Point of sale offer redemptions

Abstract

Processing of point of sale (“POS”) redemptions via a “tap” of a contactless device comprises a POS data collector that facilitates a connection with a contactless device. A merchant scans items for purchase using a POS scanner, which captures product identification information. The POS scanner forwards the product identification information to a POS terminal. The POS data collector intercepts the product identification information between the POS scanner and the POS terminal. A user taps the contactless device in the POS data collector's radio frequency field, and a communication channel is established between the contactless device and the POS data collector. The POS data collector identifies the user via the contactless device and identifies coupons, merchant offers, and other value-added services to redeem with the transaction. The POS data collector forwards this information to the POS terminal, the redemptions are applied to the transaction, and the communication is terminated.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method for providing point of sale processing of offers, comprising:
 intercepting, by a computer disposed between a point of sale system scanner and a point of sale system terminal, product identification information for each item in a purchase transaction as the product identification information is communicated from the point of sale system scanner to the point of sale system terminal;   communicating, by the computer, the intercepted product identification information to the point of sale system terminal;   detecting, by the computer, a mobile communication device in proximity to the computer;   establishing, by the computer, a communication channel between the mobile communication device and the computer;   receiving, by the computer via the communication channel with the mobile communication device, user account identification information stored on the mobile communication device for accessing a user account maintained by a remote computing system, the user account storing offers associated with a user of the mobile communication device;   communicating, by the computer and to the remote computing system, the user account identification information, the product identification information, and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the purchase transaction for use in identifying one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction;   receiving, by the computer and from the remote computing system, one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction, the one or more offers having been identified based on the user account identification information for the user and at least one of the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, each of the one or more offers comprising a redemption code; and   communicating, by the computer, the redemption code for each of the one or more offers to the point of sale system terminal to be redeemed in connection with the transaction.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the communication channel is established using at least one of near field communication (NFC), Bluetooth communication, or Wi-Fi communication. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the product identification information for each item in the transaction is obtained from a corresponding machine-readable identifier on each respective item. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more offers comprise at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 communicating, by the computer, the one or more offers received from the remote computing system to the mobile communication device; and   receiving, by the computer and from the mobile communication device, a selection of the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction comprising at least a portion of the one or more offers communicated to the mobile communication device by the computer,   wherein the step of communicating the redemption code for each of the one or more offers to the point of sale system terminal comprises communicating the redemption code for each offer in the received selection of the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving, by a remote computing system, the user account identification information for the user, the product identification information, and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction;   identifying, by the remote computing system, offers available to the user of the mobile communications device based on the offers stored in the user account associated with the user account identification information;   comparing, by the remote computing system, the available offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the purchase transaction;   selecting, by the computer, the offers to apply based on the offers that have redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and   communicating, by the computer, the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction to the computer.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein that, when executed by a computer disposed between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device cause the computer to provide point of sale processing of offer redemptions, the computer-readable program code comprising:   computer-readable program code to intercept, between the machine-readable identifier capture device and the transaction processing device, product identification information for an item in a purchase transaction;
 computer-readable program code to communicate the intercepted product identification information to the transaction processing device; 
 computer-readable program code to receive, from a mobile communication device, information associated with a plurality of stored offers; 
 computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction; 
 computer-readable program code to obtain information to redeem the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction; and 
 computer-readable program code to transmit the redemption information to the transaction processing device. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising computer-readable program code to:
 establish a communication channel with the mobile communication device,   wherein the information associated with the plurality of stored offers comprises user identification information stored on the mobile communication device for accessing a user account on a remote computing device, the user account storing offers associated with a user of the mobile communication device.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the communication channel is established using at least one of a near field communication (NFC) protocol, a Bluetooth communication protocol, and a Wi-Fi communication protocol. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the product identification information for the item in the transaction is obtained from a machine-readable identifier on the item. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of stored offers comprises at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
 computer-readable program code to read the product identification information for the item in the transaction and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction;   computer-readable program code to identify the plurality of stored offers based on the information associated with the plurality of stored offers;   computer-readable program code to compare the stored offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and   computer-readable program code to select the one of the stored offers to apply based on which offers have redemption rules that are met by the transaction.   
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 13 , further comprising computer-readable program code to receive, from the mobile communication device, an input of a selection identifying a particular one of the offers to be redeemed in connection with the transaction. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
 computer-readable program code to communicate, to a remote computer, the product identification information for the item in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the plurality of stored offers; and   computer-readable program code to receive, from the remote computer, the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the computer-readable program code to identify one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction comprises:
 computer-readable program code to communicate, to the mobile communication device, the product identification information for the item in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the plurality of stored offers; and   computer-readable program code to receive, from the mobile communication device, the one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.   
     
