CN116490889A

CN116490889A - Address exchange system and method

Info

Publication number: CN116490889A
Application number: CN202180061917.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: K·桑托什; G·S·戈帕拉克里希南
Original assignee: Mapumai Aidi Co ltd
Current assignee: Mapumai Aidi Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-09
Filing date: 2021-09-09
Publication date: 2023-07-25

Abstract

A product dispensing system includes a data storage system including a physical address and personally identifiable information associated with each of a plurality of individuals, a controller in communication with a database, and a memory coupled to the controller. And (3) a controller: receiving, via the license setting module, a characteristic of the desired product from one of the plurality of individuals as an input; receiving, as input, product features of a product available from a seller; identifying a matching transaction using the product features; in response to identifying the matching transaction, facilitating delivery of one of the offer associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual; and withholds, as a default location, personally identifiable information of one of the plurality of personas from the seller.

Description

Address exchange system and method

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application includes an international PCT application requiring U.S. application Ser. No.17/224,822, U.S. application Ser. No.17/200,548, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No.63/076,117, U.S. application Ser. No.63/076,117, filed on 7, 4, 2021, 3, 12, and 9, 2020.

Technical Field

The present subject matter relates generally to systems and methods for online identification of physical address exchange platforms.

Background

In today's society, people are identified by a number of identifiers, including names, social security numbers, bank account numbers, residence addresses, passwords, date of birth, and email addresses, among others. These forms of identity management are typically "verified" by various regulatory government organizations. Thus, these forms of identity management are reliable and useful for "real-life" offline transactions. In contrast, in the digital/online world, most online identities are based on unregulated and self-controlling parameters, such as email addresses, cell phone numbers, social media identities (e.g., facebook identities, linkedln identities), etc. A system is needed that connects the two worlds in a meaningful way.

Because many identifiers are confidential information, most people prefer to keep their information confidential. However, individuals are continually required to share their identifiers with third parties, for example, by providing mailing addresses to third parties or billing addresses when purchasing items online. However, sharing an identifier (e.g., a physical address) with an unknown person may not be secure. In addition, the more confidential information a person reveals, the more likely that person is subjected to privacy challenges.

In a typical transaction, a sender selects an item from a retailer's website to send to a recipient. At checkout, the sender must enter his name, buyer's billing address, gift option, recipient name, recipient address and recipient telephone number. Based on the large amount of information required, many senders decide not to complete the purchase because there is no time to complete the checkout process, or the sender may not have all the personal information of the recipient. For example, the sender may not have the physical address of the recipient and may be reluctant to ask for such personal information from the recipient. In addition, physical addresses often change, so it is difficult for the sender to track changes in addresses in order to determine the latest address to use as a mailing address.

From the recipient's perspective, it is not secure to provide their residence address. Furthermore, updating the address change is often a time consuming and laborious process. Typically, the recipient must update his address information in each organization. For example, the recipient must update the address to multiple departments of a post office, motor vehicle department, internal tax service, energy company, magazine subscription, job site, and the like.

In addition, conventional systems do not consider the recipient's preference at the shipping location. For example, a recipient may wish to mail certain packages sent by friends to their home address, while a recipient may wish to mail gifts sent by colleagues to their work address.

In addition, the rise of online shopping has led to an increase in shipping and logistics related problems of online shopping delivery. This also results in increased digital and direct marketing costs and a substantial decrease in physical retail and store operating costs. Losses also occur in the commission of the trade between the broker and the agent, which is avoided by online purchases. Product discovery becomes easier, product reviews become important, and competition is becoming more and more intense. In some cases, consumers have seen lower prices over time, and with so many choices, sellers are faced with the pressure to offer the best price. Each optimal price guarantee has a number of terms and conditions, so it is difficult to compare offers on an equal basis. Every consumer wants the best price, but it becomes more and more difficult to find.

In addition, the rise of electronic commerce has enabled consumers to purchase products from retailers in other countries through foreign electronic commerce websites. Consumers may be driven by lower prices, international brands, or products unique to other countries. Cross-border transactions often lead to challenges in the ability of an e-commerce retailer to gather information from a purchaser or delivery location information.

Recent regulations require that certain tax be assessed from buyers and paid to respective authorities. E-commerce merchants will be required to comply with these new compliance guidelines. Some e-commerce merchants collect funds from consumers, but withhold the funds instead of paying parties to the transaction as specified. Governments are demanding a more transparent and secure environment to prevent such fraud.

Direct marketing companies typically send random offers or coupons or samples to their database listings. However, many of these samples cannot be delivered to the correct recipient due to the use of the wrong or old address. In addition, sometimes these samples or offers may be unrelated to the consumer who received the sample or offer, but may be very relevant to some of the consumer's contacts (friends, relatives or other relationships), but not mentioned, as they may not have an address at the time of the transfer. Traditional systems also fail to utilize social media connections, thus missing precious market opportunities. In addition, brands must absorb costs associated with failed direct marketing attempts, thereby increasing the ultimate cost to the consumer. Traditional direct marketing also creates barriers to branding, requiring branding to track consumer behavior, location, frequently accessed places, frequently purchased items, and other details using GPS-based mobile applications, digital cookies, discount offers, location-based offers, and other data.

In addition, consumers often are nervous to broadcast their needs, requirements, and requirements on the web or public places because they are concerned about losing privacy, and such broadcasts may result in overwhelming active contacts (e.g., telephone, mail, email, etc.). Because the connection between the seller and the buyer is more targeted, there is an opportunity to eliminate intermediaries, thereby more effectively reducing the cost of the product to the consumer.

In addition, the use of physical mailing addresses requires consumers to update the residence addresses of business and government entities, including electronic commerce stores, physical stores, credit card companies, gyms, club members, coffee shops, airlines, magazine subscriptions, hospitals, banks, and U.S. postal services. The process of updating the mail address separately with each entity becomes complex and time consuming. In addition, as international transactions grow, many parties have difficulty in solving the problem of inconsistent address formats and language barriers, which requires a lot of effort and causes unnecessary delays. The growing local governments of cities and towns are also faced with the challenge of defining addresses based on street numbers, street names, unit numbers, provinces or regions, counties, postal codes, and other address details, requiring community members to update records as local changes to the system occur. In some cases, these updates are often required.

Currently, international address formats used in computers or electronic commerce are over 200, in about 150 languages. One challenge faced by e-commerce companies is to make their web-based platforms and mobile applications compatible with all international consumers of different address formats and languages. Merely providing an address is not sufficient because e-commerce merchants cannot verify the accuracy of the address. If the package is shipped overseas and then lost, significant costs are incurred. In addition, accurate information is necessary for computing costs, including various tax fees, shipping insurance, and the like.

In general, consumers are reluctant to enter personal information such as name, address, contact information, and credit card information. For consumers that do not want to share data with overseas suppliers, cross-border transactions may be more alarming because not all suppliers will adhere to the general data protection regulations of the European Union. There is a limit to storing foreign country data.

Further, during the transaction, merchants share large amounts of such personal information with suppliers, shipping companies, shippers, and the like. These third parties may attempt to sell the information directly to the buyer and/or recipient, or may attempt to sell the information of the buyer or recipient to a competitor. Such information sharing can affect the privacy of the consumer and the business of the e-commerce merchant.

Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for address systems that do not compromise personal privacy information while taking into account recipient preferences.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for an address exchange platform. Various examples of systems and methods are provided herein.

The present address exchange system is a technology platform that manages and provides confidential information such as home addresses to third party merchants, retailers, and shipping companies. The present system provides various points of integration with third party companies, such as retailers, merchants, shipping companies, government agencies, financial institutions, or any other organization that collects and uses addresses of its members. In one example, an address exchange system receives an email address of an intended recipient from a sender and provides a physical address of the recipient based on the email address submitted by the recipient. In other words, the system allows the sender to send packages and gifts to the recipient based solely on the sender providing an identification of the recipient (e.g., the recipient's email address or phone number), thereby maintaining confidentiality of the physical address.

In one embodiment, an address switching system includes: a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to provide an API configured to receive an identifier from a user and further configured not to receive a physical address from the user, wherein the user provides an item for shipment to the physical address.

In response to receiving the identifier, the controller is further adapted to request a physical address from the data storage system, wherein the data storage system stores an association between the identifier and the physical address, and retrieve the physical address and calculate an actual transportation cost based on the physical address.

In one example, the system also stores one or more permission settings defining a case where the physical address is provided in response to receipt of the identifier. In one example, in response to receipt of the identifier, the data storage system tests the permission settings to determine whether to provide the associated physical address.

The determination as to whether to provide the associated physical address may further include verifying a password associated with the physical address, wherein the data storage system further stores the password linked to the associated identifier and physical address.

The permission settings may include one or more domains to which physical addresses may be provided when identifiers are received from the one or more domains. Alternatively or in addition, the permission settings may include settings that require the data storage system to request and receive approval to provide the associated physical address via direct communication according to a predefined communication protocol.

The predefined communication protocol may be an email message, an SMS message, a telephone call, a mobile application communication, or a combination thereof.

In one example, the user interface may be provided within an e-commerce platform and/or an online transportation platform.

In another embodiment, an address switching system includes: responsive to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to provide a data storage system storing an association between an identifier and a physical address, and also store one or more permission settings defining situations in which the physical address is provided in response to receipt of the identifier. The controller is further configured to receive a request to provide the physical address, wherein the request includes the identifier. In response to receiving a request to provide a physical address, the data storage system tests the permission settings to determine whether to provide the associated physical address.

The request to provide the physical address may be received from an API, wherein the API is configured to receive the identifier from the user and is further configured not to receive the physical address from the user. The request to provide the physical address may further include a password.

The determination as to whether to provide the associated physical address may further comprise verifying the password, wherein the data storage system further stores the password linked to the associated identifier and physical address.

The permission settings may include that when a request to provide a physical address is received from one or more domains, the physical address may be provided thereto. The permission settings may include settings that require the data storage system to request and receive approval to provide the associated physical address via direct communication according to a predefined communication protocol.

For example, a platform may be provided that enables a user to map his or her supervised/verified offline identifier to his or her online identifier. For example, the user may map the verified offline identifier to any one or more of their online/numeric identifiers, such as email address, mobile phone number, social media identity, etc., such as their name, social security number, bank account number, residence address, password, date of birth, email address, etc. By first identifying itself to the platform using the authenticated identity and then mapping the authenticated identity to an online/digital identity, the user provides a backbone structure that then enables the platform to map online relationships to offline relationships, which in turn makes it possible to perform enhanced transactions that require reliance on the authenticated identity by using the online/digital identity.

Once the online and offline identities of the user are mapped, the relationship between these identities can be mapped. For example, online/digital relationships are typically defined by "Facebook friends," "linkedln connections," "Twitter attendees," "WhatsApp friends," etc., while offline relationships are defined by friends, family, business acquaintances, colleagues, classmates, etc. While it is generally acceptable and desirable to disclose and widely extend online contact of a person, it is not so acceptable to leave the details open to the person's offline.

