Abstract:
Methods, computer readable media and apparatus are disclosed for determining and applying a discount for a customer. In some embodiments, the process includes receiving transaction data that represents a current transaction, receiving a customer identifier of a customer, determining a current transaction time and a last transaction time, determining that a duration between the last transaction time and the current transaction time equals or exceeds a predetermined time period, and determining that the current transaction is a first instance of the customer equaling or exceeding the predetermined time period. Since it was the first time the customer equaled or exceeded the predetermined time period, a discount is applied to the current transaction.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/173,977, filed Jul. 16, 2008, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AND ESTABLISHING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT BASED UPON A CUSTOMER&#39;S VISITS TO A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT”, 
         [0002]    which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/668,967, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AND ESTABLISHING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT BASED UPON A CUSTOMER&#39;S VISITS TO A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT”, filed Jan. 30, 2007, 
         [0003]    which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/049,297, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AND ESTABLISHING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT BASED UPON A CUSTOMER&#39;S VISITS TO A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT”, filed Mar. 27, 1998, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,021 on Jul. 3, 2007. 
         [0004]    The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/673,300, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT FOR A CUSTOMER BASED ON THE FREQUENCY OF THE CUSTOMER&#39;S TRANSACTIONS”, filed Feb. 9, 2007; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/728,226, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT FOR A CUSTOMER BASED ON THE FREQUENCY OF THE CUSTOMER&#39;S TRANSACTIONS”, filed Dec. 4, 2003, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,423 on Mar. 20, 2007; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/166,267, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT FOR A CUSTOMER BASED ON THE FREQUENCY OF THE CUSTOMER&#39;S TRANSACTIONS”, filed on Oct. 5, 1998 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,687,679 B1 on Feb. 3, 2004; which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/049,297, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AND ESTABLISHING A PROGRESSIVE DISCOUNT BASED UPON A CUSTOMER&#39;S VISITS TO A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT filed on Mar. 27, 1998, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,021 on Jul. 3, 2007. 
         [0005]    The above-referenced applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0007]    The present invention relates to frequent shopper systems and more particularly, to frequent shopper systems that reward loyal customers with increasing discounts for regularly visiting a retail establishment. 
         [0008]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0009]    The grocery store industry is a lucrative and highly competitive one. There are approximately 75 large supermarket chains in the United States. The large variety of supermarket chains provides many choices from which to choose from, thus forcing each supermarket chain to aggressively pursue marketing strategies to attract customers and induce customer loyalty to their chain. In an attempt to attract consumers, the grocery store industry has employed a number of different promotions. Despite the supermarkets efforts, customer loyalty is no longer inherent due to the increased competition. 
         [0010]    The conventional methods of attracting and developing customer loyalty used by a supermarket chain include television and radio advertising to promote their stores. In addition, some stores offer free standing inserts (FSIs), coupons, and loss leaders in order to attract consumers. These strategies, however, erode the gross margin without retaining the stores best customers. Furthermore, weekly advertised specials and coupons by their very nature only attract customers for a given time period. Since the specials or discounts vary from week to week, there is no guarantee or likelihood that a store will be discounting exactly what the consumer is interested in buying every grocery trip. Most consumers, therefore, scan the weekly advertisement of every grocery store in their area before doing their weekly grocery shopping and choose to go to the store that most meets their needs. 
         [0011]    Many supermarket chains also have established “superstores” to provide increased convenience for the customers with at least the intent to attract more consumers. These superstores attempt to provide one-stop shopping for consumers by providing a greater variety of goods and services typically not found in conventional supermarkets, such as bakeries, video rental, banking services, automotive parts and recreational equipment. The advantage that these superstores have to attract customers, however, has been tempered by the increased popularity of these type of stores among the different supermarket chains. 
         [0012]    Another attempt to attract customers is the implementation of a frequent shopper card program. This program provides a customer with a frequent shopper card that is presented at the time of purchase. Presentation of the card enables the customer to receive special weekly discounts on specific items purchased. Essentially, these programs act as a paperless coupon redemption system. 
         [0013]    The frequent shopper card programs are also used to track a customer&#39;s shopping habits. The frequent shopper card includes a customer identifier that enables the retailer to identify, record and track a frequent shopper&#39;s purchases. The customer&#39;s shopping history is then used to perform targeted marketing functions, such as compiling mailing lists and sending out advertising material or printing out point-of-sale (POS) coupons to the customer. 
         [0014]    While the frequent shopper card program may succeed in attracting the consumer to the store on an occasional basis, the program does not successfully ensure the loyalty of the consumers. Since most stores have a frequent shopper card program, consumers simply acquire one of these cards for every chain in their area and go to the one that offers the better specials on any particular week or is the most convenient at any given time. The program does not provide any incentive (i.e., reward or penalty) for visiting the store on a consistent basis. 
         [0015]    With the considerable number of supermarket stores in any given area, there exists a need for systems and processes which provide a supermarket the ability to reward a customer for consistent patronage to the supermarket and to promote and reinforce the customer&#39;s loyalty. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    It is a principle object of the present invention to provide new and improved systems and methods for retail establishments to reward customer loyalty and encourage a regular frequency of consumer visits by offering a progressive discount on their purchase. 
