WO2009109949A1 - Système d’offre de cadeaux par ordinateur - Google Patents

Système d’offre de cadeaux par ordinateur Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2009109949A1
WO2009109949A1 PCT/IB2009/051321 IB2009051321W WO2009109949A1 WO 2009109949 A1 WO2009109949 A1 WO 2009109949A1 IB 2009051321 W IB2009051321 W IB 2009051321W WO 2009109949 A1 WO2009109949 A1 WO 2009109949A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
gift
receiver
electronic
notification
coupling
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2009/051321
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Steven Rose
Original Assignee
France Telecom
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by France Telecom filed Critical France Telecom
Publication of WO2009109949A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009109949A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present system relates to at least one of a method, user interface and apparatus for enabling a gifting system wherein a gift may be provided to an intended gift receiver in a simple and flexible manner that includes gift distribution.
  • the gift giver still typically must identify a p a rtic ula r sto re to make the gift card purchase from although some gift carols are suitable for redemption from more thanjusta single store chain, such as an American ExpressTM Gift Card, which is redeemable at stores where the American Express caid is accepted.
  • Gift Cards also may be lost which in most cases, re suits in a total loss of the value of the gift card, although notably, some gift card retailers, may provide fo r re -issua nc e of lost gift cards.
  • Gift carols must also be carried to be redeemed which adds to the overloaded wallets that many people already carry around.
  • Cipheral Patent Publication No. CN1770189 provides a method for sending gifts with short messages which includes a gift giver logging into a website to purchase gifts, inputting a gift receiver's phone number and paying for the gift.
  • a short message system (SMS) service sends a notification of the gift to a gift receiver with a short message.
  • the gift receive r may answer the short message to provide the gift receiver's name, address and post code, provide a new receiver's phone number, or answer to ask for depositing of the gift.
  • the service system performs an action according to gift receiver's answer.
  • this system is cumbersome forthe gift receiver that must respond to the gift notific ation to rec eive the gift and provide information on ho w and where the gift should be delivered.
  • None of these prior systems provides a gifting system wherein a gift may be provided to an intended gift receiver in a simple and flexible manner that does not burden the giverorthe receiverof the gift.
  • the present system includes a system, method, device and interface providing a gifting service including receiving selection of a gift and gift receiver from a gift giver, charging the gift giver a value associated with a value of the gift, forwarding an electronic gift notification to the gift receiver, redeeming the electronic gift notification forthe gift if the gift is redeemed priorto expiring, and returning the value of the gift to the gift giver if the gift expires.
  • Redeeming the gift may include providing a first coupling of a gift receiver's device to a point of sale device, exchanging the electronic gift notification between the gift receiver and the point of sale device using the first coupling, providing a second coupling of the gift receiver's device to the point of sale device, wherein the second coupling is a different coupling system than the first coupling, and exchanging identification information (ID) between the gift receiver and the pointof sale device using the second coupling.
  • Exchanging the ID may include extracting the ID from the electronic gift notification.
  • Exchanging the ID may include retrieving the ID that is at least partly stored on the gift receiver's device. h one embodiment of the present system, the gift may be re -gifted by the gift receiver.
  • the gift, gift receiver and electronic gift notification are a first gift, a first gift receiver, and a first electronic gift notification.
  • This embodiment includes receiving selection of a second gift and a second gift receiver from the first gift receiver, and forwarding a second electronic gift notification to the second gift receiver.
  • the second gift is provided asthe re-gifting of the firstgift.
  • the first gift receiver may be provided a selection icon to select the re -gifting.
  • the electronic gift may be one of a plurality of electronic gifts received by the gift receiver.
  • the gift receiver may be provided an opportunity to combine the plurality of electronic gifts into one electronic gift. Combining the plurality of electronic gifts into one electronic gift may occur as determined by a gifting server. The combining the plurality of electronic gifts into one electronic gift maybe requested by the gift receiver.
  • Another method in accordance with the p re se nt syste m inc lud e s a method of soliciting gifts from a plurality of potential gift givers, such as to facilitate a "single" gift receiverto make a group purchase of a plurality of gifts.
  • This method may include sending a solicitation from the gift receiver to the plurality of potential gift givers soliciting a gift from each of the plurality of potential gift givers.
  • the gift may be one single gift to which each of the plurality of potential gift givers contribute or may be different gifts identified by each of the plurality of potential gift givers.
  • the method includes receiving selection of a gift identifying the gift receiver from a subset of the potential gift givers, charging each of the subset of the potential gift givers a value associated with a value of the gift sentby each of the subsetofthe potential gift givers, forwarding electronic gift notifications from each of the subset of the potential gift givers to the gift receiver, redeeming the electronic gift notifications if associated gifts are redeemed priorto expiring, and returning the value of expired associated gifts to corresponding onesofthe subsetofthe potential gift givers.
  • the present system further includes a method of forwarding an electronic gift notification, one or more gift giver devices, one or more gift receiver devices, associated networks and servers and other methods, devices, etc., as described herein.
  • FEr.1 shows a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present system
  • FEr. 2 shows an illustrative gift giving flow diagram in accordance with an embodimentof the present system
  • FEr.3 shows an operation flow diagram in accordance with an embodiment of the p re sent system
  • FEr.4 shows a Component Dependency Diagram, wherein components of an application and/or separate applications related to the gifting server are shown in accordance with the present system.
  • an operative coupling may include one ormore of a wire d c o nne c tio n a nd/ o r a wire Ie ss c o nne ctionbetween two o r mo re devices that enables a one and/or two-way communication path between the devices and/or portions thereof.
  • an operative coupling may include a wired a nd/ o r wire Ie ss coupling to enable communication between a gift giver's device, a gift receiver's device and one ormore serverdevices.
  • Another operative coupling in accordance with the present system may include a coupling between the gift giver's device, the gift receiver's device and corresponding user input/ output devices.
  • a further operative coupling, in accordance with the present system may include one or more couplings between the gift receiver's device and a point of sale device.
  • a gift receiver's device may couple to a point of sale device utilizing information visible on a display of the gift receiver's device white a furthe r c o up ling may be provided wiretessly, such as utilizing a mobile communication network or a short area coupling such as provided by Bluetooth wireless coupling transmitter/receivers.
  • Other operative couplings would readily occur to a person of ordinary skill in the art and are intended to be encompassed by the present system and claims that follow.
  • gift refers to an authorization that is provided to a gift receiver and that is accepted by a goods vendor or service provided, such as a coffee beverage distributor, to indicate that the holder of the gift (e.g., the gift receiver) is entitled to redemption of the gift in accordance with the present system including coupling terms and processes.
  • a gift received by the gift receiver may include a note from the gift giver, instructions on how and where the gift may be redeemed, and a code used at the point of sate system of the vendor or the service provider that will permit redemption of the gifted item, such as an alphanumeric sequence and/or an image (e.g., a bar code) that, for example, may be directly scanned at a register (e.g., a point of sale device) of the vendor or service providerorbe maybe viewed and acted upon by the vendor.
  • a register e.g., a point of sale device
  • Other representations of the gift would readily occur to a person of ordinary SkDl in the art and aie intended to be encompassed by the present system and claims that folio w.
  • a gifting server and formatives thereof as utilized herein refer to an infrastructure including hardware and software portions that enable gifting in accordance with the present system.