When a user provides one or more authenticated offline identities to the platform, which are then mapped to related online/digital identities, the platform may map online and offline relationships and allow the user to communicate publicly using their online identities while maintaining security of their offline information. Furthermore, the connection of a user with another user through one online platform (e.g., a social media platform) may be used to establish a connection in a second online platform, while the user is not actually connected in a second network platform. Thus, real world, i.e., offline, transactions may be implemented by the platform utilizing the convenience and accessibility of the online world.

For example, by providing an email address to the platform, the goods may be sent to the home address. The first user may map his online and offline addresses, the second user may purchase gifts for the first user from the retailer instead of providing mailing addresses for the first user, the third user may simply provide email addresses for the first user, and the platform may securely communicate appropriate shipping information to the retailer. This example may appear more powerful by noting that although there are no mailing addresses for most contacts in a person's mobile phone, the platform provided herein enables a user to use information (i.e., phone number and email address) actually stored in the contacts in the mobile phone to carry offline merchandise to an offline address. Similarly, instead of simply making a friend's birthday happy through Facebook, the user may send an offline gift to another Facebook user through the platform, using only Facebook identity, without the Facebook having access to any of the user's offline information.

In another example, using the platform, the first user may map his Facebook identity with his offline identity (including his mailing address). The first user may connect to the second user through linkedln instead of Facebook. The second user may wish to send a gift from the online retailer to the first user using the first user's online/digital identity. Although the first user has not mapped his LinkedIn identity to his offline identity, the platform may recognize that the first and second users are connected through LinkedIn, may recognize the first user's mailing address because the first user has mapped his mailing address and his Facebook identity (which is mapped to his LinkedIn identity), and may set authorization to provide the mailing address to the retailer based on the first user's preferences (i.e., "allow LinkedIn connection to send a gift to my home address without sharing my home with my LinkedIn connection"). Now, all online relationships of a user can be mapped to his or her offline identity through a single secure platform.

As shown, preference settings within the platform may be used to allow or restrict functions within the platform, such as allowing certain types of connections to use certain types of offline information while preventing the use of other types of offline data. For example, a user may wish to provide a gift through a social media connection, but based on bank details, access to functionality may be more limited. Based on the disclosure provided herein, numerous variations will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The platform supports enhanced transaction and fraud prevention functions (e.g., businesses may rely on online identity mapping to offline identities), contact address management, improved functions for appointment websites and applications, personal and business mailing address management, mobile commerce, gifts, product sample requests, and the like.

The main example of augmenting transactions based on a mapping relationship relies on an address switching system. While used as a primary example, it should be appreciated that the examples provided with respect to an address switching system are applicable to many authenticated identification-based switching platforms. For example, rather than providing an online identifier to securely transfer offline addresses, a platform may be used to provide an online identifier to securely transfer banking information, social security numbers, and the like.

It is contemplated that the systems and methods described herein may be implemented in a variety of use cases. One example is integration with an appointment website. For example, a user on an appointment website may establish a profile including public and private profiles, where the profiles include public and private wish lists and/or preferences. For example, a woman's public profile may include information of where she likes to eat, the color and flowers she prefers, her hobbies, where she likes to travel, and so on. Her private profile may include more details such as her shoe size, clothing size, first appointment thoughts, etc. As shown, private information may be very relevant to the marrier, but is not typically shared on public websites due to privacy concerns.

Then, when the potential date accesses the user's profile page, the system allows the potential date to view public and/or private profiles based on the system settings. For example, only senior members may access a private profile. Alternatively, the private profile may be available only to specific personnel selected/approved by the user. Alternatively, the private profile may be available only to persons who meet other user or system defined criteria. In other cases, other system users may never access the private profile, but the third party merchant may, as described below.

For example, a marrier may access the woman's disclosure, see she likes shoes, and see she likes to purchase her shoes through a retailer. The marrier may then choose to purchase shoes from the retailer for the female party by the system. The seeker simply chooses to purchase shoes, choose a price range, and then choose the recipient. The system then shares private profile information (in this case, including female preferred shoe style, preferred color and size information) with the retailer, but not with the marrier. The system may further share shipping information for females with retailers but not with marriers. Thus, the marrier can purchase a gift that is rated as good, but does not get any sensitive information about the female party.

In one embodiment, a product exchange system includes a controller, a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller, wherein in response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to: providing an interface configured to receive a request from a first user to purchase an item; assigning a unique transaction code to a transaction associated with the request, wherein a plurality of parties scan the unique transaction code during the course of the transaction; receiving a notification in response to one of a plurality of parties scanning the unique transaction code; upon receipt of the notification, an action associated with one of the plurality of parties is triggered.

In even further embodiments, the payment is a subset of a total cost of the user, the total cost of the user including a cost of the item and one or more selected from the group of tax, premium, shipping cost, and tariff.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to receive payment from the user prior to shipment of the item from the merchant; the merchant pays money to one of the plurality of parties upon receipt of the notification.

In some embodiments, the notification is associated with a milestone of the transaction. The milestones may include one of packaging the item by the manufacturer for shipment, collecting the packaged item by a transportation partner from the manufacturer, receiving the packaged item by a customs and/or tax entity, and collecting the packaged item by the transportation partner for delivery. The milestones may be defined by a third party provider, merchant, or regulatory agency.

In another embodiment, a product exchange system includes: a controller; a database comprising a personalized book associated with a user, wherein the personalized book comprises user information; a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to provide an interface through an enterprise, the interface configured to receive login credentials from a user, and after verifying the login credentials, to send at least a subset of the user information from the database to the enterprise.

In some embodiments, the subset of user information includes delivery location details. In even further embodiments, the delivery location details include one of a geographic identifier, a zip code and country code, a zip code and identifier, and a zip code and a user name. The business may be one of a merchant and a bank.

In some embodiments, the step of providing the interface through the enterprise includes providing the interface through one of a website, a mobile application, and a mobile website of the enterprise. The user information may include one of profile information, user preferences, and user purchase history. The profile information may include one or more of the following: name, home delivery location, work delivery location, additional delivery location, billing location, age, occupation, social network user name, contacts within the social network, contacts, user photos, delivery location photos, delivery indications, and numeric identifiers. In some embodiments, each of the home delivery location, work delivery location, additional delivery location, and billing location is associated with an identifier, wherein the identifier comprises one of a geographic identifier, a zip code, and a country code, a zip code, and an identifier, and a zip code, and a user name. In even further embodiments, the user preferences may include one or more of the following: price, highest price, lowest price, price range, sales status, product characteristics, delivery location, and time of receipt of the item.

In other embodiments, the controller is further configured to recommend items to the user based on the user information. In an even further embodiment, the controller is further configured to receive a selection of a subset of the user information from the user. In other embodiments, the delivery location details include an address of a first country, and wherein the business ships the product from a second country different from the first country, wherein the address does not conform to a country format approved by the second country.

The controller may be configured to send the subset of user information without receiving payment. In some embodiments, the controller is not a payment processor.

In another embodiment, a product exchange system includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to provide an interface through the enterprise, the interface configured to receive user information from a user; and sending user information to the enterprise, wherein the enterprise does not receive user information from the user.

In some embodiments, the user information includes delivery location details including an address in a first country, and wherein the enterprise ships the product from a second country different from the first country, wherein the address does not conform to a country format approved by the second country. In an even further embodiment, the controller is further configured to send one of a delivery location and a billing location to the enterprise.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to verify the user information prior to sending to the enterprise. In some embodiments, the user information includes an identity of the user, a delivery address, and a home address, and wherein the controller is further configured to verify at least one of the user identity, the delivery address, and the home address with a third party source.

In another embodiment, a product exchange system includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller. Responsive to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to receive a request from a first user to purchase an item for a second user; a physical address associated with the second user is requested from the database, wherein the database stores one or more permission settings defining a situation in which the physical address is provided in response to receipt of the identifier. In response to receipt of the identifier, the data storage system tests the permission setting to determine whether to provide the associated physical address. The permission settings include settings to provide the associated physical address if the second user engages in a business with the first user and the second user cannot prevent the provision of the associated physical address. In some embodiments, the first user is one of a bank and a government agency.

In another embodiment, a product dispensing system includes: a data storage system comprising a physical address and personally identifiable information associated with each of a plurality of individuals, a controller in communication with the database, a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the controller. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller: receiving as input, via a license setting module, a characteristic of a desired product from one of the plurality of individuals, the characteristic including one of a product category and a product identification, and one of a price, a price range, a date range, a location, and a distance from the location; receiving, as input from a seller, product characteristics of a product available from the seller to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the product characteristics including a product category or product identification and a price or price range, a date or date range, a location, and a distance from the location; identifying a matching transaction using product features of the product and features of the desired product available from the seller to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the matching transaction including the identified product and the identified individual; in response to identifying the matching transaction, facilitating delivery of one of the offers associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual without revealing to the seller a physical address of one of the plurality of individuals; the personally identifiable information of one of the plurality of personas is withheld from the seller as a default location.

In yet another embodiment, a product dispensing system includes: a data storage system including personally identifiable information associated with each of a plurality of individuals; a controller in communication with the database; a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the controller. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller receives as input, via a permission setting module, a characteristic of a desired product from one of the plurality of individuals, the characteristic including one of a product category and a product identification, and one of a price, a price range, a date range, a location, and a distance from the location; receiving, as input from a seller, product characteristics of a product available from the seller, the product characteristics to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the product characteristics including a product category or product identification, a price or price range, and a date, date range, location, and distance from the location; identifying a matching transaction using product features of the product and features of the desired product available from the seller to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the matching transaction including the identified product and the identified individual; in response to identifying the matching transaction, facilitating delivery of one of the offer associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual; the personally identifiable information of one of the plurality of personas is withheld from the seller as a default location.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to: receiving, as input from one of the plurality of individuals via a permission setting module, a sharing preference of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals, wherein the sharing preference indicates whether at least a portion of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals is to be shared with the seller; the portion of the personally identifiable information associated with one of the plurality of individuals is transmitted to the seller according to the sharing preference to override a default location where the personally identifiable information is not shared.

In other embodiments, if one of the offer and the identified product is digital, the offer and one of the identified product are digitally delivered. In an even further embodiment, if one of the offer and the identified product is a physical object, the one of the offer and the identified product is delivered to a physical address of one of the plurality of individuals.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to generate a unique identification code and transmit the unique identification code to the seller in response to identifying the matching transaction. The controller may be further configured to: in response to scanning the unique identification code, demographic information related to one of the plurality of individuals is sent to the seller. In some embodiments, the unique identification code is a QR code.

In an even further embodiment, the controller is further configured to generate a unique identification code and send the unique identification code to one of the plurality of parties involved in delivering the offer related to the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual in response to identifying the matching transaction; a portion of the personally identifiable information associated with one of the plurality of personas is transmitted to the one of the plurality of principals in response to scanning the unique identification code by the one of the plurality of principals.

In some embodiments, delivering one of the offers associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual is dependent upon a recipient qualification associated with a past purchase transaction of the identified individual, and delivery of one of the offers associated with the identified product and the identified product is facilitated only if the past purchase transaction of the identified individual meets a condition of the recipient qualification.

