WO2012126061A1

WO2012126061A1 - Transactional system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2012126061A1
Application number: PCT/AU2012/000301
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthew John LEAR
Original assignee: Lear Matthew John
Priority date: 2011-03-24
Filing date: 2012-03-22
Publication date: 2012-09-27

Abstract

A transactional system and method for creating accounts for consumers, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods and/or services at least one specific venue for a defined period of time. Each consumers account is associated with an electronically readable token adapted to be carried by the consumer while at the venue during the defined period of time to enable access to account credit to purchase goods and services in response to reading the token. In response to identifiers for goods and/or services and a consumer token being read at a POS terminal, a sale transaction is processed to purchase the goods and/or services using the consumers account credit. Embodiments of the system and method can be particularly suited for use at events or series of events such as music festivals or sporting events.

Description

TRANSACTIONAL SYSTEM AND METHOD

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a transaction system including the use of barcodes and bar-code scanners to perform stock-takes and act as a medium of exchange to produce a reconciled account of the data of the movement of goods and retail purchases. An application of the invention uses this functional capability to assist in the management of events with a large number of attendees within a specified period of time, such as sports and entertainment events, trade fairs and the like.

Background of the Invention

Firstly, the state of the art is that barcodes and the readers of same are the predominant computerized devices enabling the capture and transmission of identifying data for retail items of relatively low value such as pre-packaged food, beverage or branded merchandise ('fast moving consumer goods') to be entered into, stored in and processed by computerized stock-take and inventory

management systems.

Secondly, the redeeming of cash or legal tender, or the use of a debit or credit card, is the predominant method for the purchase of items of this kind. Also, for items of this kind, individual merchants may accept a store-specific loyalty card or even a promise to pay from regular customers.

Events that are held temporarily for a period of time stated in advance, and which must serve large numbers of consumers within that time, have unique security, customer service, and other requirements that often render the commonly accepted means of retail purchase for consumer items impractical.

To date, vendors trading under these unique conditions have often implemented ad-hoc systems of pseudo-currency to enable retail transactions to occur in ways that meet these requirements. For example, cash might be exchanged for tokens at one point, and the tokens are subsequently exchanged for goods or services at another point.

Vendors at events of this kind, like all retailers, require an efficient means of taking stock and completing reconciliations of stock movement, purchases and wastage at the conclusion of the trading session. While it is common place to use barcode scanning devices and computerized back-up systems to conduct stock- takes, prior art has not disclosed systems that perform this function while also providing for the measurement of sales where a pseudo-currency is the medium of retail exchange. ln view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved methods and systems where the payment method for the purchase of goods is an uncommon method or pseudo-currency specifically for use at the event at which the goods are to be sold.

Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a transactional system comprising:

an account module adapted to facilitate for each one of a plurality of

consumers the creation of an account, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods and/or services at least one specific venue for a defined period of time, and associate the created account with an electronically readable token adapted to be carried by the consumer while at the venue during the defined period of time to enable access to account credit to purchase goods and services in response to reading the token;

one or more point of sale (POS) terminals for use at the venue for the

defined period of time, each POS terminal having one or more readers adapted to read consumer tokens and identifiers for goods and services; and

a transaction processing module adapted to use data from the user account module and POS terminals to, in response to identifiers for goods and/or services and a consumer token being read at a POS terminal, process purchase of goods by a consumer using the consumers account credit to complete a sale transaction.

The transaction processing module can be further adapted to transmit a transaction record message directly to a consumer. For example, the transaction record message can be a short message service (SMS) message transmitted to a mobile phone of the consumer.

Embodiments of the system can further comprise a control module accessible to consumers at the venue to enable any one or more of:

associating tokens with consumer accounts;

ad-hoc creation of consumer accounts;

crediting of consumer accounts using conventional means; and

checking of a consumer's account status by the consumer.

Embodiments of the system can further comprise an inventory management system adapted to produce a reconciliation report of stocktake and sales data for goods for sale at the specific venue for the defined period of time, the report being produced by: a) performing a stock-take of goods for sale before starting trading of goods and services;

b) track purchases made during the defined period of time using goods data obtained from the POS terminals;

c) conducting a second stock-take at closure of trading; and

d) compiling data captured in (a)-(c) in any combination to produce a customized report.