  • a gifting server may include one or more hardware and program portions.
  • the one or more hardware and program portions may be distributed throughout a network, such as the Internet, or may be centralized.
  • the program portions may include portions that are run at a server or may include program portions that are run from a user device.
  • Fb r example, one or mo re of the gifting server program portions may be implemented as a widget application running one or more of a gift giver's device and gift receiver's device.
  • Other architectures and combinations of hardware and software making up what is termed herein the gifting server would readily occur to a person of ordinary skill in the art and are intended to be encompassed by the present system and claims that follow.
  • FEr. 1 shows a gifting system 100 including a gift giver's device 110 and a gift receiver's device 120 in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • Each of the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120 have corresponding processors 112, 122 operatively coupled to corresponding memories 114, 124, displays 119, 129, userinput devices 116, 126 and communication interfaces, illustratively shown as input/output (FO) devices 118, 128, such a wireless communication device.
  • the I/O devices 118, 128 may provide coupling between portions of the present system and as such, may provide coupling utilizing one or more of radio frequency (RF) coupling, Bluetooth coupling, infrared coupling etc.
  • RF radio frequency
  • the displays 119, 129 may provide coupling by providing images and textual characters that may be utilized fo r inte ra c tio n with o the r p o rtio ns o f the system such as between the gift giver's device 110 and a gifting server 140 and between the gift receiver's device 120 and each of the gifting server 140 and a point of sale device 130. Further description of these and other interactions including coupling between devices of the system are provided herein.
  • each of the gifting server 140 and the point of sale device 130 may include processors, memories, displays and user inputs similar as shown for each of the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120.
  • the memories of each of the gifting server 140 and the point of sale device 130 may contain program portions and other data for configuring respective processors for operation in accordance with the present system. Accordingly, while the following description focuses on details of interaction within components of each of the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120, it should be understood to similariy apply to interactions of components of each of the gifting server 140 and the point of sale device 130.
  • the memories 114, 124 may be any type of device for storing programming application data, such as to support a display and user interface (e.g., GUD, as well as other data, such as identification information, pic to rial info mi a tion (e.g., pictures, icons, etc .), security information (e.g., security keys, passwords), etc ., that may be associated with the gift giver's device 110, the gift receiver's device 120, the point of sale device 130, and/orthe gifting serverl40.
  • the programming application data and otherdata are received by the processors 112, 122 for configuring the processors 112, 122 to perform operation acts in accordance with the present system.
  • the operation acts may include controlling the corresponding displays 119, 129 to render elements in a form of gift selection and redemption elements, a UIa nd/or controlling the displays 119, 129 to render other information in accordance with the present system.
  • the userinput devices 116, 126 operate through a suitably configured LU to enable interaction within the gift giving and gift receiving operations in accordance with the present system, such asto enable gift and receiverselection.
  • the displays 119, 129 may operate asa touch sensitive display for communicating with the corresponding processors 112, 122 (e.g., providing password information, gift selection, etc .) via coupling.
  • a user may interact with corresponding processors 112, 122 including interaction within a paradigm of a O, such as to support gift selection and redemption elements, etc.
  • the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120 may allorpartly be a portion of a computer system embedded in a portable device such as a mobile telephone, personal computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), converged device such as a smart tele p hone, etc.
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • the memories 114, 124, as well as storing programming data for configuring the corresponding processors 112, 122 foroperation in accordance with the present system, may also store complementary security information to security information stored in other devices and/or systems, including the point of sale device 130 and/or the gifting server 140.
  • authentication and authorization systems utilized to enable communication between devices typically have one or more pieces of information that are utilized between devices (e.g., forwarded or exchanged between devices, such as wirelessly via the FOs 118, 128) termed in the security arts, challenge and authentication.
  • the security information may be stored in an encrypted format in one or both of communicating devices requiring transmission, decryption, comparison, etc., during a challenge and authentication process or simp Iy to enable an exchange or forwarding of data.
  • a mobile telephone communicating with or through a mobile network may utilize security data stored in corresponding memories, such as the memories 114, 124 which may include removable memories such as single in-line memory modules (SIMMs), to communicate with and/or through the mobile network.
  • SIMMs single in-line memory modules
  • gift giving and receiving devices 110, 120 corresponding use r inte rfa c e s a nd other portions of the system 100 are provided including the gift giver's device 110 for selecting and sending the gift and gift receiver and the gift receiver's device 120 forreceiving the gift and forproviding a means of redeeming the gift at a vendor or service provider indicated in FiG.1 as the point of sale device 130.
  • user's e.g., gift giver and gift receiver
  • Os user interfaces
  • GUI graphical user interfaces
  • Each of the Os may be provided by an application running on corresponding processors 112, 122, such aspartofone or mo re of the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120 and/or may be provided by an application running on a serverdevice, such as one ormore gifting servers 140 accessible to the gift giver and/or the gift receiver.
  • the visual environment may be displayed by a processorona display device and a user may be provided with an input device or system (e.g., touch display screen) to influence events or images depicted on one ormore display areas of the gift giver'sdevice HOand/orthe giftreceiver'sdevice 120.
  • Os present images which describe various visual metaphors of an operating system, an application, etc. implemented on the processor/computer.
  • a user In operation, a user typically moves a user-controlled object, such as a cursororpointer, across a display screen and onto otherdisplayed objects or screen regions, and then inputs a command to execute a given selection oroperation.
  • Other applications or visual environments also mayprovide user-controlled objects such as a cursor for selection and manipulation of depicted objects in a multi-dimensional (e.g., two-dimensional) space.
  • the O may enable direct selection of objects and operations, using, for example, a touch-sensitive display device or selection button (e.g., ha id and/ or so ft buttons) supported by the O
  • a common interface device fora O such as a GU
  • a GU is a mouse, trackball, keyboard, touch and/or pressure sensitive switches and wheels, touch sensitive display, etc.
  • a touch/pressure sensitive wheel may be manipulated bya user to move a visual object, such as a cursor, depicted on a two-dimensional display surface in a direct mapping between the user manipulation and the depicted position of the cursor. This is typically known as position control, where the motion of the depicted object directly correlatesto the user manipulation.
  • the LU may provide different views that are directed to different portions of the manipulation process.
  • the LU may present a typical GLH including a windowing environment and as such, may include menu items, pull-down menu items, etc., that are typical of those provided in a windowing environment, such as may be represented within a Mac OS XTM Operating System graphical LU as provided by Apple Computer, he, such as on an iPhoneTM.
  • the user input may be utilized for making selections within the O such as by selection of menu items, radio buttons and other common interaction paradigms as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art.
  • Similar interface s may be provided by a device having a touch sensitive screen that is operated on by an input device such as a finger of a user orotherinput device such as a stylus.
  • a cursor may or may not be provided since a location of selection is directly determined by the location o f inte ra c tio n with the touch sensitive screen.