         [0017]    In accordance with the present invention, a system for determining a discount for a customer of a retail establishment comprises an input device and a signal processing system. The input device generates an identifier signal indicative of a customer&#39;s identification, and the signal processing system is responsive to the identifier signal. The signal processing system has memory that stores a program. The program directs the processing system to calculate a second discount based on a first discount and a predefined time period defined by a date of a last visit of the customer to the retail establishment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the following drawing figures of which: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a progressive discount system provided in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a point-of-sale (POS) terminal configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a point-of-sale (POS) controller configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of a database table referred to as the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart that illustrates the operations carried out for determining and applying an earned discount to a customer&#39;s current purchase according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart that illustrates the operations carried out for updating the earned discount of the customers&#39; records stored in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of another embodiment of a database table referred to as the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0026]      FIG. 8  is an illustration of another embodiment of a database table referred to as the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0027]      FIGS. 9A-9C  are a flowchart that illustrates alternative operations carried out for determining and applying an earned discount to a customer&#39;s current purchase, and updating the earned discount of the customer&#39;s records stored in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database at the time of purchase according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 10  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a point-of-sale (POS) controller for a progressive discount system configured in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 11  is an illustration of a database table referred to as the COUPON DISCOUNT database in  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0030]      FIGS. 12A-12B  are a flowchart that illustrates operations carried out for determining and applying an earned discount provided on a coupon to a customer&#39;s current purchase, and updating records stored in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD database for tracking the redemption and issuance of discount coupons according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 13  is a diagram of a discount coupon according to the present invention of  FIG. 10 ; and 
           [0032]      FIG. 14  is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a point-of-sale (POS) terminal configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0033]    In accordance with the present invention, there are provided new and improved systems and methods that enable stores to keep track of the consumer&#39;s visits via their frequent shopper card and provide them with a discount that is incremented by a pre-defined amount if the customer visits at least once in every pre-defined time period. The discount may only be incremented once in every pre-defined time period and would be negated if the consumer did not visit at all during the pre-defined time period. 
         [0034]    In this section, the present invention is described with regard to the drawing figures briefly described above. 
         [0035]    As such, the following terms are used throughout the remainder of this section. For purposes of construction, such terms shall have the following meanings: 
         [0036]    The terms “item”, “product”, “goods”, and “services”, unless otherwise specified, are intended to refer to anything sold or offered by a retailer. Accordingly, for purposes of construction, the terms “item”, “product”, “goods” or “services” shall be treated as synonyms. 
         [0037]    The terms “store”, “retailer”, “supermarket”, and “retail establishment”, unless otherwise specified, are intended to refer to any entity that allows customers to purchase products. Retail establishments may be, for example, a retail store such as a warehouse, a supermarket or grocery store, a department store, or any other retail or merchandising establishment. Accordingly, for purposes of construction, the terms “store”, “retailer”, “supermarket”, and “retail establishment” shall be treated as synonyms. 
         [0038]    The terms “customer”, “consumer” and “shopper”, unless otherwise specified, are intended to refer to any person, group of people, or other entity that visits or otherwise patronizes a retailer and who purchases products from the retailer. 
         [0039]    The term “purchase”, unless otherwise specified, is intended to refer to any product or group of products that a customer buys from a retail establishment during a visit. 
         [0040]    The aforementioned and defined terms are used below to describe the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Where appropriate, like terms are referred to with like reference numerals. 
         [0041]    The following paragraphs illustrate the structural and operational aspects of the present invention. The structural aspects are illustrated first and are followed by discussions of the operational aspects. 
         [0042]    In terms of structure, reference is now made to  FIG. 1 . Therein depicted is a block diagram representing a purchasing system  100  for a retail establishment equipped to record and tally a customer&#39;s transaction, apply an appropriate discount to the customer&#39;s transaction, and determine the customer&#39;s discount in accordance with the customer&#39;s last visit. The purchasing system includes a point of sale (POS) controller  102  and a plurality of POS terminals (i.e., POS terminal 1  104 , POS terminal 2  106  and POS terminal N  108 ). POS terminal N  108  is intended to indicate that purchasing system  100  may include any number of POS terminals. Each POS terminal is in communication with the POS controller  102  via a respective data link such as data link  110 , data link  112  and data link  114 . 
         [0043]    In addition, each POS terminal also communicates with a printer and an input device. As shown in  FIG. 1 , printer 1  116  and input device 1  118  are coupled to POS terminal 1  104  via data links  120 ,  122 , respectively. Printer 2  124  and input device 2  126  are coupled to POS terminal 2  106  via data links  128 ,  130 , respectively. Printer N  132  and input device N  134  are coupled to POS terminal N  108  via data links  136 ,  138 , respectively. Printer N  132  and input device N  134  are intended to indicate that the purchasing system may include any number of printers and input devices. Each POS terminal and associated printer and input device are substantially the same and therefore, POS terminal 1  104 , printer 1  116  and input device 1  118  are described with the understanding that the other POS terminals  106 ,  108 , printers  124 ,  132  and input devices  126 ,  134  are the same. 
         [0044]    A link such as link  110  preferably comprises a network connection and/or a serial connection between POS terminal 1  104  and POS controller  102 . For example, link  110  may be a 10 BaseT connection enabling communications between POS terminal 1  104  and POS controller  102 . Of course, many other forms of communication links may be incorporated into the actual implementation for the present invention. Such other data links may include network connections, wireless connections, radio based communications, telephony based communications, and other network-based communications such as via wide area networks distributed via open architectures such as by the Internet. 
         [0045]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , POS terminal  104  is a data processing system including a central processing unit (CPU)  136 , a random access memory unit (RAM)  138 , a read-only memory unit (ROM)  140 , and an internal clock  142 . The POS terminal  104  is adapted to receive data signals from the input device and process the information in combination with data signals received from the POS controller  102  via link  110 . 
         [0046]    Input device  118  generates signals that identify the item being purchased and the identity of the customer. Input device  118  may be an optical scanning device similar to the type found in grocery stores. These scanning devices are capable of reading a coded UPC bar code provided on the item to be purchased and a coded UPC bar code provided on a customer&#39;s Frequent Shopper Card (not shown) which provides the identity or account number of the customer. The scanning device transmits this coded information to POS terminal  104 . 
         [0047]    In addition the input device may be adapted to read information stored in a magnetic storage medium (i.e., a magnetic strip) or a smart card having an integrated circuit containing erasable memory. 