Examples of suitable consumer tokens are: bar-coded items, electronic bar codes, a radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, or magnetically coded identifier devices or the like.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of processing transactions, the method comprising the steps of:

creating for each one of a plurality of consumers an account in a

transactional system account module, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods and/or services at a specific venue for a defined period of time;

associating the created account of each consumer with an electronically readable token adapted to be carried by the consumer while at the venue during the defined period of time; and

during the defined period of time when a consumer wishes to purchase

goods or services in response to identifiers for goods and/or services and a consumer token being read at a point of sale (POS) terminal, processing the purchase of goods or services by the consumer using the consumers account credit by a transaction processing module to complete a sale transaction.

In an embodiment the step of processing the purchase of goods and services includes the steps of:

a) confirming a read token is associated with a consumers account and displaying the consumer account details on a display of the POS terminal;

b) tallying goods and services by reading identifiers for goods or services at the POS terminal to determine a total value for the goods and services; and

c) debiting the consumer account by the transaction processing module without requiring manual key entry of items or total order value.

In an embodiment the step of processing the purchase of goods and services further includes the step of sending a transaction record message directly to the consumer. The method can further comprise the step of, at the end of the defined period of time, refunding any credit remaining in consumer's accounts.

In an embodiment the method further comprises the steps of:

a) performing a stock-take of goods for sale by an inventory management system, before starting trading of goods and services;

b) tracking purchases made during the defined period of time using goods data obtained from the POS terminals by an inventory management system;

c) conducting a second stock-take by an inventory management system at closure of trading; and

d) compiling data captured in (a)-(c) in any combination to produce a customized reconciliation report of stocktake and sales data.

Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a transactional system,

Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a transaction method, Figure 3 is a flowchart of an example of a process for making a purchase using an embodiment of the transactional system,

Figure 4 is an example of an embodiment of a transactional system used at an event,

Figure 5 is a series of flowcharts giving examples of actions implemented using an embodiment of the transactional system for an event,

Figure 6 is an example of another embodiment of the transactional system used at an event,

Figure 7 is an example of steps or screens of a mobile application for a purchase transaction.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention provide a transactional system suitable for use at events held at venues for defined periods of time. For example the transactional system may be used for a specific event or series of events such as a music festival, sporting event, conference etc. The system enables purchase of goods or services using an electronically readable token associated with an account set up for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods at a specific venue for a defined period of time while at the venue. An embodiment of the transactional system is shown in figure 1 . The system comprises a transaction processing module 1 10, an account module 120, and one or more point of sale (POS) terminals 130. The system can be permanently or temporarily provided at a venue to enable purchase of goods and services at the venue.

The account module 120 is adapted to facilitate each one of a plurality of consumers to create an account, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods or services at a specific venue for a defined period of time. The account module 120 is also used to associate the created account with an electronically readable token 140a adapted to be carried by the consumer while at the venue during the defined period of time to enable access to account credit to purchase goods in response to reading the token. For example tokens may be a wristband, garment, key ring tag or other device that may be worn by the consumer or that a consumer may carry in a pocket, bag, wallet etc.

One or more point of sale (POS) terminals 130 can be provided at the venue. Post terminals may be portable wireless devices provided for use at the venue or wired devices installed at the venue temporarily or permanently. Each POS terminal 130 has one or more readers 135a-c adapted to read consumer tokens and identifiers such as barcodes on goods or for services when a consumer presents at the point of sale terminal to make a purchase. For example consumer tokens may carry a barcode and the readers may be barcode readers adapted to read the barcodes on tokens and on goods for sale. Any suitable identifier for goods and services may be used, for example conventional barcodes commonly applied to goods packaging by manufacturers or other identifiers such as radio frequency identification RFID tags applied to the goods or on a board to scan for goods or services. For ease of description barcodes are used in the examples described, however it should be appreciated that any suitable machine readable identifier technology can be used. Alternatively a POS terminal may have a barcode reader for goods barcodes and another type of reader, for example radio frequency identification (RFID) reader or magnetic tape reader for reading consumer tokens. A consumer presents at the POS terminal to make a purchase and the consumer token and goods barcodes are read and the read data provided to the transaction processing module 1 10 to process the sale.