  • O utilized fo r sup p o rting touch sensitive inputs may be somewhat different than a LU that is utilized for supporting, for example, a computer mouse input, however, forpurposes of the present system, the operation is similar in that each enables interaction within a provided Ul Accordingly, forpurposes o f simp lifying the foregoing description, the interaction discussed herein is intended to apply to either ofthese systems or others that may be suitably applied.
  • the methods of the present system are particularly suited to be carried outby a computer software program, such program containing modules corresponding to one or more of the individual steps or acts described and/or envisioned by the present system.
  • a computer software program such program containing modules corresponding to one or more of the individual steps or acts described and/or envisioned by the present system.
  • Such program, authentication information, etc. may of course be embodied in a computer-readable medium, such as an integrated chip, a peripheral device or memory, such as one or more of the memories 114, 124 and/or other memory respectively coupled to one of the processors 112, 122.
  • the memories 114, 124 may be any recordable medium (e.g., ROM, removable memory, CD-ROM, hard drive, DVD, floppy disk, integrated circuit, and/or memory card) or, in a case of one or more of the gift giver's device 110, the gift receiver's device 120, the point of sale device 130 and/or the gifting server 140, may be a transmission medium (e.g., a network comprising fiber-optics, the world-wide web, cables, a wireless channel using time-division multiple access, code-division multiple access, Zigbee, WiR, or other radio-frequency or wireless communication channel). Any medium known or developed that may store and/or transmit information suitable foruse with one ormore of the devices 110, 120, 130, 140 may be used as one ormore of the me mo rie s in terms of the present system.
  • a transmission medium e.g., a network comprising fiber-optics, the world-wide web, cables, a wireless channel using time-division
  • the memories 114, 124 may configure respective processors 112, 122 to depict a O, such as the memory 124 configuring the processor 122 to render a gift (e.g., gift id entific a tion information) on the display 129.
  • the memories 114, 124 may configure the corresponding processors 112, 122 to implement the methods, operational acts, and functions disclosed herein.
  • the processors 112, 122, where additional processors may be provided, may be distributed ormaybe singular. For example, portions of the gift giver's device 110 and the gift receiver's device 120 may be embedded in a web- based application that is totally or partially provided by a remote processor.
  • the memories 114, 124 should be construed broadly enough to encompass any information able to be read from or written to an address in an addressable space accessible by the respective processors 112, 122. With this understanding, information on a network is still within the respective memories 114, 124, for instance, because the respective processors 112, 122 may retrieve the information from the network for operation in accordance with the present system. As may be readily appreciated, the processors 112, 122 and the corresponding memories 114, 124 may be locally located since in accordance with the present system, one ormore of the gift giver's device 110 and/or the gift receiver's device 120 may be self-contained although may require coupling to further device s to interactin accordance with the present system.
  • FJG.2 shows a pro cess flow diagram 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • the process begins during act 210 which may be the initiation of a gift selection and/or receiver selection process in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • act 220 a usermay access an application to facilitate gift giving and receiver selection.
  • One ormore of the application portions may be stored in the gift giver's device 110 such as within the memory 114, and/ or may be resident as a portion of the gifting server 140.
  • a site hosted by the gift server may be assessed including portions that may be distributed to other devices.
  • interaction with the present system may be provided by interacting with the gift server through a Oof a system responsive to selection keys (soft and/or hard) provided on a portable device of the user, such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, personal computer, etc.
  • the products and/or services may be presented to the gift giver.
  • the products and/or services may be established by vendors as one ormore ofthe products and/or services provided on the gifting server by subscribing to the gifting server.
  • the vendorof the products and/or services may reimburse the providers of the gifting server for providing the presentation of goods and/or services since the vendor is willing to encourage other forums for presenting itsgoodsand/orservices.
  • the vend or/ provider relationship maybe (mutually) financially neutral since each entity has an opportunity to benefit separately.
  • the vend or/ provider relationship may favor the vendor since the provider wishes to have g ifts within its g ifting syste m .
  • gift items and/ or services may be generally presented as being restricted in scope by the gifting server at the time giftchoicesare presented to the giver.
  • a vend or/ business may make a 11 of its stock available, or some portion thereof, via a free form input area.
  • a vendor may present a text box input for gift givers to enter a description of an item, such asa vendorIDofanitem that isbrowsable on the vendor web site. By selection ofthe item on the vendorwebsite, a gift giving transaction may be initiated.
  • the gift giver is not choosing the item to gift by browsing a LU provided by the gifting server, but rather by browsing the vendor's site.
  • the gifting server hosted site may also provide a link to the vendor site, or otherwise embed ormake the vendorcontent locally available thru the gifting server web site. Further details of how the vendors may establish pro ducts and/ or services on the gifting serve rare beyond the scope of the present system, however be it sufficient to state that any system for the vendorto supply information on goods and/or servicesmay be suitably applied.
  • the gift giver may have a need to establish their id entity with the gifting serverto enable a gifting interaction between the gift giver's device and the gifting server.
  • a suitable challenge and authentication process may be required to enable access to the gifting server, such as through use of a login/passwoid process.
  • the gift giver's device 110 may provide a browse rap plication to the gift giver through the use of which, the usermay access a gifting website such as hosted by one or more gifting servers through the lnte met and/ or through use of a wireless network, such as a mobile telephone network.
  • gifting may be accessible utilizing a short message service (SMS) and/ or multimedia messaging service (MMS) interaction, such as a text message based challenge and authentication gift service or simp Iy a gift service without a challenge/ authentication process.
  • SMS short message service
  • MMS multimedia messaging service
  • a platform and service may be provided that allows a user to select and send a gift and a gift notification via SMS 7 MMS message, for example, through use of a mobile telephone service.
  • gift and receiver selection may be provided online, such asthrough an lnte me t se rvic e provider(lSP) and desktop/web application through use of a personal computer.
  • portions of the gifting service may be provided by a widget-like application such as provided by Windows VistaTM operating system and/or other widget applications, such as a Bubble top widget.
  • a widget-like application such as provided by Windows VistaTM operating system
  • other widget applications such as a Bubble top widget.
  • the gift giver identifies a gift and gift receiver.
  • the gift giver and/or the gift receiver may have previously established an account (e.g., an identity) on the gifting server.
  • the identity may include an identification of a user (gift giver and/or gift receiver), a profile of likes/ dislikes and/or user devices (e.g., a gift giver's device, a gift receiver's device) including identification of systems available for accessing the devices such as mobile telephone numbers, Internet Protocol (P) addresses, etc.
  • an identity may include a gift receiver's identity name associated with an account on the gifting server.
  • a previous identity for one or more of the gift giver and gift receiver need not be provided to the gifting server.
  • a gift giver may have an identity established with the gifting server white a gift receiver is identified by the gift giver, such as by the gift giver providing a mobile telephone number for the gift receiver.
  • neitherof the gift giver nor the gift receiver needs a previously established identity on the gifting server.
  • the gift giver may simply access a gifting server and/orvendor site/application and simply provide credit information, such as a credit card, PayPal account information, PayPal Mobile from a smart tele p hone, etc. fora gift at a time of the gift giving transaction without use of any previously established identity on the gifting server.
