WO2009100488A1

WO2009100488A1 - Targeted promotions to consumers purchasing goods or services

Info

Publication number: WO2009100488A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/000160
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark James Mccormick
Original assignee: Global Red Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-02-13
Filing date: 2009-02-12
Publication date: 2009-08-20
Also published as: AU2009214823A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a means for capturing and/or collecting information about consumers purchasing behaviour, and for providing promotional material to consumers. Promotional, advertising and/or other marketing material can be targeted to a specific consumer, effectively in real-time and at the time of a purchase. In one form there is a method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a POS terminal, including obtaining (210) purchase information at the POS terminal as a result of the purchase, sending (220) the purchase information to a promotions server, where a promotion is selected (320) from a plurality of promotions (340) based on the purchase information. The POS terminal receives the promotion information which is used to offer the consumer the promotion via an output device display.

Description

TARGETED PROMOTIONS TO CONSUMERS PURCHASING GOODS OR SERVICES

Technical Field

[001] The present invention generally relates to a promotional, redemption, loyalty or reward method, system and/or software application, based on purchases by consumers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and/or software application for providing targeted promotional, advertising and/or marketing content to a particular consumer purchasing goods or services.

Background Art

[002] Mass marketing has proven to be not effective since a majority of targeted consumers (i.e. customers) may not be interested in an advertised product (i.e. a good or service). Mass marketing is very expensive and since only a small percentage of targeted consumers may be interested in the product, this mode of marketing and advertising is very cost ineffective.

[003] The Applicant has identified a need to better deliver promotional (i.e. marketing, advertising, redemption, loyalty, incentive, reward, etc.) material or content to consumers based on their purchasing behaviour. The Applicant also considers that the most effective way of promotion of products is to deliver promotional material at a Point of Sale (POS), for example where the promoted product can be easily purchased by a consumer who has just received an incentive to purchase that product.

[004] Known POS systems that seek to address a similar problem are dependant on additional POS hardware, requiring an additional printer to be installed at each POS location to enable promotional material to be printed separately, and/or installing a further electronic interface or terminal at the POS.

[005] This approach has various problems and disadvantages. For example, in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, additional hardware would be required to be deployed in a very large number of stores with various infrastructures, from large department stores to small comer shops. Having a hardware dependent solution in such a scenario is costly. Deploying a solution that involves additional hardware across hundreds or even thousands of stores, each having numerous POS locations, can be very expensive to deploy. Hardware solutions also have other problems such as space required for the additional hardware, additional power and cabling and the possibility of causing major problems at the POS if the additional hardware fails and causes an existing POS terminal to cease operating. Also, having to make changes to legacy POS software in order to add promotional material functionality to the POS terminal can be time consuming and expensive.

[006] Another known problem, provided by way of example, is the present inability to reverse a claimed promotion or incentive. In currently known systems, once a promotional coupon has been redeemed it is identified to be invalid. Known systems cannot provide coupon invalidity reversal functionality. This functionality could be required if a consumer decides to cancel a purchase of a product for which a discount was offered based on a given promotion / coupon. Since the consumer has cancelled the purchase and therefore ,has not used the promotion it is natural to expect such a promotion to be valid if the consumer decides to use the promotion at a later, but still valid, time.

[007] There is a need for a method, system and/or software application which addresses or at least ameliorates one or more problems inherent in the prior art.

[008] The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from the prior publication), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that the prior publication (or information derived from the prior publication) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

Disclosure Of Invention

[009] The present invention seeks to provide promotional (i.e. marketing, advertising, redemption, loyalty, incentive, reward, etc.) material or content that can be delivered to consumers (i.e. customers) based on purchasing behaviour. Content is sought to be delivered to a consumer that the consumer would find relevant, thereby increasing the effectiveness of promotions, campaigns or the like.

[010] According to an example embodiment, there is provided a means for capturing and/or collecting information about consumers purchasing behaviour, and for providing promotional material to consumers. Promotional, advertising and/or other marketing material can be targeted to a specific consumer, effectively in real-time and at the time of a purchase. Preferably, a particular embodiment is a software application(s), removing the need for additional hardware to be installed at the Point of Sale (POS). Also preferably, the software application operates independent of the POS terminal normal transactional application(s), thereby not requiring systems integration by, for example, a retailer.

[Oi l] POS, refers to the location where the consumer pays for purchased products (goods or services). A POS terminal refers to the computer or hardware at the POS on which runs a POS normal application (transactional application) used to scan purchases and to issue receipts. A POS terminal normal application refers to software running on the POS terminal, used to process purchases and issue receipts.

[012] According to another example embodiment, there is provided an effectively real- time "closed marketing loop". This means that not only do consumers receive promotions

(i.e. promotional material) at the time of a purchase, based on their purchase behaviour, but promoters, marketers and/or advertisers can push the promotions to the consumers in an effectively real-time manner. For example, retailers, Fast Moving Consumer Goods

(FMCG) companies and/or financial institutions can make changes to their campaigns and promotions or create new ones, optimise promotions and almost immediately make them available to consumers.

[013] This enables promoters, marketers and/or advertisers to put greater value on their promotions and to create a hierarchy for the promotions that are offered. Therefore, if based on a particular consumer's purchase behaviour that consumer is eligible for multiple promotions at any point in time; it is possible to make the promotion choice deterministic. Embodiments can, depending on the priority or weight given to the promotions, display only the promotion with the highest priority / weight; for which it is expected the consumer would have the greatest propensity to uptake.

[014] According to another example embodiment, there is provided the ability to cancel a redeemed promotion. For a standard redemption, if a consumer was to buy a product in conjunction with a promotion, for example, if the price of the product was discounted based on the redeemed promotion, that promotion is marked as "invalid". This is done to ensure that the coupons are not used fraudulently, for example, if a person photocopied the promotion and tried to use it at another POS, the promotion, after having being used once would no longer be redeemable. However, the promotion can be reverted back to the "valid" state up until the end of the purchase. At the end of the purchase a check can be made to see if a product for which the promotion was used has been voided, i.e. if the purchase of that product has been cancelled. In that case the redeemed promotion is cancelled and the promotion is returned to the "valid" state provided that the promotion has not reached the expiry time.

[015] According to another example embodiment, the status of a redeemed promotion can be reverted if the product the promotion was purchased with is returned to the store. In this case if the product is returned prior to the expiry date of the used promotion, upon scanning the promotion within the return transaction, the status can be reset to "valid", enabling the consumer to utilise the promotion again in another purchase transaction.

[016] According to another example embodiment, there is provided the ability to 'recognise' a consecutive repeat redemption consumer, who is not an existing member or client of, for example, a loyalty program, financial institution or card payment company. For example, if a consumer redeems a promotion and then obtains another promotion during the same purchase, then the next time the consumer comes to redeem the new promotion the consumer can be 'recognised' and a specific promotion can be provided to the consumer as a reward for repeat business.

[017] According to another example embodiment, there is provided the ability to present promotional material via multiple channels including direct mail, SMS, email, Internet or Web, call centre, kiosk, digital screen display and other digital medium channels. In the case of known consumers, such as members or clients of a particular store, card payment company, etc., a consumer's preference of promotion delivery may be known. Therefore, at the POS a promotion does not need to be printed on a coupon but can be sent to the consumer by his or her preferred communication channel (e.g. email, SMS, Internet, direct mail or other communication mediums).