The transaction processing module 1 10 is adapted to process purchase of goods or services by a consumer using the consumers account credit in response to reading identifiers on goods or for services and a consumer token at a POS terminal 130. The transaction processing module is adapted to process the sale using the read goods bar code data and the consumer account associated with the token. This transaction is processed within the system. In an embodiment the transaction processing module 1 10 is in data communication with the user account module 120 and POS terminals 130. In an alternative embodiment the transaction processing module and account module are implemented in a distributed manner to operate directly with each POS device for transaction processing, for example using peer to peer technologies, to enable complete sales transactions to be processed at the POS terminal.

It should be appreciated that in conventional sales transactions there are two main actions performed at the point of sale, first the goods or services for sale are tallied to determine the total sale value and second a financial transaction is processed to pay for the goods and services. Recording of items for purchase and processing of payments for the total order occurs in two technically distinct procedures. First a sales clerk tallies items for sale, typically by scanning bar codes on each item using a bar code reader device linked to an inventory/stock

management system to retrieves price data for each item. The inventory

management system can also update stock inventory records. Second, payment for the goods purchased is processed via a separate and distinct process from the tallying of goods.

Conventionally the financial transaction is processed as a separate action from tally the goods and involves either an exchange of cash or an electronic transaction between the consumer's financial institution and the retailer facilitated at the point of sale, for example a credit or debit card payment. For each financial transaction to be processed the retail/POS system must exchange data with the financial institution system or a payments clearing house via a computerized network. This can take several seconds, sometimes as long as minutes to complete where data must be manually entered, for example where a sale amount must be manually entered and/or where a customer must provide a verification number or signature before the transaction is completed. This is undesirable in circumstances where there are a large number of consumers who wish to have purchases processed quickly. At sporting, cultural and musical events at stadia, arenas or temporarily modified outdoor locations and the like there is often a need to serve a high volume of consumers in a short period of time. Such events may also have special trading and security conditions that may render commonly accepted means of retail purchase for consumer items impractical.

In embodiments of the present invention transactions for purchase of goods and services can be effected without needing to communicate with financial institutions or external payment clearing houses. The system processes sales internally using customer accounts associated with tokens read at the POS terminal with the bar codes for goods and services. The process of tallying items for a sale and debiting a consumers account of the sale value is all performed within the system 100. This can simplify sales processes from the perspective of POS operators and consumers. Further, time required to effect sales can be reduced compared to traditional sales using credit or debit cards.

In embodiments of the transactional system a consumer account is established for the express purpose of purchasing goods and services through the system at an event or series of events. Consumers credit their accounts using conventional means prior to the event or series of events, accounts may also be created or topped up during an event. Consumers may also have accounts created and automatically credited by an event organizer. For example, an account may be created when a ticket for an event or series of events is purchased and an amount of credit applied to the account by the event organizer or other sponsor(s). The consumer may add to the credit in their account using conventional means before or during the event or series of events. The credit in a consumer's account is debited when a purchase is made using the token associated with the account. Any remaining funds can be returned to the consumer by conventional means when the account is closed, for example at the end of the entertainment event or event series for which the account was opened. In some cases conditions imposed by event managers may mean that no refunds are given.

It should be appreciated that the system allows transactions for goods and services to be entirely processed and completed within the system during the event. Thus the processing of purchases can be simple and quick from the point of view of consumers and POS operators. No interaction with external financial institutions is required to complete sales. Further, as consumer accounts are prepaid risk of loss or fraud is minimized to the event operators and vendors.

The system 100 can be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware and software. For example, in one embodiment the account module and transaction processing modules may be implemented as software programs executing on one or more network accessible computer system or servers. The account module and transaction processing module may be implemented in the same software. The POS terminals may be implemented using hardware reader devices connected to computer terminals in data communication with the hardware hosting the account and transaction modules. In another embodiment the account module and transaction processing module may be implemented in a distributed manner physically present in the POS terminals. Alternatively the reader and POS terminal functionality may be implemented using software applications on smart phone or tablet devices, for example using in built cameras or other functions for readers and the account and transaction processing modules implemented in these applications or as software executing using cloud computing resources rather than dedicated system hardware resources.