Any of the features, functions, and alternatives described in connection with any one or more of fig. 1-9 may be combined with any of the features, functions, and alternatives described in connection with any other of fig. 1-9.

One advantage of the present system and method is mapping online and offline relationships to enable enhanced transactions.

One advantage of the present system and method is that it provides a solution to the challenge of sending a gift or package without knowing the recipient's address. Also, the system does not require the recipient to disclose his address to a third party or stranger.

Another advantage of the present system and method is to provide a secure and reliable way of mapping online and offline identifications, where the identifications can be used in a variety of applications.

Another advantage of the current system and method is to allow merchants to concentrate on their core business rather than spending time and money determining the correct shipping address and tracking lost packages.

Another advantage of the present system and method is to refine the process to core participants and components, including product manufacturers and delivery channels, while eliminating brokers, agents, and markets.

Another advantage of the present system and method is that a single platform is provided to map online and offline identifications, thereby avoiding multiple registrations with each merchant of the user's physical mailing address.

Another advantage of the present systems and methods is to provide more efficient business and shipping solutions, including e-commerce solutions.

Another advantage of the present system is that it enables retailers to complete more transactions and focus on their primary business rather than spending time and resources acquiring and tracking physical addresses.

Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the examples will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages of the concepts may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Drawings

The drawings depict one or more implementations in accordance with the present concepts by way of example only and not by way of limitation. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of an address switching system.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an address exchange system associated with a sender and a recipient.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment including an address switching system.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of an embodiment including an address switching system.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of another embodiment including an address switching system.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented by the address switching system outlined in fig. 5.

FIG. 7 is an example of a screenshot of a sign-off interface including an option to enter a recipient email address.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an address exchange system associated with a sender and a recipient.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using QR codes in the address exchange system described herein.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1-9, an address exchange system is disclosed that standardizes and globalizes all transaction and communication-enabled unique address mechanisms for use between users without revealing the recipient's physical mailing address to the sender. The address switching system provides a unique digital identification, such as a telephone number or email address, as the primary common identification for each user. By replacing physical mailing with digital identification, the system simplifies transactions between two or more parties, shipping and/or purchasing products without the need for traditional mailing addresses or GPS addresses. As technology evolves, international transactions become more prevalent, the use of digital identification helps avoid problems arising from inconsistent multiple languages and address formats, and from communities experiencing significant growth due to land development and city planning changes.

The present disclosure provides an address switching system 10 comprising a memory 12 coupled to a controller 14, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller 14, as shown in fig. 1. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller 14 is configured to provide an API 16, the API 16 being configured to receive the identifier 19 from the user 15 and further configured not to receive the physical address 18 from the user, wherein the user 15 provides the item for delivery to the physical address 18. While the described address exchange system 10 provided herein may be used to exchange address information, it should be understood that the system 10 may also be used to exchange products and other information. The user 15 may be any person or entity. In most examples of the present application, the user 15 is a retailer, merchant, or shipping entity. For example, in fig. 2-4, user 15 is a retailer or transport entity. However, the user 15 is not limited to retailers and shipping entities, but includes any organization, entity, or individual that uses a unique identifier to provide a physical mailing address. As described in more detail below, the system assists the consumer in making requests (e.g., purchasing offers) and in selling brands of tangible and intangible goods (e.g., consumer brands, hotels, travel, insurance, automobiles, or any other product) for business bidding by the consumer. In further embodiments, features of the system may also be used to purchase items and/or complete transactions without requiring physical addresses for delivery.

Further, the physical mailing address may be any identifiable location including a postal address or geographic code based on a metric such as longitude, latitude, and altitude as determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS), geographic Information System (GIS), geographic coordinates, or other service. In another embodiment, the user may upload one or more photographs of each physical address or delivery location associated with the delivery location profile so that a third party delivery company or party delivering the item knows the exact location of the delivery to increase efficiency and accuracy. The delivery location profile may be shared with the third party shipping company and any other party authorized by the user (vendor, brand, other user, etc.).

In another embodiment, in response to executing the program instructions, the controller 14 is configured to provide an API configured to receive the presence identifier 19 and the action request 23 from the sender 32. In response to receiving the online identifier 19 and the action request 23, the controller 14 may access a data storage system 22 that stores an association between the online identifier 19 and one or more offline identifiers 21 associated with the receiver 30, and may also store one or more permission settings defining the action request 23 to be permitted in response to receipt of the online identifier 19. The controller 14 may test the permission settings to determine whether to allow the action request 23. In one embodiment, the testing of the permissions settings includes determining a first user in the social media platform 48 And whether a relationship exists between the second users. Non-limiting example relationships include Facebook friends, linkedln contacts, and instragram fans. In addition to third party social networking services such as Facebook and LinkedIn, the social media platform 48 may also receive digital identifications of the recipients 32 and other users from the sender 32, which identifications specify relationships such as "friends" or "family. In this example, the controller 14 may test the permissions settings by determining whether a relationship (e.g., "friend" or "family") exists between the digital identifications of the first user and the second user on the social media platform 48. In other embodiments, testing of the permission settings may require a relationship on one social media platform, but no other social media platform. In a further embodiment, the test of permission settings may be the lowest connection level on the social media platform, e.g., within three degrees of contact on linkedln. The recipient may define an acceptance or rejection from a particular social media platform and/or within a particular connection level within the social media platform. For example, the recipient may accept the message fromFirst-level friends on +. >Mail of the first-level friends and the second-level friends (friends of friends) above, but refused to be from the passage only +.>Mail of the sender of the connection. For purposes of this description, such a digital identification that identifies relationships between users without using a third party social service network is considered a relationship on social media platform 48.

In other embodiments, the recipient is required to allow delivery of the item from the sender if the recipient makes a business transaction with the sender. For example, if the sender is an American bank and the recipient or the second user owns a commercial account or mortgage at the American bank, the recipient cannot reject the American bank's project. In another example, the sender is a government entity, such as the International tax agency (IRS). If the recipient pays the IRS a tax, the recipient cannot reject the item from the sender.

Each of the online identifier 19 and the action request 23 may be associated with a second user. For example, the online identifier 19 may be an email address, a mobile phone number, or a user name on a social media platform. The action request 23 may be a request to provide the retailer 15 with the offline identifier 21 of the second user to enable product exchange between the first user and the second user without sharing personal information of the second user with the first user. For example, a first user may send a gift, sample, or product to a second user without learning the physical address of the second user. Alternatively or in addition, the action request 23 may be a request to access personal information of the second user stored in the data store 22.

Fig. 2 shows the interaction between the address switching system 10 and the sender 32, user 15 and receiver 30. For example, sender 32 may be a person who selects a gift from merchandise sold by user 15 (e.g., a retailer) and desires user 15 to deliver the gift to intended recipient 30. In another example, sender 32 may be the same person or entity as recipient 30, such as when a person purchases and conveys an item to himself or herself. A user 15 (e.g., a retailer) interacts with the controller 14 via an API 16. API 16 is configured to receive identifier 19 from user 15 and is further configured not to send physical address 18 from user 15. In other words, the system 10 allows the sender 32 to send goods based on the identifier 19 of the recipient 30. In another example, the transmitter 32 interacts with the controller 14 via an API, and the API is configured to receive the online identifier 19 from the transmitter 32. In yet another embodiment, the controller 14 may communicate with one or more social media platforms 48 to request and receive verification of the relationship between the first user and the second user in the social media platform, such as Facebook friends, linkedln connections, and instram caretakers.

Although throughout this disclosure, the recipient 30 is identified by the recipient identifier 19 of the email address 20, it should be understood that any suitable identifier 19 may be used. For example, the identifier 19 may be a telephone number associated with the intended receiver 30, wherein the telephone number is associated with the physical address 18. Although any form or type of digital identification may be used, telephone numbers are standard in various countries and are therefore well suited for use as digital identifications in systems. Similarly, the identifier 19 may be a social network identification of the receiver 30, where the social network identification is associated with the physical address 18 of the receiver 30. In other words, the controller 14 may be configured to receive any identifier 19 of the receiver 30 associated with the physical address 18 of the receiver 30, including but not limited to an email address 20, a social network identification, a telephone number, or any other unique identifier or combination thereof. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the identifier 19 may be associated with other address types, not just the physical address 18. For example, the identifier may be associated with an electronic address where recipient 30 receives an electronic gift or other communication. As a result, the system 10 enables the recipient 30 to receive the electronic gift from the sender 32 without revealing the electronic address of the recipient 30 to the sender 32.

In one example, sender 32 submits to controller 14 an online identifier 19 (e.g., facebook user name) of recipient 30 and an item to be shipped (e.g., a pair of shoes). The controller 14 first determines the association of the online identifier 19 with one or more offline identifiers 21 (e.g., physical addresses 18) and verifies the relationship of the sender 32 and the recipient 30 on the social media platform 48. The controller 14 then provides the online identifier 19 (e.g., facebook user name) and the item to be shipped (e.g., shoe) to the user 15 (online retailer). As described above, user 15 coordinates the delivery of shoes to receiver 30 using API16 and controller 14.

In another example, sender 32 may submit an online identifier 19 (e.g., a mobile phone number) and a request to access personal information (e.g., banking information) about recipient 32 stored in data storage system 22. The second user may allow different levels of access to personal information based on profile settings associated with the profile on the social media platform 48. For example, a second user may allow Facebook friends with "family member" identity to access banking information, while Facebook friends associated with schools do not have such access rights.

In another embodiment, the system 10 provides a single platform in which the sender 32 may submit the identifier 19 associated with the intended recipient 30 in order to send the goods or gifts to the recipient 30 without having to connect the sender 32 and the recipient 30 in a social network. For example, sender 32 may know email identifier 19 of recipient 30 based on the connection in the first social network, and system 10 may provide a gift to recipient 30 in the second social network, although sender 32 and recipient 30 may not be connected in the second social network. Further, the system 10 may provide a gift, such as an electronic gift, to the recipient 30 through the second social network, although the sender 32 and the recipient 30 may not be connected in the second social network.

In one example, a sender 32 (e.g., consumer, purchaser, buyer, company, brand, etc.) selects an item to be shipped to the physical address 18 through a checkout interface 17 in communication with the user 15. The checkout interface 17 and/or the API 16 may be provided within an e-commerce platform or product, and an online transportation platform. For example, sender 32 may provide checkout interface 17 with an identifier 19 associated with intended recipient 30 of the item. The user 15 may then provide the email address 20 to the controller 14 via the API 16. Merchants or sellers may bid, accept, counter-offer, or charge a consumer or recipient through an API or any other channel.

In addition to providing the identifier 19 of the receiver 30 to the controller 14, the user 15 may also provide information associated with the transmitter 32. For example, the user 15 may provide an identification of the sender and transaction details associated with the item being purchased and/or shipped. The identification of sender 32 may include the name, email address, telephone number, address, social network identification, or any other suitable identification of sender 32. Transaction details may include retailers or stores that purchase or ship items, the content of the items being shipped, the time frame of the shipping date, and other information. In other words, the controller 14 may be configured to provide the API 16, the API 16 configured to receive the identifier 19 associated with the receiver 30, the identification associated with the transmitter 32, and the transaction details associated with the item, and further configured not to receive the physical address 18 from the user, wherein the transmitter 32 provides the item for shipment to the physical address 18.