[018] According to another example embodiment, there is provided a means for remote redemptions, as a back-end network can be used to provide a way of redeeming a promotion that was obtained in one region, country or continent in another region, country or continent. Using the same principal, a particular embodiment can support cross-store promotions, allowing a promotion that was obtained in one store to be redeemed in a different store or partner affiliated store.

[019] According to another example embodiment, there is provided a smart automatic component used during the initial installation of a main software application on a POS terminal. The aim of this component is to automate any configuration of the main software application based on the features and configuration of the POS terminal. If a retailer group has the infrastructure to update all POS terminals utilising a remote upgrade tool, installation configuration settings can be applied to all POS terminals.

[020] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal, the method including the steps of: obtaining purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; sending the purchase information to a promotions server, where a promotion is selected from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information; receiving promotion information from the promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the promotion; and, sending at least part of the promotion information to an output device for display to the consumer. [021] Preferably, but not necessarily, the promotion providing application is independent of the POS terminal normal operating application.

[022] Also preferably, but not necessarily, the promotion providing application obtains the purchase information from the operating application, and the promotion providing application sends the at least part of the promotion information to the operating application which sends the at least part of the promotion information to the output device.

[023] In accordance with optional features, provided by way of example only: the promotions server is local or remote to the POS terminal; the promotion information is displayed or provided to the consumer after finalising the purchase; the at least part of the promotion information is a coupon redeemable by the consumer; the output device is a printer and the promotion information is printed on a receipt by the printer; the output device is a monitor and the promotion information is displayed by the monitor; the promotion is an advertising promotion and the at least part of the promotion information is an advertisement; and/or the purchase information includes the type of payment card used by the consumer and the promotion is selected based on the type of payment card.

[024] Optionally, the promotion is selected based on stored historical data about the consumer's previous purchases.

[025] Optionally, the plurality of promotions from a particular promoter are weighted for different consumer purchase behaviours, the promotion selected having the highest weight based on the purchase information.

[026] According to yet further optional aspects, provided by way of example only, a promotion status is able to be reset as invalid at the promotions server after redemption by the consumer, and/or a promotion status is able to be reset as valid at the promotions server if the consumer cancels a redemption.

[027] According to yet further optional aspects, provided by way of example only, the promotion information is marketing, advertising, redemption, loyalty, incentive, and/or reward content. [028] According to yet further optional aspects, provided by way of example only, the purchase information includes at least one of a date of purchase, a barcode number, a product name, a product description, a number of product units, a product cost, a store name, a store location, POS details, a payment method, a payment card type, tender, a loyalty card information, membership card identification, and/or consumer details.

[029] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal, the method including the steps of: obtaining purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; and, sending the purchase information to a promotions server; wherein, the promotions server selects a promotion from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information, and sends promotion information to a terminal, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the selected promotion. the terminal is a user terminal previously nominated by the consumer.

[030] According to a third aspect, the present invention provides a method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using at least one processing system local or remote to the Point of Sale (POS) terminal and including the steps of: receiving purchase information from a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal which obtains the purchase information as a result of the purchase; selecting a promotion from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information; and, sending promotion information to a terminal, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the selected promotion.

[031] Optionally, the terminal is the POS terminal. Optionally, the terminal is a user terminal (e.g. computer or mobile telephone) that may have been previously nominated by the consumer. Optionally, the promotion information is sent to the user terminal via email, SMS or the Internet.

[032] Preferably, but not necessarily, the promotion information is sent to the terminal after finalising the purchase.

[033] In still a further particular, but non-limiting, form the method includes selecting more than one promotion, sending the more than one promotion to the terminal, the more than one promotion hierarchically arranged dependent on the purchase information. The plurality of promotions from a particular promoter can be weighted for different consumer purchase behaviours, the promotion selected having the highest weight based on the purchase information.

[034] According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a promotion providing software application for offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the promotion providing software application running on the POS terminal and configured to: obtain purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; send the purchase information to at least one promotions server; receive promotion information from the at least one promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer a promotion, the promotion selected from a plurality of promotions; and, send at least part of the promotion information to an output device for display to the consumer.

[035] Optionally, the application is able to be set as inactive, thereby allowing the POS terminal operating software application to function independently. The application can exist on the POS terminal in any of the following states: fully operational or live mode (i.e. the software is active), sleep mode (i.e. inactive), silent mode (i.e. active but not affecting any of the input or output data, that is having no effect on the outcome at the POS terminal), recording mode (i.e. similar to the silent mode except that the input and output streams at the POS terminal are recorded). [036] Optionally, the application causes data to be periodically transmitted to the at least one monitoring server enabling the at least one monitoring server to verify operation of the application.

[037] According to a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a Point of Sale (POS) processing system for offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using the POS processing system which comprises: an input device to receive purchase information; a communications device able to communicate with at least one promotions server; an output device to display promotion information to the consumer; and, at least one processor executing a promotion providing software application configured to:

(i) obtain the purchase information; (ii) send the purchase information to the at least one promotions server;

(iii) receive the promotion information from the at least one promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer a promotion, the promotion selected from a plurality of promotions; and, (iv) send at least part of the promotion information to the output device.

[038] Preferably, but not necessarily, the promotion providing software application obtains the purchase information from independent operating or transactional software running on the POS terminal.

[039] According to a sixth aspect, the present invention provides a method of redeeming a promotion provided to a consumer having purchased a good or service at a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a redemption application running on at least one redemption server, the method including the steps of: validating a promotion and changing a status of the promotion to indicate that the promotion is invalid upon a successful redemption; and sending redemption information to the POS terminal; wherein the redemption application is able to reverse the status of a redeemed promotion from invalid to valid. Brief Description Of Figures

[040] An example embodiment of the present invention should become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only, of a preferred but non- limiting embodiment, described in connection with the accompanying figures.

[041] Figure 1 illustrates a processing system that can be used to embody an example embodiment;

[042] Figure 2 illustrates an example method of offering a promotion to a consumer;

[043] Figure 3 illustrates an example method of sending a promotion from a server to a terminal;

[044] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a promotion and redemption system;

[045] Figure 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example promotion and redemption system;

[046] Figure 6 illustrates further details of an example global redemption system;

[047] Figure 7 illustrates a flow diagram of operation of an example promotion providing application;

[048] Figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of gathering the transactional data including the product unique identifiers (barcodes) at a POS terminal;

[049] Figure 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of redemption at a POS terminal;

[050] Figure 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of cancelling a redeemed promotion; [051] Figure 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of promotion updates from a server;

[052] Figure 12 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of a promotion providing application receiving updates or upgrades from a server.

Modes for Carrying Out The Invention

[053] The following modes, given by way of example only, are described in order to provide a more precise understanding of the subject matter of a preferred embodiment or embodiments. In the figures, incorporated to illustrate features of an example embodiment, like reference numerals are used to identify like parts throughout the figures.

1. Overview

[054] In an example preferred embodiment, there is provided a software apρlication(s) • that is remotely installed onto an existing POS terminal, without hardware modification, with functionality to print or display promotional content to influence consumer buying and payment method behaviour. The software application (i.e. promotion providing application) enables card payment companies to identify what payment method the consumer uses for purchasing. Retailers and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies and product supply companies can deliver targeted promotional content to consumers based on what the consumers are purchasing or have purchased historically, to the line-item product level. It is thus possible to market new products to consumers based on similar products that those consumers have purchased, to market products to the consumers who are purchasing a competitor's products or to award the consumers for purchasing the products owned by the promoting company, e.g. a manufacturer. Thereby enabling marketing to be executed more effectively to deliver a real-time, targeted, value added proposition to the consumer.

