Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-29
2002-04-30
Stamber, Eric W. (Department: 2162)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
active
06381582
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to systems and methods for processing payments for goods, and more particularly to systems and methods for the local processing of payments for remotely purchased goods.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
While direct, point-of-sale marketing represents the single largest channel of retail sales, catalog sales have in recent years experienced extraordinary growth. Recent reports indicate that 53 percent of all American adults purchased merchandise by catalog in calendar year 1996, and that catalog sales will generate $76.8 billion dollars of revenue in 1997.
Point-of-sale marketing, typically represented by conventional direct-to-customer sales in retail stores, provides buyers with many well-established benefits. Such retail sales permit customers to select goods in a hands-on manner. The customer experiences the ‘instant gratification’ associated with receiving the purchased goods immediately upon completion of the sale. Further, point-of-sale marketing provides customers with substantial flexibility in payment options, such options including cash, credit and debit cards, lay-away plans, and other options known to those skilled in the art.
Drawbacks to conventional point-of-sale marketing include a selection that is typically limited to available retail stock. Further, point-of-sale marketing requires a customer to travel, sometimes at inconvenient times or for inconvenient distances, to examine and select products at the retail establishment.
In contrast, catalog marketing typically provides customers with a broader range of selections while enabling a customer to shop from the convenience of their home or office. The instant gratification of store shopping is exchanged for slightly delayed but convenient delivery to a location specified by the consumer. One significant drawback of catalog shopping, however, is the lack of flexibility provided in payment options.
The majority of catalog purchases are conducted by telephone and paid for by credit card. Many consumers, however, do not feel secure in providing their credit card number to a ‘stranger’ over a telephone. Other consumers may not wish to assume the revolving debt often associated with credit card use, while still other consumers may not even possess a credit card.
While catalog purchases can be and often are paid for by check, this presents a somewhat distracting and unwieldy method of payment for the consumer. In addition to physically writing the check, the buyer must mail the check to the catalog order processing department, and include either an order form (if ordering through the mail) or an order number (if the order was previously placed by telephone). The buyer thus assumes not only the delay of product shipping, but the further delay associated with the mailing, and perhaps clearing, of the check. Money orders present similar difficulties to checks, with the additional inconvenience of having to purchase the money order itself.
Cash payments are typically not an option for a catalog purchase. It is known to be very unsafe to mail cash currency through public mail systems, and many catalog order processors do not even have the capability to handle cash.
Some methods of retail sales are known which attempt to merge the benefits of both catalog and point-of-sale marketing. British Airways has implemented a program whereby in-flight airline passengers can order goods from a catalog, pay for the goods while on the plane using credit cards or cash, and subsequently receive the purchased goods at the designated delivery location. The selection, however, is limited to the catalog(s) offered through the program.
Many programs are known for door-to-door sales of catalog goods, with payment being collected by the seller at the time of sale or delivery (if the goods are hand-delivered). Amway, Fuller Brush, Avon, and Mary Kay are examples of companies that employ door-to-door catalog ordering and payment programs. These programs, of course, suffer from the shared drawback of offering a very limited catalog selection. Such programs may offer one or two proprietary and topic-focused catalogs for the customer to select from. This is in contrast to the thousands of direct marketing catalogs generally available to buyers.
Some retailers have established cooperative combinations of both retail store and catalog divisions. JCPenney, one of the largest retail store and catalog marketers in the United States, employs a system wherein customers can conveniently shop interchangeably between JCPenney stores and the JCPenney catalog. That is, consumers can make a catalog purchase while at a retail store, and/or receive a catalog purchase through a retail store. These types of systems, however, suffer from the same drawbacks described above; that is the limited selection of catalogs from which the customer may order at any given retail store. Further, to the best of applicant's knowledge, catalog orders placed remotely must be paid for remotely, and do not accrue the flexible payment options available to those who travel to and shop within the store.
Warehouse type retailers are known wherein customers travel to a large retail store to browse both in-stock goods and store catalogs. Goods selected for purchase can be identified by entry into a computer order/inventory system, which checks inventory, optionally accepts a credit card payment, and directs the customer to a pick-up counter to receive the goods. Service Merchandise Co. is one example of such a retailer. Such stores, while perhaps providing a larger-than-normal selection of goods, still are limited to providing those goods maintained in stock and/or available through their individual store catalog.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,394 to Roach et al. (Roach) shows an automated order and delivery system wherein a point-of-sale computer system is enabled to cooperate with a warehouse computer system to facilitate the shopping, product delivery and check-out processes. In Roach, the point-of-sale system is used to develop order and delivery information at the point-of-sale, and transmit that information to the warehouse system. The warehouse system is then operated to facilitate fast product delivery and/or shipping. The purchase and delivery information is communicated to the check-out register to facilitate checkout. While facilitating in-store shopping, Roach does not enable a buyer to select from a wider selection of goods than is typical in a retail store environment.
Retail stores are known wherein customers are invited to shop from catalogs, placing their orders for catalog goods through catalogs made available at the retail location. To the best knowledge of applicant, such stores operate by collecting customer orders through local point-of-sale systems, collecting funds directly from customers, and subsequently placing orders and making payments to the catalog merchants. As will be appreciated, the selection of catalogs from which a customer may select merchandise will likely be very limited to those provided by the retailer. Further, such a system requires that a customer travel to the store to browse catalogs and select goods.
On-line systems are known wherein a shopper may connect, for example over the Internet, to an on-line catalog retailer. The customer may purchase goods, and submit payment through an electronic interchange of information, or by telephone or mail. Such systems suffer from the drawbacks of conventional catalog ordering with respect to payment options. That is, a consumer must either provide a credit card to a remote ‘stranger’, suffer the inconvenience of writing and mailing a check, or deal with the complex electronic payment systems described below.
Electronic payment systems are known for facilitating payments for electronic transactions. First Virtual, for example, permits buyers to establish credit card-based accounts, and to use a personal identification number to submit payment for an electronic transaction. The credit card payment is then handled in an off-line manner by First Virtual. Such system
Van Luchene Andrew S.
Walker Jay S.
Aldercci Dean P.
Myhre James W.
Stamber Eric W.
Walker Digital, LLC
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