  • Vendors may host a posting of items and/ or services on the gifting server that are available for gifting. Further, vendors may even provide an incentive to gift giver's selecting the vendors point of sale locations by offering discounts on the value of gifts (e.g., $3 gift at a cost of $2.75). Naturally the vendor may restrict discounted gifts to particularvendorlocations, items and/orservices available when redeeming the gift as would be indicated at the gifting server hosted site.
  • the vendors may be charged by the gifting server provider for (a) listing items and/orservices in the gift directory, (b) adding a promotion to entice gift givers to gift the vendors items and/orservices (e.g., send 3 gifts and get a discount on the 4th), (c) offering an ad placement orpro motion to entice gift receivers to send a thank-you gift.
  • the gift receiver may be provided with a solicitation to send a gift as a thank-you, for which (e.g., the providing of the solicitation), the vendor may pay the gifting server ho st.
  • the vendor may pay the gifting server ho st.
  • other arrangements between the vendor and gifting server provider may be readily applied in accordance with the p re sent system.
  • the gifting server mayprovide a social network where in giftgivers and/orgift receivers may interact with each other as described further herein.
  • gift activity e.g., sending, receiving, etc.
  • comments on gift activity, sending gifts, and notification of gifts, and other related activities may be implemented aspartofa web application, and/or through distributed portal applications (e.g., Bubbletop widget, Facebook application, Google gadget, a feed aggregator, etc.).
  • the gift receiver may in fact be comprised of two ormoie gift receivers.
  • the gift giver or another party may establish a gift receiving group, wherein selection of this gifting group results in a gift being provided to each member of the group.
  • a gift giver may buy beers for everyone in their group while enabling the individual gift receivers to redeem the gift at their selected time, like after they finish their present drinks.
  • the gift giver may restrict one ormoie of the gifts to expire in a defined period of time, such as within a given evening, day, week, etc.
  • two or mo re gift givers may gift a single common gift to a gift receiver.
  • a group may pool funds to buy a single item for an individual gift receiver.
  • family members may each contribute to a gift redeemable to buy a teenager an XboxTM.
  • the gifting server may provide a user interface wherein two or more gift givers may provide the gift.
  • a gift receiver may post a suggestion for a gift to which gift givers may contribute.
  • the gift maybe transmitted to the re c e ive r whe n the total contribution to the gift equals the cost of the giftorthe gift may be transmitted to the gift receiver after a period of time whetherornot the gift equals the totalc o st of the gift.
  • the gift receiver may pay a difference between the value of the gift and the cost of the item and/orservice should they choose, or the gift receivermay decide to redeem the gift for a different item altogether.
  • This arrangement may also be suitably applied as a gift register, such as a bridal register wherein the intended gift receiver posts multiple gift suggestions which may be contributed to. Once the value of the posted item is fully contributed to (value of gift equals cost of item and/or service, the gift may be sent to the gift receiver. Naturally, once the gift is sent to the gift receiver, the posting for the gift suggestion may be deleted from the gifting serverto ensure that the gift receiver does deceive multiple gifts forthe same item and/orservice.
  • the gifting transaction is completed, including for example, re stric tio ns o f the gift redemption to a particular establishment and/or to a particular redemption time, item and/ or service and a securing of information from the gift giver regarding payment such that an account associated with the gift giver may be charged during act 240.
  • the gift giver may have previously provided charging information to the gifting server.
  • the gift server may apply attributed charges directly to an account associated with the mobile telephone number.
  • charges associated with gifting may appear as a charge on a mobile telephone b ⁇ l
  • charges may be accessed immediately at the time of gifting (e.g., by a direct charge to a credit account, bankaccount, phone biU, PayPal account, etc.) or so me time thereafter, such as at a time when the gift is redeemed at a pointofsale device.
  • a notification of the gift is sent to the gift receiver.
  • the gift notification sent to the gift receiver may include a note from the gift giver(s), may identify the gift giver(s), unless the gift is sent anonymously, may include instructions on how and where the gift may be redeemed, and may include a code and/or image used at the pointofsale device that will permit redemption of the gift.
  • the gift may be forwarded as an SMS message, MMS message, email, or in any other form that may be suitably received by the gift receiver's device.
  • the redemption code may be an alphanumeric sequence that, for example, may be input into the point of sale device and/ or an image of a barcode that may be directly scanned at the pointofsale device.
  • the gift notification may be marked by the gift giver as a "surprise" gift which is monitored by the gift receiver's device such that when the gift receiver approaches an area wherein the gift may be redeemed, the gift receiver's device provides the gift receive r with the gift notification.
  • U.S. Pa tent No.7,269,627 incorporated herein by reference thereto asifsetouthereinin its entirety, describes a system of presenting a user with a personalized (e.g., contextual) message that meets certain geographic, affiliation/ metadata, timing, and/or device specific criteria. These messages may be geographically and logically persistent, and may be left by members of the user's social or "buddy" network, individuals, institutions, etc.
  • Patent No.7,269,627 shows that the messages may be rendered in a form of text and graphics delivered to mobile phones, PDA's or other devices with network connectivity.
  • the awareness e.g., geographic , time, etc.
  • U.S. Pa tent No.7,269,627 maybe utilized for delivering a surprise gift.
  • the gift receiver's device such as monitored by an application running on the gift receiver's device (e.g., widget, etc.), may determine that the gift receiver is near a location wherein the surprise gift may be redeemed. At this time, the gift receiver may be alerted to the surprise gift.
  • the gift notification may include directions to an establishment, such as the nearest establishment to the surprise gift receiver, where the gift may be redeemed.
  • the surprise gift notification may be provided to the gift receive rbased on a time determined by the gift giver.
  • the gift giver may establish with the gifting serverto provide the gift notification at a specified time after establishing the gift. In this way, the gift giver may establish the time when the surprise gift is provided, for example, to coincide with some other scheduled activity.
  • a giftgiver may wish the gift notification to directly follow a test or other scheduled task.
  • the gift receiver may reply with a thank-you message, such as an SMS/MMS thank-you message during act 245.
  • a thank-you message such as an SMS/MMS thank-you message during act 245.
  • the format of the thank-you message maybe completely determined by the gift receiver, or may be wholely or partially template-based, for example as provided by the application running on the gift receiver's device and/or may be provided by the gifting server.
  • the MMS may include a textual message provided by the giftreceiver, such as "Here's a picture of me enjoying the latte you sent!” and may further include an image of the gift receiver, forexample as acquired by the gift giver's device.
  • the gift receiver may be provided with an option to provide a gift to the originalgift giveras the thank-you or as a portion of the thank-you.
  • the application running on the gift receiver's device and/or the gifting server may send a notification to the gift giver that verifies that the gift was received and/orredeemed.
  • the gift selected by the gift giver may be selected to be redeemable indefinitely ormaybe selected to have an expiration date after which the gift may no longerbe redeemed by the gift receiver.
  • the gift giver and optionally the gift receiver may be provided with a notification that the gift has lapsed during act 255.
  • the gift giver may be provided an option to resend the gift to the gift receiver during act 260. ha case wherein the gift giver dec ides to renew the gift, notice of the gift is sent to the giftreceiverasbefore during act245and the process continues similar as previously.
  • a service charge may be accessed to the gift giver for renewing a gift.
  • the gift receiver may be provided with an indication that the gift is a renewed gift and/or a message accompanying the gift notification may be edited from the original gift by the gift sender and/or the gifting server.
  • the gift receiver may receive an indication that a new time period is provided before which the previously received gift will expire.
  • the gift giver's account may be provided a credit forthe value ofthe giftduring act270.
  • the amount ofthe credit may be reduced by a service charge for use ofthe gift service and/ora service charge maybe accessed forrequesting a credit forthe expired gift.
  • the process ends during act 295.