         [0048]    CPU  136  transmits data across link  110  representative of the items being purchased to the POS controller  102  to determine the price of the scanned item. POS terminal  104  receives the price of the item from the POS controller and transmits data of the name and price of each item to printer  116  via data link  120 . Upon receipt of such data, printer  116  prints the information to generate the customer&#39;s sales receipt of the transaction. In addition, POS terminal  104  maintains a subtotal of the transaction as each purchased item is scanned through input device  118 . After the discount is determined by the POS controller  102 , according to the present invention, the POS controller  102  deducts the discount from the subtotal and any applicable taxes are then added to generate a total purchase amount for the transaction. The POS terminal  104  receives this information and transfers the data to printer  116  for printing on the receipt that may include the item purchased, item price, manufacturer&#39;s coupon discount, time/date, subtotal of purchase, applicable taxes, progressive discount, total of purchase. 
         [0049]    In accordance with the present invention, POS terminal  104  also transmits an identifier or account number of the customer to the POS controller  102 , which determines the amount of the discount in accordance with a discount application program and provides the discount amount to the POS terminal  104 . POS terminal  104  completes the transaction and transmits data representative of the subtotal of the transaction, the discount, applicable taxes and the final total of the transaction to printer  116  for printing on the receipt. 
         [0050]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , therein depicted is a block diagram of POS controller  102  as originally depicted in  FIG. 1 . The POS controller  102  is a data processing system such as a computer-equipped automatic data processing system including a central processing unit (CPU)  144 , a random access memory unit (RAM)  146 , a read-only memory unit (ROM)  148 , a clock  150 , and a data storage device  152 . The CPU  144  communicates with POS terminal  104  via data link  110 . 
         [0051]    CPU  144  is coupled to the data storage device  152  via a bus  154  or other well-known, high-speed data communications vehicle or channel. CPU  144  is a computer system of the typical variety adapted to run software programs. Additionally, CPU  144  is configured with communications equipment such as telephony communications and network communications equipment to communicate with POS terminals such as POS terminal  104 . 
         [0052]    Data storage device  152  is an appropriate combination magnetic, semiconductor and/or optical memory. Of course, it will be appreciated that data storage device  152  may be one that consists of multiple disk sub-systems, possibly dispersed geographically and coupled via a network architecture. There is no requirement that data storage sub-system be maintained in one facility; to the contrary, the volume of information stored therein may dictate geographical dispersion. Data storage device  152  need only be logically addressable as a consolidated data source across a distributed environment, such as a network system. The implementation of local and wide-area database management systems to achieve the functionality of data storage device  152  will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. 
         [0053]    As noted above, CPU  144  and data storage device  152  are coupled together in a conventional way via communications link  154 . Communications link  154  may be a bus or network architecture as indicated above. Communications link  154  will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. 
         [0054]    The data storage device  152  stores a FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 , a DISCOUNT APPLICATION PROGRAM  158 , and DISCOUNT UPDATE PROGRAM  160 . The FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  maintains a record for each customer including information relating to the customers earned discount and the customer&#39;s last visit to the retail establishment. CPU  144 , in accordance with the DISCOUNT APPLICATION PROGRAM  158 , retrieves the earned discount from the customer&#39;s record in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  and applies the earned discount to the customer&#39;s current transaction. CPU  144  also, in accordance with the DISCOUNT APPLICATION PROGRAM, records the time and date of the current transaction in the customer&#39;s record stored in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0055]    At pre-defined time periods (e.g. every two weeks), CPU  144 , in accordance with DISCOUNT UPDATE PROGRAM  160 , reviews each customer&#39;s record in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  and updates the earned discounts accordingly. If a customer has visited the store within the pre-defined time period, the customers discount is increased by a pre-defined amount (e.g. 0.5%). If not, the customer&#39;s earned discount is reset to zero. For example, the earned discounts for each record in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  were updated on Jan. 1, 1998 and Jan. 15, 1998 (assuming a two week pre-defined time period). If a frequent shopper visited the store during this time (i.e., Jan. 10, 1998), the customer&#39;s earned discount is incremented accordingly. If not (i.e., Dec. 25, 1998), the earned discount is reset to zero. 
         [0056]    The following paragraphs describe a preferred embodiment of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  as depicted in database table  162 , shown in  FIG. 4 , that is used in the present invention to record the last visit of a customer to a retail establishment and provide an earned discount to the customer&#39;s present transaction. Of course, many changes and alterations may be made to such tables to effectuate certain functionality depending on particular design and implementation details. Such changes and alterations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         [0057]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , therein is a database table  162  for storing records relating to a customer&#39;s loyalty to a particular establishment that maintains a progressive discount system that manages such data. Database  162  (hereinafter referred to as “table  162 ”) is a preferred implementation of FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  as originally illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Table  162  has a column and row arrangement whereby columns define fields and rows define records R 1 -R 3  stored according to the fields defined by the columns. In table  162  there are six columns. Such columns store data related to ACCOUNT NUMBER  164 , CUSTOMER NAME  166 , CUSTOMER ADDRESS  168 , CUSTOMER TELEPHONE NUMBER  170 , EARNED DISCOUNT  172 , and LAST USED  174 . In table  162  record R 1  contains information related to an earned discount assigned to a shopper having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234567 among other specified data. 
         [0058]    Each record R 1 -R 3  is representative of each customer that has a Frequent Shopper Card account at the retail establishment. Each record R 1 -R 3  maintains the customers present earned discount, in the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172 , and the date and time the customer last purchased goods at the retail establishment in the LAST USED field  174 . For example, with regard to record R 1 , Joe Smith having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234567 presently has an EARNED DISCOUNT of 3.5% and his last purchase at the retail establishment was at 2:43 pm on Jan. 27, 1998. Accordingly, Joe Smith will receive a 3.5% discount of his next purchase provided his next purchase is prior to the next update of table  162 . 
         [0059]    Records R 2 -R 3  have the same record format as record R 1  and indicates similar information related to other customers that are identified as frequent shoppers. Accordingly, for purposes of brevity, a detailed review and discussion of records R 2 -R 3  are omitted. 
