Method and apparatus for facilitating the sale of subscriptions to periodicals

Abstract

A POS terminal receives a signal that indicates an item, for example, via a bar code scanner. The POS terminal ascertains whether the item is associated with an offer for a rebate. If so, a code is generated and output to the customer, such as on a printed receipt. The code is associated with an offer for a rebate in exchange for establishing a subscription to a periodical. If the customer subscribes to a required periodical, he will be credited the amount he paid for the item. Subsequently, the customer requests a subscription to a periodical from a subscription fulfillment house, and provides his code in conjunction with the request. If the code is valid, the customer is provided with a rebate. The rebate may be provided directly by the subscription fulfillment house (e.g. a credit to a credit card account) or may be provided by a merchant (e.g. a discount on a future purchase).

1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions adapted to direct a computer to:
 receive, from a customer, a signal indicative of a request for a subscription to a periodical;   receive a signal indicative of a rebate code related to the subscription to the periodical;   sell, to the customer, the subscription to the periodical; and   update a database record descriptive of the rebate code, wherein the updating comprises storing an indication that the subscription to the periodical has been sold to the customer.   
     
     
         2 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to receive the signal indicative of the request for the subscription via at least one of a telephone number, an e-mail address, and a website. 
     
     
         3 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to receive the signal indicative of the rebate code via at least one of a telephone number, an e-mail address, and a website. 
     
     
         4 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of the rebate code comprises a DTMF signal. 
     
     
         5 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of the rebate code is indicative of a barcode. 
     
     
         6 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer comprises an IVRU. 
     
     
         7 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer comprises a subscription fulfillment house server. 
     
     
         8 . The computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the subscription fulfillment house server comprises a web server. 
     
     
         9 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to:
 prompt the customer to input the signal indicative of the rebate code.   
     
     
         10 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to:
 ascertain that the rebate code is valid.   
     
     
         11 . The computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to ascertain that the rebate code is valid by decrypting the rebate code. 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to:
 ascertain a rebate amount from the rebate code; and   credit the rebate amount to an account of the customer.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further adapted to direct the computer to:
 determine that the rebate code corresponds to the periodical.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the updating is operable to cause a retailer to provide a discount to the customer during a subsequent purchase of the customer from the retailer.