In an embodiment of the system the POS devices and any user interface terminals provided at the venue are adapted for wireless data communication. For example, POS readers may be wireless devices and user interface terminals provided as tablet computing devices which can communicate via a wireless network, for example WiFi or 3G telecommunication networks. In an embodiment these devices communicate wirelessly with the hardware hosting the account module and transaction processing module which may be local to the venue and connected via a local area network such as WiFi or a remote system accessible via the internet. In an alternative embodiment the processing module and account module functionality are implemented in the POS terminals in a distributed manner across the wirelessly connected POS terminals. Using wireless devices for POS and user interface terminals facilitates flexible installation at the venue and is also well suited to temporary system installation. Wireless embodiments of the system are also well suited to venues having little or no permanent infrastructure, such as a farmer's paddock used to hold a music festival. Alternatively embodiments of the system may be permanently installed at venues, for example convention centers or sporting facilities and use wired devices or a combination of wired and wireless devices.

Embodiments of the system can use the same reader device for goods and services as consumer tokens, for example barcodes, identification images, RFID tags or magnetic identifiers etc in tokens and applied to goods and for services. Alternatively two different reader types may be used one for consumer tokens and another for goods and services, for example barcodes on goods and services and RFID for consumer tokens. In this embodiment POS terminals will be provided with readers for each of the user tokens and the identifiers for goods and services. It should be appreciated that in some instances a single reader may be provided, the reader adapted to read the different types of identifiers.

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a transaction method. Figure 4 illustrates an example of the transactional system at an event and with reference to Figure 4 we will give an example of steps that can take place prior to an event, steps that can take place during the event and then finally post event steps. Where appropriate the same reference numerals have been used on all drawings. The system is particularly suited for use in public events such as concerts, shows and sporting occasions where large numbers of people attend a particular site to participate. Purchases of goods and services take place frequently during the event. The person wishing to attend the event first creates an account 200 prior to the event, i.e. when purchasing the event ticket. Alternatively an account is set up for them by a third party. For example a consumer can set up an account 425 with the account module 120 via the internet 450 using a user device 460 such as a personal computer, smart phone, tablet device or the like. An account may be set up upon entry to the event or after entry to the event. Accounts may be set up online, manually in person, or by a third party, for example by event staff. Using a credit card, cash, cheque, direct debit or even a promise to pay the consumer places the account in credit. For example, a consumer can transfer funds from their bank account or credit card using a conventional finance system 470. Accounts may also be credited by a third party such as an event operator or event sponsor. Accounts may also be set up during the event. For example if a consumer has not set up an account prior to the event, this may be done during the event through a user interface accessible from a user device such as a smart phone or a user interface terminal for a control module provided at the venue for this purpose. For example at a gate 410 or a kiosk 420 within the venue. Accounts may also be set up offline within the system by a system operator.

The account 425 must be associated 210 with a computer readable token 140a to be carried by the consumer at the event to purchase goods or services using the account credit. For example, the consumer attends the event with his ticket, at a suitable kiosk 410 outside or inside the event boundary. In an embodiment the consumer presents his ticket and photographic identification to an attendant who then goes online to check the state of the consumer's account 425 prior to issuing a wristband 140a that is linked to the account 425. The consumer then secures the wristband 140a to his wrist and the wristband is appropriately designed so that it cannot be removed without substantially destroying the wristband and rendering it void to a transaction. Thus, once the wristband 140a is on the consumer's wrist it cannot be used by others.

Alternatively the token may be associated with the account on setup and provided to the consumer prior to the event. For example, if a consumer sets up an account at the time of purchasing their event ticket, the token may be sent with the event ticket. Alternatively account information may be provided on the event ticket and this used to associate a token with the consumers account at the event, either at an entry gate or inside the venue at a kiosk or point of sale. Alternatively a consumer may purchase their event entry and set up an account as part of the purchase process and a token is sent to the consumer, associated with their account, which is used both as the event entry ticket and the token for purchasing goods and services during the event. Alternatively a consumer may have an account established for more than one event and the punter simply retains their token for the series of events.

Alternatively consumers may collect tokens from within the event boundary at a kiosk or point of sale. If a consumer sets up an account during the event at a kiosk, or an account is set up for the consumer by an authorised third party such as an event staff member, the token may be provided at the kiosk and associated with the account at setup.

The consumer is granted entry to the event and whilst inside the event boundary 480 can make any number of purchases for goods and services 220. The attendant at each purchase centre 130 scans the goods and services and the wristband barcode ensuring an automatic entry of the goods/service and wristband into the computer. The purchase is then completed and the account debited with the request of the goods and services. At the same time an sms signal can be sent to the consumer's mobile phone. The mobile phone number would have been provided when the account was set up.