[055] The software based solution offers a real-time closed loop solution between retailers, FMCG companies, financial institutions and card payment companies, etc., and any other party interested in delivering promotional content to consumers. The software provides a relatively simple way to deliver real-time environment based promotions enabling, for example, retailers, FMCG companies, financial institutions and card payment companies to change campaigns and promotional content at any time via a relatively simple web based user interface, and then effectively immediately deliver those campaigns to the consumers. For example, a retailer may create a trigger based campaign to initiate on a hot day offering a promotion for a particular discounted soft drink or beer to consumers, thereby influencing consumers to purchase that specific product. A further example would be issuing promotions for a particular drink or meal at an airport whilst aeroplane departures are delayed.

[056] The software provides promotions to any consumer whilst collecting the consumer's purchase details. The software can identify and track spending habits providing accurate insight data for loyalty based marketing. Furthermore, the software provides a means for identifying and tracking payment details, facilitating financial institutions in identifying a consumer's card membership or details, and rewarding the consumer for loyalty marketing programs. In utilising the software it is possible for a card payment company or financial institution to award the consumers who are using the promoter's payment method and therefore establish loyalty.

[057] A software application (or applications being herein referred to as an application) passively interfaces with an existing POS normal application on a POS terminal, capturing and modifying input and output data streams. There is no additional hardware installation at the POS required to enable the software/system to operate. There is no programming change to the POS terminal normal operating system or any other applications already residing on the POS terminal. The software operates as an independent non-critical application, unobtrusively.

[058] The software application mitigates having to roll-out and install a hardware device to every POS terminal or system, or having to install servers in all retail stores, which is expensive and human labour intensive. If a new hardware based solution installed at the POS malfunctioned, the POS terminal might be disabled rendering the POS terminal inoperable and unable to be used, with the outcome of a retailer not being able to serve a customer from that specific POS retail lane. Additionally, in a hardware solution, if a retailer changed any peripheral hardware or software on a POS terminal, onsite changes would have to be implemented with current systems such as introducing new device connectors, for example if a printer is changed which has a different device connection such as from serial to parallel or to USB.

[059] The software application solves this problem since the software application can be installed remotely and can be customised remotely. If a problem was to occur with the software application, it can be easily remotely configured to become inactive, ensuring that no promotions or incentives would be provided, but that the POS terminal normal applications would still remain operational allowing the retailer to continue serving customers using the POS terminal.

[060] The software application is preferably, though not necessarily, independent of the POS terminal normal operational or transactional application making it applicable to virtually any POS terminal. Due to the POS terminal normal application being unaware of the existence of promotion providing software, the POS terminal normal application does not need to be modified. Thus, there are no expensive costs involved in having to change the POS terminal normal application on all POS terminals for the sake of delivery of promotional content (i.e. promotion information).

[061] The promotion information can represent a specific promotion tailored for a known customer, be based on the customer's shopping basket, a default promotion independent of any other information, an advertisement, an awareness message, an invitation to an event, and/or an invitation to go to a given website.

[062] Promotions can be offered to known customers (such as the ones identified by their member ID or by their payment details such as credit cards, debit cards, cheques, vouchers etc.) as well as to unknown customers. The promotions are in no way limited to members only or to any particular group of customers. The system provides an option where customers can be authenticated based on some sort of customer identifier, another option where customers can be identified via their repeat redemptions, and/or a third option where promotions are provided to totally unknown customers.

[063] The software application provides a means for capturing and collecting information about consumers purchasing behaviour and providing promotional and other marketing content to consumers. Enabling the promotional and marketing content to be targeted to the right consumers, in real-time and at the time of a purchase. As a software based solution, this removes the need for additional hardware and operation is independent of the POS terminal normal application(s).

[064] The example software embodiment provides a real-time closed marketing loop. This means that not only do consumers receive their promotions real-time at the time of the purchase, based on their purchase behaviour, but the promoters can push the promotions to the consumers in a real-time manner. Retailers, FMCG companies or financial institutions can make changes to their campaigns and promotions or create new ones and almost immediately make them available to the consumers.

[065] Promoters are also enabled to put a weighting on their promotions and to create a hierarchy for the promotions that are offered. Therefore, if, based on a particular consumer's purchase behaviour, the consumer is eligible for multiple promotions at any point in time, it is possible to make the promotion choice deterministic. Depending on the priority or weight given to the promotions, only the promotion with the highest priority / weight may be displayed, or an ordering of promotions may be displayed.

[066] Another feature is the ability to cancel a redeemed promotion. If a consumer buys a product in conjunction with a promotion, for example, if the price of the product was discounted based on the redeemed promotion, that promotion is marked as "invalid". This is done to ensure that coupons are not used fraudulently through, for example, if a person photocopied the promotion and tried to use the promotion at another POS, the promotion, after having being used once would no longer be redeemable. However, the promotion can be reverted back to a "valid" state up until the end of the purchase. At the end of the purchase a check is made to see if a product for which the promotion was used has been voided, i.e. if the purchase of that product has been cancelled. In that case the promotion is returned to the "valid" state provided that the promotion has not reached an expiry time.

[067] The status of a given and redeemed promotion can be reverted if the product it was purchased with is returned to the store. In this case if the product is returned prior to the expiry date of the used promotion, upon scanning the promotion within the return transaction, the status can be reset to "valid", enabling the consumer to utilise the promotion again in another transaction.

[068] Furthermore, there is provided the ability to 'recognise' a consecutive repeat redemption user, who is not a member of a FMCA, loyalty program, financial institution or card payment company. For example, if a consumer redeems a promotion and then obtains another promotion during the same purchase, then the next time the consumer comes to redeem the new promotion the system can 'recognise' this consumer and can provide a specific promotion to the consumer as a reward for repeat business. The system stores links between consecutive promotions for any consumer until the link is broken, i.e. until the consumer does not redeem a promotion he or she is given, in which case when some other time in the future that consumer redeems another promotion such a consumer becomes an 'unknown' consumer again.

[069] The ability to 'recognise' a consumer who has previously redeemed a promotion is useful in analytics of repeat business through incentivised offers. Even though these consumers are not members, the system can identify them through their history of redemptions therefore enabling retailers, FMCA, financial institutions or card payment companies to provide superior incentive rewards to these consumers for the repeat business, thereby engorging a greater participation in the rewards program.

[070] Another feature of the software/system is the ability to present promotional material via various channels. In the case of known consumers, such as members of a particular store loyalty program or customers of a card payment company (e.g. credit card holders), it is possible to know or determine a consumer's/customer's preference of promotion delivery. Thus, at the POS a promotion does not need to be printed on a coupon, but can be sent to the consumer by his or her preferred communication channel (e.g. email, SMS, Internet, direct mail or other communication mediums).

[071] The software/system further provides a means for remote redemptions, as the system's back-end network provides a way of redeeming a promotion that was obtained in one region, country or continent in another region, country or continent. For example, a consumer may purchase a product in the USA and obtain a promotion for another product. If the consumer travels to Australia it is possible to redeem the promotion obtained the in USA in Australia.

