Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080201232 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL BUYERS - A method by which potential buyers are identified includes receiving a description of an item a potential buyer intends to purchase within a particular time, determining a reward for the potential buyer based on intent data, providing the reward to the potential buyer and applying a penalty to a financial account of the potential buyer if the potential buyer does not purchase the item within the particular time period. The system includes a controller coupled to at least one input device with the controller operable to compute a reward offer. The controller includes circuitry, or software, configured to compute and apply a penalty if the potential buyer does not purchase the item within the particular time period. | 08-21-2008 |
20080208663 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A BENEFIT DURING A TRANSACTION FOR USE DURING A LATER TRANSACTION - A method and apparatus for allowing a customer to purchase or otherwise receive a benefit during a first transaction that will be redeemed by the customer or provided to the customer at a later time or during a future transaction for the purchase, rental, lease, etc. of one or more products and/or services. The price to the customer for the benefit may be a monetary amount, a non-monetary amount, a commitment by the customer to complete or perform some obligation or qualifying action. The value of the benefit to the customer may be based on one or more aspects or characteristics of the first transaction. | 08-28-2008 |
20080300912 | Systems and methods to provide a product to a customer before a final transaction term value is established - A method for selling a product which allows a customer to comparison search for, and obtain as a part of a purchase transaction, the competitive terms for a product following product acquisition. The method includes conveying the product to the customer prior to at least one transaction term of the sale being finalized, determining a final value of the transaction term, and completing the sale using the final value of the transaction term as a term of the sale. | 12-04-2008 |
20090254531 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING AND CATEGORIZING DATA AT A TERMINAL - A method and system for collecting and categorizing survey data includes receiving customer information from a customer. A query is identified based at least in part on the customer information. The query is output for presentation to the customer. In one embodiment, the query is presented to the customer by prompting an employee, such as a clerk at a point-of-sale terminal, to verbally present the question to the customer. A customer response to the query is then received. The request from the customer may be, for example, a request to purchase one or more products or it may be a request for assistance or information. The customer response is then captured and analyzed. | 10-08-2009 |
20100185523 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS WHEREIN A LOTTERY NUMBER COMBINATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH A LIMITED NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES - Systems and methods are provided to facilitate lottery ticket transactions. A request to purchase a lottery ticket is received, the lottery ticket being associated with a lottery number combination, such as a limited number of lottery tickets or a limited number of players. An indication that the lottery number combination is to be associated with a limited number of occurrences is also received. For example, an indication that the lottery number combination is to be associated with only a single lottery ticket may be received. A price associated with the lottery ticket is determined based on the received indication. According to one embodiment, the price is increased by a predetermined amount based on the received indication. | 07-22-2010 |
20100262441 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING THE SALE OF A TRAVEL PRODUCT - A system and method for facilitating the sale of travel products is disclosed. The system receives travel inquiries from requesters for preferred travel products ( | 10-14-2010 |
20120330771 | RETAIL SYSTEM FOR SELLING PRODUCTS BASED ON A FLEXIBLE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION - According to one described embodiment, a method is provided in which transaction information is determined. The transaction information is associated with (i) a buyer who has arranged to purchase a product from a central controller at a first price established between the buyer and the central controller and (ii) a merchant that offers the product for sale at a second price, different from the first price, without offering the product for sale to buyers at the first price. Information is transmitted that facilitates the acquisition of the product by the buyer, in exchange for payment provided by the buyer to the central controller. An amount based on the second price is provided to the merchant. | 12-27-2012 |
20130211896 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL BUYERS - A method by which potential buyers are identified includes receiving a description of an item a potential buyer intends to purchase within a particular time, determining a reward for the potential buyer based on intent data, providing the reward to the potential buyer and applying a penalty to a financial account of the potential buyer if the potential buyer does not purchase the item within the particular time period. The system includes a controller coupled to at least one input device with the controller operable to compute a reward offer. The controller includes circuitry, or software, configured to compute and apply a penalty if the potential buyer does not purchase the item within the particular time period. | 08-15-2013 |
20130218700 | RETAIL SYSTEM FOR SELLING PRODUCTS BASED ON A FLEXIBLE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION - According to one described embodiment, a method is provided in which transaction information is determined. The transaction information is associated with (i) a buyer who has arranged to purchase a product from a central controller at a first price established between the buyer and the central controller and (ii) a merchant that offers the product for sale at a second price, different from the first price, without offering the product for sale to buyers at the first price. Information is transmitted that facilitates the acquisition of the product by the buyer, in exchange for payment provided by the buyer to the central controller. An amount based on the second price is provided to the merchant. | 08-22-2013 |