Actions using encoded unique product identifiers
An encoded image may be captured by a camera to produce particular information from a display that cannot be deciphered by a human eye (e.g., a quick response code a.k.a. a QR code). The encoded image can be decoded and then the information contained therein can be acted upon by a user device, such as a mobile phone device. The user may be prompted for additional information, redirected to a particular website, sent to a specific web application or online authentication portal, etc. A service provider computer system may also perform processing on information gleaned from the encoded image, and provide information regarding the subsequent outcome of the processing to a user.
1. A method, comprising:
capturing, via a camera of a user device, an encoded image corresponding to an item, wherein the encoded image includes information not decipherable by a human;
decoding the encoded image to obtain item information usable to facilitate a transaction that includes the item, the item information including an item identifier and seller information that uniquely identifies a seller of the item;
subsequent to the decoding, receiving a user input from a user interface component of the user device;
responsive to the user input, the user device transmitting, to a service provider computer system, the seller information and additional information usable to facilitate a purchase transaction for the item; and
subsequent to the transmitting, receiving an indication that the purchase transaction has been processed by the service provider computer system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encoded image stores data in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequent to the decoding, launching an application on the user device that is configured to access web content; and
causing web content corresponding to the item information to be displayed on the user device via the application.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to the decoding, storing the item information.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the item information on the user device subsequent to the decoding.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the item is a service.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing an authentication login for an account corresponding to the service provider computer system to be presented to a user on the user device, wherein the authentication login includes content retrieved from a web server of a service provider corresponding to the service provider computer system.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the item information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) for a website corresponding to the seller of the item, and wherein the method further comprises causing an application of the user device to view the URL.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the item information includes a unique product code comprising encoded item information.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the item is a physical item, and wherein the encoded image is displayed on a material surface that is not attached directly to the item.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that are executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
capturing, via a camera of the computer system, an encoded image corresponding to an item, wherein the encoded image includes information not decipherable by a human;
decoding the encoded image to obtain item information usable to facilitate a transaction that includes the item, the item information including an item identifier and seller information that uniquely identifies a seller of the item;
storing the obtained item information;
presenting, on a visual display component of the computer system, a user interface that includes a command selectable by a user to initiate the transaction;
subsequent to the presenting, receiving a user input indicating the command was selected;
responsive to the user input, transmitting, to a service provider computer system, the seller information and additional information usable to facilitate a purchase transaction for the item; and
subsequent to the transmitting, receiving an indication that the purchase transaction has been processed by the service provider computer system.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
subsequent to the decoding, launching an application that is configured to access web content; and
causing web content corresponding to the item information to be displayed via the application.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the encoded image is a quick response (QR) image.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
including one or more other items in the transaction that includes the item.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:
saving additional information for the one or more other items to the computer system subsequent to decoding individual ones of the one or more additional information items from encoded non-human readable images corresponding to individual ones of the other items.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the computer system is a mobile phone device.
17. A system, comprising:
a processor;
a camera;
a visual display component;
a memory; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that are executable to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
capturing, via the camera, an encoded image corresponding to an item, wherein the encoded image includes information not decipherable by a human;
decoding the encoded image to obtain item information usable to facilitate a transaction that includes the item, the item information including an item identifier and seller information that uniquely identifies a seller of the item;
storing the obtained item information;
presenting, on the visual display component, a user interface that includes a command selectable by a user to initiate the transaction;
subsequent to the presenting, receiving a user input indicating the command was selected;
responsive to the user input, transmitting, to a service provider computer system, the seller information and additional information usable to facilitate a purchase transaction for the item; and
subsequent to the transmitting, receiving an indication that the purchase transaction has been processed by the service provider computer system.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
displaying an account creation user interface on the visual display component that prompts the user to create an account with a provider corresponding to the service provider computer system in response to a determination that the user does not have an existing account with the provider.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
facilitating a completion of the transaction using a newly created account made subsequent to displaying the account creation user interface.
20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
a mobile telephone transceiver;
wherein the transmitting to the service provider computer system is performed via the mobile telephone transceiver.