In response to receiving the identifier 19, the controller 14 is further adapted to request the physical address 18 from the data storage system 22, wherein the data storage system 22 stores an association between the identifier 19 and the physical address 18. The data storage system 22 may be any suitable storage system, such as a database. The data storage system 22 may be located within the controller 12 or external to the controller 12. In one example, data storage system 22 is located external to system 10, wherein controller 12 may access data storage system 22 wirelessly. It should be appreciated that the data storage system 22 may be a third party data system, such as a USPS database 22, an online retailer database 22, or the like.

The data storage system 22 may also store one or more permission settings 24, the permission settings 24 defining circumstances in which the physical address 18 is provided in response to receipt of the identifier 19. The permission settings 24 may include one or more domains to which the physical address 18 may be provided when the identifier 19 is received from the one or more domains. For example, the permissions settings 24 may be set such that if the identifier 19 is received from a particular user 15 (e.g., a particular person or website associated with a particular retailer), the controller 14 is authorized to provide the physical address 18 to that particular person or retailer. The licensing settings 24 may include an identification that provides the sender 32 and transaction details associated with the item being received.

Alternatively or in addition, permission settings 24 may include settings that require data storage system 22 to request and receive approval to provide an associated physical address 18 via direct communication according to predefined communication protocols 28. For example, the approval may depend on the identity of sender 32 and the transaction details. In other words, if the request is from a certain sender 32, the permission setting 24 may include granting permission. However, if the transaction details indicate that the item is a flower, for example, if the recipient 30 has allergies, the permission setting 24 may include a permission to refuse to receive the item.

The predefined communication protocol 28 may be an email message, an SMS message, a telephone call, a mobile application communication such as a mobile application-to-application communication, or a combination thereof. For example, the permissions settings 24 may be configured such that the controller 14 is configured to send an email to a person or entity (e.g., receiver 30) associated with the physical address 18 requesting permission to provide the physical address 18 to the user 15 (e.g., merchant or shipping company). In addition, the license settings 24 may be customized by the receiver 30 through an API to manage the privacy and settings of the receiver 30 and the sender 32, where the API 16 communicates with the controller 14, as shown in FIG. 2.

In response to receipt of the identifier 19, the data storage system 22 tests the permission settings 24 to determine whether to provide the associated physical address 18. For example, if permission settings 24 include sending an SMS message, controller 14 sends an SMS message requesting authorization to provide physical address 18 to user 15. If authorization is granted, the controller 14 provides the physical address 18 to the user 15. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the identifier 19 and/or physical address 18 may be encrypted at the time of transmission and decrypted at the time of receipt.

The permission settings 24 may be set such that the controller 14 is configured to receive and verify the password 26 in order to provide the physical address 18 to the user 15. Further, the determination as to whether to provide the associated physical address 18 may also include verifying the password 26, wherein the data storage system 22 also stores the password 26 linked to the associated email address 20 and physical address 18. In other words, in addition to requesting rights from the person or entity associated with the physical address 18, the controller 14 may be configured to request and confirm the password 26 associated with the physical address prior to receiving or rejecting the rights.

The system may include a secure login or multi-factor authentication module to ensure that the recipient does not receive mail from a "fake" sender. Multi-factor authentication may include steps performed by email, SMS, and phone, and may be initiated automatically without the sender knowing or knowing the recipient address.

Although throughout the description, an example is used in which the controller 14 receives the identifier 19 from the user 15 and provides the associated physical address 18 to the user 15, it should be understood that other methods of providing the physical address 18 are contemplated in the present disclosure. For example, upon receiving the identifier 19 and obtaining the associated physical address 18 from the data storage system 22, the physical address 18 may be provided to the user 15 in text form or as a code (e.g., a bar code or QR code) or any other encrypted manner. When the user 15 is a retailer, the physical address 18 is provided to the user 15, for example, in the form of a shipping label including a bar code or QR code, the physical address 18 remains confidential and may not be disclosed to the user 15.

In another embodiment, the system may utilize a third party carrier to ship the product from the seller to the user to avoid revealing the physical address of the recipient to the seller. The system generates each unique transaction code that is unique to each transaction and shared with the parties involved in the transaction. The third party shipping company may obtain the unique transaction code generated by the system from the seller or another party involved in the transaction and scan the code within the system to retrieve the shipping address. In this embodiment, the seller does not have access to the recipient's personal information. This embodiment prevents the seller from using shipping details from the first purchase (e.g., through eBay or amazon) to directly contact the customer to up-sell or cross-sell the product, provide additional discounts, provide catalogs, or for any other purpose.

As shown in fig. 3, sender 32 provides email address 20 of intended recipient 30 to user 15 (e.g., retailer/shipping entity). Of course, any form of communication identification of the intended recipient is contemplated, including but not limited to social media identification, telephone number, email address, and the like. The user 15 then sends an email address 20 to the controller 14 via the API 16. The controller 14 sends an email (or other communication protocol 28; not shown) to the receiver 30 requesting permission to send the physical address 18 to the user 15. If the receiver 30 grants the request, the controller 14 accesses the data storage system 22 and obtains the physical address 18 corresponding to the email address 20 and provides the physical address 18 to the user 15 (e.g., retailer/shipping entity). Importantly, the physical address 18 is not provided to the sender 32. Instead, the physical address 18 remains confidential and is sent only to the user 15, e.g. a retailer or transport entity, for transport purposes.

In one example, sender 32 provides three pieces of information to user 15: an identifier of the intended recipient (e.g., email address, social media contact, phone number, etc.), an identification of the sender 32, and transaction details around the item selected by the sender 32. The user 15 then provides the identity of the sender 32 and transaction details to the receiver 30 to allow the user 15 to be provided with the physical address 18 associated with the receiver 30. In yet another example, sender 32 may provide an identifier of the intended recipient and a geographic area associated with the recipient, such as an area of a country, state, town, community, or the like. Such geographical areas may be used to calculate estimated shipping and/or tax costs that may be communicated to a user for payment.

In addition, user 15 is separate and distinct from address switching system 10. In other words, one of the primary purposes of the address exchange system 10 is to privately provide a physical address to the user 15 (e.g., merchants and shipping companies). Address exchange system 10 is not included within a retailer or carrier. In other words, address switching system 10 is an entity independent of user 15.

In one example, if sender 32 selects an item to be shipped to physical address 18, where identifier 19 is not included in data storage system 12, controller 14 may be configured to send an email or other communication to the person or entity associated with identifier 19 requesting not only permission to provide physical address 18, but also the contents of physical address 18. Further, the controller 14 may be configured to send an email to a person or entity associated with the identifier 19 requesting authorization to store the email address 20 and the associated physical address 18 in the data storage system 22.

For example, in FIG. 4, sender 32 sends email address 20 of recipient 30 to user 15 (e.g., retailer/shipping company) via checkout interface 17, wherein user 15 sends email address 20 to controller 14. The controller 14 may determine that the email address 20 is not included in the data storage system 22, at which point the controller 14 may send an email invitation to the email address 20 requesting permission to store the email address 20 and the associated physical address 18 in the data storage system 22. If receiver 30 registers email address 20 and physical address 18 in data storage system 22, controller 14 provides physical address 18 to user 15.

Further, fig. 4 depicts a scenario in which, upon receipt of an email address 20 not contained in the data storage system 22, the controller 14 is configured to request a postal code from the receiver 30, and register an invitation to the email address 20 and the physical address 18 of the receiver 30 in the data storage system 22. Upon receiving authorization and zip code from receiver 30, the zip code may be used to estimate and provide maximum shipping costs to transmitter 32. If the user 15 receives confirmation from the sender 32 to continue shipping based on the estimated cost, the transaction may be completed. Subsequently, the receiver 30 may provide the physical address 18 and complete registration. Upon receipt of the physical address 18, the controller 14 may provide the user 15 with accurate shipping costs and sales tax. The user 15 may then reimburse the sender 32 for any excess cost in shipping and tax costs. If the email address 20 contained in the data storage system 22 is received by the controller 14, the address exchange system 10 may immediately calculate shipping costs and sales tax for confirmation by the sender 32 before the purchase is completed.

In another example, when an email address 20 is received, the controller 14 is configured to request a zip code from the receiver 30. If the receiver 30 is unregistered, the controller 14 indicates to the user 15 that the zip code is not available. The user 15 then calculates the maximum shipping cost and maximum sales tax to complete the transaction. After the transaction is completed, the controller is configured to request registration from the receiver 30, wherein registration includes submitting the physical address 18 associated with the receiver's email address 20 for storage in the data storage system 22. At registration, the controller is configured to provide the physical address 18 of the receiver 30 to the user 15 so that the user 15 can calculate accurate sales tax and shipping costs, where the sales tax and shipping costs are based on the zip code of the receiver 30. The user 15 may then compensate the sender 32 for any multiple tolls from the initial tolls based on the maximum shipping and sales tax costs. Alternatively, if the recipient 30 is registered (i.e., the email address 20 is included in the data storage system 22), the controller may immediately send the postal code of the recipient 30 to the user 15 so that the user 15 calculates sales tax and transportation costs to be presented to the sender 30. Sender 32 may then decide to submit a purchase of the item to be sent to recipient 30.

In another embodiment, address switching system 10 includes a memory 12 coupled to a controller 14, wherein memory 12 is configured to store program instructions executable by controller 14. In response to executing the program instructions, the controller 14 is configured to provide a data storage system 22 for storing an association between the identifier 19 and the physical address 18, and storing one or more permission settings 24, the permission settings 24 defining a situation in which the physical address 18 is provided in response to receipt of the identifier 19. The controller 14 is further configured to receive a request to provide a physical address 18, wherein the request includes an identifier 19. In response to receiving a request to provide a physical address 18, the data storage system 22 tests the permission settings 24 to determine whether to provide the associated physical address 18.

The request to provide the physical address 18 may be received from the API 16, through which API 16 the user 15 selects an item to ship to the physical address 18, wherein the API 16 is configured to receive the identifier 19 from the user 15 and is further configured not to receive the physical address 18 from the user 15. As described above, the request to provide the physical address 18 may also include the password 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, the address exchange system 10 may include various modules including a recommendation service 34, an advertisement service 36, an address book service 38, a social media service 40, a sample management service 42, an alert service 44, permissions and privacy settings 46, and gift receiving preferences 47. Based on previous purchases or preferences of sender 32, recommendation service 34 may suggest to user 15 to promote certain products to sender 32. For example, if sender 32 indicates in its preferences that he is interested in phishing, recommendation service 34 may suggest to user 15 to promote a phishing product to sender 32 under the permission of sender 32. Similarly, advertisement service 36 may provide customized advertisements to sender 32 based on previous purchases by sender 32 or preferences maintained by the sender. Product preferences 47 may include personal information related to second user 30, such as size information of clothing, waistbands, etc., as well as style preferences such as handbags, hats, jewelry, brands, colors, etc. For example, the controller 14 may receive a request to coordinate the transmission of a video game to a receiver. Before communicating an instruction to send a video game to user 15, controller 14 may examine gift receiving preferences 47 to determine whether receiver 30 has requested a particular video game, video game brand, and/or video game of a particular console.