         [0060]    It is important to note that the structure and arrangement of table  162 , including its columns and fields, may change to suit particular design requirements. Many columns may be added to table  162  to carry out certain functionality control within a data processing system employing a database table like table  162 . Such additions and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         [0061]    The aforementioned discussions were concerned with the structural aspects of a preferred embodiment and corresponding components of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that the POS controller  102  and POS terminals  104 ,  106 ,  108  of purchasing system  100  shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and the database table  156  illustrated in  FIG. 4  have been designed to operate and function together. The flowcharts depicted in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and described below, illustrate how such structures operate together. In particular, described below are the steps carried out by purchasing system  100  within a retail establishment to discount a customer&#39;s transaction by a pre-defined percentage and to periodically update the customer&#39;s earned discount. 
         [0062]    With the aforementioned comments in mind, reference is now made to  FIG. 5 . Depicted therein is a flowchart that illustrates the steps of a preferred process performed by a data processing system, such as purchasing system  100 , for identifying a frequent shopper and applying the appropriate earned discount to the shopper&#39;s transaction. The computer programming necessary to carry out many of the functions stated below will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art of computer programming and will not require undue design and implementation effort. The flow charts of  FIGS. 5 and 6  along with the discussions of the same found herein are sufficient and adequate to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. 
         [0063]    Processing starts at Step S 5 - 1  and proceeds to Steps S 5 - 2  and S 5 - 3  where the POS controller  102  receives the account number encoded on the Frequent Shopper Card and the subtotal of the current customer&#39;s transaction from POS terminal  104 , respectively. As described above, the customer&#39;s Frequent Shopper Card, having a UPC coded information, is swiped through input device  118  which scans the encoded information on the card, including the customer&#39;s account number. The encoded information is transmitted to POS terminal  104  and provided to the POS controller  102  accordingly. 
         [0064]    Thereafter, processing proceeds to Step S 5 - 4 , where CPU  144  retrieves the customer record R 1 , identified by the account number in field  164  of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0065]    At Step S 5 - 5 , CPU  144  retrieves the discount percentage from the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  of the customer&#39;s record R 1 . At Step S 5 - 6 , the dollar amount of the discount is calculated by multiplying the percentage of the earned discount and the subtotal of the current purchase. At Step S 5 - 7 , the dollar amount of the discount is subtracted from subtotal of the purchase and, at Step S 5 - 8 , the final total of the transaction is calculated, for example by adding any applicable taxes to the discounted subtotal calculated in Step S 5 - 7 . 
         [0066]    At Step S 5 - 9 , POS terminal  104  transmits a signal to printer  116  which prints information relating to the discount of the customer&#39;s transaction onto the sales receipt. This information may include the amount of the discount, the discounted subtotal, applicable taxes and final total of the transaction. 
         [0067]    At Step S 5 - 10 , CPU  144  updates the LAST USED field  174  of the customer&#39;s record in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 , as shown in database table  162  of  FIG. 4 , to include the current time and date provided by the internal time clock  150 . 
         [0068]    It should be noted that while CPU  144  updates the LAST USED field  172  of the customer&#39;s record R 1  for every visit, the present invention contemplates the concept of applying a weight to each visit in order to determine whether the visit to the retail establishment is sufficient to be deemed a “true” visit. A “true” visit is defined as a visit that the retail establishment considers to be representative of a loyal customer, not a visit by one who occasionally frequents the retail establishment to purchase a few items. For example, the discount system would not recognize a purchase of less than a pre-defined dollar amount (i.e., ten (10) dollars) as a “true” visit to the retail establishment. As a consequence, the LAST USED field  174  of the database table  162  is not updated with the date of the current transaction, and therefore may result in the customer&#39;s earned discount being reset if this visit is the customer&#39;s only visit to the retail establishment within the pre-defined time period. 
         [0069]    The concept of applying a weight to a customer&#39;s visit may also be used in determining whether a customer&#39;s transaction is discounted. For example, the discount system would not discount the current transaction unless the subtotal of the purchase is at least a pre-defined dollar amount (i.e., ten (10) dollars). 
         [0070]    Accordingly, the operations carried out in  FIG. 5  illustrates steps for discounting a loyal customer&#39;s purchase in accordance with the discount earned by the customer. 
         [0071]    Reference is now made to  FIG. 6 . Depicted is a flowchart that illustrates the steps of a preferred process performed by a data processing system, such as purchasing system  100 , for updating the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  of each record R 1 -R 3  of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  in accordance with the last date, stored in the LAST USED field  174 , that each respective customers has made a purchase at the retail establishment. The retail establishment executes this process at pre-defined time periods (i.e. every two weeks). One will recognize that this time period may be set for any desired length of time, however, the time period should be representative of the typical frequency that a loyal customer would visit the retail establishment. The computer programming necessary to carry out many of the functions stated below will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art of computer programming and will not require undue design and implementation effort. 
         [0072]    Processing starts at Step S 6 - 1  and immediately proceeds to Step S 6 - 2  where CPU  144  of the POS controller  102  retrieves a customer record from the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  depicted in database table  162  of  FIG. 4 . In Step S 6 - 3  the POS controller  102  retrieves the transaction date from the LAST USED field  174  of the retrieved customer record R 1 . 
         [0073]    Thereafter, processing proceeds to Step S 6 - 4 , where CPU  144  compares the last transaction date of the customer stored in the LAST USED field  174  with the date of the previous update of the records of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . In other words, the previous update corresponds to the date that the DISCOUNT UPDATE PROGRAM  160  was last executed. If the customer&#39;s last transaction date was before the previous update of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 , the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172 , at Step S 6 - 5 , is set to zero percent. The harshness of resetting the earned discount to zero percent is intended to provide greater incentive for the customer to visit the retail establishment on a regular basis. This harshness may be tempered by reducing the earned discount in accordance with any number of criteria. For example, the earned discount may be decreased by a pre-defined value each time the customer fails to visit the store within the pre-defined time period. Alternatively, the updating process may not penalize the customer after a first instance in which the customer fails to visit the retail establishment in the pre-defined period, but instead postpone the penalty for a subsequent failure. This alternative may be used to prevent a loyal customer who, for instance, may have been away on vacation from being penalized. As one skilled in the art will appreciate that the penalty for not visiting the retail establishment may be determined in a number of different ways. 