     
         17 . A system for providing point of sale processing of offer redemptions, comprising:
 a data collecting device disposed between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device and configured to
 intercept, between the machine-readable identifier capture device and the transaction processing device, product identification information for each of a plurality of items in a purchase transaction, 
 forward the intercepted product identification information to the transaction processing device, 
 receive, from a mobile communication device, information associated with a plurality of stored offers, and 
 communicate the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction, information identifying a merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the stored offers; and 
   a remote computer configured to
 receive, from the data collecting device, the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction, the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, and the information associated with the stored offers, 
 identify the stored offers based on the information associated with the stored offers, 
 identify at least one of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction based on the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction and the information identifying the merchant that is a party to the transaction, and 
 communicate, to the data collecting device, redemption information for each of the stored offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction, 
   the data collecting device being further configured to communicate the redemption information to the transaction processing device for redemption in connection with the transaction.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the information associated with the stored offers comprises information identifying an account of a user of the mobile communication device, the account operated by the remote computer and having the stored offers associated therewith. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a communication channel established with the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a near field communication channel established with the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the data collecting device is configured to receive, from the mobile communication device, the information associated with the stored offers via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi communication channel established with the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the product identification information for each of the items in the transaction is obtained from a machine-readable identifier on each respective one of the items. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of stored offers comprises at least one of a product coupon, a merchant coupon, and a loyalty reward. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the data collecting device is further configured to:
 communicate, to the mobile communication device, a plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction; and   receive an input of a selection identifying a particular one of the plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction,   wherein the redemption information communicated to the transaction processing device comprises redemption information for the particular one of the plurality of offers having redemption rules satisfied by the transaction.   
     
     
         25 . A computer-implemented method for providing point of sale processing of offers, comprising:
 receiving, by a computer, identifying information for a user of a mobile communications device, product identification information for each of a plurality of items in a purchase transaction, and information identifying a merchant that is a party to the purchase transaction, the product identification information having been intercepted between a machine-readable identifier capture device and a transaction processing device during the purchase transaction;   identifying, by the computer, offers available to the user of the mobile communications device;   comparing, by the computer, the available offers to the product identification information and the information identifying the merchant to determine which offers comprise redemption rules that are met by the transaction;   selecting, by the computer, the offers to apply based on the offers that have redemption rules that are met by the transaction; and   communicating, by the remote computer, the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising receiving, by the computer, an instruction from the point of sale scanner to obtain the one or more offers,
 wherein the step of communicating the user account identification information, the product identification information, and information identifying a merchant to the remote computing system is performed in response to receiving the instruction from the point of sale system scanner to obtain the one or more offers.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the instruction comprises an indication that all product identification information for the purchase transaction has been obtained by the point of sale system scanner. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the instruction comprises an indication of an end of the purchase transaction. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the instruction comprises an indication of a beginning of a Previously Presented purchase transaction. 
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , the computer-readable code further comprising:
 computer-readable program code to communicate one or more offers received from a remote computing system to the mobile communication device; and   computer-readable program code to receive, from the mobile communication device, a selection of the one or more offers to apply comprising at least a portion of the one or more offers communicated to the mobile communication device,   wherein transmitting the redemption information to the transaction processing device comprises communicating the redemption information for each offer in the received selection of the one or more offers to apply to the purchase transaction.