  • one or more additional notices maybe sent to the gift giver/ receiver reminding one or mo re of them ofthe pending giftduring act 245 and the pro cess continues as stated previously.
  • FEr.3 shows a pro cess flow diagram 300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • the process begins during act 310 and some time the re after during act 320, a gift receiver receives notification that they have received a gift in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • the gift notification may be formatted and delivered in a format that is suitable for the gift receiver's device.
  • U.S. Patent Publication No.2006/0111967 shows a system for delivering coupons to a mobile device such as a mobile phone.
  • a message processor generates a coupon as a phone message.
  • a message optimizer generates an optimized message responsive to the message data (the coupon) and capabilities of the mobile device.
  • the message optimizer may access delivery capability attributes of the mobile device that are stored in a database.
  • the optimized message is transmitted to the mobile device in a suitable format.
  • a simple text message representing the coupon may be provided including a barcode numberand associated text, otherwise, subject to the mobile device supporting required display dimensions and colordepth, a barcode image, picture, and/or multimedia content is delivered.
  • the gift notification may be similarly optimized to ensure that the gift rec ewer's devic e is able to renderthe gift notific ation in a determined format.
  • the gift notification may be received directly after the gift giverhas completed the gifting transaction or so me predetermined time, either by the gift giver or the gifting server, thereafter.
  • the gift notification may be received as a surprise gift that is triggered by a process present on the gift receiver's device and/or present on the gifting server, based on a location of the gift giver and/or based on a scheduled time of delivery of the gift notification.
  • the surprise gift is a location triggered gift
  • the gift notification may be presented to the gift receiverwhen the gift receiver comes into an area where the gift may be redeemed.
  • the gift receiver's device maybe location aware by some suitably applied process and the surprise gift notification may be triggered, for example, when the gift receiver approaches a store of a vendor wherein the gift may be redeemed.
  • the surprise gift is time dependent
  • the gifting notification maybe held by the gifting server until the predetermined time.
  • the gift notification may be held eitherbythe gift receiver's device, the gifting server, or as a result of collaboration between the two.
  • the gift maybe based on both of a predetermined time and location. In a case wherein the gift notification is both time and location based, the gift notification will only be provided when the giftreceiverisin a given area afterthe predetermined time.
  • the gift notification after being initially presented to the gift receiver may be theieafterperiodically re-presented to serve as a reminder of the pending gift.
  • the pending gift notification may be represented (e.g., as a reminderof the pending gift) wheneverthe gift receiverdevice is in a location wherein the gift may be redeemed and/ or may be re -presented initially at an infrequent interval but as an expiration date for the gift approaches, the gift notification may be re-presented more frequently.
  • the timing and frequency of the gift reminder may be determined by the gifting server and/or may be determined or modified by the gift give rand/ or the gift receiver.
  • the gift receiver may provide a thank-you to the gift giver during act 330.
  • the thank-you may be provided in a template form to the gift receiverfrom an application present on the gift receiver's device and/or from the gifting server.
  • the template maybe personalized by the gift receiver orthe gift receivermay create the thank-you from scratch without suggestions by a device process being provided.
  • the thank-you may be provided in any format, such as an SMS ⁇ MMS message, an email, voice message, etc.
  • the thank-you may be deferred by the gift receiver until the gift is redeemed (see, act 370) ora thank-you may be deferred indefinitely.
  • act 340 it is determined by a process (e.g., server based and/ or be alto the gift receiver's device) if the gift redemption period has expired in a case wherein the gift has a defined redemption period, ha case wherein the gift has expired, during act 350 the gift give rand/ or the gift receive rare notified of the expired gift, credit may be provided back to the gift giver's account as discussed above regarding FlG.2 and the pro c ess may end during act 360. ha case wherein the gift ha snot yet expired, the gift receiveris provided a n o p p o rtunity to redeem the gift or re-gift the gift to a further gift receiver during act 370.
  • a process e.g., server based and/ or be alto the gift receiver's device
  • a re-gift may be performed similar as the original gifting in that the original gift receiver may access an application provided for gift selection and provide the received gift as the item to be gifted, h another embodiment, the original gift receiver's device may provide a UI that facilitates re- gifting, such as providing an element (e.g., link, button, option, etc.) accessible on the original gift receiver's device that initiates a re-gift operation.
  • an element e.g., link, button, option, etc.
  • the original gift receiver's device may present a re-giftoptionona display when the gift notification is displayed.
  • the re-gift option may be provided only some time afterthe gift notification is first presented, such as when an expiration date of the gift is ne a ring.
  • Re-gifting may be facilitated by the present system by providing for an adjustment that may be necessitated by different values of the giftand the re-gift, ha case wherein the re-gift has a higher cost associated with sending the re-gift than the cost associated with the gift, then in one embodiment an identity associated with the original gift receiver may be charged for the cost difference.
  • the original gift receiver may simply provide a utho riza tio n fo r the difference in cost to be charged to a credit or debit account associated with the original gift receiver.
  • any system for charging the original gift receiver the difference in cost may be suitably applied.
  • the cost difference may remain as a gift balance with the original gift receiver, which may be used or separately re-gifted by the original gift receiver.
  • the unused portion of the gift may expire and revert to the original gift sender as in the case wherein none of the gift is redeemed prior to expiration.
  • the cost difference between the gift and the re -gift may immediately revert to the original gift giver, such as in a case where the original gift receiver knows he or she will not be able to use the gift.
  • the gift and re-gift may be the same gift item or the same cost may be associated with the giftand the re-gift.
  • a vendor is provided with the gift indication during act 380, provides a good or service in accordance with the gift and is provided with payment, as for example may be similarly provided fora credit caid based transaction. Adjustments may be provided for differences of value between the giftand the product and/or service as may be readily appreciated including p ro visio ns fo r a gift value that exceeds the cost of the good a nd/ o r se rvic e or the reverse financial relationship.
  • the gift receiver may choose to spend less than the gifted amount in the normal course of redeeming the gift, the unspent balance maybe treated the same as the original gift (e.g., expiration, re-gift, etc.).
  • Proof of the gift for the vendor may be provided by an indication on a display of the gift receiver's device, such asby depiction of a bar-code representation of the gift on a display of the gift receiver's device.
  • a point of sale device may simply scan the barcode provided to confirm the gift.
  • the gift may include a Universal Pro duct Code (UE 3 C) and/ or SKLJ numberwhich may be present at a bottom of the barcode ormay simply be provided as a textual accompanying the barcode and/or as a separate message (e.g., SMS) thatmaybe scanned ormanually entered atthe pointofsale device.
  • UE 3 C Universal Pro duct Code
  • SKLJ number which may be present at a bottom of the barcode ormay simply be provided as a textual accompanying the barcode and/or as a separate message (e.g., SMS) thatmaybe scanned ormanually entered atthe pointofsale device.
  • US Patent Publication No.2006/0111967 discloses a system forenabling selection and purchasing of goods and other gifts using a wireless device thatmaybe utilized to g e the r with the present system in accordance with an embodiment of the present system.
  • goods and other gifts are profiled such that they are matched against a gift giver's friends' and relatives' likes, dislikes, and personality traits and are offered to the giftgivervia a text message sent to gift giver's mobile phone or PDA.
  • a customer database In use, details of respective friends' and relatives' birthdays, anniversaries, likes, dislikes, and personality profiles are stored on a customer database, together with details of available goods and services offered.
  • the customer database matches the personality profile ofthe re Ie va nt frie nd orrelative and selectsa number of suitable gift ideas.