         [0074]    If, at Step S 6 - 4 , the customer&#39;s last transaction was after the previous update of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 , the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172 , at Step S 6 - 6 , is incremented by a pre-defined percentage value (i.e., 0.5%). For example, if the present earned discount is 2.0 percent, the earned discount is incremented to 2.5 percent (assuming the percentage value increment is 0.5%). The earned discount that can be earned by any frequent customer may be limited to a pre-defined percent, such as 5.0%. Once the earned discount has achieved this maximum discount value, the earned discount field will not be incremented and will, at best, remain at the maximum discount value. 
         [0075]    At Step S 6 - 7 , after the earned discount of a customer&#39;s record is updated, CPU  144  retrieves the next customer record R 2  from the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . CPU  144  then updates the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  for the next customer record R 2  in accordance with Steps S 6 - 3  through S 6 - 6 . Steps S 6 - 3  to S 6 - 7  are repeated until all of the customer records of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  are updated, at which time the update of the database  156  is complete. 
         [0076]    Accordingly, by performing the steps of  FIG. 6 , the earned discount defined in the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  of each customer record R 1 -R 3  is updated. 
         [0077]    It should be noted that while the reward to the loyal customer is a discount applied to the customer&#39;s current transaction, the present invention is not so limited. To the contrary, the present invention contemplates that the discount may be in the form of a dollars off each transaction with the amount of dollars off increasing with continued loyalty to the retail establishment. Further, instead of the reward being a discount to the customer&#39;s transaction, the reward may be in other forms unrelated to the purchase or retail establishment, such as frequent flier miles, free time for long distance calling, or other reward incentives. 
         [0078]    It should be further noted that while the discount is applied to the entire transaction, the present invention contemplates that the earned discount may be applied to a specific item purchased. For example, the discount system may reward a customer&#39;s loyalty to a brand of product. If the customer purchases a defined product within a pre-defined time period, the customer discount is incremented. The customer&#39;s discount on the product will continue to be incremented to a maximum discount value, provided the customer purchases the product within each successive pre-defined time period. If the purchaser fails to purchase the product in the pre-defined time period, the discount may be reset to zero percent. 
         [0079]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , therein is a database table  176  for storing records R 1 -R 3  relating to a customer&#39;s loyalty to a particular product that is an alternative embodiment of the table  162  of  FIG. 4 , as described above. Table  176  has a column and row arrangement whereby columns define fields and rows define records R 1 -R 3  stored according to the fields defined by the columns. In table  176  there are seven columns. Such columns store data related to ACCOUNT NUMBER  164 , CUSTOMER NAME  166 , CUSTOMER ADDRESS  168 , CUSTOMER TELEPHONE NUMBER  170 , EARNED DISCOUNT  172 , DATE LAST USED  174 , and DISCOUNT ITEMS  178 . 
         [0080]    Database table  176  includes the columns of the table  162  of  FIG. 4 , and table  176  further includes an additional field  178 , DISCOUNT ITEMS, for each record. The DISCOUNT ITEMS field  178  includes the UPC code numeric code to identify the product and the alphanumeric name of the product. The DISCOUNT ITEMS field  178  identifies the product that receives the discount stored in the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172 . In table  176  record R 1  contains information related to an earned discount for a DISCOUNT ITEMS  178  of DIET PEPSI assigned to a shopper having an ACCOUNT NUMBER  164  of 1234567 among other specified data. 
         [0081]    Records R 2 -R 3  have the same record format as record R 1  and indicates similar information related to other customers that are identified as frequent shoppers. Accordingly, for purposes of brevity, a detailed review and discussion of records R 2  and R 3  are omitted. 
         [0082]    An alternative embodiment to the process of applying the earned discount and updating the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  is depicted in  FIGS. 9A-9C . This embodiment updates the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156  in real time and thereby eliminates the process of updating all the records R 1 -R 3  of the database  156  at pre-defined time periods, as described in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-6 . In other words, the earned discount of each customer record R 1 -R 3  of the database  156  is updated accordingly at the time of each customer transaction. The structure of the system is substantially the same as that shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . The data storage device  152 , shown in  FIG. 3 , of this embodiment combines the process of the DISCOUNT APPLICATION PROGRAM  158  and the DISCOUNT UPDATE PROGRAM  160 . In addition, the database table  180  of  FIG. 8  is an alternative embodiment of the table  162  (see  FIG. 4 ) as described hereinabove, except table  180  includes an additional field  182 , DISCOUNT UPDATED, for each record R 1 -R 3 . The DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  includes the time and date that the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  was last changed. The data stored in DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  provides the measuring period for determining when the earned discount should be changed or remain the same. The importance and function of the data provided in the DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  will become apparent in the description of the process of the system as shown in the flowcharts of  FIG. 9A-9C . 
         [0083]    Each record R 1 -R 3  is representative of a customer that has used a Frequent Shopper Card at the retail establishment. Each record R 1 -R 3  maintains the customers present earned discount at field  172 , the date and time the customer last purchased goods at the retail establishment at field  174 , and the date that the earned discount was last updated at field  182 . For example, with regard to record R 1 , Joe Smith having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234567 presently has an EARNED DISCOUNT of 3.5%, his last purchase at the retail establishment was at 2:43 pm on Jan. 27, 1998, and the EARNED DISCOUNT field was last updated (from 3.0% to 3.5%, assuming an increment of 0.5%) at 8:21 pm on Jan. 14, 1998. 
         [0084]    The flowcharts depicted in  FIGS. 9A-9C  illustrate the process of updating and applying the earned discount of the system shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  7  at the time of the customer&#39;s transaction. 
