobile device to the payment server; and

cause an electronic receipt to be provided to the mobile device based on the payment; and

an exit station of the retail store configured to;

wherein the mobile POS application is further configured to;

activate, by sending a signal to the exit station, the received electronic receipt at the exit station for confirming the payment;

receive the electronic receipt; and

confirm the payment based on the received electronic receipt, wherein the exit station comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner and a radio frequency scanner for inspecting the product against the activated electronic receipt.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

the location-merchant orchestration server configured to;

store the reference of the retail store indexed by geolocation data of the retail store;

and provide the reference of the retail store based on the geolocation data of the retail store, wherein the mobile device of the user further comprises;

a geolocation identifier configured to obtain the geolocation data of the retail store, and wherein the mobile POS application is further configured to;

cause the geolocation identifier to obtain the geolocation data of the retail store.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive a signal from the retail store, wherein the mobile POS application is further configured to;

retrieve the reference of the retail store from the signal.

11. The system of claim 8, the mobile POS application is further configured to display a virtual shopping cart, wherein the product information is displayed in the virtual shopping cart and comprises a description and a price of the product.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the product scanner comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner, a radio frequency scanner, a camera for obtaining the product identifier of the product.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the mobile POS application sends the geolocation data to obtain the reference of the retail store further responsive to receiving a command from the user.

15. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive the signal from the retail store.

16. The system of claim 8, wherein the electronic receipt is generated by at least one selected from a group consisting of the payment server, the product database, and the mobile POS application.

17. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one selected from a group consisting of the mobile POS application and the payment server is further configured to:

notify the product database to update inventory information based on the payment.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium, embodying instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps to purchase a product by a user in a retail store, the instructions comprising functionality for:

obtaining, in response to a signal broadcasted the retail store in proximity to an entrance of the retail store, a reference of the retail store using a mobile device of the user by;

receiving the signal at the mobile device when brought within a pre-determined range of the entrance as the user enters the retail store;

obtaining, using a global positioning sensor of the mobile device in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, geolocation data of the retail store; and

sending, in response to receiving the signal from the retail store, the geolocation data from the mobile device to a location-merchant orchestration server separate from the mobile device and the retail store to obtain the reference of the retail store;

accessing a product database for the retail store based on the reference of the retail store;

obtaining, in the retail store, a product identifier of the product using the mobile device;

retrieving product information from the product database based on the product identifier;

displaying the product information on the mobile device;

sending, from the mobile device, payment information of the user to a payment server to execute a payment for purchasing the product;

receiving an electronic receipt based on the payment executed by the payment server; and

sending a signal from the mobile device to the exit station to activate the electronic receipt for inspecting the product using at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner and a radio frequency scanner of the exit station.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

displaying a virtual shopping cart on the mobile device, wherein the product information is displayed in the virtual shopping cart and comprises a description and a price of the product.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the product identifier is obtained using at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical scanner a radio frequency scanner, and a camera of the mobile device.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone comprising a geolocation identifier for obtaining the geolocation data.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

receiving a command at the mobile device from the user, wherein the mobile device obtains and sends the geolocation data to obtain the reference of the retail store further responsive to receiving the command.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

notifying the product database for the retail store to update inventory information based on the payment executed by the payment server.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

sending the electronic receipt to an exit station of the retail store, wherein the electronic receipt is used by the exit station to confirm the payment.