Systems and methods for vending machine customer account management

Abstract

Some embodiments are associated with providing, establishing, registering, administering, and/or managing vending machine subscription accounts. In some embodiments, third parties may administer and/or manage subscription-vending accounts associated with customers.

1 . A method, comprising:
 providing an offer for a subscription to products offered for sale by a vending machine;   receiving an indication of an acceptance of the offer; and   registering the subscription, wherein the registering comprises:
 determining a customer associated with the subscription; 
 determining a third party associated with the subscription; and 
 determining a subscription identifier associated with the subscription. 
   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the registering further comprises:
 storing an indication of each of (i) the customer, (ii) the third party, and (iii) the subscription identifier.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining one or more parameters governing the subscription.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more parameters are defined by the third party. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detect a presence of the customer proximate to the vending machine;   instructing the customer to provide payment;   receiving an indication of payment provided by the customer; and   determining that the payment exceeds a pre-defined threshold.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the providing of the offer for the subscription is based at least in part on the determination that the payment exceeds the pre-defined threshold. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the subscription offer is provided to the customer in exchange for the provided payment. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether to provide the subscription offer.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting the subscription offer from a plurality of available subscription offers.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subscription identifier is determined by receiving an indication of the subscription identifier from at least one of the customer and the third party. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the indication of the subscription identifier comprises biometric data. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subscription identifier is defined by the vending machine. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing the subscription identifier to the customer.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the subscription identifier is provided to the customer via at least one of (i) e-mail, (ii) sound, (iii) graphical display, or (iv) a voucher.