[072] Using the same principal, the software supports cross-store promotions, allowing a promotion that was obtained in one store to be redeemed in a different store. Therefore, if two store chains want to have promotions that can be redeemed in any store, belonging to either of the two chains, this is possible. For example, it is possible to set up the software/system so that promotions obtained in a first retailer can be redeemed in a second retailer and vice versa. It is also possible for FMCG manufacturers to set up promotions which can be delivered in multiple stores (not necessarily belonging to the same chain).

[073] The software can include a smart automatic or semi-automatic component used during installation of a main software application on a POS terminal. The aim of this component is to automate any configuration of the main software application based on the features and configuration of the POS terminal. This means that the main software application is easily configurable using a smart automated process so that it is able to capture and modify input and output data streams on each POS terminal.

[074] It should be appreciated that one or more distinct servers are not required for each of the different "services" provided by various embodiments of the present invention. A separate server machine is not necessarily required for each service, such as the promotions service, the redemptions service, the reporting service, the installation service, etc.. It is possible that one or more services can run on a single server, or various combinations of servers. For example, instead of a separate promotion server and a redemption server, there may be provided dedicated promotions and redemptions services running on the same server machine.

[075] Preferably, the promotion providing application running on a POS terminal is a "light" application, whereby the substantial analysis of purchase data, shopping history, identification of customers, choice of promotions and their selection based on predetermined criteria, etc., is performed remotely on one or more dedicated servers.

2. POS terminal [076] A particular example embodiment of the present invention can be realised using a Point of Sale (POS) processing system, an example of which is shown in Fig. 1. In particular, the POS processing system (i.e. terminal) 100 generally includes at least one processor 102, or processing unit or plurality of processors, memory 104, at least one input device 106 (e.g. card reader and/or keypad) and at least one output device 108 (e.g. display or printer), coupled together via a bus or group of buses 110 (which could be simply cabling). One or more interfaces 112 can be provided for coupling processing system 100 to one or more peripheral devices (e.g. an electronic cash register) and/or a network. At least one storage device 114 which houses at least one database 116 can also be provided (remotely or locally). Memory 104 can be any form of memory device, for example, volatile or non-volatile memory, solid state storage devices, magnetic devices, etc. Processor 102 could include more than one distinct processing device, for example to handle different functions within processing system 100.

[077] Input device 106 receives purchase information 118 and can include, for example, a keyboard or keypad, or a card reading device, such as an attached EFTPOS terminal, a magnetic strip reader or smart card reader. Output device 108 produces or generates promotion information 120 and can include, for example, a display device or monitor in which case promotion information 120 is visual, and/or a printer in which case promotion information 120 is printed. A consumer could view promotion information 120, or data indicative of the promotion information. Storage device 114 can be any form of data or information storage means, for example, volatile or non-volatile memory, solid state storage devices, magnetic devices, etc.

[078] In use, processing system 100 is adapted to allow data or information to be sent to and/or retrieved from, via wired or wireless communication means, remote information sources, such as one or more servers or the at least one database 116. Interface 112 may allow wired and/or wireless communication between the processing unit 102 and a network. Processor 102 receives instructions or data and can display processed results or other output to a consumer by utilising output device 108. More than one input device 106 and/or output device 108 can be provided. It should be appreciated that the POS processing system 100 may be any form of POS terminal, specialised hardware, or the like. [079] POS terminal 100 is part of a networked communications system. Processing system 100 (directly or via another processing system) can connect to a network, for example the Internet or a WAN. Purchase information 118 can be communicated to local or remote servers via the network. The transfer of information and/or data over the network can be achieved using wired communications means or wireless communications means. One or more servers can facilitate the transfer of data between the network and one or more databases providing an example of an information source. The network can also include the transfer of data between mobile or cellular telephones or PDA-type devices. A local network which for example may be a private network, LAN, etc., may also be part of the network. Thus, for example, the network may form part of, or be connected to, the Internet or other communication networks, such as Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), ethernet, token ring, FDDI ring, star, etc., networks, or mobile telephone networks, such as GSM, CDMA or 3G, etc., networks.

[080] In a networked information or data communications system, a user (e.g. the consumer) has access to one or more user terminals which are capable of requesting and/or receiving information or data from local or remote information sources. In such a communications system, a user terminal may be a type of processing system, computer or computerised device, personal computer (PC), mobile, cellular or satellite telephone, mobile data terminal, portable computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), pager, thin client, or any other similar type of digital electronic device.

3. Processes Overview

[081] Referring to Figure 2 a method 200 of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a product (good or service) is illustrated. The purchase is transacted using a

POS terminal and the method can be performed using a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal. At step 210, purchase information is obtained by the promotion providing application as a result of the POS terminal receiving the purchase information due to the purchase transaction. For example, the POS terminal may receive data indicating a credit card type from an EFTPOS terminal after a card has been swiped.

The credit card type information, for example data indicative thereof, is provided to the promotion providing application as at least part of the purchase information. [082] At step 220, the purchase information is sent to a local or remote promotions server or servers. At step 330, promotion information is received by the promotion providing application from the promotions server. The promotion information is used to offer the consumer a promotion, that is the promotion information is information, material or content indicative of or describing the promotion, such as a product discount coupon.

[083] The promotions server sends the promotion information to the promotion providing application and the promotion can be selected from a plurality of promotions. For example, various promotions of various companies can be stored at the promotions server and the purchase information is used to select the appropriate promotion information to present to the consumer. Alternatively or additionally, the promotions server may store more than one promotion from a particular company, in which case an application on the promotions server can select a particular promotion from the multiple promotions offered by a company based on the purchase information, or alternatively, based on a pre-set or dynamic weighting, priority or ranking of the multiple promotions.

[084] Alternatively, at step 240, the promotion information can be received from the promotions server at a user terminal. In this example, the promotions server sends the promotion to a previously nominated user terminal, such as by way of a consumer's email address (sending an email message) or mobile telephone number (sending an SMS). In another form, the promotion information can be sent to both the POS terminal and user terminal.

[085] If the promotion information is sent to the POS terminal, at step 250, at least part of the promotion information is sent to an output device for display to the consumer. For example, at least part of the promotion information can be printed on a receipt issued to the consumer. This provides the consumer with a printed record of the promotion, for example a redeemable coupon.

[086] The promotion providing application running on the POS terminal obtains the purchase information from the POS normal operating application and sends the purchase information to the promotion issuing application running remotely which analyses the purchase information and issues the most suitable promotion and sends at least part of the promotion information to the promotion providing application running on the POS terminal. The promotion providing application, in turn, can send at least part of the promotion information to the output device, for example as a separately identifiable coupon or as a discounted price indicated in a receipt. In one example, the promotion information is displayed or provided to the consumer after finalising the purchase of the goods or services. It should be noted that the promotion could be a pure advertising or marketing promotion that does not provide a redeemable coupon or discounted prices to the consumer.

[087] The purchase information can include one or more of a date of purchase, a barcode number, a product name, a product description, a number of product units, a product cost, a store name, a store location, POS details, a payment method, a payment card type, tender, cost, a loyalty card information, membership card identification, consumer details such as a customer name or address.