Address exchange system 10 may also include a sample management service 42 that allows sender 32 and receiver 30 to provide rights to certain retailers by simply entering their email addresses 20 into specified inputs in the preference section. While the illustrated example involves the transmission of a sample, it is contemplated that, as used herein, the sample includes direct marketing as well as any other shipment, including shipment such as catalogs, offers, discounts, gifts, or other products. In some cases, user 15 may indicate to address exchange system 10 that user 15 needs to assign multiple samples to the appropriate receiver 30. The controller 14 may be configured to then select the appropriate receiver 30 based on the receiver's preferences and provide the physical address 18 of all the appropriate receivers 30 to the transmitter 32. In other words, as described in more detail below, the controller 14 may actively identify the receiver 30 based on the preferences of the receiver, such that such a transmitter 32 may more easily identify the appropriate receiver 30. For example, the controller 14 may suggest to the sender 32 that is sending a sample to the receiver 30 that the person in the sender's network most likely would also benefit from the product, whether based on preferences, previous behavior, browser history. One of the goals of direct marketing is to ensure that the consumer and product match and to provide additional product choices to the consumer. By privacy options and preference settings, the amount of direct marketing is limited to items that are truly of interest to the consumer, and some of the consumer's requirements to track and monitor brands are alleviated to fine tune the direct marketing method, while also providing feedback to the brands regarding trends and consumer needs. Another advantage of this simplified direct marketing method is the reduction of printed material sent to the consumer's home address, thereby reducing environmental costs.

In the first case, the brand may be the sender 32 of the sample and the individual may be the receiver 30 of the sample. Then, in the second instance, the receiver 30 of the first instance becomes the transmitter 32 of the second instance of the one or more new receivers 30. This enables the recipient of the sample to give the equivalent sample in turn to other recipients. Thus, it can be seen that in at least some cases, the address is not available to the sender 32 at the time of the transaction.

For example, the brand may provide sample opportunities to the sample management service 42 module (e.g., silk-flower may be interested in distributing samples of shampoo they sell), and the sample management service 42 module may identify the appropriate receiver 30 and distribute the samples to the receiver 30 without sharing the receiver's data/information with silk-flower. In some examples, a digital offer may be provided to receiver 30 in lieu of the physical product to be transmitted. In these cases, a physical address or any other personally identifiable information is shared with the user 15.

In some cases, the brand may not receive information about the receiver 30, in other cases, the brand may receive certain digital parameters, such as a user identifier and/or demographic information, such as about the receiver 30, age, gender, area code, or zip code, but not address or other personally identifiable information, and in other cases, the brand may receive all details of the receiver 30, including demographic and personally identifiable information. In some cases, the address exchange system may have default settings to retain or not share personally identifiable information associated with receiver 30 with user 15. In some cases, including where sender 15 is recipient 30, the address exchange system may enable sender 15 to adjust privacy and permissions settings to indicate whether a portion of personally identifiable information may be shared with the seller. In still other examples, sender 15 may adjust privacy and permissions settings to indicate conditions under which personally identifiable information may be shared. For example, sender 15 may indicate that his physical address may be shared with the seller only if the price of the selected product type is below a minimum threshold, and in this case, the privacy and permissions settings override default settings that preserve all personally identifiable information from the seller. The personal identification information includes, but is not limited to, personal name, physical address, telephone number, email address, bank account information, and driver license number.

In some embodiments, the seller 15 may adjust the qualification of the receiver 30 to receive digital offers or products under other conditions. For example, a brand, vendor, or user 15 may wish to send a sample, digital offer, or product to the receiver 30 based on the purchase history of the receiver. In other embodiments, address exchange system 10 may determine or select qualification requirements that receiver 30 needs to satisfy to receive a digital offer or product. For example, if the receiver 30 previously purchased a product of the same product type as the sample product or a product type of the product associated with the digital offer, or if the receiver 30 has a high sample to product purchase conversion rate, or if the receiver 30 previously purchased a product from the seller 15, the seller 15 may send the sample to the receiver 30, or the address exchange system 10 may facilitate the sending of the sample. In other embodiments, if the receiver 30 has purchased a minimum quantity of product from the seller 15 in the past, a minimum quantity of a particular brand of merchandise has been purchased from the seller 15 in the past, or one or more merchandise above a price threshold have been purchased from the seller 15 in the past, the seller 15 may send a sample, digital offer, or product to the receiver 30, or the address exchange system 10 may facilitate delivery of the sample, digital offer, or product.

In one embodiment, the address exchange system 10 receives as input from the seller 15 a recipient qualification condition defining a condition for delivering a product or a digital offer of the product to the recipient 30 based on past purchase transactions of the recipient 30. The address exchange system 10 then facilitates delivery of the product or a digital quote of the product to the recipient only if the recipient's past purchase transactions meet the recipient qualification criteria. In other embodiments, address exchange system 10 identifies receiver qualification conditions based on past purchase transactions of receiver 30, which define conditions for delivering a product or digital quote of a product to receiver 30, and facilitates delivery of a product or digital quote of a product to a receiver only if the receiver past purchase transactions satisfy the receiver qualification conditions.

In another embodiment, the address exchange system 10 retrieves a product history associated with the receiver 30 from the data storage system and looks at the product history to confirm that the purchase history of the receiver meets the qualification requirements of the seller 15. For example, address exchange system 10 may determine that receiver 30 has purchased a product whose product type matches the product type of the sample or product associated with the digital offer, that the sample to purchase conversion rate is greater than a minimum threshold, or that the qualification requirements have been met. If the receiver 30 meets the qualification requirements, the address exchange system 10 facilitates delivery of a product or sample or a digital quote associated with the product to the receiver 30.

Although described primarily in the context of a sample, the sample management service 42 may be a gift management service 42 or the like. Furthermore, by incorporating other features and functions of address exchange system 10, sample management service 42 does not require sender 32 to know the address of recipient 30.

As described above, the controller 14 may be configured to then select the appropriate recipient 30 based on the recipient's preferences and provide the physical address 18 of all of the appropriate recipients 30 to the sender 32 for shipping the sample, gift, or other product. The selection may be an automatic selection and execution of the shipment to the recipient 30, or may be a presentation of the selected recipient 30 to the sender 32.

Address exchange system 10 may also include an address book service 38 that allows senders 32 to manage their contacts by adding, deleting, updating, and deleting their contact lists via a user interface or API in communication with controller 14, as shown in fig. 2. When sender 32 is ready to check out online from user 15, sender 32 may select an option in which user 15 may collect information about sender 32 from the address or personalized book of sender 32 so that sender 32 does not need to provide information about himself or herself. Sender 32 may also provide one or more recipients 30 from a user's address book listing contacts and associated email addresses 20. For example, checkout interface 17 may display an option requesting access to sender 32's address book. The sender 32 may also categorize the contacts into predefined groups and may have associated shipping preferences. For example, the group "family and friends" may be associated with shipping preferences that instruct the controller 14 to provide the recipient's 30 home address, while the group "colleague" may have shipping preferences that instruct the controller 14 to provide the recipient 30 with a work address. In addition, address book service 38 may be in communication with social media service 40. For example, sender 32 may import his contacts from a social networking site into address book service 38 of address exchange system 10.

As described above, address exchange system 10 may include privacy and permissions settings module 46, which allows receiver 30 to program preferences as well as privacy and permissions settings. The preferred privacy and permissions settings may depend on each sender 32 or group, such as "family and friends. In addition, address exchange system 10 may include an alert service 44, which alert service 44 sends notifications regarding shipments, notifications of related products, messages regarding advertisements, social media alerts, etc., to sender 32 or recipient 30. In other embodiments, the recipient may add an item, product, or brand to a wish list monitored by or provided to the sender. Each item on the wish list may include a price expectation or range, and the system may provide information to brands whose pricing matches the pricing set in the user's preferences.

As described above, address exchange system 10 may also include recommendation service 34, which stores 32 lifestyle preferences, birthdays, wish lists, gift-receiving behaviors and product reviews for the sender. Various third parties, such as retailers, may use the preference information of the sender 32 to provide appropriate samples and recommendations of other products through the sample management service 42 and/or the advertisement service 36 of the address exchange system 10. For example, the recommendation service 34 may track the received products and services of the receiver 30 and share behavioral information with the user 15 (e.g., retailer or merchant) if allowed by the receiver 30. With the behavioral information, the user 15 (e.g., retailers and merchants) may be able to provide real-time recommendations via the recommendation service 34, advertisements via the advertisement service 36, and/or offers via the offer management service 42, all based on the activity of the recipient 30. Similar services may be presented to sender 32 based on the activity of sender 32.

The receiver 30 may also manage his or her physical address 18 through a user interface or API in communication with the controller 14. For example, if the receiver 30 needs to change or add the physical address 18, the receiver 30 may do so by logging into his or her account within the address exchange system 10, for example. In addition, address switching system 10 may include an update address service that pushes the new address of receiver 30 to all third party service providers. For example, instead of the receiver 30 contacting each third party service provider (e.g., financial institution, magazine subscription, utility company, internal revenue service, etc.), the address exchange system 10 automatically contacts each third party service provider within the receiver's address book and updates the address of the receiver 30. The platform presented herein provides the user with the option of selectively and automatically updating one or more physical addresses associated with their profile or user account. The system also allows the user to update the timeframe of the availability of the received package to avoid delivery at holidays or other specific times.

As described above, the checkout interface 17 and/or the API 16 may be provided within an e-commerce platform and/or a transportation platform. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, sender 32 may provide email address 20 during checkout. For example, instead of entering a shipping address, sender 32 enters an email address 20 of recipient 30. As described above, the associated physical address 18 is provided by the address switching system 10.

Address exchange system 10 may be integrated in a checkout system associated with user 15 in any suitable manner. For example, the integration may be implemented through a secure, custom API that facilitates data flow between the checkout platform of user 15 and address exchange system 10. Alternatively, an external plug-in from address exchange system 10 to the checkout module may be provided. Custom extensions can be created for multiple e-commerce platforms and numerous retailers and merchants. Address exchange system 10 may also communicate with a payment provider during checkout.

Address exchange system 10 may also include services that store preferences, birthdays, wish lists, gift-receiving behaviors, and product reviews of recipients 30. For example, the preferences of the receiver 30 may include the clothing size, shoe size, color preference, heel preference size, shirt preference type, skirt preference length, pants preference type, and the like of the receiver. In this way, when sender 32 selects an item to purchase, user 15 may access system 10 to receive the appropriate clothing size for recipient 30. In one example, the system 10 may provide the correct clothing size to the user 15 in a manner that the sender 32 does not receive the clothing size, i.e., the clothing size may remain confidential. When the receiver 30 registers the email address 20 (or other identifier 19) of the receiver 30 with the data storage system 22, the receiver 30 may submit various preferences.