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • the gift giver is then sent a Short Message Service (SMS) text message to his or her mobile phone, via a first server with the contents of the message including the numberof days until the birthday or anniversary is due, a selection of gifts ora range of different products and price categories together with a prompt to the gift giver to select a gift.
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • the gift giver is prompted to confirm the price and other order information and to enter a personal identification number (PlN) or other a uthorization info miation.
  • PlN personal identification number
  • the process of payment collection is initiated when the first se rve r se nd s the relevant order details, including the amount to be debited to a secure second server.
  • the second server enables a secure storage of the gift giver's payment details, and passes these payment details to a payment facility , such as a credit caid processor, for authorization.
  • U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0111967 shows elements of a portion of an infrastructure that may be utilized in accordance with an embodiment of the present system, it provides no teaching of how gifts may be handled by the gift receiver.
  • the gift receiver's device in addition to receiving a visual indication of the gift or in place of the visual indication, may couple with the point of sale device, forexample utilizing a local area coupling, such as may be provided by a Bluetooth based coupling.
  • the local coupling may act to ensure that the gift receiver's device being provided to secure gift redemption is in fact the gift receiver's device that is authorized to redeem the gift.
  • the point of sale device confirms that the gift receiver's device is the authorized device for redeeming the gift, the transaction may be secured when the user redeems the gift.
  • the point of sale device may send an identification request to the gift receiver's device which may answer by sending identification information (ID) to the point of sale device via Bluetooth or so me otherclose range transfer techno logy.
  • ID identification information
  • the gift receiver's device may extract the ID or a portion thereof directly from the gift notification.
  • the gift receiver's device may have credentials, such as a private key of the gift receiver, which may be utilized to decrypt a portion of the gift notification that has been encrypted utilizing a public key that is associated with the gift receiver.
  • the gifting server may encrypt a portion of the gift notification to ensure thatthe message is not intercepted by an unauthorized receiver.
  • the gift receiver's device may, for example, decryptthe encrypted portion of the gift notification utilizing the gift receiver's private keyatthe time of gift redemption asmay be readily appreciated. Accordingly, only after the gift receiver's device is able to decrypt the ID and forward the ID to the pointofsale device, will the pointofsale device authorize redemption.
  • a confirmation (e.g., ID) may be provided by the gift giver's device in a form of identification information, such as a serial number, that is unique to each device.
  • ID may then be matched either by the point of service device directly or through contacting the gifting se rve r with the gift receiver's ID.
  • the ID may be defined by the gift giver and/or the gifting server when the gift was sent by the gift giver, such as through use of a supplied password.
  • the ID may be established by the gift receiver at a time of establishing an identity at the gifting server, ha still further embodiment, the ID may be established by the gift giver by the selection of the gift receiver's device that receives the gift notification (e.g., by a supplied mobile phone number).
  • the providerof the gifting server is enabled to maintain the value of the gift from the time that the gift is confirmed by the gift giver, up until the time when the gift is redeemed. As may be read ⁇ y appreciated, this may represent significant value forthe providerof the gifting server since at any given time the gifting server may have numerous pending gifts.
  • the service provider may still at any given time have significant money in its system that is attributable to gifting transactions, h this way, simply by providing the gifting service, the gifting service provider may at any given time have significant money in its accounts that may be utilized forother operations, h one embodiment of the present system, a method of conducting transactions is provided.
  • FEr.4 shows a Component Dependency Diagram, wherein components of an application and/or separate applications related to the gifting server are shown in accordance with the present system. Arrows with dashed line sin this diagram illustrate a "depends upon" relationship between related elements.
  • a Distributed Portal Application such as a Bubbletop widget, Google gadget, ⁇ kcebook application, blog widget, etc.
  • a Gifting Service application such as maybe hosted by a gifting seiverin accordance with the present system.
  • the Gifting Service in turn may use all of the services it depends upon (e.g., a userportal, partner Point-of-Service (POS), payment service, billing service, banking service, messaging service, location service) to generate the gift notification, move the fundsto pay forthe gift, send the gift notification, etc.
  • POS Point-of-Service
  • the arrow with the solid line indicates that the distributed Portal is a specific kind of userportaL
  • the user portal is in this illustrative embodiment, is an interface and application that the gift giver and gift receiver may utilize foraccessing the present system.
  • a Distributed Portal component such as a Bubbletop Widget
  • the distributed portal is considered distributed because it's hosted in another application (e.g., not resident on the gifting server), such as a Bubbletop widget.
  • the gifting server may host a main website where users may sign up for accounts, send gifts, etc., which is an example of a User Portal component that is not hosted in another application.
  • the gifting server may host two or more main websites, website portals, web services, etc.
  • the gifting server may provide housekeeping functions utilizing one or more applications as well as providing a social network for gifting.
  • Gifts sent and/orclaimed may be recorded by the gifting server and in accordance with an embodiment of the present system, may be viewed by other users.
  • groups of users may encourage and/or otherwise comment on gifting activity.
  • viewership of gifting maybe se Ie c tive Iy re stric te d to a defined group of users (e.g., defined group such as the gift giver and/orreceiver) or may be restricted altogether (e.g., anonymous gift wherein even the gift receiver does not know the gift giver) as desired.
  • any user browsing a website provided by the gifting server may view one or more of gifting activity by user, amount, gift type, etc., comment on gift activity, or subscribe to notification on a particular users gifting activities (e.g., via an RSS feed).
  • Io wing are illustrative examples of how the present system maybe utilized by gift givers in accordance with the present system.
  • Alice and Ben are good friends from college, but now live in different cities.
  • Alice sends Ben a designated gift identifying a latte, but redeemable for any similarly priced item.
  • the gift is redeemable at a coffee shop (chain or local establishment as determined by a location partner that identifies coffee shops convenient to Ben) and that may be redeemed at the coffee shop, such as a participating StarbucksTM.
  • Afte r re c e iving notification of the gift Ben may respond by gifting Alice a rose that can be claimed at a participating flower shop that is identified by the system as convenient for Alice.
  • Alice likes the idea of the rose, but is in a position wherein she willnotbe able to redeem the gift for some time, so she decides to re-gift the rose to Cathy.
  • Alice may write a thank-you SMS to Ben for the gift, while Cathy receives the gift rose identified as coming from A ⁇ ce.
  • Cathy may respond with a thank- you SMS to Alice and redeem the gift forthe rose. In this way, the gift given by Ben to Cathy is re -gifted to Alice through use of the present gifting service.
  • the present system may also be utilized to provide a gift to a gift receiver without the gift giver having to obtain personal contact information of the gift receiver.
  • Charlie and Dana may meet online, for example through interaction on an online virtual world, such as Second lifeTM. Charlie may want to send Dana a gift, but doesn't want to askherforherhome address orherphone numbersince theymaynot have yet decided to exchange personal information. While conversing online, Dana may mention an online blog that she maintains. In visiting the blog, Charlie may note a blog widget identifying Dana asa userregistered with the gifting service and which also may, for example, note gifts that Dana has sent and received. The blog widget may include Dana's gifting service usemame or may simply include a link to "forward a gift".
  • the present system may be utilized to initiate a contact without difficulties associated with requesting personal information from the gift receiver.
  • the gifting service maybe utilized to facilitate a collective food order (e.g., a coffee run) as for example may be common in work environments.
