MULTICHANNEL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PATRON IDENTIFICATION

1 . An apparatus for identifying a patron of an establishment, the apparatus comprising:

a personally identifiable information (PII) extraction processor, configured to receive inputs comprising transaction data corresponding to a transaction, wherein a portion of said transaction data comprises PII, and configured to extract said PII from said portion of said transaction data, and configured to employ said PII to generate PII transaction data and metadata corresponding to said transaction; and

a PII link processor, configured to receive said PII transaction data and said metadata, and configured to analyze said PII transaction data and said metadata to generate a single universal guest record corresponding to said PII transaction data and said metadata, wherein said single universal guest record corresponds to the patron.

2 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein said inputs are received from one or more of a plurality of input channels.

3 . The apparatus as recited in claim 2 , wherein said plurality of input channels comprises:

a direct input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via an input source to a point-of-sale (POS) system;

a first-party input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via a first smart device application that is operably coupled to said POS system; and

a third-party input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via an application programming interface (API) that is operably coupled to said POS system, whereby a third-party application executing on a second smart device is enabled to place orders via said API.

4 . The apparatus as recited in claim 3 , wherein said inputs are entered through said first-party channel via a web-based interface to said POS system.

5 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein said PII link processor is configured employ statistical algorithms to analyze said PII transaction data and said metadata to generate said universal guest record.

6 . The apparatus as recited in claim 5 , wherein said PII link processor may additionally employ said PII transaction data to access additional associated PII stored in historical transaction records.

7 . The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein said PII link processor is configured to employ a graph-based algorithm to disambiguate two or more individuals corresponding to said PII transaction data into said single universal guest record corresponding to the patron.

8 . An apparatus for identifying a patron of an establishment, the apparatus comprising:

a guest inference processor, disposed within a backend server that is part of a point-of-sale (POS) system, said guest inference processor comprising:

a personally identifiable information (PII) extraction processor, configured to receive inputs comprising transaction data corresponding to a transaction, wherein a portion of said transaction data comprises PII, and configured to extract said PII from said portion of said transaction data, and configured to employ said PII to generate PII transaction data and metadata corresponding to said transaction; and

a PII link processor, configured to receive said PII transaction data and said metadata, and configured to analyze said PII transaction data and said metadata to generate a single universal guest record corresponding to said PII transaction data and said metadata, wherein said single universal guest record corresponds to the patron.

9 . The apparatus as recited in claim 8 , wherein said inputs are received from one or more of a plurality of input channels.

10 . The apparatus as recited in claim 9 , wherein said plurality of input channels comprises:

a direct input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via an input source to said point-of-sale (POS) system;

a first-party input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via a first smart device application that is operably coupled to said POS system; and

a third-party input channel, wherein said inputs are entered via an application programming interface (API) that is operably coupled to said POS system, whereby a third-party application executing on a second smart device is enabled to place orders via said API.

11 . The apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein said inputs are entered through said first-party channel via a web-based interface to said POS system.

12 . The apparatus as recited in claim 8 , wherein said PII link processor is configured employ statistical algorithms to analyze said PII transaction data and said metadata to generate said universal guest record.

13 . The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein said PII link processor is configured to employ a graph-based algorithm to disambiguate two or more individuals corresponding to said PII transaction data into said single universal guest record corresponding to the patron.

14 . A method for identifying a patron of an establishment, the method comprising:

receiving inputs comprising transaction data corresponding to a transaction, wherein a portion of the transaction data comprises personally identifiable information (PII), and extracting the PII from the portion of the transaction data, and employing the PII to generate PII transaction data and metadata corresponding to the transaction; and

analyzing the PII transaction data and the metadata to generate a single universal guest record corresponding to the PII transaction data and the metadata, wherein the single universal guest record corresponds to the patron.

15 . The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the inputs are received from one or more of a plurality of input channels.

16 . The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the plurality of input channels comprises:

a direct input channel, wherein the inputs are entered via an input source to a point-of-sale (POS) system;

a first-party input channel, wherein the inputs are entered via a first smart device application that is operably coupled to the POS system; and

a third-party input channel, wherein the inputs are entered via an application programming interface (API) that is operably coupled to the POS system, whereby a third-party application executing on a second smart device is enabled to place orders via the API.

17 . The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the inputs are entered through the first-party channel via a web-based interface to the POS system.

18 . The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein said analyzing comprises employing statistical algorithms to analyze the PII transaction data and the metadata to generate a single universal guest record to generate the universal guest record.

19 . The method as recited in claim 18 , wherein said analyzing further comprises employing the PII transaction data to access additional associated PII stored in historical transaction records.

20 . The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein said analyzing comprises employing a graph-based algorithm to disambiguate two or more individuals corresponding to the PII transaction data into the single universal guest record corresponding to the patron.