[088] Referring to Figure 3, there is illustrated a method 300 of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service. The purchase is transacted using a POS terminal and method 300 is performed on at least one processing system (e.g. server) that may be local or remote to the POS terminal. At step 310, purchase information is received from a promotion providing application running on a POS terminal, which obtains the purchase information as a result of the purchase. At step 320, a promotion 330 is selected from a plurality of promotions 340 based on the purchase information. The plurality of promotions may be from different companies or multiple promotions offered by the same company. At step 350, promotion information is sent to a terminal, which may be the POS terminal or a nominated user terminal. The promotion information is then used to offer the consumer the selected promotion.

4. Systems Overview

[089] Referring to figure 4, there is illustrated a promotion and redemption system, which provides an overview of the software/system, with a break down of the backend systems that are operating in parallel to generate targeted promotions. Figure 4 further illustrates the integration of the software on the POS terminal with reference to the analysing of the data streams from the input / output devices. [090] Main server 405 holds data warehouse 410 and is in communication with promotion and redemption system backend 415 that includes promotions server 420, redemptions server 425, guaranteed delivery engine 430 and configuration server/monitor 435. As previously discussed, it should be realised that in another embodiment a single server or servers provides both the promotions service and the redemptions service, and/or other services.

[091] Promotion and redemption system 415 communicates with POS terminal 440 that includes POS normal application 445 and promotion providing application 450 (i.e. promotion and redemption software). Scanner input/output data 455, printer input/output data 460 and keyboard input 465 is communicated between POS normal application 445 and promotion providing application 450. POS terminal 440 can also display information on POS monitor 470. EFTPOS system 475 communicates with, or can be considered part of, POS terminal 440 and provides at least partial purchase information used by promotion providing application 450. A scanner 480 for scanning product information, e.g. barcodes, that can also provide at least part of the purchase information, a printer 485 and a keyboard or keypad 490 are also connected to, or form part of, POS terminal 440.

[092] Referring to figure 5, there is illustrated a system decision flow diagram on the process of identifying customers linked by redemptions. At step 505, a customer arrives at a POS terminal with a shopping basket. At step 510, a POS terminal operator scans products selected by the customer, e.g. from a shopping basket. At step 515, a check is made to see if the customer has presented a promotion. If so, at step 520, information identifying a promotion, for example a promotion barcode is sent to the redemption server backend 415. At backend 415, at step 525, a check is made whether the promotion barcode is linked to a previous redemption. If so, at step 530, the customer is marked as known and information about the redeemable products with applicable discount prices is returned. At step 535, if the promotion is not linked to a previous redemption, the redeemable products are simply returned with the applicable discount prices.

[093] At step 540, if applicable, the discount is applied to the relevant product. At step 545, an operator can continue scanning the products until the condition at step 550, i.e. the end of the receipt, is met. At step 555, a request is sent for a promotion to backend system 415. At backend system 415, at step 560, a check is made to see if the promotion is for a known customer. If so, at step 565 the customer's shopping history is checked. A promotion based on previously known information is then issued at step 570 for the known customer, which may provide a better promotion to reward the customer for multiple redeemed promotions. At step 575, if the customer is not known, a promotion can be issued based on the current receipt. At step 580, the promotion providing application can receive information identifying the promotion, and at step 585 can cause information identifying the promotion (i.e. promotion information) to be printed.

[094] Referring to figure 6, there is illustrated a global redemption system that provides a high level overview of how the redemption server can pass through the redemption details from a different region, country, store or FMCG group. Region 1 indicated by 605 can be distinct from region 2 indicated by 610. Region 1 can include POS terminal 615 and POS terminal 620, for example, and region 2 can include POS terminal 625 and POS terminal 630, for example. Region 1 and region 2 may each have a separate configuration server/monitor, guaranteed delivery server, promotions server and redemptions server. The redemptions servers for each region, as well as POS terminals 615, 620, 625 and 630 are connected to redemptions server 640 that can transfer information/promotions between region 1 (605) and region 2 (610).

5. Set-Up and Capturing Data

[095] The software application (e.g. promotion providing application or applications) installed on a POS terminal runs 'silently', not obstructing the operation of the POS normal application or any peripheral devices. The POS normal application is unaware of the software application's existence whilst the software application captures input and output data streams, processes or modifies the data in those streams or adds additional data to those streams.

[096] The software application can be installed on a POS terminal either from a media device (e.g. CD, flash memory, etc.), through a local network or remotely. Once installed, an automated configuration process is performed making sure that the software application is configured correctly for that particular POS terminal. [097] The software application includes a 'heartbeat' like component that enables each POS terminal to communicate with a centralised server of the promotion and advertising system. Each POS terminal is automatically configured so that it 'knows' which server to communicate its 'heartbeats' to. This enables a backend server to remotely monitor the promotion providing application ensuring that it is running correctly. The heartbeat function of the system also enables remote upgrades to newer versions of the software. During the automated configuration process each POS terminal is configured with information as to which servers it is required to communicate with in order to receive upgrades, on where to receive promotions from, where to send redemption requests and where to send all the captured data that is collected for the promotions evidence and statistical purposes. All the communication to the required servers can be done over known existing electronic networks.

[098] The software application captures product line-item transactional data including, for example, barcode number, number of product units, product description, product cost, store, POS details, payment method, tender, and if available customer details obtained from a member card used during the transaction. This information is in turn utilised for marketing insight to communicate more effectively to consumers based on their preferred purchases and preferences. The consumer receives incentives and/or discounts on what they are more likely receptive to and want to purchase, offering a greater value proposition to the consumer.

[099] The POS normal application works as per usual, not being aware of the promotions providing software application. The software application 'silently' monitors the input and output data streams. During the configuration process the software application analyses the communication channels used by the POS normal application. A wizard-like process is employed so that while an operator is using the POS normal application the configuration component analyses all the possible communication channels to determine which input and output channels it needs to monitor for promotions.

[0100] After the software application is installed and configured, the POS normal application receives an input stream of data from all the input sources and sends the output stream of data to the output destinations. While this is happening the software application observes the data going through the input and output channels (at the driver level, at the port level, or in some other way) and looks for marketing relevant information.

[0101] The software application identifies, captures and outputs data when a line-item product is being scanned and aggregates all the scanned line-item product data, card payment and/or loyalty card used by the consumer. Based on algorithms for market basket analysis, the consumers profile and the consumer's payment method, specific advertising content is then presented to the consumer in either a printed or visual format. For example, on a printed receipt, such as near the bottom or on the reverse of a receipt, displayed on a monitor, sent in an email to a user terminal or an SMS to a mobile telephone. The card payment type is identified by the bank issued card number. This enables the system to identify the card payment company, issuing bank and card type, such as credit, debit, prepaid, RFID or any derivative of a bank issued card.

[0102] Card payment companies and financial institutions do not have access to the line item purchase product data when consumers use bank issued cards for purchasing. Current bank electronic payment card devices only capture the card number, total purchase amount and retailer details. The present system delivers all of the relevant data and advertising capability electronically in-store.

[0103] A specific example of scanned and aggregated data in a transaction would be, a consumer purchases merchandise in-store, the sales representative scans the products for payment, and then processes the payment transaction. The consumer then pays the sales representative with cash or with a card payment type. The system captures the data stream containing the card data from the magnetic strip on the track of the card, which is transferred from the EFTPOS card payment device to the POS terminal automatically, and relevant line item product data information.