         [0085]    With the aforementioned comments in mind, reference is now made to  FIG. 9A . Depicted is a flowchart that illustrates the steps of a preferred process performed by a data processing system, such as purchasing system  100 , for discounting a customers transaction and updating the customer&#39;s earned discount in real time in accordance with the loyalty of the customer to the retail establishment. The computer programming necessary to carry out the functions described below will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The flowcharts of  FIGS. 9A-9C  along with the discussions of the same found herein after are sufficient and adequate to enable one skilled in the art of computer programming to make and use the present invention. 
         [0086]    Processing starts at Step S 9 - 1  and immediately proceeds to Step S 9 - 2  and S 9 - 3  where the POS controller  102  receives the subtotal of the customer&#39;s transaction, and the account number in field  164  encoded on the Frequent Shopper Card from POS terminal  104 . 
         [0087]    Thereafter, processing proceeds to Step S 9 - 4 , where CPU  144  retrieves the customer record R 1 , identified by the account number in field  164 , from the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0088]    At Step S 9 - 5 , CPU  144  retrieves the transaction date from the LAST USED field  174  of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0089]    Thereafter, processing proceeds to Step S 9 - 6 , where CPU  144  compares the date of the current transaction with the transaction date from the LAST USED  174  field of the database  156 . If the current transaction date is more than a first pre-defined time period (i.e. two weeks) after the transaction date from the LAST USED field  174  of the database, CPU  144  sets the discount from the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  of the customer&#39;s record R 1  to zero percent (0%) at Step S 9 - 7 . At Step S 9 - 11 , the time and date of the current transaction is recorded in the DISCOUNT UPDATED and LAST USED fields  180 ,  174 , respectively, of the customer&#39;s record R 1  in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0090]    At Step S 9 - 6 , if the current transaction date is less than the first pre-defined time period after the transaction date from the LAST USED field  174  of the database, the transaction date from the DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  of the database, at Step S 9 - 8 , is retrieved. 
         [0091]    At Step S 9 - 9 , the date of the current transaction is compared to the transaction date from the DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . This step is to determine whether the customer&#39;s current transaction is later than a second pre-defined time period (i.e. two weeks) since the last time the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  has been updated. If so, the customer&#39;s discount is incremented. If not, the customer&#39;s discount remains the same. 
         [0092]    Accordingly, if the current transaction date, at Step S 9 - 9 , is later than the second pre-defined period after the transaction date of the DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182 , a pre-defined increment, at Step S 9 - 10  is added to the EARNED DISCOUNT field  172  of the database. At Step S 9 - 11 , the time and date of the current transaction is recorded in the DISCOUNT UPDATED and LAST USED fields  182 ,  174 , respectively, of the customer&#39;s record R 1  in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . This step effectively resets the time period (i.e., two weeks) for updating the earned discount. 
         [0093]    At Step S 9 - 9 , if the current transaction date is less than the second pre-defined time period (i.e., two weeks) after the transaction date of the DISCOUNT UPDATE field  182  of the database, the EARNED DISCOUNT and DISCOUNT UPDATE fields  182 ,  174 , respectively, remains unchanged, and the time and date of the current transaction is recorded in the LAST USED field  174  of the customer&#39;s record R 1  in the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . 
         [0094]    At Step S 9 - 13  after the EARNED DISCOUNT, DISCOUNT UPDATED and LAST USED fields  172 ,  174 ,  182 , respectively, of the customer&#39;s record R 1  is updated, the discount percentage from the EARNED DISCOUNT field of the customer&#39;s record is retrieved. At Step S 9 - 14 , the dollar amount of the discount is calculated by multiplying the percentage of the earned discount and the subtotal of the current transaction. At Step S 9 - 15 , the dollar amount of the discount is subtracted from subtotal of the current transaction and at Step S 9 - 16 , the final total of the transaction is calculated, for example by adding any applicable taxes to the discounted subtotal calculated in Step S 9 - 15 . 
         [0095]    At Step S 9 - 17 , POS terminal  104  transmits a signal to printer  116  which in turn prints information relating to the discount to the customer&#39;s transaction onto the sales receipt. This information may include the amount of discount, the discounted subtotal, the applicable taxes and the final total of the transaction. 
         [0096]    Accordingly,  FIGS. 9A-9C  illustrate steps that are carried out according to the present invention to discount a loyal customer&#39;s purchase in accordance with the discount earned by the customer, and to update the earned discount of each individual customer. 
         [0097]    The following description provides an example of the process illustrated in  FIGS. 9A-9C  in reference to the customer records R 1 -R 3  shown in  FIG. 8 . First, it is assumed that date of the current transaction is Feb. 1, 1998, the pre-defined time period to update the earned discount is two weeks, and the pre-defined discount increment is 0.5%. For record R 1  having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234567, the EARNED DISCOUNT would be increment from 3.0% to 3.5% because Joe Smith&#39;s last transaction was less than two weeks ago and the last discount update was longer than two weeks ago. Further, both the DISCOUNT UPDATED and LAST USED fields  182 ,  174 , respectively would be updated to Feb. 1, 1998. For record R 2  having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234568, the EARNED DISCOUNT would be reset from 0.5% to 0.0% because Jane Doe&#39;s last transaction was more than two weeks ago. Further, both the DISCOUNT UPDATED and LAST USED fields  182 ,  174 , respectively, would be updated to Feb. 1, 1998. For record R 3  having an ACCOUNT NUMBER of 1234569, the EARNED DISCOUNT would remain at 1.0% because John Jones&#39; last transaction and the previous discount update were both less than two weeks ago. Further, only the data of the LAST USED field  174  would be updated to Feb. 1, 1998. 