In one example, sender 32 selects an item for purchase and delivers it to recipient 30. For example, sender 32 sends email address 20 of recipient 30 to user 15 (e.g., retailer/shipping company) via checkout interface 17, wherein user 15 sends email address 20 to controller 14. If the receiver 30 has registered the email address 20 and preferences in the data storage system 22, the controller 14 provides the preferences to the user 15. The user 15 may then complete the purchase and send, for example, an item of the appropriate size to the receiver 30. As a result, the sender 32 no longer needs to know the preferences of the recipient 30, such as the clothing size, before purchasing the gift.

Receiver 30 may maintain a user profile on social media platform 48 that indicates one or more preferences related to items or other preference information. For example, receiver 32 may maintain a profile on the dating website that specifies her preferred colors and flowers, her restaurant preferences, her clothing size, and so forth. In addition to the online relationship of the transmitter 32 and the receiver 30, the controller 14 may monitor the social media platform 48 for preference information of the receiver 30. When sender 32 submits identifier 19 of recipient 30 and the item to be shipped to controller 14, controller 14 may access the profile of recipient 30 on the appointment website and determine the color and size of the item to be shipped prior to sending the information to user 15 (e.g., an online retailer). In a preferred embodiment, this information will not be shared with sender 32.

Referring to the embodiment shown in fig. 5, address exchange system 10 may include a generic login feature 60 integrated into the retailer's website so that sender 32 may login to the retailer's website and utilize address exchange system 10 to purchase and send items to recipient 30. The universal login 60 is separate from the retailer or user 15. The universal login 60 may be provided in a language local to the sender in accordance with the settings of the address exchange system 10. In a further embodiment, all companies, merchants, businesses, senders, and parties using address exchange system 10 may utilize a common login 60. For example, a bank may register with address exchange system 10 and provide a generic login feature 60 for each login and use by its customers.

Fig. 5 shows an exemplary flow chart of a generic login function 60 utilizing the address exchange system 10, and fig. 6 provides an exemplary method of utilizing this function. Referring to fig. 5 and 6, in a first step 102, the controller 14 first provides the universal login feature 60 to the sender or purchaser 32 within the user's 15 website, and the sender or purchaser 32 logs into the address exchange system 10 through the universal login feature 50 within the user's (typically a retailer, merchant, business, or government entity) website. In step 104, address exchange system 10 causes a user interface, such as a pop-up notification, to appear on the display screen of user 15 through which sender 32 interacts with the retailer's website. The generic login feature 60 may be incorporated into the retailer's home page, checkout page, or another page. User 15 communicates with processor 14 and in some embodiments database 22 of address exchange system 10 verifies the login information via a mobile application or web-based platform in step 106. Sender 32 may also provide identification information of the recipient and/or destination location via a pop-up notification in step 108. In some embodiments, address exchange system 10 may also provide multi-factor authentication to the sender via SMS text, email, facial recognition, and the like.

If the identification information provided by sender 32 is an identifier of the recipient, such as an email address, a social media contact, a telephone number, etc., then address exchange system 10 may retrieve the physical address corresponding to recipient 30 from database 22 and provide the physical address to user 15 in step 110. If sender 32 is also recipient 30, address exchange system 10 may provide user 15 with the delivery address of sender 32 and any necessary personal information. Optionally, sender 32 may also provide the delivery and/or billing address of recipient 30 to controller 14, also shown in step 110. The controller 14 is configured to provide the billing and delivery address to the retailer or other user 15 in step 112. In some embodiments, address exchange system 10 may also verify delivery addresses and billing addresses from third party sources.

In another embodiment, in step 108, address exchange system 10 may provide only a limited subset of address information to retailer 15 for shipment. If sender 32 is recipient 30, address exchange system 10 may send a subset of the sender's address information, such as country and zip codes or GPS or other geographic ID, and a unique transaction identification, such as a bar code, QR code, or serial number, to retailer 15 in step 110. Address exchange system 10 may also provide personal information to a user or retailer 15, such as full or partial name, address, age, gender, digital contacts, geographic identifiers. If sender 32 is not a recipient 30, address exchange system 10 may retrieve address information for recipient 30 and send a subset of the address to user 15 for shipment along with the recipient's name, optional digital contact information, and a unique transaction identification (e.g., a bar code, QR code, or serial number) in step 110. Address switching system 10 may be shipped to a location without the specific address identified in the database that provides GIS or GPS information for the location.

In addition, the user or merchant 15 may calculate additional costs for the transaction, such as, but not limited to, shipping costs, customs, insurance and value added tax, and provide final payment information to the sender 32 through the address exchange system 10 via the user's or merchant's website. There are a number of options for providing payment and/or payment to parties to a transaction. Sender 32 may provide payment for the total cost to retailer or user 15, and user 15 pays parties to the transaction directly. Alternatively, the user 32 may provide payment information to the address exchange system 10, which processes the payment while in cooperation with the payment company, and authorizes the amount paid at each stage of the transaction, as described below with respect to the QR code. The merchant then arranges for the item to be shipped to the recipient or recipients 32. Address exchange system 10 may provide shipping partners to user 15 or user 15 may use his own shipping partners.

Address exchange system 10 may facilitate international transport across boundaries and across language barriers. In some cases, the universal login feature 60 allows the delivery of the option to a location that the retailer or user 15 provides that standard delivery options would not otherwise be.

As shown, the system 10 is in direct communication with a searchable storage structure 22, which may be a database in one example. Of course, in other embodiments, the system 10 may communicate with the database over a network. While shown and described as a database, it should be understood that the database may be any number of databases suitable to support the necessary data management to support the various features and functions of the system 10 described herein. It is also contemplated that the database may not be a requirement of the system 10 described herein, and that any other mechanism or data management mode may be employed, as is understood in a conventional sense.

In yet another embodiment, sender 32 may utilize generic login 60 of system 10 without utilizing database 22. Another interface may be utilized when the buyer 32 may not wish to have their information stored in the address exchange system 10 or the retailer 15. The generic login feature 60 is provided to the sender 32 within the user's 15 (typically a retailer or merchant) website through the retailer's home page, checkout page, other web page, or mobile application. When address exchange system 10 verifies the login information, user 32 communicates with processor 14 of the address exchange system via a mobile application or web-based platform. Address exchange system 10 causes a user interface, such as a pop-up notification, to appear on a display screen through which sender 32 interacts with the retailer's website. As an alternative to providing login credentials, the buyer 32 may choose to continue the transaction without logging in as an option to avoid saving data with the address exchange system 10 for future transactions. In such an embodiment, the purchaser 32 provides information such as name, email address, cell phone number, billing address, delivery address, etc. in the pop-up universal login feature 60 itself. In some embodiments, address exchange system 10 may authenticate the sender via SMS text, email, or the like. In some embodiments, address exchange system 10 may also verify delivery addresses and billing addresses from third party sources. This verified information may be sent directly to the merchant 15. User information may be saved in a log or transaction database of controller 14 for auditing purposes, but not saved to database 22 for use by user 15 or address switching system 10 for any other purpose. In this embodiment, no password or login credentials are required from the sender 15. The sender 32 must provide the necessary information whenever the sender 32 wants to complete a transaction and/or purchase an item (including any cross-border transactions).

Turning now to the example of the address exchange system 10 shown in FIG. 8, another embodiment 10 of the address exchange system may include various modules including a recommendation service 34, an advertising service 36, an address book service 38, a social media service 40, an automated transaction management service 48, an alert service 44, and permissions and privacy settings 46.

Based on the examples provided above with respect to the example management service 42 module, the automated transaction management service 48 module may implement various types of automated transactions, including automatically executing offers. The address exchange system 10 may be adapted to automatically determine not only the recipient 30 for which the sender 32 may provide gifts and/or samples, but also to automatically determine and perform other automatic transactions. As noted above, in at least some cases, this address is not available to the sender 32 at the time of the transaction. In other examples, the system enables the sender to automatically send items, products, or samples to different addresses according to the sender's preferences.

For example, a user may set appropriate preferences (e.g., filters) through the permissions setting module 46 that enable the transaction management service 48 to automatically perform transactions when certain conditions are met or automatically notify the user to suggest that a transaction is appropriate when the conditions are met. In addition, the consumer or recipient may choose to authorize or not authorize sharing of information, including physical addresses, prior to the transaction. In other embodiments, details of a consumer or recipient may be shared only when criteria defined by the consumer or recipient in privacy/preference settings are met.

In one example, a user may set preferences, such as pricing and other filter controls, in the permissions and privacy settings module 46 that indicate product type (e.g., product category), specific product (e.g., specific brand product), brand, price point or price range, date or date range, address or location, or distance from address or location, for the transaction management service 48. The automated transaction management service 48 module then performs one or more automated transactions when the preference preconditions are satisfied. In one example, the system automatically performs the transaction when the seller or sender meets the purchase price set by the buyer or recipient. In another example, the user sets a deadline for the multiple sellers to compete to complete the sale by becoming the lowest bidder or by meeting a sales price criteria established by the user.

For example, the user may set a preference to indicate that the user wishes to purchase a new notebook computer with a particular minimum specification (e.g., 13 inch screen, 7 th generation Intel i7 processor or better, 8MB RAM or better, etc.) from one of a particular set of brands (e.g., dill, association, or hewlett-packard) at a given price (e.g., $ 800) before a given date (e.g., before 2018, 11, 1). If the brand or retailer provides offers meeting given criteria to the automated transaction management service 48 module, the automated transaction management server 48 module may automatically perform the transaction on behalf of the recipient 30. Similarly, in the event that the transaction is not fully performed, the automated transaction management service 48 module may simply notify the user that the purchase condition has been met, thereby enabling the user to select whether to perform the transaction. In another example, the seller may choose to offer the lowest price to the consumer. The system may open the transaction to the seller and automatically perform the transaction with the lowest seller at the end of the transaction or, alternatively, may provide the recipient with an option and allow the recipient to select the option.

The sample management service 42 module and/or the transaction management service 48 module may also be used to enable selective receipt of gifts or samples with well-defined specificity. For example, in conjunction with the permissions and privacy settings module 46 and the transaction management service 48 module (and/or sample management service 42 module), the user may be enabled to choose to receive such products from certain people, from certain brands, or for certain non-brand specific products, at which address, etc. For example, the recipient 30 may specify that he or she will receive the product of the baby company from the baby company at the recipient's home address. The recipient 30 may also specify that he or she will receive a vacation package or a tamper evident offer from all sellers. In another example, the recipient may select a category of merchandise, brands, or particular products, and accept the merchandise only if the merchandise is available for free or the sender agrees to pay. In another example, the receiver may automatically receive offers or products based on the time limit selections. In one example, the recipient may set a preference to receive new car insurance quotes for a period of time before the expiration of the current insurance because the recipient will select a new car insurance provider before that date.