  • a collective food order e.g., a coffee run
  • the party conducting the coffee run would have to collect the orders and payment from interested parties. After ordering, receiving and paying for ordered coffees, the party that conducted the coffee run has to distribute the coffees including reconciling any overpayments provided.
  • Bi may decide to make a coffee run on the way to work for his coworkers.
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • the SMS may be designated with a portion of the SMS d e te rmine d by a template and one or more portions determined by the gifting server.
  • the SMS may be broadcast sent to the office group including a timestamp whenthe message is sent.
  • the SMS may read, "11:15am -Leaving nowona coffee run — gift me your StarbucksTM orders before 11:30am! Overthe next 15 minutes, Ed may receive several notifications with each of his coworkers' orders and exact payment for the items provided through the gifting server.
  • Ed may simply page through the received "gift messages" one by one as a cashier scans a barcode associated with each received message fo reach orderand completes the "gift" for each requested item. In this way, E ⁇ , without being present in the office, without handling money, and without even knowing what his coworkers requested, may arrive back at the office with everything ordered.
  • the gifting server may further facilitate this transaction by providing a group message service to solicit the gifts.
  • the gift solicitation may be provided by a widget present on the ultimate gift receiver's device (e.g., the party conducting the coffee run).
  • the gifting service may also be utilized as a secure way of parents providing money to be used by children while enabling restrictions on how the money will be spent by the children. For example, Hank's two kids may want to go out and see a movie, and accordingly, ask Frank for ticket money. Frank wants to send the kids to the movies but wants to make sure they spend the money at the theater and he doesn't like the idea of them carrying cash anyway forsafety reasons. Using the present gifting service, Frank may gift each child the price of a movie ticket and may even restrict the gift redemption to a particular movie theater and/or movie. In addition, Frank may include in the gift or in a separate gift, additional money for snacks, which if desired, may also be limited in which items and/ or service sit may be redeemed for.
  • the present system may also enable an anonymous gift.
  • anonymous refers to an ability to be provided a gift by a gift giver, without the gift giver having any additional contact information for the gift receiver.
  • Greg maybe sipping coffee at his favorite local coffeehouse when Heidi walks in and catches his eye.
  • Greg may notice that Heidi is using her laptop and the coffeehouse's WM connection.
  • Greg decides to see if Heidi has a gifting service account.
  • Greg may log into the gifting serverusing a browser on his mobile phone and enter information so that the gifting server can determine Greg's current location.
  • Greg need not enter location information if his phone has positioning hardware/software, the coffeehouse has a location identification program portion which may supply location information to the gifting serverorhe has opted in to a location-tracking service.
  • the gifting server may identify a list of three otherusers that are in his immediate area that have opted in for location-based anonymous gifting.
  • Greg maybe able to identify Heidiby a headshot next to hergifting serve ruse ma me, enabling Greg to send hera gift.
  • Greg may notice that Heidi's "favorite" coffee drink is a cappuccino so Greg may decide to gift Heidi a cappuccino.
  • Heidi may receive the gift notification as an MMS gift notification including Greg's usemame and/ora picture of Greg, should Greg desire the picture be included.
  • Heidi may decide to log into her account on the gifting server and lookup Greg's pro fOe by his use ma me. After browsing Greg's profile and noticing his picture (either in the profile or as a portion of the gift notification), Heidi may spot Greg in the coffeehouse. After redeeming her cappuccino gift, Heidi may decide to stop by Greg's table to thank him for the gift and to chat.
  • this interaction maybe enabled through the gifting serve rand/ or may utilize an application installed in the coffeehouse that acts as an intermediary to the gifting server.
  • gifts may be aggregated at the gift receiver's discretion or by default as determined by an application running onthe gifting serve rand/ or the gift receiver's device.
  • a gift receiver may collect two or more gifts overtime.
  • the gifts may be aggregated into a single gift, for example at the gift receiver's discretion enabling redemption for a more expensive gift.
  • funds paid by the gift giver(s) reside with the gifting serverand need notbe tied to any vendorin particularif not designated as tied to a vendorby the gift giver(s).
  • a gift receiver may wish to aggregate funds originally targeted by gift givers for different vendors toward a more expensive gift sold by one of the original targeted vendors or a different vendor altogether.
  • the gifting server maybe requested by the gift receiver to delete the two ormore gift notifications and resend a single gift notification with a value equivalent to the two or more gifts received by the gift receiver.
  • the gift may relate to an availability of funds that may be redeemable independent of any particular item or vendor.
  • the gift receiver may combine or retarget a gift (e.g., the funds available in redeeming the gift) irrespective of the originally targeted item orvendor.
  • the present system and devices solves numerous problems in prior systems, and as such, provides a simple solution that is neither burdensome to the gift giver nor the gift receiver.
  • users are enabled to quickly and easily send and claim gifts between each other.
  • gifts sent in accordance with the present system may neverbe lost since, in a case wherein the gift receive r doesn't claim the gift within a certain period of time, the value of the gift may be returned back to the gift sender.
  • the present system provides a syste m o f inc ie a sing the impactofthe giftbythe gift sender specifying that the gift receiver be notified of a surprise gift when they are best able to take advantage of it.
  • the gift receiver receives the gift notification when passing by a location where the gift amount may be redeemed.
  • the gift notification may suggest the receiver redeem the gift for a given purpose, but unless specified o the rwise , the money may effectively be redeemed forany item and/orservice of a specified value.
  • the present system enables users to exchange gifts without having to deal with gift certificates or gift cards. S ⁇ nilaras any conventional transaction with a point of sale system, the gift receiver may add additional funds beyond the value of the gift through one or more other payment methods.
  • the present system enables users to become comfortable with using their mobile devices, such as mobile phones as a means of transacting payment.
  • the present system has the further advantage that users send ing /receiving gifts are assured the money sent is not lost or forgotten about, as typically happens with gift certificates or store gift cards. Since the users may each receive notification when the gift is sent, received, redeemed, nearing expiration, and expired, the likelihood that the gift is redeemed is greatly increased over prior systems. Further, in a case wherein the gift is not claimed, the gift giver receives the value of the giftback, so the value of the gift need neverbe lost.
  • the present system greatly simplifies a gift exchange since users may exchange gifts without even knowing each other's personal information, such as mobile phone numbers. In this way, the present system is useful for users that know each other thro ugh casual interactions, such as online interactions, yet would like to exchange gifts without having to exchange personal information such as a private phone number.
  • the present system enables users to discover business offerings when looking fora gift to send o r whe n re c e iving a gift item to be claimed. In this way, businesses may offer products through the gifting server and provide a catalogue of items and/or services that may be gifted. Further, the businesses may offer discounts on given gifts to promote traffic to theirpointof sale locations.
  • the present system enables the organization, sending and redemption of gifts in a convenient way.
  • the present system enables users such as parents to restrictthe use of gifts to a particular establishment/redemption item.
  • the present system may further pro vide an online social network that a lows users to view and comment on each other's gifting activity, as well as restrict viewing of gifted or received items and/or services to a particular audience.
  • the present system may establish a location-based, real-world social network that allows a user to send or exchange gifts with another nearby user without having ever met the nearby use rand without first having to get any personal information on the nearby user.
  • any one of the above embodiments, processes, and/or Uk may be combined with one ormore other embodiments, processes and/or Ufeorbe separated and/orperformed amongst separate devices or device portions in accordance with the presentsystem.