         [0098]    Another embodiment of the POS Controller  102  of a purchasing system  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 10  wherein the discount is offered in the form of a coupon  183  (similar to that shown in  FIG. 13 ). This system  100  eliminates the need to provide a record R 1  of each customer as required in the previous embodiments of the present invention. The structural features of the purchasing system  100  that issues discount coupons  183  to loyal customers are substantially similar to the embodiment of the present invention described in connection with  FIGS. 1-3 , with the exception that the data storage device  152  does not include a FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE  156 . This embodiment may, however, include a COUPON DISCOUNT DATABASE  184  which records data relating to the issuance and redemption of coupons to track the success of the redemption of the coupons  183 . 
         [0099]    Referring now to  FIG. 11 , database table  186  (hereinafter referred to as “table  186 ”) is a preferred implementation of COUPON DISCOUNT DATABASE  184  as originally illustrated in  FIG. 10 . Table  186  has a column and row arrangement whereby columns define fields and rows define records R 1 -R 6  stored according to the fields defined by the columns. In table  186  there are eight columns shown. The columns store data related to RECORD IDENTIFIER  190 , EARNED DISCOUNT  192 , ISSUE DATE  194 , TOTAL # ISSUED  196 , TOTAL # REDEEMED  198 , REDEEM DATE 1  200 , REDEEM DATE 2  202  and REDEEM DATE N  204 . Field REDEEM DATE N  204  is intended to indicate that table  186  may include any number of REDEEM DATE fields. In table  186  record R 1 , identified by a RECORD IDENTIFIER of “1”, contains information related to the coupons  183  issued on Jan. 1, 1998 having an earned discount value of 0.5%. 
         [0100]    Each record R 1 -R 6  is representative of the information relating to the redemption and issuance of coupons  183  issued on a given date stored in ISSUE DATE field  194  having a common discount value stored in EARNED DISCOUNT field  192 . Each record R 1 -R 6  maintains the total number of coupons  183  issued on the given day, stored in the 
         [0101]    TOTAL # ISSUED field  196  having a common earned discount value, and the total number of these coupons that were redeemed, stored in the TOTAL # REDEEMED field  198 , and the total number of coupons redeemed on each date, stored in the respective REDEEM DATE fields  200 ,  202 ,  204 . For example, with regard to record R 1 , thirty-two (32) coupons having a 0.5% discount value were issued on Jan. 1, 1998. Of the thirty-two (32) coupons issued, three (3) coupons were redeemed on date 1, eleven (11) coupons were redeemed on date 2 and zero (0) coupons redeemed on date N. 
         [0102]    Records R 2 -R 6  have the same record format as record R 1  and indicates similar information relating to the total number of coupons of a specific discount value that were issued on a given day and information relating to the redemption of these coupons. Accordingly, for purposes of brevity, a detailed review and discussion of records R 2 -R 6  is omitted. 
         [0103]    The relationship of table  186  to other data processing systems and databases utilized in the preferred embodiment will be clear from the description regarding  FIGS. 12A-12B . It is important to note, however, that the structure and arrangement of table  186 , including its columns and fields, may change to suit particular design requirements. Many columns may be included in table  186  to carry out certain functionality and control within a data processing system employing a database table like table  186 . Such additions and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         [0104]    The aforementioned descriptions were concerned with the structural aspects of the preferred embodiments and corresponding components of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that the POS controller  102 , POS terminal  104 , input device  118  and printer  116  of  FIGS. 2 and 10  and the database table  186  illustrated in  FIG. 11  operate and function together. The flowcharts depicted in  FIGS. 12A and 12B  and described below illustrate how such structures operate together. In particular, described below are the steps carried out by purchasing system  100  within a retailer to redeem a discount coupon  183  and issue another wherein the discount value of the new coupon is determined in accordance with the loyalty of the customer to the retail establishment. 
         [0105]    With the aforementioned comments in mind, reference is now made to  FIGS. 12A and 12B . Depicted therein is a flowchart that illustrates the steps of a process performed by a data processing system, such as purchasing system  100  as depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 10 , for redeeming a discount coupon and issuing a new coupon in accordance with the loyalty of the customer to the retail establishment. The computer programming necessary to carry out many of the functions stated below will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         [0106]    Processing starts at Step S 12 - 1  and immediately proceeds to Step S 12 - 2  where the coupon bar code  206  (described in detail in  FIG. 13 ) is scanned by input device  118  as the coupon  183  is swiped therethrough. Input device  118  then transmits the encoded bar code to POS terminal  104 . The POS controller  102  then receives the bar code from POS terminal. In Step S 12 - 3 , the POS controller  102  decodes the coupon bar code  206  to identify the coupon  183  as a progressive discount coupon by an encoded identifier. 
         [0107]    Thereafter, processing proceeds to Step S 12 - 4 , where CPU  144  retrieves the issue date of the coupon  183  provided in the bar code on the coupon, and, in Step S 12 - 5  compares the issue date of the coupon with the present transaction date. If the time period therebetween is greater than a pre-defined time period (i.e., 2 weeks), the coupon, at Step S 12 - 6 , is deemed to have expired and a message is provided to the customer. At Step S 12 - 7 , the earned discount is set to zero percent. 
         [0108]    If the determined time period is within the pre-defined time period, the earned discount that is encoded on the coupon  183  and provided in the bar code  206  is received at Step S 12 - 8 . 
         [0109]    At Step S 12 - 9 , the dollar amount of the discount is calculated by multiplying the percentage of the earned discount and the subtotal of the current transaction provided to POS terminal  104 . At Step S 12 - 10 , the dollar amount of the discount is subtracted from subtotal of the current transaction, and at Step S 12 - 11 , the final total of the transaction is calculated, for example by adding any applicable taxes to the discounted subtotal calculated in Step S 12 - 10 . 
         [0110]    At Step S 12 - 12 , POS terminal  104  transmits a signal to printer  116 , which in turn prints information relating to the discount to the customer&#39;s transaction onto the sales receipt. This information may include the amount of discount, the discounted subtotal, the applicable taxes and the final total of the transaction. 
