Granted Patent B2

US 9,558,503 · App. 14/476,935 · Granted Jan 31, 2017

Abstract

Claims (69)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, with a wireless sensor positioned proximate a point-of-sale terminal during a first time period, a probe signal from each wireless interface of a plurality of mobile devices that are respectively associated with a plurality of customers;

extracting from each probe signal a time stamp that is indicative of when a respective probe signal was received by the wireless sensor and a mobile identifier that identifies a mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices whose wireless interface transmitted the probe signal;

receiving, during the first time period, a plurality of transactions from the point-of-sale terminal, wherein each transaction identifies one or more sold items;

matching, from the plurality of mobile devices, a mobile device that is most likely associated with the customer who purchased the sold items identified by a transaction from the plurality of transactions, wherein the matching is based on the time stamps and mobile identifiers extracted from the probe signals received during the first time period and on a transaction time indicative of when the transaction occurred at the point-of-sale terminal; and

in response to said matching the mobile device, updating a purchase history associated with the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device based on the sold items identified by the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising wirelessly transmitting, to the mobile device associated with the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device, a message created based on the purchase history associated with the mobile identifier.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said updating a purchase history comprises:

locating a customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the mobile device; and

updating a purchase history of the located customer profile.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said updating a purchase history comprises:

creating a new customer profile in response to determining that the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device is not associated with an existing customer profile;

adding the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device to the new customer profile; and

updating a purchase history of the new customer profile.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving customer identifying information from the point-of-sale terminal for ones of the one or more transaction;

creating a new customer profile in response to determining that the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device is not associated with an existing customer profile; and

adding the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device and the customer identifying information to the new customer profile;

wherein said updating a purchase history comprises updating a purchase history of the new customer profile.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving, from the point-of-sale terminal, customer identifying information for the transaction;

locating a customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device; and

updating the located customer profile based on the customer identifying information for the transaction.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

locating a first customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device;

locating a second customer profile based on customer identifying information associated with the transaction; and

merging a purchase history of the first customer profile and a purchase history of the second customer profile.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

said matching is further based on arrival times obtained from the extracted time stamps for each of the plurality of mobile devices; and

each arrival time is indicative of an arrival of the associated mobile device at the point-of-sale terminal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

said matching is further based on departure times obtained from the extracted time stamps for each of the plurality of mobile devices; and

each departure time is indicative of a departure of the associated mobile device from the point-of-sale terminal.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said matching is further based on transactions from multiple days.

11. A system for use with a plurality of mobile devices that are respectively associated with a plurality of customers, the system comprising:

a point-of-sale terminal configured to handle sales of items and generate transactions for items sold via the point-of-sale terminal;

a wireless sensor positioned proximate the point-of-sale terminal and configured to:

receive a probe signal from each wireless interface of the plurality of mobile devices; and

extract from each probe signal a time stamp that is indicative of when a respective probe signal was received by the wireless sensor and a mobile identifier that identifies a mobile device from the plurality of mobile devices proximate the point-of-sale terminal whose wireless interface transmitted the probe signal; and

a backend system configured to:

receive a plurality of transactions from the point-of-sale terminal;

receive time stamps and mobile identifiers from the wireless sensor;

match, from the plurality of mobile devices, a mobile device that is most likely associated with the customer who purchased sold items identified by a transaction from the plurality of transactions based on the received time stamps and mobile identifiers and on a transaction time indicative of when the transaction occurred at the point-of-sale terminal; and

in response to matching the mobile device, update a purchase history associated with the mobile identifier for the match mobile device based on the sold items identified by the transaction.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the backend system is further configured to locate a customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device, and update the located customer profile based on customer identifying information received for the transaction.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a wireless transmitter configured to transmit messages to mobile devices, wherein the backend system is further configured to create a message based on the purchase history associated with the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device, and cause the wireless transmitter to transmit the message to the matched mobile device.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the backend system is further configured to:

create a new customer profile in response to determining that the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device is not associated with an existing customer profile;

add the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device to the new customer profile; and

update a purchase history of the new customer profile based on the sold items identified by the transaction.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the backend system is further configured to:

receive, from the point-of-sale terminal, information that identifies a customer associated with a transaction;

create a new customer profile in response to determining that the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device is not associated with an existing customer profile;

add the mobile identifier for the matched mobile device and the information that identifies the customer associated with the transaction to the new customer profile; and

update a purchase history of the new customer profile based on the sold items identified by the transaction.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions, that in response to being executed, result in a computing system:

receiving, from a wireless sensor positioned proximate a point-of-sale terminal during a first time period, a time stamp and a mobile identifier extracted from a probe signal transmitted from each wireless interface of a plurality of mobile devices that are respectively associated with a plurality of customers, wherein each time stamp is indicative of when a respective probe signal was received by the wireless sensor and each mobile identifier identifies a mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices whose wireless interface transmitted the probe signal;

receiving, during the first time period, a plurality of transactions from the point-of-sale terminal, wherein each transaction identifies one or more sold items;

matching, from the plurality of mobile devices, a mobile device that is most likely associated with the customer who purchased the sold items identified by a transaction from the plurality of transactions, wherein the matching is based on the time stamps and mobile identifiers extracted from the probe signals received during the first time period and on a transaction time indicative of when the transaction occurred at the point-of-sale terminal; and

in response to said matching the mobile device, updating a purchase history associated with the mobile identifier for the matching mobile device based on the sold items identified by the transaction.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing system:

locating a customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the matching mobile device; and

updating the located customer profile based on customer identifying information received for the transaction.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing system:

locating a first customer profile based on the mobile identifier for the matching mobile device;

locating a second customer profile based on customer identifying information associated with the transaction; and

merging a purchase history of the first customer profile and a purchase history of the second customer profile.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing system matching the mobile device further based on arrival times obtained from the extracted time stamps for each of the plurality of mobile devices, each arrival time indicative of an arrival of the associated mobile device at the point-of-sale terminal.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing system matching the mobile device further based on departure times obtained from the extracted time stamps for each of the plurality of mobile devices, each departure time indicative of a departure of the associated mobile device from the point-of-sale terminal.

Assignments (18)