Endorsement Application for Offline NFC Transactions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current social networking website endorsement features are limited to online transactions and do not facilitate easy product endorsement for purchases made offline, such as those via Near Field Communication (NFC) transactions, where users cannot seamlessly share their purchases with their online community.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and apparatus that allows users to endorse products purchased via NFC or offline transactions by transmitting endorsement data to their social network website, utilizing an Endorsement Application (EA) that communicates with the user's device and Point Of Sale (POS) terminal to gather product metadata and offer users the option to endorse products on their profile pages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If endorsement features are limited to websites accessible by online browsing, then the endorsement system remains simple to implement, but users cannot easily endorse products purchased offline
Solution Approach 1:
The endorsement system is extended to support both online and offline transactions through a universal interface. The Point of Sale terminal and mobile device can handle both web-based endorsements and offline NFC transaction endorsements through the same endorsement application, allowing the system to serve multiple functions (online browsing endorsements and offline purchase endorsements) without requiring separate systems
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary endorsement application is introduced between the Point of Sale terminal and the social networking website. This application receives transaction data from the POS terminal, processes endorsement requests, and communicates with the social networking website, thereby bridging the gap between offline transactions and online endorsement features without requiring direct integration between POS systems and social networks
2Ease of operation
If users must find a webpage for a physical product to endorse it, then the endorsement feature remains simple, but the user experience becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
Product information and endorsement interfaces are prepared in advance at the Point of Sale terminal during the transaction process. When a customer completes an offline purchase, the endorsement application already has the product data ready and can immediately present endorsement options without requiring the user to search for product webpages or gather product information manually
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically provides product information and endorsement capabilities at the Point of Sale terminal without requiring users to manually search for product webpages. The endorsement application self-services by retrieving product data from the transaction, presenting endorsement options, and submitting endorsements to the social networking website, thereby eliminating the need for users to perform time-consuming manual searches
3Loss of information
If product metadata is transmitted from POS terminal to Endorsement Application, then product information is complete for endorsement, but transmission time increases when metadata is cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a tiered data transmission approach where essential product information is transmitted immediately for basic endorsement functionality, while additional detailed metadata can be transmitted selectively or on-demand. This allows the endorsement process to proceed with core product information without being blocked by large amounts of optional metadata, achieving a balance between information completeness and transmission speed
Data Source
AI summary
An endorsement application can allow a user to endorse a product on a social network website when the product is purchased at a physical merchant point of sale terminal. Users of social network websites have been given the opportunity to endorse products that they have located or purchased online, but purchasers of products in person have not had that opportunity. The endorsement application can operate on a user's mobile device and can recognize a product purchased through near field or other communication using the mobile device. The application can isolate the product identification and product marketing data supplied by the point of sale terminal or other source and offer the user the opportunity to endorse the product on a social network website. If the user endorses the product, the application sends the endorsement to the user's account on the social network website for display to the user's community.