Method and apparatus for facilitating the sale of subscriptions to periodicals
View Patent ↗A POS terminal receives a signal that indicates an item, for example, via a bar code scanner. The POS terminal ascertains whether the item is associated with an offer for a rebate. If so, a code is generated and output to the customer, such as on a printed receipt. The code is associated with an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical. If the customer subscribes to a required periodical, he will be credited the amount he paid for the item. Subsequently, the customer requests a subscription to a periodical from a subscription fulfillment house, and provides his code in conjunction with the request. If the code is valid, the customer is provided with a rebate. The rebate may be provided directly by the subscription fulfillment house (e.g. a credit to a credit card account) or may be provided by a merchant (e.g. a discount on a future purchase).
1. A method, comprising:
receiving a signal that indicates at least one item;
ascertaining whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
generating a code if the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
outputting a signal that represents the code;
outputting an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, in which the subscription to the periodical is not the at least one item; and
charging an item price.
2. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of receiving the signal that indicates the at least one item comprises:
receiving the signal via a bar code scanner.
3. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of receiving the signal that indicates the at least one item comprises:
optically scanning a bar code that indicates the at least one item.
4. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of ascertaining whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate comprises:
searching a database for a record that corresponds to the at least one item; and
ascertaining from the record whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate.
5. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of generating the code comprises:
selecting the code from a plurality of predetermined codes.
6. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of generating the code comprises:
generating the code randomly.
7. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of generating the code comprises:
encrypting at least one datum.
8. The method of claim 7 , in which the step of encrypting at least one datum comprises:
encrypting at least one of
the periodical,
an item price of the at least one item,
an account identifier,
a merchant identifier that identifies a merchant,
a period of validity,
an item identifier that identifies the at least one item, and
a customer identifier that identifies a customer.
9. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of generating the code comprises:
generating the code based on at least one of
the periodical,
an item price of the at least one item,
an account identifier,
a merchant identifier that identifies a merchant,
a period of validity,
an item identifier that identifies the at least one item, and
a customer identifier that identifies a customer.
10. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of outputting the signal that represents the code comprises:
printing an indicium that represents the code.
11. The method of claim 10 , in which the indicium comprises a machine-readable indicium.
12. The method of claim 11 , in which the indicium comprises a bar code.
13. The method of claim 1 , in which the step of outputting an offer comprises:
generating a message.
14. The method of claim 13 , in which the step of outputting an offer comprises:
printing an indicium that represents a message.
15. The method of claim 13 , in which the step of outputting an offer comprises:
displaying a message on a video monitor.
16. The method of claim 13 , in which the step of generating the message comprises:
selecting the message based on the at least one item.
17. The method of claim 13 , in which the step of generating the message comprises:
selecting the message from a plurality of predetermined messages.
18. The method of claim 1 , in which the charging the item price comprises:
receiving a credit card number that identifies a credit card account; and
charging the item price to the credit card account.
19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
printing an indicium that represents a contact identifier.
20. The method of claim 19 , in which the indicium that represents the contact identifier represents at least one of a telephone number, an electronic mail address and a URL.
21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a contact identifier based on the at least one item.
22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting the periodical based on the at least one item.
23. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
ascertaining whether a predetermined rule is satisfied.
24. The method of claim 23 , in which the step of outputting the signal that represents the code is performed only if the predetermined rule is satisfied.
25. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a customer identifier that identifies a customer that purchases the at least one item.
26. The method of claim 25 , in which the step of receiving a customer identifier comprises:
receiving an account identifier that identifies an account.
27. The method of claim 26 , in which the account identifier comprises a credit card account number and in which the account is a credit card account.
28. The method of claim 25 , in which the step of receiving a customer identifier comprises:
receiving the customer identifier via at least one of a card reader and a bar code scanner.
29. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
associating the code with the rebate.
30. The method of claim 29 , in which the step of associating the code with the rebate comprises:
storing the code and an indication of the rebate in a record of a database.
31. The method of claim 1 , in which the at least one item comprises an issue of the periodical.
32. The method of claim 1 , in which the code indicates at least one of
the periodical,
an item price of the at least one item,
an account identifier,
a merchant identifier that identifies a merchant,
a period of validity,
an item identifier that identifies the at least one item, and
a customer identifier that identifies a customer.
33. The method of claim 1 , in which the code comprises a plurality of digits.
34. The method of claim 1 , in which the code comprises a plurality of alphanumeric characters.
35. An apparatus, comprising:
means for receiving a signal that indicates at least one item;
means for ascertaining whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
means for generating a code if the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
means for outputting a signal that represents the code;
means for outputting an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, in which the subscription to the periodical is not the at least one item; and
means for charging an item price.
36. A computer readable medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method, the processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:
receiving a signal that indicates at least one item;
ascertaining whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
generating a code if the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
outputting a signal that represents the code;
outputting an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, in which the subscription to the periodical is not the at least one item; and
charging an item price.
37. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor;
a memory connected to the processor, the memory for storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to:
receive a signal that indicates at least one item;
ascertain whether the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
generate a code if the at least one item is associated with an offer for a rebate;
output a signal that represents the code;
output an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical, in which the subscription to the periodical is not the at least one item; and
charge an item price.