Landscapes

  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
  • Finance (AREA)
  • Development Economics (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un procédé destiné à proposer un service d’offre de cadeaux. Le procédé consiste à recevoir une sélection de cadeaux et à recevoir un cadeau d'un vendeur; à facturer au vendeur la valeur associée au cadeau; à transférer une notification électronique d’offre de cadeau au récepteur du cadeau; à échanger la notification électronique d’offre de cadeau pour le cadeau si le cadeau est échangé avant la date d’expiration de l’offre de cadeau; et à renvoyer la valeur du cadeau au vendeur lorsque le cadeau expire. L’échange du cadeau peut comprendre la fourniture d'un premier couplage d'un dispositif du récepteur du cadeau à un dispositif de point de vente; l'échange de la notification électronique d’offre de cadeau entre le récepteur de cadeau et le dispositif de point de vente à l'aide du premier couplage; la fourniture d'un second couplage du dispositif du récepteur du cadeau au dispositif de point de vente; et l'échange d'informations d'identification entre le récepteur du cadeau et le dispositif de point de vente à l'aide du second couplage.
PCT/IB2009/051321 2008-03-07 2009-02-19 Système d’offre de cadeaux par ordinateur WO2009109949A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US3450008P 2008-03-07 2008-03-07
US61/034,500 2008-03-07

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2009109949A1 true WO2009109949A1 (fr) 2009-09-11

Family

ID=40886752

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2009/051321 WO2009109949A1 (fr) 2008-03-07 2009-02-19 Système d’offre de cadeaux par ordinateur

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2009109949A1 (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20130339117A1 (en) * 2012-06-15 2013-12-19 Linkabale Networks, Inc. Systems and methods of incentivizing gifting
US9135255B2 (en) 2012-09-26 2015-09-15 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. System and method for making gift recommendations using social media data
US9171326B2 (en) 2012-09-26 2015-10-27 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. System and method for making gift recommendations using social media data
CN113840155A (zh) * 2021-09-22 2021-12-24 广州方硅信息技术有限公司 虚拟礼物的置换方法、系统及计算机设备
WO2022020901A1 (fr) * 2020-07-30 2022-02-03 Onni Pty Ltd Système de remise électronique transfrontalière instantanée de cadeaux convertis en jetons
US20220198383A1 (en) * 2020-12-21 2022-06-23 Sender, Inc. Gift sending platform for business contacts

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20010054010A1 (en) * 2000-05-05 2001-12-20 Bernabeo Gregory S. Electronic redemption system
US20020161640A1 (en) * 2001-03-13 2002-10-31 Jason Wolfe Method for the wireless delivery and redemption of merchant discount offers
US20060095338A1 (en) * 2004-11-02 2006-05-04 Microsoft Corporation Strategies for gifting resources
US20060111967A1 (en) * 2002-09-17 2006-05-25 Mobiqa Limited Optimised messages containing barcode information for mobile receiving device

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20010054010A1 (en) * 2000-05-05 2001-12-20 Bernabeo Gregory S. Electronic redemption system
US20020161640A1 (en) * 2001-03-13 2002-10-31 Jason Wolfe Method for the wireless delivery and redemption of merchant discount offers
US20060111967A1 (en) * 2002-09-17 2006-05-25 Mobiqa Limited Optimised messages containing barcode information for mobile receiving device
US20060095338A1 (en) * 2004-11-02 2006-05-04 Microsoft Corporation Strategies for gifting resources

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20130339117A1 (en) * 2012-06-15 2013-12-19 Linkabale Networks, Inc. Systems and methods of incentivizing gifting
US9135255B2 (en) 2012-09-26 2015-09-15 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. System and method for making gift recommendations using social media data
US9171326B2 (en) 2012-09-26 2015-10-27 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. System and method for making gift recommendations using social media data
WO2022020901A1 (fr) * 2020-07-30 2022-02-03 Onni Pty Ltd Système de remise électronique transfrontalière instantanée de cadeaux convertis en jetons
US20220198383A1 (en) * 2020-12-21 2022-06-23 Sender, Inc. Gift sending platform for business contacts
CN113840155A (zh) * 2021-09-22 2021-12-24 广州方硅信息技术有限公司 虚拟礼物的置换方法、系统及计算机设备
CN113840155B (zh) * 2021-09-22 2024-05-07 广州方硅信息技术有限公司 虚拟礼物的置换方法、系统及计算机设备

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US11652916B1 (en) Screen interface for a mobile device apparatus
US20210174338A1 (en) System and method for enabling a user to choose how to redeem a gift credit
US10460350B2 (en) Digital concierge application
US20200134612A1 (en) Blockchain based messaging system and method
US20200051149A1 (en) Cookieless e-commerce platform
US20110178889A1 (en) A method, medium, and system for allocating a transaction discount during a collaborative shopping session
US20130218682A1 (en) Digital concierge application
US20130173492A1 (en) Collection and distribution of after purchase experience data
US20130138497A1 (en) Customer loyalty system in retail chains and restaurants using web servers, mobile communication devices, and point-of-sale terminals
US10417655B2 (en) Coupon registration and validation system
JP2012508928A (ja) モバイルウォレットシステムを使用して取引を行うシステムおよび方法
US20140351015A1 (en) Methods, systems, devices and arrangements for providing gifts
US20140279034A1 (en) Products, systems, and methods for creating and interacting with a mobile community
US20180240142A1 (en) Intelligent system and method of payment, finance, and social commerce
US10540687B2 (en) Systems and methods for automated mass media commerce
US11915269B2 (en) System and method for tokenizing offers
WO2009109949A1 (fr) Système d’offre de cadeaux par ordinateur
US20140081761A1 (en) Method and system for real-time social gifting
US20200342498A1 (en) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMISSIONING WITHIN A DYNAMIC, ON-DEMAND SALES FORCE AND OFFER DISSeMiNATION
US11397719B1 (en) Database system for triggering event notifications based on updates to database records in an electronic file
US20120116864A1 (en) System, Method, and Computer Readable Medium for Improving e-Commerce through Appointment-based Advertisements
US11475481B1 (en) Systems and methods for automated mass media commerce
US12001419B1 (en) Database system for triggering event notifications based on updates to database records in an electronic file
US11574330B2 (en) Distributed system to enable dynamic, on-demand sales force with merchant, seller and buyer networked
US20200342481A1 (en) System and method for dynamic, on-demand sales force and offer dissemination

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 09718353

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 09718353

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1