6. Issuing a Promotion

[0104] The software application installed on the POS terminal captures purchase information (such as product line-item transactional data, payment details, for example what kind of card was used for the payment, and possibly details of the customer), the application then sends this information to a promotion generating server where purchase details as well as the consumer and payment method is analysed to determine which promotion to offer to the consumer. If, based on the current purchase details, the consumer's purchase history (if it is available), the consumer's other details, such as membership details, and based on the payment method, multiple promotions are available, an algorithm is used to determine which promotion to offer to the customer. This algorithm uses an allocated or determined weight of the promotions, for example a priority ranking, to determine which promotion is the most suitable for the offer.

[0105] Once the promotion is determined, associated promotion information is sent back to the POS terminal. At the end of the purchase, at least part of the received promotion information is added to the output stream where it is printed, either on, before or after printing of the receipt, or sent to any other available output device. There is no requirement to have a separate printer or visual display device to print or display the promotion information, however, it is possible to send the promotion information to any other output device if the need so arises. Furthermore, if there is knowledge on the promotion generating server regarding the delivery preferences of a particular consumer, it is then possible to deliver the promotion information through other communication channels (for example, email, SMS, Internet, direct mail or other communication mediums).

[0106] The software application provides the capability to record all purchase transactions together with a record of the issued and redeemed promotions. This is achieved via a 'guaranteed delivery' method. After each purchase transaction, all the captured and aggregated data, together with the offered promotion or the details of redemption, is sent to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine. Guaranteed delivery implies that the data will be sent even if there are temporary network problems. The Guaranteed Delivery Engine delivers this data to a data warehouse (e.g. database) from where the data can be used to generate reports and for other statistical and analysis purposes.

[0107] In summary, a typical promotion production process at the POS can be described as follows:

(i) A customer arrives at the POS terminal with a shopping basket;

(ii) The operator at the POS terminal scans the products from the shopping basket; (iii) The promotion providing application captures the purchase information (line- item data), payment method, member details, etc;

(iv) The end of the receipt is reached;

(v) The promotion providing application sends the captured data to a promotion server;

(vi) The data is analysed at the promotion server and the most suitable promotion (based on the contents of the shopping basket, purchase history, member details, payment method, etc.) is sent back to the POS terminal;

(vii) The receipt is printed out together with promotion information; (viii) The promotion providing application sends the receipt data together with the promotion that was printed to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine.

[0108] The Guaranteed Delivery Engine ensures that all the receipts, issued promotions and claimed redemptions are recorded. This is achieved via a network of dedicated servers and 'fail and retry' delivery method. The back up servers help to temporarily store accumulated data in case of a connection failure and the system attempts to resend the data once the communication is re-established. The Guaranteed Delivery Engine is important for accurate reporting capability and for transactional and financial reconciliation.

[0109] Referring to figure 7, there is illustrated a flow diagram describing the work flow steps necessary for the promotion providing application to provide a real-time promotion. POS normal application process 705 is distinct to promotion providing application process 710 (i.e. promotion and redemption software process). In process 705, at step 715 processing of a shopping basket (or any other group of products or services) is started. At step 720 products are scanned. At step 725, a check is made if all goods or services have been scanned. If so, at step 730 a receipt can be printed.

[0110] Referring to promotion providing application process 710, at step 735 an input stream is obtained from the POS normal application. At step 740, a check is made to see if a promotion barcode has been detected. If so, step 750 initiates for handling redemptions. Otherwise, at step 745, input data is passed through to the POS normal application. [0111] At step 755 the output stream is intercepted by promotion providing application. At step 760, a check is made to see if the start of the receipt is detected. At step 765, if the start of the receipt is not detected the output data is passed through to the output device. At step 770, if the start of the receipt is detected, the output stream data is captured and then passed through to the output device. At step 775, a check is made to see if the end of the receipt is detected. If so, at step 780, a promotion request is formed using the captured data. At step 785, the promotion request is sent to the promotions server. At step 788, a period of time for the promotion providing application to wait can be used, set or determined. At step 790, a check is made to see if the promotion information is received from the promotion server. If so, at step 792, the promotion can be printed. If not, at step 795 a default promotion can be printed.

7. Managing Redemptions

[0112] When a customer brings a promotion (e.g. a printed coupon) to a POS, the promotion may be scanned at any time during the purchase of the product to which the promotion applies. For example, it does not matter if the promotion is scanned at the beginning of the shopping basket scanning, at the end or in the middle of scanning a group of products, just before the product to which the promotion applies, just after, or not together with the product, only so long as the promotion is scanned during the same purchase transaction.

[0113] The redemption request is sent by the promotion providing application to a redemption server, a promotional barcode can be used to determine which real time redemption server to contact to redeem a particular promotion (this enables remote redemptions, for example redeeming a promotion in a completely different region to the region where the promotion was obtained). The redemption server then flags that particular promotion to be of an "invalid" status. The redemption server then sends back the discount or incentive information to the POS terminal.

[0114] Upon receiving the discount information the software applies that discount to the applicable product if that product already exists in the list of scanned products. If the product to which the discount can apply has not been scanned yet, the promotion providing application stores the details of the discount and upon scanning any further products a check is made to see if the discount applies to that product. Whilst the application is scanning the line items, if it is determined that the discount is relevant it is then applied to the basket. However, if after a promotion has been applied to one of the products in the basket, a product gets 'voided', for example if the purchase of an already scanned product gets cancelled, then a check is made to see if the cancelled product is the one to which a promotion has been applied, and if so, a request is sent to the redemption server to revert the state of the given promotion from an "invalid" to "valid" state.

[0115] In summary, a typical redemption process at the POS can be described as follows: (i) A customer arrives at the POS terminal with a shopping basket;

(iv) The customer presents a promotion to the operator; (v) The operator scans a barcode on the given promotion;

(vi) The promotion providing application sends a request to the redemption server; (vii) The redemption server passes the request to the appropriate real time redemption server (a request is sent to the redemption server in the region corresponding to the promotional barcode); (viii) The real time redemption server (via one of the dedicated redemption servers for that particular retail location) returns to the POS terminal a list of products for which the discount is available and a list of discounts corresponding to those products (note that a promotion may be available for a group of products);

(ix) The real time redemption server sets the state of the promotion to "Invalid"; (x) The promotion providing application at the POS terminal checks whether any of the products from the list have already been scanned and if so the appropriate discount is applied to that product;

(xi) If the product to which the promotion applies has not yet been scanned the promotion providing application keeps the list of the promotion applicable products and checks for every subsequently scanned product to see if the promotion applies to that product and if so the corresponding discount is applied; (xii) The end of the receipt is reached; (xiii) The promotion providing application analyses the contents of the receipt (the captured data) to see if the product to which a promotion has been applied is voided, for example if the purchase of that product has been cancelled;

(xiv) If the discounted product has been 'voided' then a request is sent to the redemption server to change the state of the redeemed promotion back to "Valid";

(xv) The promotion providing application sends the captured data to the real time promotion server;

(xvi) The real time promotion server sends a promotion to the POS terminal;

(xvii) The receipt and the promotion are printed; (xviii) The promotion providing application sends the receipt data together with the promotion that was printed to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine.

