Systems and Methods for Price Matching and Comparison

摘要

A method and system for providing a consumer comparative pricing data from at least two merchants is discussed. In one aspect of the invention a customer queries a database containing time and location specific pricing data for competitors of a first merchant. If the query shows that the customer could have purchased the same item or items for a lower price at a competitor, the first merchant awards the customer an on-line credit that is redeemable at the merchant. In another aspect, a consumer uploads an image of a competitor's receipt. The item specific data on the receipt is converted to UPC codes on an item-by-item basis. These UPC codes are then compared against the merchant's pricing database and the consumer is provided data set comparing the prices the consumer paid to the prices the consumer would have paid had the consumer shopped at the merchant.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a server system, a record of a first transaction concluded on a point of sale (POS), the record including a user identifier, one or more item identifiers, and a price paid for each item identifier of the one or more item identifiers; subsequent to the first transaction, identifying, by the server system, for each item identifier of at least a portion of the one or more item identifiers, a third party record, the third party record corresponding to the each item identifier and having a third party price; subsequent to the first transaction, identifying, by the server system, one or more discounted identifiers of the one or more item identifiers, the third party price of the third party record corresponding to the discounted identifiers being less than the price paid for the one or more discounted identifiers by one or more price differences; and crediting, by the server system, an account associated with the user identifier with an amount corresponding to the one or more price differences.