Consolidating Discount Data for Fast Checkout
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Solution Overview
Problem
In offline shopping environments, such as malls and marts, customers face inconvenience when trying to apply multiple discount means like membership cards, coupons, and gift certificates during payment, leading to increased standby times at checkout counters due to the need to present and verify each discount method.
Innovation Solution
A smart shopping method using a user terminal that receives and transmits information about available benefit means to a shopping management server, generating a transaction serial number for indexing and a payment serial number, which are then used to facilitate quick payment processing by an affiliated store terminal, eliminating the need for separate presentation of each discount method.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a purchaser presents multiple discount means (membership cards, coupons, gift certificates) separately during payment, then the purchaser can apply multiple discounts, but the payment process becomes complex and standby time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple discount means (membership cards, coupons, gift certificates) into a single digital benefit information structure that can be transmitted and processed together. The benefit information transmission unit consolidates multiple discount types into one unified data package, eliminating the need to present and verify each discount separately at the checkout counter.
Solution Approach 2:
The shopping management server acts as an intermediary that receives benefit information from the user terminal, validates multiple discount types, and returns processed benefit information to the store terminal. This intermediary handles the complexity of multiple discount validations centrally, simplifying the point-of-sale process while maintaining full discount application capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a purchaser presents multiple discount means separately at the checkout counter, then all discount options are available, but the total standby time increases due to sequential verification
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation and processing of multiple discount types before the actual payment transaction. The shopping management server pre-verifies the validity, expiration dates, and compatibility of multiple discount means in advance, so that when the user presents the consolidated benefit information at the checkout counter, the verification is already complete or can be rapidly executed without sequential delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The benefit information transmission unit continuously transmits and updates benefit information to the store terminal without interruption. The system maintains continuous communication between the user terminal, shopping management server, and store terminal to ensure that benefit information is always current and ready for immediate processing, eliminating idle waiting periods between discount verifications.
3Reliability
If the system processes multiple discount means sequentially, then each discount can be verified individually, but the payment processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sequential verification operations into a single parallel processing operation. The shopping management server receives all benefit information at once and processes multiple discount validations simultaneously using parallel computing operations, rather than verifying each discount sequentially. This maintains comprehensive verification accuracy while dramatically reducing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the processing parameter from sequential to parallel operation. By transforming the verification process into a concurrent operation where multiple discount types are validated simultaneously rather than one after another, the system maintains thorough verification while increasing processing speed. The benefit information structure enables this parameter change by organizing data for parallel processing.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a smart shopping method using a user terminal. Use information of various benefit means available to a user may be previously checked, set, and stored, and when making a payment, a transaction serial number may be presented to an affiliated store terminal, thereby enabling all benefit means to be easily applied. Also, since a payment serial number is presented along with a transaction serial number, a mobile payment to which a benefit means is applied may be performed by presenting only a user terminal, thereby enabling a user of the user terminal to shop quickly and conveniently.