Method and system for multi-merchant purchasing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016358122-A1
Application number	US-201615168874-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 31, 2016
Priority date	Jun 2, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for facilitating purchases from a plurality of merchants in a transport terminal comprises a database which is configured to store inventory data relating to items offered by merchants in the transport terminal, the inventory data for each item comprising a price in a first currency accepted by the corresponding merchant, and an available quantity of the item; and a booking module which is in communication with the database. The booking module is configured to: transmit, to the mobile communications device, product data indicative of an item list comprising at least one of the items, and the price in the first currency for each item; receive order data indicative of an order confirmation from the mobile communications device for at least one confirmed item of the item list, the order confirmation indicating a quantity of each confirmed item; generate, for each merchant corresponding to a confirmed item, booking data indicative of a booking message, the booking message comprising the quantity of the confirmed item; and transmit respective booking messages to respective merchants.

First claim

1 . A system for facilitating purchases from a plurality of merchants in a transport terminal, comprising:
a database which is configured to store inventory data relating to items offered by merchants in the transport terminal, the inventory data for each item comprising a price in a first currency accepted by the corresponding merchant, and an available quantity of the item; a booking module which is in communication with the database and which is configured to: transmit, to the mobile communications device, product data indicative of an item list comprising at least one of the items, and the price in the first currency for each item; receive order data indicative of an order confirmation from the mobile communications device for at least one confirmed item of the item list, the order confirmation indicating a quantity of each confirmed item; generate, for each merchant corresponding to a confirmed item, booking data indicative of a booking message, the booking message comprising the quantity of the confirmed item; and transmit respective booking messages to respective merchants.

2 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the booking module is further configured to: receive data indicative of a selection of a second currency; transmit data indicative of the price in the first currency of each item and the second currency to a currency conversion server; receive, from the currency conversion server, data indicative of a price of each item in the second currency; and transmit data indicative of the price of each item in the second currency to the mobile communications device.

3 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the booking module is further configured to transmit, to the mobile communications device, location data indicative of a location of each merchant corresponding to said confirmed item or items.

4 . A system according to claim 1 , further comprising a payment module which is configured to: receive, from the mobile communications device, card data corresponding to a payment card; and transmit, to a payment processing network, the card data and a merchant identifier for each merchant corresponding to said confirmed item or items.

5 . A system according to claim 4 , wherein the booking module is further configured to receive data indicative of a payment confirmation from the payment module, and to transmit, to the mobile communications device, data indicative of a location of a collection point for retrieving the confirmed item or items.

6 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the database further comprises offer data relating to offers provided by at least some of the plurality of merchants, and wherein the system further comprises a recommendation module which is configured to receive user profile data relating to web browser activity and/or past spending activity of a user of the mobile communications device; and based on said user profile data and said offer data, generate, and transmit to said mobile communications device, data indicative of at least one recommended offer.

7 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein the recommendation module is configured to: receive, from the mobile communications device, data indicative of a payment card identifier; query, using the payment card identifier, a transactions database to identify transactions corresponding to the payment card; and determine, based on the identified transactions, at least one criterion for generating the at least one recommended offer.

8 . A system according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises an industry or market segment of a merchant providing the at least one recommended offer.

9 . A computer-implemented method for facilitating purchases from a plurality of merchants in a transport terminal, comprising:
storing, in a database, inventory data relating to items offered by merchants in the transport terminal, the inventory data for each item comprising a price in a first currency accepted by the corresponding merchant, and an available quantity of the item; a booking module transmitting, to a mobile communications device, product data indicative of an item list comprising at least one of the items, and the price in the first currency for each item; the booking module receiving, from the mobile communications device, order data indicative of an order confirmation for at least one confirmed item of the item list, the order confirmation indicating a quantity of each confirmed item; the booking module generating, for each merchant corresponding to a confirmed item, booking data indicative of a booking message, the booking message comprising the quantity of the confirmed item; and the booking module transmitting respective booking messages to respective merchants.

10 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 9 , further comprising receiving, at the booking module, data indicative of a selection of a second currency; transmitting data indicative of the price in the first currency of each item and the second currency to a currency conversion server; receiving data indicative of a price of each item in the second currency; and transmitting, by the booking module, data indicative of the price of each item in the second currency to the mobile communications device.

11 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 9 , wherein the booking module transmits, to the mobile communications device, location data indicative of a location of each merchant corresponding to said confirmed item or items.

12 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 9 , comprising receiving, at a payment module from the mobile communications device, card data corresponding to a payment card; and transmitting, from the payment module to a payment processing network, the card data and a merchant identifier for each merchant corresponding to said confirmed item or items.

13 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 12 , wherein the booking module receives data indicative of a payment confirmation from the payment module, and transmits, to the mobile communications device, data indicative of a location of a collection point for retrieving the confirmed item or items.

14 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 9 , wherein the database further comprises offer data relating to offers provided by at least some of the plurality of merchants, and wherein the method further comprises receiving, at a recommendation module, user profile data relating to web browser activity and/or past spending activity of a user of the mobile communications device; and wherein the recommendation module generates, based on said user profile data and said offer data, and transmits to said mobile communications device, data indicative of at least one recommended offer.

15 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 14 , wherein the recommendation module receives, from the mobile communications device, data indicative of a payment card identifier; queries, using the payment card identifier, a transactions database to identify transactions corresponding to the payment card; and determines, based on the identified transactions, at least one criterion for generating the at least one recommended offer.

16 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises an industry or market segment of a merchant providing the at least one recommended offer.

17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions that when executed cause a computer to perform a method for facilitating purchases from a plurality of merchants in

Assignees

• Mastercard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Tiwary Avyaktanand
• Sharan Ashutosh
• Gupta Sheetanshu D

Classifications

• G06Q20/12

  specially adapted for electronic shopping systems · CPC title

• G06Q20/202

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title

• G06Q20/322

  Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices] · CPC title

• G06Q20/203

  Inventory monitoring · CPC title

• G06Q30/0633

  Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists (shipping orders G06Q10/083; order filling G06Q10/087) · CPC title