         [0111]    At Step S 12 - 13 , the earned discount value of the new coupon  183  is determined. A process for determining the new coupon value is illustrated in  FIGS. 9A-9C  at Steps S 9 - 8  to S 9 - 10 . The encoded data on the coupon  183  would include a date when the earned discount value of the coupon was last changed, similar to the date stored in the DISCOUNT UPDATED field  182  of Table  180  of  FIG. 8 . If the time period between the current transaction and the transaction when the earned discount was last changed is greater than a pre-defined time period (e.g., 2 weeks), the earned discount is increased by a pre-determined increment (e.g., 0.5%). If not, the earned discount remains the same as the current coupon value. For expired coupons, the coupon is reset to be a pre-defined discount (e.g., 0.5%). 
         [0112]    Another process for determining the earned discount value would be to increase the current earned discount by a predetermined amount each time a coupon is redeemed within a predefined time period. For example, a coupon currently having an earned discount of 2.5% will be increased to 3.0% (assuming the pre-defined amount is 0.5%). For expired coupons, the coupon value of 0.0% would be increased to 0.5%. 
         [0113]    At Step S 12 - 14 , a new coupon is issued to the customer. The coupon may be a paper form that is issued by a point of pickup unit which may be one similar to an automatic coupon dispensers commonly found in grocery stores. In this way, a customer can immediately receive another coupon for immediate use. Of course, coupons could also be mailed or sent via other communication vehicles such as electronic mail and via the Internet to a particular customer. Furthermore, the coupons could even be printed at the bottom of the sales receipts. 
         [0114]    Thereafter, at Step S 12 - 15  the POS controller  102  retrieves the redeemed coupon&#39;s record R 2  in the COUPON DISCOUNT DATABASE  184  according to the issue date and the discount value of the coupon. For example, referring to  FIG. 11 , the POS controller  102  would retrieve record R 2  having a RECORD IDENTIFIER value of “2” for a redeemed coupon having an EARNED DISCOUNT of 1.0% that was issued on Jan. 1, 1998. 
         [0115]    At Step S 12 - 16 , the TOTAL # REDEEMED and appropriate REDEEM DATE fields  198 ,  200 ,  202 ,  204 , respectively, of the originally issued record are incremented by one. Again using record R 2  as an example, TOTAL # ISSUED field  196  and appropriate redeem date (assuming REDEEM DATE 1  200 ) are incremented from “37” to “38” and from “4” to “5”, respectively. 
         [0116]    At Step S 12 - 17 , the record R 6  for the newly issued coupon  183  is retrieved from the COUPON DISCOUNT DATABASE  184  according to the issue date and discount value of the new coupon. For example, POS controller  102  would receive record R 6  having a RECORD IDENTIFIER value of “6” for a new coupon and a new earned discount value of 1.0% that was issued on Jan. 2, 1998. 
         [0117]    At Step S 12 - 16 , the TOTAL # ISSUED field  196  of the newly issued record R 6  is incremented by one. Again using record R 6  as an example, TOTAL # ISSUED is incremented from “79” to “80”. 
         [0118]    Accordingly, the operations carried out in  FIGS. 12A and 12B  illustrate the steps that are carried out according to the present invention to discount a loyal customer&#39;s purchase in accordance with the discount coupon earned by the customer, and updating and issuing another discount coupon to the customer. 
         [0119]    Referring now to  FIG. 13 , therein depicted is a discount coupon  183  representative of the percentage discount the customer will receive off his next purchase at the retail establishment. In particular, the coupon  183  provides a discount of 5% off the customer&#39;s next purchase at ABC grocer, provided the visit is made between the dates of Jan. 8, 1998 and Jan. 15, 1998 along with the incentive that redemption of the coupon within the defined time period will result in an even higher discount. Otherwise, the discount coupon is invalid. 
         [0120]    Additionally, the coupon  183  includes an identification number  206  corresponding to the coupon identifier and among other information. That item number may be in the form of a UPC or other bar code, or may be a string of alpha and/or numeric characters that are to be scanned or keyed into an input device. The bar code may include an identifier, the issue date of the coupon, the discount value of the coupon, last date a coupon was used, and the previous date the earned discount value was changed. This type of information could be encoded using the UCC/EAN code  128 . Code  128  is a bar code that uses various compression techniques and is capable of encoding the full ASCII character set and encoding data can be of any length. Alternatively, the information on the coupon may be encoded using a two-dimensional (“2D”) bar code format. The 2D bar code format enables a substantial amount of information to be provided on the coupon in a very small area. 
         [0121]    The embodiment of the present invention illustrated by  FIGS. 10-13  provides a coupon including the data used to apply a discount and issue a new coupon in accordance with the date of the customer&#39;s last visit. One skilled in the art, however, will appreciate that the data encoded (i.e., identifier, discount, issue date, etc.) on the coupon may be stored within an alternate embodiment of the FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DATABASE as shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  7  and  8 . In this alternative, the coupon may simply include an identifier, such as an account number, to retrieve a customer&#39;s record in the database. The identifier may be a pointer which is used to access the appropriate record in the database. 
         [0122]    The POS controller  102  then retrieves and updates the data stored in the record identified by the coupon. The coupon value (earned discount) for all records may be simultaneously updated periodically, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , or each coupon value may be updated individually at the time of each customer&#39;s visit as illustrated in  FIGS. 9A-9C . 
         [0123]    Referring to  FIG. 14 , another embodiment of a POS terminal  210  includes a control device  212  which is in communication via a communication medium  214  with a system  216  for printing receipts and/or coupons. The control device  212  comprises a processor  218  that is in communication with an input device  220  and a display device  222 . The system  216  for printing comprises a processor  224  in communication with a storage device  226  and a printer  228 . In this embodiment, the control device  212  may be a cash register, and the system  216  may be an electronic device for printing coupons in accordance with data received from the cash register. Other configurations of POS terminals will be understood by those skilled in the art. 
         [0124]    Accordingly, having fully described the present invention by way of example with reference to the attached drawing figures, it will be readily appreciated that many changes and modifications may be made to the invention and to any of the exemplary embodiments shown and/or described herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.