[0116] In summary, another possible redemption process at the POS can be described as follows: (i) A customer arrives at the POS terminal with a shopping basket;

(ii) The operator at the POS terminal scans the products from the shopping basket;

(iii) The promotion providing application captures the purchase information (line- item data), payment method, member details, etc.;

(vi) The promotion providing application sends a request to the redemption server;

(vii) The redemption server passes the request to the appropriate real time redemption server (a request is sent to the redemption server in the region corresponding to the promotional barcode); (ix) The real time redemption server sets the state of the promotion to "Invalid";

(x) The operator at the POS terminal continues to scan the products from the shopping basket;

(xi) The operator at the POS finishes scanning products and indicates that the sale is about to be completed; (xii) The promotion providing application sends a list of the scanned products to the redemption server;

(xiii) The real time redemption server analyses the product list and the previously scanned promotional barcode and determines the best suitable discount based on the purchased items and the discounts offered by the promotion. The real time redemption server then sends the applicable discount back to the POS terminal;

(xiv) At the POS terminal the discount is applied by the POS application;

(xv) End of receipt is reached; (xiii) The promotion providing application analyses the contents of the receipt (the captured data) to see if the product to which a promotion has been applied is voided, for example if the purchase of that product has been cancelled;

(xiv) If the discounted product has been 'voided' then a request is sent to the redemption server to change the state of the redeemed promotion back to "Valid"; (xv) The promotion providing application sends the captured data to the real time promotion server;

(xvi) The real time promotion server sends a promotion to the POS terminal;

(xvii) The receipt and the promotion are printed;

(xviii) The promotion providing application sends the receipt data together with the promotion that was printed to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine.

[0117] The present system/method enables redeeming promotions offered at one retailer and redeeming one or more promotions at another retailer with a completely different Point of Sale system and infrastructure. The system/method also supports redeeming promotions in a completely different city, region, country or continent to the city, region, country or continent where the promotion was issued.

[0118] Referring to figure 8, there is illustrated a flow diagram describing an example process of gathering transactional data including product unique identifiers (e.g. barcodes) at a POS terminal. POS normal application process 805 is illustrated separated from promotion and redemption providing application process 810. In POS normal application process 805, processing of the shopping basket is started at step 815. At step 820, products are scanned by an operator. At step 835, a check is made to see if the end of the shopping basket has been reached. If so, at step 840, a receipt can be printed.

[0119] In process 810 provided by the promotion and redemption providing application, at step 845 the data input stream is obtained from the POS terminal. At step 850, a check is made to see if a promotion barcode is detected. If not, at step 856 a check is made if the input data matches the product barcode information. If a match is identified, then at step 857 the barcode is stored in temporary storage memory. If a match is not identified, then at step 855, the input data is passed through to the POS normal application process 805. If a promotion barcode is detected, at step 891 the promotion barcode is sent to the redemption handling process.

[0120] At step 885, the output stream is obtained from the POS terminal. At step 890, a check is made to see if the start of the receipt is detected. If not, at step 892, the output data can be passed through to the output device. If the start of the receipt is detected, at step 884 the data is captured and then passed through to the output device. If the start of the receipt is not detected then at step 892 output data is passed through to the output device. At step 886, a check is made to see if the end of the receipt is detected. If not, data is obtained from the output stream at step 885. If the end of the receipt is detected, then at step 887 the barcodes stored at step 857 are obtained as step 858 and added to the captured receipt data. At step 888, a promotion request is formed using the combined captured data, and at step 889 process flow passes to the process for handling promotions.

[0121] Referring to figure 9, there is illustrated a flow diagram describing the processes necessary to complete a redemption on the POS terminal, through the remote redemption server, redemption server and Guaranteed Delivery Engine. POS normal application process 805 is illustrated separated from promotion providing application process 810. In POS normal application process 805, processing of the shopping basket is started at step 815. At step 820, products are scanned by an operator. At step 825, a check is made to see if the consumer has a promotion. If so, at step 830, the promotions barcode, or other identifying information, is scanned. If not, at step 835, a check is made to see if the end of the shopping basket has been reached. If so, at step 840, a receipt can be printed.

[0122] In process 810 provided by the promotion providing application, at step 845 the data input stream is obtained from the POS terminal. At step 850, a check is made to see if a promotion barcode is detected. If not, at step 855, the input data is passed through to the POS normal application process 805. If a promotion barcode is detected, at step 860 the promotion barcode is sent to the redemption server. At step 865, a set or determined period of time can be used to wait for a response from the redemption server. At step 870, a check is made to see if a response is received from the redemption server. At step 875, a check is made to see if one or more of the promotions applicable to products has already been scanned in the current transaction. If so, at step 880, the appropriate discount or other mode of promotion can be applied. At step 885, the output stream is obtained from the POS terminal. At step 890, a check is made to see if the start of the receipt is detected. If not, at step 892, the output data can be passed through to the output device. If the start of the receipt is detected, at step 895 the process can be followed for issuing promotions.

[0123] Referring to figure 10, there is illustrated a flow diagram describing cancelling a redeemed promotion within a basket when a line item that had initially triggered a redemption has been "voided". At step 905 products are scanned. At step 910, a check is made to see if a purchase of an already scanned product has been cancelled. If not, at step 915, a further check is made to see if there is a scanned promotion waiting to be redeemed. If so, at step 920, a comparison is made of the stored list of products for which the promotion is applicable to the recently scanned product. At step 925, a check is made if the recently scanned product matches any of the promotion applicable products. If not, further products can be scanned at step 905. If the recently scanned product does match any of the promotion applicable products, at step 930 the appropriate discount or other redemption is applied to the promotion applicable product.

[0124] If there was not a scanned promotion waiting to be redeemed at step 915, then at step 935 a check is made to see if a promotion has been scanned. If not, at step 940 the scanned product can be recorded and products continue to be scanned at step 905. If a promotion was scanned at step 935, then at step 945 a list of products is obtained for which the promotion is applicable. At step 950, a check is made if one of the promotion applicable products has been scanned, for example as part of a shopping basket. If so, step 930 applies the appropriate discount or other redemption to the promotion applicable product. If not, at step 955 the scanned promotion is recorded and then products can continue to be scanned at step 905. At step 960, a check is made to see if a cancelled product has been discounted due to a scanned promotion. If so, at step 965, the redeemed promotion is cancelled. At step 970, the availability/validity is adjusted for the promotion and then further products can be scanned at step 905. 8. Reporting and Campaign Management

[0125] Manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, card payment companies and other parties interested in providing incentives to consumers for using their products need a solution that can enable real-time promotion generation and analysis. The software application described herein provides an easy way to deliver promotional material in a real-time manner as well as an easy way to generate reports on the statistical data relating to consumers' purchase history, promotions offered, promotions redeemed or any other information regarding the data captured at POS during any period of time.

[0126] The system enables consolidation of purchase history and product preference data from different channels enabling analysis and reporting based on large volumes of data from diverse sources such as survey responses, website click through data, email responses, redemptions of offered promotions, etc.

[0127] Referring to figure 11, there is illustrated how the promotion providing application sends information to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine or receives updates or upgrades from the configuration server. POS terminal 440 communicates with real-time promotions server 420, real-time redemptions server 425 and guaranteed delivery engine 430. Configuration server 435 communicates with promotions server 420 and redemptions server 425. A campaign management engine 1005 and a reporting engine 1010 form part of a particular promoters account 1020. Campaign management engine 1005 provides promotion updates to configuration server 435. Reporting engine 1010 receives purchase and redemption history data from data warehouse 410 that communicates with guaranteed delivery engine 430 that receives information about a completed purchase transaction from POS terminal 440.