Regarding the example, selecting the join preference setting provides a solution to the problem that arises in the example environment. From a branding perspective, the sample is typically sent to an incorrect address or to a failed potential customer, or stolen from the front porch or entrance of the recipient. For privacy reasons, consumers are reluctant to accept samples because brands or marketing companies can obtain personal information such as home addresses. Consumers often refuse to share their address information to avoid selling their information to other parties and to avoid receiving too many unwanted free samples, coupons, or coupons. In one embodiment, the system includes obtaining a sample opt-in setting and a gift sample opt-in setting. Although "obtain sample" and "give sample" are terms used to describe various settings, the names or references may be different.

In the Get a Sample opt-In setting, the recipient sets his opt-In preference to indicate that he is willing to receive a particular type of Sample. The brand or provider may send the product sample to the recipient directly or indirectly through a third party shipping partner without obtaining the actual address of the recipient. Alternatively, the recipient may choose to authorize the system to share the recipient address of the brand or vendor providing the desired product sample via a opt-in preference. The receiver may also select a time frame in which samples may be received via the opt-in preference. In the "give sample" opt-in setting, the sender sets his opt-in preference to indicate that he wishes to send a sample or product to one or more friends of the sender without obtaining the actual address of the friends. If the recipient has a preference setting that allows for receiving such a gift or sample, the system is able to deliver the gift or sample according to the recipient's setting. In another embodiment, the user may receive an offer of a gift or sample, and the system may alert the user that friends within his social network have set his preferences to indicate an interest in receiving the gift or sample. An alert may be a notification that a friend is interested in a bid or sample. The user may choose to send a sample or offer to the friend or the system may automatically determine whether to send a product or offer to the friend. In this embodiment, the user's friend network is utilized so that offers to one user can be reasonably distributed over the friend network. Manual or machine intelligence may be used to distribute offers or samples over networks within the system.

With these controls, the user may find it easy to provide a window in which they can receive samples to try new products. For example, when a user attempts to make a purchase decision, a new product can be easily listened to on trial within a given time frame. Receiver 30 may indicate a preference for receiving a hand soap sample within the next month. The brand may then use the opportunity to send the sample to the receiver 30. Brands benefit from sending appropriate samples to the actively interested receiver 30, receivers 30 benefit from receiving the desired product at the desired time, and also benefit from doing so anonymously with respect to the brand (i.e., only address exchange system 10 knows the receiver's information, the receiver 30 and the receiver's contact information are not shared with sender 32).

These controls may also allow the recipient user 30 to manage relationships with individual and/or business senders and provide a third party with opt-in preferences to contact the recipient 30. The preferences related to the relationship may be stored in a database, a distributed ledger (i.e., blockchain), or the like. In one embodiment, the recipient may accept or reject incoming mail from the sender. If accepted, the recipient may select the physical address of the mail and/or provide each sender with a specific delivery indication, such as wait, forward, and get. In another embodiment, the recipient may select from a default option, such as "accept owner," which may be used if the recipient does not have a phone or email account to access the preference settings. Another default option may be "never accept", which may be used when the recipient goes out of the world. The accept/reject and delivery preferences are stored in a database. In another embodiment, the receiver creates the group based on pre-existing conditions or user selected/created conditions. Exemplary pre-existing conditions may be based on social media connections. In the example of user selection/creation, a user may create a group within the system and place the sender into the group. In another embodiment, the system may forward the recipient's address to the merchant if the recipient has authorized address sharing/updating, or if the merchant is authorized to retrieve the current address from the system in the user preferences. In yet another embodiment, the receiver 30 may select a preference to opt-in to a receiver offer from a third party that the receiver wants to try or purchase according to the above description. The recipient may set preferences to limit the communication channels through which third party sellers/brands may contact the recipient. The receiver may set user preferences to receive digital coupons from a selected first third party brand, physical coupons from other third party brands, telephone calls from some other party, text messages from other third party vendors. The recipient may also be contacted by time of day and/or day limits, including start date and/or end date. Any other control/preference settings described throughout the application may be stored in a database as described herein.

Within address exchange system 10, through permissions and privacy settings module 46, receiver 30 may set preferences regarding what information to share with sender 32 at the time of the transaction. Further, the receiver 30 may set preferences regarding what information to share with the transmitter 32 before, during, and after the transaction. For example, the receiver 30 may choose not to share contact information with the sender 32 prior to the transaction, but after a successful transaction, the receiver 30 may choose to share contact information. In another example, the address information is shared with senders 32 in certain product categories and not with senders 32 in other product categories. In yet another example, the recipient may choose between: agents that share some information, do not share information, share contact information for the recipient, such as QR codes that provide contact information for the recipient to third party shippers (e.g., USPS, fedEx, UPS), etc. Those skilled in the art will recognize the range of options available through the address exchange system 10, and in particular the transaction management service 48 module and the license settings 46 module. The recipient 30 decides what information to share before and after the transaction, including whether the address is shared, and if the recipient 30 chooses not to share the address with the sender 32, payment verification may be authorized by the address exchange system 10. In some embodiments, the QR code is shared with the entity performing the various steps throughout the transaction, and only certain portions of the information stored in the QR code are made available to each entity at each stage. For example, the retailer may obtain the item identification from the QR code instead of the recipient address, and the carrier may receive the recipient address from the QR code instead of the credit card information for purchase. The QR code may be a general code that may be used in different countries and in multiple languages. Although the address exchange system 10 generates a QR code in the examples described herein, the QR code may also be generated by a retailer or a third party entity of the user 15 or transaction.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary flow chart showing the visibility of user information and/or payment provided to parties to a transaction at various stages through the use of a QR code or bar code. The details of the transaction information shared by each stage may differ from the example details provided in fig. 9.

In one embodiment, once the retailer or user 15 calculates the fee, the address exchange system 10 coordinates with the payment company and initially authorizes the fee to be charged from the customer or sender 32 and pays each party involved in the transaction an approved fee upon reaching the relevant stage of the transaction. As each party scans the two-dimensional code or bar code, the party's activity will be monitored, allowing payment to the respective party. For example, address exchange system 10 may provide payment to the U.S. customs and border protection office (CBP) when the U.S. customs and border protection office scans QR codes on items to be shipped. In another embodiment, the merchant or user 15 may collect a fee and pay each party an approved fee.

Referring to fig. 9, in a first step 202, a system or third party generates a QR code in which details of a transaction are stored. Example details include digital identifications of senders and recipients, payment information, and product information. In other embodiments, other limited details may be shared.

In a next step 204, the system provides the retailer or user 15 with the digital identification of the sender and the recipient and product information via the QR code. In step 206, the provider or manufacturer scans the QR code and may access a subset of transaction information, such as an identification number and/or a shipping partner identification, although other details may be shared as well.

In a subsequent step 208, the system provides the first subset of the sender's and recipient's digital IDs, content codes, and recipient addresses to the transportation partner via the QR code, although different subsets of transaction details may be shared. The settings within the system may be arranged to share a limited amount of information associated with the recipient address, such as the recipient zip code and country code, with the transportation partner. Alternatively, the system may simply share a bar code and the shipping partner may scan the bar code to learn the address of the recipient.

In step 210, the system then provides the digital IDs of the sender and receiver, the content code, and payment confirmation to the customs and tax authorities via the QR code. In other embodiments, other details may be shared with customs and tax entities. Customers may pay customs and tax authorities on demand prior to delivery of the items.

In the next step of the transaction (step 212), the system provides the recipient name, a second subset of the recipient addresses, the delivery identification, and the recipient identification to another transportation partner in order to complete the delivery. In even further embodiments, other or additional transaction details may be provided to another transportation partner. The customer may pay the shipping partner after delivery of the goods to the customer.

In other embodiments, payment may be provided to each party to the transaction once that stage of the transaction is reached. For example, when a QR code is provided, the retailer may collect payment. When the transaction reaches the transportation partner, the transportation partner may collect payment. In some embodiments, the issuer provides payment for the entire transaction and pays the fee at each stage. In other embodiments, the sender provides payment for each stage and pays a fee at each stage as the transaction proceeds. Such payments may be pre-approved or may be required to be approved prior to each payment.

The QR code or bar code may be generated by the address exchange system 10, a third party to the transaction, a retailer or user 15, or any suitable entity. In some embodiments, the QR code is automatically generated by the address exchange system 10. In other embodiments, the controller 14 of the address exchange system 10 coordinates with a third party entity upon ordering.

The system may also include quick login/checkout functionality for brands and e-commerce websites. In one example, a recipient or e-commerce client may use a third party platform to manage the client information and how it is shared or not shared to each party in the checkout and delivery chain.

For a merchant, the third party platform may provide the merchant or seller with the customer name, email, phone number, GPS location, or any other information required for checkout. The address provided to the merchant may be a default address or may be a customer-specified address associated with a particular merchant. The third party platform may also provide delivery instructions, e.g., hold, forward address, self-fetch, etc. In addition, the third party station may provide personal information of the customer, including the customer's delivery address, or the customer's digital ID and/or GPS location coordinates. The digital ID may be, for example, an email address, a cell phone number, or the like. Thus, the merchant may or may not always see the details of the buyer.

In the consumer's perspective, the consumer's contact list may be communicated to the merchant during checkout or at other times. In another embodiment, the consumer may be able to select a subset from the contact list to share with the merchant to send a purchase, gift, sample, offer, or the like. If the consumer has multiple addresses in the system, the selected one or more addresses may be communicated through the merchant portal and special delivery instructions may be arranged, such as hold, forward, automatic pick-up, drone delivery to a real-time GPS location, etc.

In one example, the system 10 includes an electronic device, such as a portable electronic device embodied in a touch screen enabled smartphone, as the user interface 30. However, it should be appreciated that the teachings provided may be applied to many variations of electronic devices having a user interface 30, including desktop computers, remote controllers, and the like, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art based on the teachings herein.

As shown in fig. 1, aspects of the systems described herein are controlled by one or more controllers 14. The one or more controllers 14 may be adapted to run various applications, access and store data, including accessing and storing data in related databases, and to implement one or more interactions as described herein. Typically, the one or more controllers 14 are implemented by one or more programmable data processing devices. The hardware elements, operating system, and programming language of such devices are conventional in nature and are assumed to be sufficiently familiar to those skilled in the art.

For example, one or more controllers 14 may be a PC-based implementation of a central control processing system that utilizes a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory 14, and an interconnection bus. The CPU may contain a single microcontroller or it may contain multiple microprocessors for configuring the CPU as a multiprocessor system. Memory 14 includes main memory such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and cache memory, and read-only memory such as PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM and the like. The system 10 may also include any form of volatile or non-volatile memory 14. In operation, memory 14 stores at least a portion of instructions for execution by the CPU and data for processing in accordance with the executed instructions.

The one or more controllers 14 may also include one or more input/output interfaces for communicating with one or more processing systems. Although not shown, one or more of such interfaces may enable communication via a network, for example, to enable electronically transmitting and receiving instructions. The communication link may be wired or wireless.

The one or more controllers 14 may also include suitable input/output ports for interconnecting one or more output mechanisms (e.g., monitor, printer, touch screen, motion-sensing input device, etc.) and one or more input mechanisms (e.g., keyboard, mouse, voice, touch screen, bioelectrical device, magnetic reader, RFID reader, bar code reader, motion-sensing input device, etc.) that serve as one or more user interfaces for the controllers 14. For example, one or more of the controllers 14 may include a graphics subsystem to drive an output mechanism. The peripheral device to system link may be a wired connection or use wireless communication.

