Feedback Loop for Gift Card Utilization

Abstract

A system and method for communicating gift card purchases, performed at a server, includes receiving a request from a benefactor to establish a gift card account for a beneficiary; creating a gift card account record which stores an identifier of the beneficiary and contact information of the benefactor; receiving a request from the beneficiary to purchase an item; receiving or acquiring a digital identifier of the item; and in response to the request from the beneficiary: authorizing the requested purchase; and sending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the gift card account record. The gift message includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchased item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of communicating purchases made using a gift card, performed at a server computer of a third party, comprising:
 receiving a request from a benefactor at a remote device to establish a gift card account for a beneficiary, wherein the request includes authorization to fund the gift card account with a designated sum of money;   in response to the request from the benefactor, creating a gift card account record in a database at the server computer, wherein the gift card account record stores an identifier of the beneficiary, an account credit equal to the designated sum of money, and contact information of the benefactor;   receiving a request from the beneficiary to purchase an item using at least a portion of the account credit from the gift card account;   receiving or acquiring a digital identifier of the item; and   in response to the request from the beneficiary:
 authorizing the requested purchase; and 
 sending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the gift card account record, wherein the gift message includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchased item. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital identifier is a digital image that represents the item. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the digital image is acquired by a point of sale system using an image data address accessible by the point of sale system. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the digital image is acquired by a digital camera of a mobile device of the beneficiary. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gift message is sent as an email message. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital identifier is received with the request from the beneficiary. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital identifier is received or acquired subsequent to receiving the request from the beneficiary. 
     
     
         8 . A server computer of a third party for communicating purchases made using a gift card, comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory; and   one or more programs stored in the memory configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 receiving a request from a benefactor at a remote device to establish a gift card account for a beneficiary, wherein the request includes authorization to fund the gift card account with a designated sum of money; 
 in response to the request from the benefactor, creating a gift card account record in a database at the server computer, wherein the gift card account record stores an identifier of the beneficiary, an account credit equal to the designated sum of money, and contact information of the benefactor; 
 receiving a request from the beneficiary to purchase an item using at least a portion of the account credit from the gift card account; 
 receiving or acquiring a digital identifier of the item; and 
 in response to the request from the beneficiary:
 authorizing the requested purchase; and 
 sending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the gift card account record, wherein the gift message includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchased item. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . The server computer of  claim 8 , wherein the digital identifier is a digital image that represents the item. 
     
     
         10 . The server computer of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital image comprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a point of sale system using an image data address accessible by the point of sale system. 
     
     
         11 . The server computer of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital image comprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a digital camera of a mobile device of the beneficiary. 
     
     
         12 . The server computer of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions for sending the gift message comprise instructions for sending the gift message as an email message. 
     
     
         13 . The server computer of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital identifier and the instructions for receiving the request from the beneficiary comprise instructions for receiving the digital identifier with the request from the beneficiary. 
     
     
         14 . The server computer of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital identifier comprise instructions for receiving or acquiring the digital identifier subsequent to receiving the request from the beneficiary. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a server computer of a third party having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 receiving a request from a benefactor at a remote device to establish a gift card account for a beneficiary, wherein the request includes authorization to fund the gift card account with a designated sum of money;   in response to the request from the benefactor, creating a gift card account record in a database at the server computer, wherein the gift card account record stores an identifier of the beneficiary, an account credit equal to the designated sum of money, and contact information of the benefactor;   receiving a request from the beneficiary to purchase an item using at least a portion of the account credit from the gift card account;   receiving or acquiring a digital identifier of the item; and   in response to the request from the beneficiary:
 authorizing the requested purchase; and 
 sending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the gift card account record, wherein the gift message includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchased item. 
   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the digital identifier is a digital image that represents the item. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital image comprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a point of sale system using an image data address accessible by the point of sale system. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital image comprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a digital camera of a mobile device of the beneficiary. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions for sending the gift message comprise instructions for sending the gift message as an email message. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions for receiving the digital identifier and the instructions for receiving the request from the beneficiary comprise instructions for receiving the digital identifier with the request from the beneficiary, or instructions for receiving or acquiring the digital identifier subsequent to receiving the request from the beneficiary.