Method for establishing an electronic commerce account
First Claim
1. A method for establishing a customer account in an electronic remote ordering system wherein order fulfillment is accomplished upon the customer'"'"'s attendance at a merchant location, comprising:
- creating a provisional customer account contemporaneous with said customer placing an initial order through said remote ordering system for fulfillment at a specific merchant location;
delivering said initial order from said remote ordering system to said specific merchant location; and
, activating said customer account upon or after said customer'"'"'s attendance at said specific merchant location for fulfillment of said initial order.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an electronic remote ordering system, an initial order from a new customer may be processed using limited information, with activation of the customer account, possibly including a payment account, occurring upon the customer'"'"'s attendance at a customer-specified merchant point of sale for order fulfillment. Activation of the accounts may be upon obtaining a contract signature from the customer and/or in person verification of the customer'"'"'s identity at the point of sale. Payment account information may be secured remotely or upon attendance at the point of sale. In the latter case, payment account information can be electronically captured from the means of payment tendered by the customer. The invention eases the burden on new customers and allows effective authentication during account creation.
341 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for establishing a customer account in an electronic remote ordering system wherein order fulfillment is accomplished upon the customer'"'"'s attendance at a merchant location, comprising:
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creating a provisional customer account contemporaneous with said customer placing an initial order through said remote ordering system for fulfillment at a specific merchant location;
delivering said initial order from said remote ordering system to said specific merchant location; and
,activating said customer account upon or after said customer'"'"'s attendance at said specific merchant location for fulfillment of said initial order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22)
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15. A method for establishing a customer account in an electronic remote ordering system wherein order fulfillment is accomplished upon the customer'"'"'s attendance at a merchant location, comprising:
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accepting an order from a customer at a point of sale terminal;
while said customer is still at the point of sale terminal, inviting said customer to establish a remote ordering customer account, said invitation including collecting identifying information from said customer; and
,upon said customer providing said identifying information, capturing details of said order from said point of sale terminal, combining said details with said identifying information, and identifying said order as an optional remote ordering customer preference for said customer.
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19. A remote ordering system for use by at least one customer in placing an order for fulfillment at one of a plurality of affiliated merchants, said merchants operating a plurality of different merchant locations, comprising one or more servers for receiving and processing an order from said customer, said order identifying a specific one of said merchant locations for fulfillment of said order, and for transmitting said order to said specific one of said merchant locations for fulfillment by said specific merchant location, and a database associated with said one or more servers, said database comprising information specific to each of said merchant locations.
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20. A method for establishing a customer account in an electronic remote ordering system used in association with a chain of associated vendor outlets and wherein order fulfillment is accomplished upon the customer'"'"'s attendance at a customer-specified merchant location, said remote ordering system comprising a database associating each outlet in said said with product fulfillment capabilities, said method comprising:
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creating a customer account in said remote ordering system contemporaneous with said customer placing an initial order through said remote ordering system for fulfillment at a specific merchant location;
delivering said initial order from said remote ordering system to said specific merchant location; and
,activating said customer account upon or after said customer'"'"'s attendance at said specific merchant location for fulfillment of said initial order.
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Specification