An example of a purchase transaction process is shown in greater detail in figure 3. The consumer token is read 300 and the system confirms 310 that the user has an account established in the system. A message may be displayed at the POS terminal to indicate to the attendant that the consumer token is linked to a valid account. The sale items are tallied 320 using the scanned barcode information and the total sale value can be displayed on the POS terminal along with the account credit for the attendant to confirm the sale 330. Once the sale is confirmed stocktake data is updated 340 and the consumer's account is debited 350 by the sale amount, this may be performed in a single operation. Optionally a transaction message sent to the consumer 360. It is desirable to minimize waste and avoid delays caused by printing sales receipts so embodiments of the system send electronic transaction records directly to the consumers, for example using an electronic messaging service such as SMS, email, instant messaging or the like using consumer account information provided when the consumer account was created.

At the end of the event the consumer leaves the event boundary and any credit remaining in their account may be refunded. The sales of products and services are listed in a report and sent to the event management. Unused funds in the consumer's account may be returned to the consumer either through direct transfer to the credit card or bank account or issuance of a cheque. Alternatively consumers may obtain a refund of any remaining credit at a kiosk or customer service centre at the venue before they leave the event. In this case refunds may also be given in cash on the spot. During the event a series of backup systems are provided that allow the consumer to top up an existing account, create a new account, provide general information for the customer and in case of a disaster, adequate recover. Customer support is applied using conventional techniques such as computers, eftpos, tills, including wireless transfers. For example, one or more customer support kiosks may be provided at the venue to provide access to a control module to enable any one or more of:

associating tokens with consumer accounts;

ad-hoc creation of consumer accounts;

crediting of consumer accounts using conventional means; and

checking of a consumer's account status by the consumer. Such a control module may also be used at a gate kiosk by gate staff to initially associate tokens with consumer accounts. Consumers may also be able to access a control module remotely, for example via an internet web site or software application on a smart phone, computer or other user device.

Embodiments of the system can also include an optional inventory management system adapted to produce a reconciliation report of stocktake and sales data for goods for sale at the specific venue for the defined period of time. The report can be automatically produced by the system. The process for inventory management comprises the steps of:

a) performing a stock-take of goods for sale before the defined period for sale of the goods has started;

d) tracking purchases made during the defined period of time using goods data obtained from the POS terminals;

c) conducting a second stock-take when the sale of goods has ceased; and

The management and processing of the two key aspects of purchase processing and stock tracking in event retailing by a single system enables the production of greater and more accurate information, provided faster and in a format more suitable to the unique requirements of event stakeholders.

For example, an improvement over existing art consists in the use of barcodes and barcode scanners as the principal mediums for both the tallying of goods available for sale, and executing the retail exchange of such goods in a manner that avoids the need for any manual key entry, thereby reducing the time required to process sale transactions. By employing a single medium to conduct these two key aspects of retailing, all relevant data can be captured in a single system and process, which has not been possible hitherto. The result is that data is more efficiently processed by computer networks enabling more efficient tracking of the movement and sale of goods, and if desired generation of better reporting, provided faster and in a format more suited to the unique requirements of stakeholders in events of this kind.

This embodiment of the system has advantages in producing a stock reconciliation and sales report for the stakeholders in events or series of events that run for a predetermined length of time at a designated site (or sites) such as sports stadium, exhibition centres, or designated sites temporarily converted for the purposes of holding a sporting or entertainment event.

Embodiments of the invention are designed to meet the needs of stakeholders in events where the trading session is of a temporary nature and for a predetermined duration of time clearly stated prior to the event or series of events.

An example of activities for an event facilitated by the system are shown in the flow chart of Figure 5. The chart is split into three sectors namely sector 1 which is pre-event, sector 2 which is during event, and sector 3 which is post-event.

Initially, during the pre-event sector in an offsite location the consumer creates the account, see 1 .1. Then pre-event at the event site bar staff register deliveries, train staff, take stock and distribute stock, see items 1 .2 to 1.5. These steps 1 .2 to 1.5 are optional and may not be performed for all events or embodiments of the system.

At the entry gate of the event the entry gate staff can verify the accounts and issue the wristbands, see items 2.1 and 2.2. Of course wristbands/tokens may also be provided prior to the event or subsequent to entry to the event. Accounts may also be verified prior, during or subsequent entry. Verification of accounts may also take place as part of a sale.