9. Installation

[0128] The system can be loaded from a media device, through a local network or remotely, for example through an existing electronic network such as a LAN/WAN network, the Internet, or another network technology. The delivery medium may depend on the size of the deployment. If the deployment is small, for example three or four POS terminals, it is then possible to install the software onto each POS terminal from a media device or remotely. However, if the deployment is large, such as in large department stores, it is possible to install on a central processing system and create an image which can then be easily deployed to all POS terminals.

[0129] Optionally, the installation includes the main promotion providing application that is to reside on each POS terminal, and also includes separate configuration software. This configuration software is wizard-like and enables an automated or semi-automated process for configuring the promotion providing application to the specific environment and POS terminal configuration. During the configuration the peripheral devices connected to the POS terminal and communication channels used by the POS normal application for its input and output streams are detected and the promotion providing application is automatically or semi-automatically configured to monitor and capture the data going through those communication channels (e.g. associated communication ports). These peripheral devices can be connected to the POS terminal via communication ports such as serial, parallel, USB, RS connections, wirelessly or by some other means, to process products purchased and payment data. The system is agnostic to the peripheral communication interface type which captures and updates data packets from these interfaces.

[0130] Optionally, the present invention may include semi-automated installation and configuration software which installs the software and then configures the software/application(s) based on input from the user.

[0131] Through the use of the 'heartbeat' function within the promotion providing application, it is possible to remotely upgrade the software to a new version without impacting the performance of the POS normal application. This is done through an existing electronic network with the promotion providing application connecting to a configuration server to check for valid updates or scheduled upgrades. Through the use of the configuration server at any time promotions can be remotely switched on or off.

[0132] Referring to figure 12, there is illustrated how the promotion providing application sends information to the Guaranteed Delivery Engine or receives updates or upgrades from the configuration server. Configuration server monitor 435 provides promotion updates to promotions server 420 and to redemptions server 425. Configuration server 435 also provides configuration updates to POS terminal 440 to upgrade promotion providing application residing on POS terminal 440.

[0133] Optional embodiments of the present invention may also be said to broadly consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated herein, individually or collectively, in any or all combinations of two or more of the parts, elements or features, and wherein specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

[0134] Although a preferred embodiment has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0135] The present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, firmware, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects.

Claims

The claims:

1. A method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal, the method including the steps of: obtaining purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; sending the purchase information to a promotions server, where a promotion is selected from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information; receiving promotion information from the promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the promotion; and, sending at least part of the promotion information to an output device for display to the consumer.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the promotion providing application is independent of the POS terminal normal operating application.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the promotion providing application obtains the purchase information from the POS terminal normal operating application, and the promotion providing application sends the at least part of the promotion information to the output device.

4. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least part of the promotion information is displayed to the consumer after finalising the purchase.

5. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the at least part of the promotion information is a coupon redeemable by the consumer.

6. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the output device is a printer and the at least part of the promotion information is printed on a purchase receipt by the printer.

7. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the output device is a monitor and the promotion information is displayed by the monitor.

8. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the promotion is an advertising promotion and the at least part of the promotion information is an advertisement.

9. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the purchase information includes the type of payment card used by the consumer and the promotion is selected based on the type of payment card.

10. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the promotion is selected based on stored historical data about the consumer's previous purchases.

11. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the plurality of promotions from a particular promoter are weighted for different consumer purchase behaviours, the promotion selected having the highest weight based on the purchase information.

12. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 11, wherein a promotion status is able to be reset as invalid at the promotions server after redemption by the consumer.

13. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 11, wherein a promotion status is able to be reset as valid at the promotions server if the consumer cancels a redemption.

14. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 13, wherein the purchase information includes at least one of a date of purchase, a barcode number, a product name, a product description, a number of product units, a product cost, a store name, a store location, POS details, a payment method, a payment card type, tender, a loyalty card information, membership card identification and consumer details.

15. A method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal, the method including the steps of: obtaining purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; and, sending the purchase information to a promotions server; wherein, the promotions server selects a promotion from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information, and sends promotion information to a terminal, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the selected promotion.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the terminal is a user terminal previously nominated by the consumer.

17. A method of offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using at least one processing system local or remote to the Point of Sale (POS) terminal and including the steps of: receiving purchase information from a promotion providing application running on the POS terminal which obtains the purchase information as a result of the purchase; selecting a promotion from a plurality of promotions based on the purchase information; and, sending promotion information to a terminal, the promotion information used to offer the consumer the selected promotion.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the terminal is the POS terminal.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the terminal is a user terminal previously nominated by the consumer.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the promotion information is sent to the user terminal via email, SMS or the Internet.

21. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 20, wherein the purchase information includes the type of payment card used by the consumer and the promotion is selected based on the type of payment card.

22. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 20, wherein the promotion is selected based on stored historical data about the consumer's previous purchases.

23. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 22, further including selecting more than one promotion, sending the more than one promotion to the terminal, the more than one promotion hierarchically arranged dependent on the purchase information.

24. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 22, wherein the plurality of promotions from a particular promoter are weighted for different consumer purchase behaviours, the promotion selected having the highest weight based on the purchase information.

25. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 24, wherein a promotion status is able to be reset as invalid at the promotions server after redemption by the consumer.

26. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 24, wherein a promotion status is able to be reset as valid at the promotions server if the consumer cancels a redemption.

27. A promotion providing software application for offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the promotion providing software application running on the POS terminal and configured to: obtain purchase information, the POS terminal receiving the purchase information as a result of the purchase; send the purchase information to at least one promotions server; receive promotion information from the at least one promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer a promotion, the promotion selected from a plurality of promotions; and, send at least part of the promotion information to an output device for display to the consumer.

28. The application as claimed in claim 27, wherein the application executes independently of the POS terminal normal operating software application.

29. The application as claimed in either claim 27 or 28, wherein the application obtains the purchase information from the operating software application, and the application sends the at least part of the promotion information to the operating software application which sends the at least part of the promotion information to the output device.

30. The application as claimed in any one of the claims 27 to 29, wherein the application is able to be set as inactive, thereby allowing the POS terminal operating software application to function independently.

31. The application as claimed in any one of the claims 27 to 30, wherein the application causes data to be periodically transmitted to the at least one promotions server enabling the at least one promotions server to verify operation of the application.

32. A Point of Sale (POS) processing system for offering a promotion to a consumer purchasing a good or service, the purchase being transacted using the POS processing system which comprises: an input device to receive purchase information; a communications device able to communicate with at least one promotions server; an output device to display promotion information to the consumer; and, at least one processor able to execute a promotion providing software application configured to:

(i) obtain the purchase information;

(ii) send the purchase information to the at least one promotions server; (iii) receive the promotion information from the at least one promotions server, the promotion information used to offer the consumer a promotion, the promotion selected from a plurality of promotions; and, (iv) send at least part of the promotion information to the output device.

33. A method of redeeming a promotion provided to a consumer having purchased a good or service at a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, the method performed using a redemption application running on at least one redemption server, the method including the steps of: validating a promotion and changing a status of the promotion to indicate that the promotion is invalid upon a successful redemption; and sending redemption information to the POS terminal; wherein the redemption application is able to reverse the status of a redeemed promotion from invalid to valid.