Patent ID: 7334728
Filing Date: 2008-02-26
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method of providing personalized transactional benefits at a point of purchase over a network based on personalized identification information provided by a consumer and stored in a database at one or more servers of the network, wherein a plurality of identification numbers which are used to identify one of the articles of commerce and services is also stored at the one or more servers, each one the articles of commerce and articles associated with the services bearing an indicia on which one identification number is encoded, the method comprising the steps of: providing a mobile device having a camera associated therewith, wherein the mobile device is operably connected to the one or more servers of the network, for capturing the indicia on one of the articles of commerce and services, the indicia being associated with the identification number, the mobile device including a personal identifier to identify the consumer to the one or more servers; capturing an image of the indicia with the camera; processing the captured image with an optical character recognition system to identify the identification number of the product or service by optical recognition of the indicia; transmitting the personal identifier to the one or more servers from the mobile device; retrieving from the database at the one or more servers the identification number associated with the indicia; processing the at least one personal identifier of the consumer at the one or more servers and retrieving from the database the personalized identification information provided by the consumer; classifying the read product or service based on at least the identification number as belonging to a first group; gathering from one or more other servers information related to the first group; displaying at the mobile device location options for purchasing the product or service and comparative information including a comparison between the product or service and one or more other members of the first group; and offering personalized transactional benefits to the consumer from the first server at least in part based on the personalized identification information provided by the consumer and stored in the database at the one or more servers.