During the event at points of sale bar sale staff complete the purchase of items, see 2.3. The bar staff scan barcodes for goods (on the goods or on a scanning sheet where this is not practical such as for poured drinks or for services) and the consumer tokens. The sale transaction is then processed using this information alone without requiring any manual keying of order amounts, thus, making the sale simple and quick to conclude. For example purchases can be processed an accordance with the procedure described above with reference to Figure 3. Again during the event at a customer support hut the system support staff can create new accounts and modified the account or top up credit depending on the purchases, see items 2.4 and 2.5.

Optionally, in the post-event chapter at the events site the bar staff can take stock 3.1 and off site or remote from the event site system administrators reconcile sales and stock take, compile reports and send reports, see items 3.3 to 3.5, these steps may also be performed on site. Optionally, remaining credit may be refunded to consumers, see item 3.2, this may be processed off site by system administrators or on site as a cash refunds.

The system described above allows a stock auditing system and financial transaction system using a computer readable token as the parent device. A token reading device is used to register the delivery and distribution of stock within an event site and the usual manner. The financial transaction system allows consumers or use tokens that act as pseudo-currency at a given event whereby the consumer is able to create a personal account, and nominate a value to the account via pre-payment or promise to pay. This pre-payment or promise to pay make take a plurality of forms, including but not limited to, the following:

Cash, cheque, direct debit, a promise to pay via credit card, or a

predetermined contra value.

Upon creating the account in an approved way, the consumer is issued with a computer readable token, these may be worn and made in such a way and of such materials that it cannot be removed without substantially destroying the token and rendering it void for effecting transactions. The token is cross referenced with the account created by the consumer.

At the point of sale, within a site and within a predetermined time frame, when the consumer wishes to purchase goods, the token can be scanned, and the items for purchase are subsequently scanned. Upon the vendor closing the transaction on the POS scanning device, the amount of the transaction is entered into the database system via the POS scanning device, and the corresponding amount is debited from the consumer's account.

The POS device will display a given account balance, in real time, upon reading the token. In addition, the invention allows that, upon closing a unique transaction, the consumer is issued with a record of purchase via Short Messaging Service (SMS) on their mobile phone, if a phone number is included in the account created by the consumer.

The invention allows that, at the conclusion of the event, unused funds, if any, may be automatically returned to an account nominated by the consumer, or retained within the account in exchange for some other predetermined item of value at some future point or for use at a future event. It is also envisaged that in some cases remaining credit is not returned to the consumer.

Upon conclusion of the event, the devices can be used by the vendors and sales staff to perform a stocktake of unsold products. Stocktake data can then be reconciled with delivery data and sales data to automatically provide a complete account reconciliation of the movement and purchase of goods within the specified timeframe at the specified site.

Another example of an embodiment of the transactional system used for an event is shown in figure 6. In this example the embodiment of the transactional system is implemented using a mobile application in POS devices and customer service terminals, for example implemented as smart phone or tablet computer applications, enabling the system to operate entirely wirelessly on site 600.

In this example consumer accounts are set up before, on the day of or during the event and can be set up external to or inside the event boundary. A consumer can have an account set up by event staff when they attend the event, for example at the entry gate or at a kiosk 610 outside or inside the event boundary. For example, a kiosk may be set up at a car park, train or bus station or on a ferry servicing the event to enable consumers to have accounts set up on their way to the event. When a consumer's account is set up the event staff may issue a consumer token 610, such as a wrist band or fob, associated with the account. Alternatively, an electronic bar code image or other electronic identifier may be sent to the

consumer's mobile phone to enable the user's phone to act as their token.

Alternatively, consumers may have already been issued a token with their event ticket, for example a souvenir T-shirt or other item with a bar code or other identifier applied, and this token may then simply associated with a newly created account.

Alternatively a consumer may have set up their account prior to the day of the event. If the user has not already been issued with a token associated with the account they may be issued the token 620 by event staff at the entry gate or at a kiosk 610 inside or outside the event boundary 600.

Consumers may also create accounts or modify already created accounts at a customer service kiosk 630 within the event boundary 600 during the event. For example, if a consumer has not created an account prior to the event they may create a new account and be issued a token associated with the account. If a consumer loses their token during the event or a token is destroyed during the event the consumer may be issued a replacement token at the customer support kiosk 630. The consumer's account is modified to cancel the association with the lost, stolen or destroyed token and associate the newly issued token with the user's account. A consumer may also use the customer support kiosk 630 to top up credit in their account, for example using a credit card or cash payment.