In one embodiment, the system may assign a unique transaction code, such as a bar code, QR code, RFID code, etc., to each shipping transaction associated with delivery details related to the shipper, recipient, and shipping content, and be programmed to share one or more details with each party interacting with the shipment. In one example, the delivery person may receive the shipping address but not have access to information about the package's content. Other parties that may use the transaction code include the U.S. customs and border protection, shipping companies, shipping services, etc.

In some embodiments, the system may assign a unique item code to facilitate automatic purchase of the system, select add-on features, or example functions. The unique commodity code may be a SKU code, a UPC number, a product type, or a product ID of both tangible and non-tangible commodities. In one example, a vacation package may be assigned a SKU code, "vacation" as a product type and include a travel date, place, and flight service level as various product IDs.

Although summarized above as a PC-type implementation, one skilled in the art will recognize that one or more controllers 14 also include systems such as hosts, servers, workstations, network terminals, and the like. Additionally, one or more controllers 14 may be embodied in a device such as a mobile electronic device, such as a smart phone or tablet. Indeed, the use of the term controller 14 is intended to represent a broad class of components known in the art.

Accordingly, aspects of the systems and methods provided herein include hardware and software for controlling related functions. The software may take the form of code or executable instructions for causing the controller 14 or other programmable device to perform the relevant steps, wherein the code or instructions are carried by the controller 14 or other machine or otherwise embodied in a readable medium. The instructions or code for performing such operations may be in the form of any form of computer instructions (e.g., source code, object code, interpreted code, etc.) stored in or carried by any tangible readable medium.

As used herein, terms such as computer or machine "readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms. Nonvolatile storage media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as any storage devices in any of the computers shown in the figures. Volatile storage media includes dynamic memory, such as memory 14 of such a computer platform. Thus, common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch card paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which the controller 50 can read programming code and/or data. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to a processor for execution.

It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. For example, various embodiments of the method and portable electronic device may be provided based on various combinations of features and functions from the subject matter provided herein.

Claims

1. A product exchange system, comprising:

a controller;

a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the controller;

wherein, in response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to:

providing an interface configured to receive a request from a first user to purchase an item;

assigning a unique transaction code to a transaction associated with the request, wherein a plurality of parties scan the unique transaction code during the course of the transaction;

receiving a notification in response to one of a plurality of parties scanning the unique transaction code;

upon receipt of the notification, an action associated with one of the plurality of parties is triggered.

2. The product exchange system of claim 1, wherein the action comprises one of paying money to one of the plurality of parties and sending a file to one of the plurality of parties.

3. The product exchange system of claim 2, wherein the payment is a subset of a total cost of the user, and wherein the total cost of the user includes a cost of the item and one or more selected from the group of tax, premium, shipping cost, and tariffs.

4. The product exchange system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to:

payment is received from the user prior to shipment of the goods from the merchant.

5. The product exchange system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to:

collecting payment from the merchant to the user prior to shipment of the item from the merchant; and

the merchant pays money to one of the plurality of parties upon receipt of the notification.

6. The product exchange system of claim 1, wherein the notification is associated with a milestone of the transaction.

7. The product exchange system of claim 6, wherein the milestones comprise packaging the items by a manufacturer for shipment, collecting the packaged items from the manufacturer by a transportation partner, receiving the packaged items by a customs and/or tax entity, and collecting the packaged items for delivery by the transportation partner.

8. The product exchange system of claim 6, wherein the milestones are defined by a third party provider, merchant, or regulatory agency.

9. A product exchange system, the product exchange system comprising:

a controller;

a database comprising a personalized book associated with a user, wherein the personalized book comprises user information;

wherein in response to executing the program instructions, the controller is configured to:

providing, by the enterprise, an interface configured to receive login credentials from a user;

after verifying the login credentials, at least a subset of the user information is sent from the database to the enterprise.

10. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the subset of user information includes delivery location details.

11. The product exchange system of claim 10, wherein the delivery location details include one of a geographic identifier, a postal code and country code, a postal code and identifier, and a postal code and a user name.

12. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the business is one of a merchant and a bank.

13. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the step of providing the interface through the enterprise includes providing the interface through one of a website, a mobile application, and a mobile website of the enterprise.

14. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the user information includes one of profile information, user preferences, and user purchase history.

15. The product exchange system of claim 14, wherein the profile information includes one or more of: name, home delivery location, work delivery location, additional delivery location, billing location, age, occupation, social network user name, contacts within the social network, contacts, photographs of the user, photographs of the delivery location, delivery instructions, and numeric identifier.

16. The product exchange system of claim 15, wherein each of the home delivery location, work delivery location, additional delivery location, and billing location is associated with an identifier, wherein the identifier comprises one of a geographic identifier, a zip code, and a country code, a zip code, and an identifier, and a zip code and a user name.

17. The product exchange system of claim 14, wherein the user preferences include one or more of: price, highest price, lowest price, price range, sales status, product characteristics, delivery location, and time of receipt of the item.

18. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to recommend items to the user based on the user information.

19. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to receive a selection of the subset of user information from the user.

20. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the delivery location details include an address of a first country, and wherein the enterprise ships products from a second country different from the first country, wherein the address does not conform to a country format approved by the second country.

21. The product exchange system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to send the subset of user information without collecting payment.

22. The product exchange system of claim 21 wherein the controller is not a payment processor.

23. A product exchange system, the product exchange system comprising:

a controller;

Providing, by the enterprise, an interface configured to receive user information from a user; and

user information is sent to the enterprise, wherein the enterprise does not receive user information from the user.

24. The product exchange system of claim 23, wherein the user information includes delivery location details including an address in a first country, and wherein the enterprise ships products from a second country different from the first country, wherein the address does not conform to a country format approved by the second country.

25. The product exchange system of claim 23, wherein the controller is further configured to send one of a delivery location and a billing location to the enterprise.

26. The product exchange system of claim 23, wherein the controller is further configured to verify the user information prior to sending to the enterprise.

27. The product exchange system of claim 23, wherein the user information includes an identity of the user, a delivery address, and a home address, and wherein the controller is further configured to verify at least one of the user identity, the delivery address, and the home address with a third party source.

28. A product exchange system, comprising:

a controller;

receiving a request from a first user to purchase an item for a second user;

requesting a physical address associated with the second user from the database, wherein the database stores one or more permission settings defining a situation in which the physical address is provided in response to receipt of the identifier;

wherein, in response to receipt of the identifier, the data storage system tests the permission setting to determine whether to provide the associated physical address;

wherein the permission settings include settings to provide the associated physical address if the second user engages in a business with the first user and the second user cannot prevent the provision of the associated physical address.

29. The product exchange system of claim 28 wherein the first user is one of a bank and a government agency.

30. A product dispensing system comprising:

A data storage system including a physical address and personally identifiable information associated with each of a plurality of individuals;

a controller in communication with the database;

a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the controller, wherein in response to executing the program instructions, the controller:

receiving as input, via a license setting module, a characteristic of a desired product from one of the plurality of individuals, the characteristic including one of a product category and a product identification, and one of a price, a price range, a date range, a location, and a distance from the location;

receiving, as input from a seller, a product characteristic of a product available from the seller to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the characteristic including one of a product category and a product identification, and one of a price, a price range, a date range, a location, and a distance from the location;

identifying a matching transaction using product features of the product and features of the desired product available from the seller to be provided to one or more of the plurality of individuals, the matching transaction including the identified product and the identified individual;

In response to identifying the matching transaction, facilitating delivery of one of the offers associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual without revealing to the seller a physical address of one of the plurality of individuals;

withholding personally identifiable information of one of the plurality of individuals from the seller as a default location;

generating a unique identification code and transmitting the unique identification code to the seller in response to identifying the matching transaction; and

in response to scanning the unique identification code, demographic information related to one of the plurality of individuals is sent to the seller.

31. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein said controller is further configured to:

receiving, as input received from one of the plurality of individuals via a permission setting module, a sharing preference of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals, wherein the sharing preference indicates whether at least a portion of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals is to be shared with the seller; and

the portion of the personally identifiable information associated with one of the plurality of individuals is transmitted to the seller according to the sharing preference to override a default location where the personally identifiable information is not shared.

32. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein if one of said offer and said identified product is digital, said one of said offer and said identified product is digitally delivered.

33. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein if one of said offer and said identified product is a physical object, said one of said offer and said identified product is delivered to a physical address of one of said plurality of individuals.

34. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein said unique identification code is a QR code.

35. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein said controller is further configured to:

generating a unique identification code in response to identifying the matching transaction and transmitting the unique identification code to one of the plurality of parties involved in delivering the offer related to the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual;

a portion of the personally identifiable information associated with one of the plurality of personas is transmitted to the one of the plurality of principals in response to scanning the unique identification code by the one of the plurality of principals.

36. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein said controller is further configured to:

providing an interface configured to receive an identifier associated with one of the plurality of individuals; and

the identifier of one of the plurality of individuals is changed via the permission setting module.

37. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein said controller is further configured to:

an interface is provided that is configured to receive an identifier associated with one of the plurality of individuals, wherein the identifier is a social media identification.

38. The product dispensing system of claim 30 wherein delivering one of the identified product and the offer related to the identified product to the identified individual is dependent upon a recipient qualification associated with a past purchase transaction of the identified individual, and wherein delivery of one of the identified product and the offer related to the identified product is facilitated only if the past purchase transaction of the identified individual meets a condition of the recipient qualification.

39. A product dispensing system comprising:

a data storage system including personally identifiable information associated with each of a plurality of individuals;

a controller in communication with the database;

receiving, via a license setting module, a feature of a desired product from one of the plurality of individuals as input, the feature including one of a product category and a product identification and one of a price, a price range, a date range, a location, and a distance from the location;

in response to identifying the matching transaction, facilitating delivery of one of the offer associated with the identified product and the identified product to the identified individual; and

40. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein said controller is further configured to:

receiving, as input from one of the plurality of individuals via a permission setting module, a sharing preference of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals, wherein the sharing preference indicates whether at least a portion of the personally identifiable information associated with the one of the plurality of individuals is to be shared with the seller; and

41. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein if one of said offer and said identified product is digital, then one of said offer and said identified product is digitally delivered.

42. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein if one of said offer and said identified product is a physical object, said one of said offer and said identified product is delivered to a physical address of one of said plurality of individuals.

43. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein said unique identification code is a QR code.

44. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein said controller is further configured to:

45. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein said controller is further configured to:

46. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein said controller is further configured to:

47. The product dispensing system of claim 39 wherein delivering one of the identified product and the offer related to the identified product to the identified individual is dependent upon a recipient qualification associated with a past purchase transaction of the identified individual, and wherein delivering one of the identified product and the offer related to the identified product is facilitated only if the past purchase transaction of the identified individual meets a condition of the recipient qualification.