Ephemeral Mobile App for Beacon-Enabled Micromarket Checkout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional payment methods for purchasing goods, such as self-checkout scanning, mobile apps, credit/debit cards, and cash, face challenges like technical issues, user difficulty, and inefficiency, especially during busy times or when exact change is not available.
Innovation Solution
An ephemeral mobile app, like QuickBuy, uses a wireless beacon to initiate secure transactions in micromarkets, allowing users to scan products and pay using digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay without downloading a dedicated app, ensuring ease of use and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If self-checkout scanning is used, then checkout productivity is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to customer difficulty in scanning barcodes
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic product identification and checkout processing without requiring customer intervention in scanning or payment operations. The wireless beacon and ephemeral app automatically detect products and process transactions, eliminating the need for customers to manually scan barcodes or handle cash.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual barcode scanning with wireless beacon technology that automatically detects and identifies products. The mechanical action of scanning barcodes is substituted with automated wireless communication between beacons and mobile devices, improving both productivity and ease of operation.
2Loss of time
If mobile payment apps are used, then transaction speed is improved, but device complexity increases due to app downloads and account creation
Solution Approach 1:
Payment information is pre-configured in the ephemeral app through integration with digital wallets. The app automatically retrieves and uses stored payment credentials without requiring customers to manually enter information or create accounts during the transaction, reducing both time and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ephemeral app leverages existing digital wallet infrastructure to provide universal payment functionality. By integrating with widely-adopted digital wallets, the system eliminates the need for a separate payment account system, reducing device complexity while maintaining fast transaction speeds.
3Ease of operation
If conventional credit card payment is used, then ease of operation is maintained, but productivity deteriorates due to slow payment processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual credit card insertion and processing with contactless wireless payment technology. The ephemeral app uses wireless communication to transmit payment information, eliminating the mechanical steps of card insertion and manual processing, thereby increasing checkout speed while maintaining ease of operation.
4Ease of operation
If cash payment is used, then ease of operation is maintained for those without digital devices, but productivity deteriorates due to time-consuming transactions
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces physical cash handling with digital wallet-based wireless payment. This substitution eliminates the need for physical currency exchange, counting, and change-making processes, dramatically reducing transaction time while maintaining simplicity through contactless payment.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method for connecting to a communication network associated with a micro market. The method includes scanning a code associated with an ephemeral app to be downloaded to a mobile communication device. In an example, the method includes associating a web address with a code to find the ephemeral app and linking the web address with the mobile device. In an example, the method includes transferring the ephemeral app in a first format using the Internet to a storage location on the mobile communication device, and initiating the ephemeral app onto the mobile device to open the ephemeral app. The method includes sensing for a Bluetooth beacon associated with a spatial area to transfer a catalog and list of items associated with the micro market. In an example, the method includes displaying a tip icon on the user display.