E-commerce transaction aggregation and processing

• US 7,831,481 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Newton James, Spinac, Clifford Jay, Rodriguez, Herman
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg; Yogesh C
• Application Number:
  US11/559,593
• Publication Number:
  US 20070061223A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,456 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/1, 709/217
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Methods, systems, and media for aggregating and processing product information are disclosed. Embodiments include hardware and/or software for receiving an electronic receipt from a merchant that describes a transaction for a product by a purchaser and gathering product information from one or more sources such as the merchant, the product'"'"'s manufacturer, the purchaser'"'"'s bank, and/or an accessories dealer. Upon gathering the product information, the product information is associated with the transaction for the product on the electronic receipt and packaged in a standard, electronic format, an aggregated package, that is accessible and manageable by the purchaser'"'"'s software, such as a personal finance manager (PFM) like Quicken™, Quickbooks™, Microsoft Money™, or the like. The aggregated package can then be sent to the purchaser via an email address supplied by the purchaser at the time of the purchaser or by the purchaser'"'"'s bank while completing a funds transfer for the transaction.

Claims

1. A method for processing an aggregated package for an e-commerce transaction, the method comprising:

receiving, by a personal finance manager being executed via a computer, the aggregated package, wherein the aggregated package comprises an electronic receipt of a transaction to purchase a product from a merchant by a purchaser, an encrypted module to certify the trustworthiness of the electronic receipt, and product information associated with the product, wherein the product information comprises code designed to operate with the personal finance manager;

parsing, by the personal finance manager being executed via the computer, the product information to store data of the product information in a database based upon a category associated with the data;

associating, by the personal finance manager being executed via the computer, the data with the electronic receipt; and

managing, by the personal finance manager being executed via the computer, the product information to convey information related to the product to the purchaser, wherein managing comprises utilizing the code to automatically set up reminders associated with the aggregated package based upon the product information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising translating the product information based upon a selected language.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the product information comprises monitoring an expiration of a warranty of the product and notifying the user about the expiration and interacting with the user to renew the warranty.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the product information comprises notifying an insurance company about the product to insure the purchaser against a loss of the product.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the product information comprises automatically registering the product with a manufacturer associated with the product in response to receiving the aggregated package, based upon product identification data from the electronic receipt and rebate information from the product information, wherein the product information comprises the rebate information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the product information comprises automatically transmitting a rebate request to a manufacturer associated with the product in response to receiving the aggregated package, based upon product identification data from the electronic receipt and rebate information from the product information, wherein the product information comprises the rebate information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the product information comprises downloading a manual associated with the product based upon an Internet protocol address in the aggregated package.

8. An apparatus for processing an aggregated package for an e-commerce transaction, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processor; and

a memory to store instructions and coupled to the one or more processor to execute the instructions, the instructions comprising;

a package receiver to receive the aggregated package, wherein the aggregated package comprises an electronic receipt for a transaction to purchase a product from a merchant by a purchaser, an encrypted module to certify the trustworthiness of the electronic receipt, and product information associated with the product, wherein the product information comprises code designed to operate with a personal finance manager of the apparatus;

a database to store the product information;

a package parser coupled with the database to parse the product information to store data of the product information in the database based upon a category associated with the data, and to associate the data with the electronic receipt; and

a product information manager coupled with the database to manage the data to convey information related to the product to the purchaser, the product information manager to utilize the code to automatically set up reminders associated with the aggregated package based upon the product information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a language translator to translate content of the aggregated package based upon a selected language.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the product information manager comprises a warranty monitor to monitor warranty expiration dates for the product and to notify the purchaser about the expiration date.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the product information manager comprises a product registration manager to automatically register the product with a manufacturer associated with the product in response to receiving the aggregated package, based upon product identification data parsed from the electronic receipt and rebate information parsed from the product information, wherein the product information comprises the rebate information.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the product information manager is configured to download a manual associated with the product based upon an Internet protocol address parsed from the product information.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the product information manager comprises a rebate manager to automatically transmit a rebate request to a manufacturer associated with the product, based upon the electronic receipt and the data, in response to receiving the aggregated package.

14. A tangible machine-accessible storage medium containing instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations, comprising:

receiving, by a personal finance manager, the aggregated package, wherein the aggregated package comprises an electronic receipt for a transaction to purchase a product from a merchant by a purchaser, an encrypted module to certify the trustworthiness of the electronic receipt, and product information associated with the product, wherein the product information comprises code designed to operate with the personal finance manager;

parsing, by the personal finance manager, the product information by category to store data of the product information in a database based upon a category associated with the data;

associating, by the personal finance manager, the data with the electronic receipt; and

managing, by the personal finance manager, the product information to convey information related to the product to the purchaser, wherein managing comprises utilizing the code to automatically set up reminders associated with the aggregated package based upon the product information.

15. The tangible machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14, wherein managing comprises monitoring an expiration of a warranty for the product and notifying the user about the expiration.

16. The tangible machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14, wherein managing comprises notifying an insurance company about the product to insure the purchaser against a loss of the product.

17. The tangible machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14, wherein managing comprises registering the product with a manufacturer associated with the product, based upon a product identification in the electronic receipt and rebate information from the data, wherein the data comprises the rebate information.

18. The tangible machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14, wherein managing comprises automatically transmitting a rebate request to a manufacturer associated with the product, based upon a product identification in the electronic receipt and rebate information from the data, wherein the data comprises the rebate information.

19. The tangible machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14, wherein managing comprises downloading a manual associated with the product based upon an Internet protocol address in the aggregated package.