Optionally consumer's may also be able to receive a refund for unused credit in their account, for example as a cash refund or credit back to a credit card or financial institution, from the customer service kiosk 630. Whether or not refunds will be given may be at the discretion of the event organizers and in embodiments of the system where refunds will not be given, the capability for processing refunds may be omitted.

During an event consumers use their token to purchase goods and services using account credit. POS terminals 640 are provided which read consumer tokens and identifiers for goods and services. In an embodiment of the system POS terminals 640 are smart phones running an application for processing purchase transactions, an example of processing steps or screens and messages which may be displayed during transaction processing are shown in Figure 7. A POS staff member is instructed to scan the consumer's token 1 and optionally is displayed a message confirming that the consumer token is registered 2 and associated account details, in particular the account credit. The staff member can be prompted to scan the identifiers for goods and services 2. The staff member then scans the identifiers for goods and services being purchased by the consumer, for example scanning bar codes on a code chart for poured drinks or services or scanning bar codes applied to the actual goods. The total for the goods and services is automatically tallied by the application and a message output displaying the order and requesting confirmation of the sale 3. The sale is confirmed and optionally a transaction record is transmitted to the consumer's mobile phone 4. For the consumer's convenience the transaction record can advise the consumer of the credit value remaining in their account after the transaction. This helps the consumer to know when they may need to top up their account. The mobile application screen can then return to step 1 , ready for the next sales transaction.

The application can also provide a notice to the POS operator if there is insufficient credit in the consumer's account to process the sale. The consumer may change their order to remove some items or the sale transaction may be cancelled and restarted with a reduced number of times. It may be possible for an account to go into debit by a limited amount and if so the POS operator may approve the sale. Optionally an manager may need to input an approval code to enable a sale transaction to be processed where there is insufficient credit.

It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A transactional system comprising:

an account module adapted to facilitate for each one of a plurality of consumers the creation of an account, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods and/or services at least one specific venue for a defined period of time, and associate the created account with an electronically readable token adapted to be carried by the consumer while at the venue during the defined period of time to enable access to account credit to purchase goods and services in response to reading the token;

one or more point of sale (POS) terminals for use at the venue for the defined period of time, each POS terminal having one or more readers adapted to read consumer tokens and identifiers for goods and services; and

a transaction processing module adapted to use data from the user account module and POS terminals to, in response to identifiers for goods and/or services and a consumer token being read at a POS terminal, process purchase of goods and/or services by a consumer using the consumers account credit to complete a sale transaction.

2. A transactional system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transaction processing module is further adapted to transmit a transaction record message directly to a consumer.

3. A transactional system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transaction record message is a short message service (SMS) message transmitted to a mobile phone of the consumer.

4. A transactional system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a control module accessible to consumers at the venue to enable any one or more of:

associating tokens with consumer accounts;

ad-hoc creation of consumer accounts;

crediting of consumer accounts using conventional means; and

checking of a consumer's account status by the consumer.

5. A transactional system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an inventory management system adapted to produce a reconciliation report of stocktake and sales data for goods for sale at the specific venue for the defined period of time, the report being produced by: a) performing a stock-take of goods for sale before starting trading of goods and services;

b) track purchases made during the defined period of time using goods data

obtained from the POS terminals;

c) conducting a second stock-take at closure of trading; and

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the consumer tokens are any one of: bar-coded item, an electronic bar code, a radio frequency identification (RFID) device, or a magnetically coded identifier device.

7. A method of processing transactions, the method comprising the steps of: creating for each one of a plurality of consumers an account in a transactional system account module, credited by conventional means, for the express purpose of allowing the consumer to purchase goods and/or services at a specific venue for a defined period of time;

during the defined period of time when a consumer wishes to purchase goods or services in response to identifiers for goods and/or services and a consumer token being read at a point of sale (POS) terminal, processing the purchase of goods or services by the consumer using the consumers account credit by a transaction processing module to complete a sale transaction.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the step of processing the purchase of goods and services includes the steps of:

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the step of processing the purchase of goods and services further includes the step of sending a transaction record message directly to the consumer.

10. A method as claimed in claim 7 further comprising the step of, at the end of the defined period of time, refunding any credit remaining in consumer's accounts.

1 1 . A method as claimed in claim 7 further comprising the steps of: