Point-of-sale server and method
View Patent ↗A method for use in marketing includes detecting, at the point-of-sale, a plurality of Uniform Product Codes associated with respective items purchased by a customer. The method also includes transmitting, on a substantially real-time basis, the plurality of Uniform Product Codes over the Internet to a remote computer connected to the Internet.
1. A method for processing point-of-sale information, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, from a point-of-sale terminal, an identifier associated with an item that has not yet been purchased by a customer;
determining, by the computing device, point-of-sale information associated with the item based on a purchasing history, wherein the point-of-sale information includes:
a price at which the item was previously purchased at a particular point-of-sale terminal,
information identifying the item that was previously purchased and the particular point-of-sale terminal, and
information identifying a previously applied incentive that was applied to the price;
providing, by the computing device, the point-of-sale information associated with the item to a remote computer associated with a supplier of the item on a substantially real-time basis;
providing, by the computing device, to the remote computer associated with the supplier of the item, purchasing information of a similar item associated with a competing supplier received from at least one store;
receiving, by the computing device, an incentive from the remote computer associated with the supplier on a substantially real-time basis, wherein the incentive is determined based on at least the point-of-sale information associated with the item and the purchasing information of the similar item associated with the competing supplier received from the at least one store; and
providing, by the computing device, the incentive to the point-of-sale terminal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incentive includes a reduced price for the item.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
displaying the reduced price at a kiosk in a store or at the point-of-sale terminal.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incentive includes a redeemable coupon or discount associated with the item.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the receiving the incentive is further determined based on at least performance of the item in a marketplace.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incentive is associated with a product from the supplier.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the incentive includes a notification of a future discount associated with the product from the supplier.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the incentive includes an advertisement of the product from the supplier.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the incentive includes a coupon associated with the product from the supplier.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incentive is a redeemable coupon corresponding to a product from the supplier.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the incentive includes a notification of a future discount associated with the product from the supplier.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the incentive includes an advertisement of the product from the supplier.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the incentive includes a coupon associated with the product from the supplier.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving an identifier includes receiving information indicative of a bar code associated with a redeemable coupon corresponding to a product from the supplier.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing the point-of-sale information associated with the item includes providing the point-of-sale information via Internet.
16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing an identification of a customer to the supplier on a substantially real-time basis, wherein the receiving the incentive from the supplier is further determined based on at least the identification of the customer.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the receiving the incentive includes receiving the incentive based upon a purchasing history of the customer.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
reading the identification of the customer from a smart card associated with the customer.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
storing the incentive on the smart card associated with the customer.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the incentive is determined based on at least the purchasing history of the customer wherein the purchasing history includes at least purchase price information for a plurality of purchased items purchased by the customer.
21. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive, from a point-of-sale terminal, an identifier associated with an item that has not yet been purchased by a customer;
determine point-of-sale information associated with the item based on a purchasing history, wherein the point-of-sale information includes:
a price at which the item was previously purchased at a particular point-of-sale terminal,
information identifying the item that was previously purchased and the particular point-of-sale terminal, and
information identifying a previously applied incentive that was applied to the price;
provide the point-of-sale information associated with the item to a remote computer associated with a supplier of the item on a substantially real-time basis;
provide to the remote computer associated with the supplier of the item, purchasing information of a similar item associated with a competing supplier received from at least one store;
receive, an incentive from the remote computer associated with the supplier on a substantially real-time basis, wherein the incentive is determined based on at least the point-of-sale information associated with the item and the purchasing information of the similar item associated with the competing supplier received from the at least one store; and
provide the incentive to the point-of-sale terminal.
22. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations including:
receiving, from a point-of-sale terminal, an identifier associated with an item that has not yet been purchased by a customer;
determining point-of-sale information associated with the item based on a purchasing history, wherein the point-of-sale information includes:
a price at which the item was previously purchased at a particular point-of-sale terminal,
information identifying the item that was previously purchased and the particular point-of-sale terminal, and
information identifying a previously applied incentive that was applied to the price;
providing the point-of-sale information associated with the item to a remote computer associated with a supplier of the item on a substantially real-time basis;
providing to the remote computer associated with the supplier of the item, purchasing information of a similar item associated with a competing supplier received from at least one store;
receiving an incentive from the remote computer associated with the supplier on a substantially real-time basis, wherein the incentive is determined based on at least the point-of-sale information associated with the item and the purchasing information of the similar item associated with the competing supplier received from the at least one store; and
providing the incentive to the point-of-sale terminal.