Systems and methods for applying a referral credit to an entity account based on a geographic location of a computing device

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for applying a referral credit to an entity based on a geographic location of a computing device. According to an aspect, a method may include receiving a product identifier and a geographic location identifier of a computing device. The method may also include determining an interface with an online retailer server based on the product identifier. The method may also include applying a referral credit to an entity account associated with the geographic location identifier in response to the determined interface.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a product identifier and a geographic location identifier of a computing device;   determining an interface with an online retailer server based on the product identifier; and   in response to the determined interface, applying a referral credit to an entity account associated with the geographic location identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the product identifier comprises reading one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a near field communication (NFC) tag, a wireless communication device, and an optical machine-readable representation of the product identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the product identifier comprises receiving the product identifier when the computing device is located at a geographic location different than a geographic location identified by the geographic location identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising receiving another product identifier when the computing device is located at a geographic location identified by the geographic location identifier. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 capturing a product image; and   determining the product identifier based on the product image.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the product identifier comprises receiving one of a book identifier, a media content identifier, a compact disc identifier, a DVD identifier, and an electronic product identifier. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the geographic location identifier comprises receiving one of a coordinate and a communication from a communications network that identifies a geographic location. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising interfacing with the online retailer server. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein interfacing with the online retailer server comprises accessing a website operated by the online retailer server. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein interfacing with the online retailer server comprises using a mobile application of the computing device to establish a mobile session with the online retailer server. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein interfacing with the online retailer server comprises using a communications network to interface with the online retailer server. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein interfacing with the online retailer server comprises implementing a purchase transaction to purchase a product associated with the product identifier via the online retailer server. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising downloading the purchased product to the computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein applying the referral credit comprises crediting the entity account a predetermined amount based on the purchase transaction. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein interfacing with the online retailer server comprises browsing a retail environment presented by the online retailer server via a communications network. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the receiving and the determining are implemented by the computing device,   wherein the method further comprises communicating the product identifier and the geographic location identifier to the online retailer server, and   wherein applying the referral credit is implemented by the online retailer server.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the entity account is associated with an entity identified as having property rights to a geographic location identified by the geographic location identifier. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising controlling the computing device to interface with the online retailer server in response to receiving one of the product identifier and the geographic location identifier. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving user input for selecting the product; and   in response to receiving the user input for selecting the product, initiating a communication with the online retailer server.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising communicating the product identifier and the geographic location identifier to the online retailer server in response to receiving the user input. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising controlling a user interface of the computing device to present content associated with the entity account in response to receiving the geographic location identifier. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the content associated with the entity account comprises retail store information. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining that the computing device is located outside of the geographic location associated with the geographic location identifier; and   in response to determining that the computing device is located outside of the geographic location, disabling presentation of the content.   
     
     
         24 . A computing device comprising:
 a product purchase manager configured to:
 receive a product identifier and a geographic location identifier of the computing device; and 
 determine an interface with an online retailer server based on the product identifier; and 
   a network interface configured to communicate the product identifier and the geographic identifier to a server for applying a referral credit to an entity account associated with the geographic location identifier.   
     
     
         25 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the following steps:
 receiving a product identifier and a geographic location identifier of a computing device;   determining an interface with an online retailer server based on the product identifier; and   in response to the determined interface, applying a referral credit to an entity account associated with the geographic location identifier.