Feedback loop for consumer transactions

• US 8,805,720 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2007
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Flake, Gary W., Hemmen, Jeffrey R., Gounares, Alexander, Chickering, David M., Horvitz, Eric J., Connolly, Michael, Cheng, Lili, Jain, Kamal, Moromisato, George P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nigh, James D
• Application Number:
  US11/959,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20080154704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,428 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.25, 705/14.53, 705/26.7
• US Class Current: 705/14.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can facilitate verification or feedback in association with consumer transactions. In particular the architecture can image a transaction receipt, translate the image into text-based data, and extract relevant transaction data there from. Such relevant transaction data can be saved to a data store maintained or supervised by the customer and/or transmitted to authorized components that can benefit from data related to transaction histories, verification, and/or feedback.

Claims

1. A system having an optical device that tracks consumer transactions in order to facilitate verification or feedback, the system comprising:

an optical device that reads a receipt that relates to a transaction between a vendor and a customer, the receipt comprising a set of transaction-related data;

an extraction component that identifies and extracts relevant transaction data from the set of transaction-related data, relevant transaction data comprising data useable by one or more applications residing on one or more components, the identification of relevant transaction data dependent upon an identity of the one or more applications; and

a data store that stores the relevant transaction data and customer profile information, wherein the relevant transaction data and the customer profile information are accessible and useable by the one or more applications residing on the one or more components.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receipt is a paper receipt printed by the vendor or an electronic receipt or record transmitted by the vendor at a point-of-sale (POS).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical device includes a camera that creates a digital image of the receipt.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the extraction component translates a digital image of the receipt into text-based machine-editable data in order to identify the relevant transaction data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the extraction component utilizes optical character recognition to translate the receipt.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises an integration component that utilizes the relevant transaction data to update the customer profile information.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the integration component transmits the relevant transaction data to one of the one or more components that updates a veracity score included in the profile, and further wherein the veracity score reflects a tendency of the customer to fulfill published shopping objectives.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the integration component transmits the relevant transaction data to one of the one or more components that verifies that an engagement-based incentive associated with the profile has been satisfied.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the integration component transmits the relevant transaction data to one of the one or more components that determines a relevance of an advertisement based upon a transaction history included in the profile.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the integration component transmits the relevant transaction data to a personal finance component associated with the customer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the extraction component retrieves a translation legend for the receipt from a vendor data store maintained by the vendor.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the relevant transaction data is a transaction reference ID and the extraction component employs the transaction reference ID to access a vendor data store maintained by the vendor.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the extraction component retrieves other relevant transaction data from a record associated with the transaction reference ID included in the vendor data store.

14. Computer-readable hardware devices having embodied thereon computer-useable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, the computing device having a processor and a data store, implement a method for facilitating verification or feedback by examining consumer transactions described in a receipt, the method comprising:

a. capturing an image of a receipt relating to a transaction between a vendor and a customer, the receipt comprising a set of transaction-related data, wherein the set of transaction-related data comprises one or more of vendor information, a date of the transaction, a time of the transaction, a customer rewards identification, a descriptor for one or more purchased items, a sale price for one or more purchased items, a discount price associated with one or more purchased items, a Universal Product Code (UPC) for one or more of purchased items, a savings code for one or more purchased items, or a transaction reference ID;

b. translating portions of the image into text-based machine-editable data;

c. determining utilizing the processor of the computing device relevant transaction data from the text-based machine-editable data, the relevant transaction data comprising data useable by one or more applications, the determination of relevant transaction data dependent upon an identity of the one or more applications

d. storing the relevant transaction data to the data store, the data store storing the relevant transaction data and customer profile information, the customer profile information including at least demographic data, shopping preferences, and one or more transaction histories; and

e. communicating the relevant transaction data and the customer profile information to the one or more applications.

15. The computer-readable hardware devices of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises utilizing a mobile device for the act of imaging, and wherein the data store resides on the mobile device.

16. The computer-readable hardware devices of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises at least one of the following acts:

f. employing the relevant transaction data for updating the customer profile information;

g. facilitating update of a veracity score included in the profile by propagating at least one of the relevant transaction data or a signal indicating the profile has been updated;

h. facilitating verification that an engagement-based incentive associated with the profile has been satisfied by propagating at least one of the relevant transaction data or a signal indicating the profile has been updated;

i. facilitating determination of a relevance of an advertisement based upon a transaction history included in the profile by propagating at least one of the relevant transaction data or a signal indicating the profile has been updated;

or

j. transmitting the relevant transaction data to a personal finance component associated with the customer.

17. Computer-readable hardware devices having embodied thereon computer-useable instructions that, when executed by a computing device having a processor and a data store, implement a method for facilitating mobile verification or feedback by examining consumer transactions described in an electronic record, the method comprising:

k. receiving at a point-of-sale a transaction reference ID that relates to a transaction between a vendor and a customer;

I. employing at the point-of-sale the transaction reference ID for accessing an electronic record associated with the transaction, wherein the electronic record is included in a vendor data store maintained by the vendor, and wherein the electronic record comprises a set of transaction-related data;

m. identifying utilizing the processor of the computing device relevant transaction data from the set of transaction-related data, the relevant transaction data comprising data useable by one or more applications residing on one or more components, the identification of the relevant transaction data dependent upon an identity of the one or more applications;

n. storing the relevant transaction data to the data store, the data store comprising the relevant transaction data and customer profile information; and

o. transmitting the relevant transaction data and the customer profile information to at least one of the one or more components, the one or more components including;

i. a ranking component that updates a veracity score associated with the customer, the veracity score indicating a tendency of the customer to fulfill shopping objectives as evidenced by the relevant transaction data,

ii. a promotion component that verifies, using the relevant transaction data, that an engagement-based incentive associated with the customer profile information has been satisfied,

iii. a classification component that determines a relevance of an advertisement based upon a transaction history of the customer and the relevant transaction data,

iv. a selection component that selects an advertisement based upon an attribute associated with the customer profile information and the relevant transaction data, or

v. a personal finance component that utilizes relevant transaction data to track personal finances of the customer.

18. The computer-readable hardware devices of claim 17, wherein a determination to transmit at least one of the relevant transaction data is based at least in part upon an inference drawn from the set of observations as captured by the events or data.