Game presentation in a retail establishment
View Patent ↗A game presentation such as a virtual slot machine is displayed by a display device associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal. The game presentation includes images of products for which product identifying codes are entered at the POS terminal. The game presentation indicates to a customer an outcome of a random process pursuant to which the customer may be awarded a benefit such as a free product, a discount on a product selected for purchase, a coupon or an upsell offer.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a plurality of product identifiers, each corresponding to a respective product selected for purchase by a customer;
generating a plurality of random outcomes;
determining an upsell offer based on at least one of the random outcomes and based on at least one of the product identifiers; and
making the upsell offer,
in which making the upsell offer comprises:
displaying an image that represents the upsell offer as an indicia on a virtual slot machine reel.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the product identifiers are received by scanning bar codes on the products.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the random outcome to the customer.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the random outcome is displayed to the customer.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the random outcome is displayed in an entertainment interface.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the entertainment interface includes an image of at least one of the products corresponding to the received product identifiers.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a customer identifier for identifying the customer.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the customer identifier is received by swiping a magnetic stripe card through a card reader.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying an image that represents at least one of the products that correspond to the received product identifiers.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random outcome is generated by a server computer that communicates the random outcome to a POS terminal.
11. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a storage device,
in which the storage device stores a program which is operable to direct the processor to perform the method of claim 1 .
12. A computer readable medium that stores a program which is operable to direct the processor to perform the method of claim 1 .
13. The method of claim 1 , in which displaying comprises:
displaying the image via a shelf terminal.
14. The method of claim 1 , in which displaying comprises:
displaying the image via a portable computing device.
15. The method of claim 1 , in which displaying comprises:
displaying the image before the customer is at a POS terminal.
16. The method of claim 1 , in which displaying comprises:
displaying at least three identical indicia of the upsell offer.
17. The method of claim 1 , in which determining the up sell offer comprises:
selecting the upsell offer from a plurality of upsell offers, each upsell offer having a respective sponsor.
18. The method of claim 1 , in which determining the upsell offer further comprises:
selecting the upsell offer from a plurality of upsell offers, each upsell offer having a respective likelihood of being awarded that is based on an amount paid by a corresponding sponsor of the upsell offer.
19. An apparatus comprising:
means for receiving a plurality of product identifiers, each corresponding to a respective product selected for purchase by a customer;
means for generating a plurality of random outcomes;
means for determining an upsell offer based on at least one of the random outcomes and based on at least one of the product identifiers; and
means for making the upsell offer, in which the means for making the upsell offer comprises:
means for displaying an image that represents the upsell offer as an indicia on a virtual slot machine reel.