System and Methods for Storing Customer Purchasing and Preference Data, Enabling a Customer to Pre-Register Orders and Events, and for Vendors to Market to the Customers Using the Customers' Profiles and GPS Location

Abstract

A real time management system for marketing to customers and vendors with customer purchasing and preference data in specific consumer markets including restaurant, retail, travel, hospitality, entertainment, and combinations thereof. The management database allows the consumer to make Precision Purchasing™ transactions, reservation transactions, and Precision Gifting™ transactions via a web-based interface, POS based touchscreen interface, and mobile device-based interface. The consumer profile database is comprised of mainly consumer inputted preference and consumer purchase data which is stored into each customer profile and can be accessed/verified with a GPS recognition of the customer's mobile device, biometric hand or finger scan, access card, retinal scan, password, or other terminal kiosk, touchscreen, or mobile application of the like.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A system that stores customer purchasing and preference data and enables a customer to pre-register orders and events, the system comprising:
 a database configured to store purchasing and preference data in customer profiles for a plurality of customers, said customer profiles configured to be updated with new purchases as new transactions are performed and with new preference data provided by the customer, and to store vendor data related to at least one vendor within a network of vendors, said vendor data pertaining to products or services available from the at least one vendor within said network of vendors;   a data management system operative to allow an ordering customer of said plurality of customers to pre-register an order and/or an event with a selected vendor of said network of vendors, said order and/or event relating to at least one product or service offered by the selected vendors; and   a remote access device that allows the customer to identify himself/herself to the selected vendor for acceptance of the pre-registered order and/or event.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each customer profile includes at least the customer's preferences for restaurants, shopping, travel, hospitality, entertainment, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said customer profiles include a business customer profile and/or a personal customer profile for each customer. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said data management system is adapted to enable a customer to provide gift dollars or credits to the account of another customer in the system. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a customer's profile(s) are related to a personal or business bank account whereby the customer may make cardless purchases from vendors within the network of vendors based on authentication of the customer as belonging to a particular customer profile from a selection of bank accounts authorized by the customer in the particular customer profile. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the customer authentication includes at least one of GPS recognition of the customer's mobile device, a biometric hand or a finger scan of the customer, a customer access card, a retinal scan of the customer, and a password having a unique ID. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said data management system is adapted to permit vendors in the network of vendors to generate marketing and special offers from a customer's customer profile and/or the known location of the customer at a particular point in time based on a GPS recognition that the customer's mobile device is at or near a particular area in proximity of a vendor. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the customer profiles include an indication of how a customer would like to receive marketing and/or special offers from said vendors. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote access device includes a GPS recognition device that recognizes when a mobile device of a customer is in a particular area in proximity of a vendor, said data management system providing a pre-registered order and/or event to said vendor for delivery to the recognized customer in said particular area upon validation of the customer. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the data management system provides the customer with access to a pre-registered order and/or event of the customer upon the customer's entry into said particular area and validation of the customer. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the remote access device comprises a mobile device of the customer that accesses the customer's profile via an interface of the mobile device. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the pre-registered event and/or order is queued for preparation and/or delivery by the vendor upon validation of the customer. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote access device comprises a point of service based touchscreen interface. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the touchscreen interface is mounted on or near the steering wheel of a vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the touchscreen interface includes means for recording, storing, and accessing voice data received from a customer's mobile phone. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the touchscreen interface is mounted in the back of a seat on an airplane. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the touchscreen interface is mounted at or near a seat in an entertainment venue. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data management system is adapted to allow the selected vendor to provide a targeted discount offer, special offer, and/or gifting options to the customer based on the pre-registered order or event. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data management system is further adapted to allow a vendor to use the customer profile of a customer with the determined location of the customer to generate alerts regarding entertainment, restaurant, hospitality, and/or shopping options and offers in the vicinity of the customer during a particular time period. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data management system is further adapted to receive from the customer, prior to seating in a restaurant, a reservation including a preorder of food and/or drink the customer wishes to receive upon seating at the restaurant and the remote access device is enabled to validate the reservation once the customer has arrived at the restaurant, wherein once the reservation is validated and a wait time for the customer is determined to be less than or equal to a preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink, the data management system forwards the preorder of food and/or drink of the validated reservation to a kitchen, a kitchen management system, and/or a bar for preparation at or before the time the customer is seated at a table. 
     
     
         21 . A method for storing customer purchasing and preference data and enabling a customer to pre-register orders and events with vendors within a network of vendors, comprising the steps of:
 storing, in a database, purchasing and preference data in customer profiles for a plurality of customers and vendor data relating to products and/or services available from at least one vendor within said network of vendors;   updating, by a data management system, said customer profiles with new purchasing data based on purchase transactions by the customer and preference data as provided by the customer;   pre-registering, using the data management system, an order and/or event with one or more vendors of said network of vendors, said order and/or event relating to products and/or services offered by the respective vendors;   forwarding, using said data management system, the pre-registered order and/or event to said one or more vendors upon acceptance by the customer;   receiving, at said data management system, verification of the customer's identity; and   providing, using said data management system, the pre-registered order and/or event to the identified customer.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein each customer profile includes at least the customer's preferences for restaurants, shopping, travel, hospitality, entertainment, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein said customer profiles include at least a business customer profile and a personal customer profile for each customer. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , said data management system further enabling a customer to provide gift dollars or credits to the account of another customer in the system. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising relating a customer's profile(s) to a personal or business bank account whereby the customer may make cardless purchases from vendors within the network of vendors based on authentication of the customer as belonging to a particular customer profile from a selection of bank accounts authorized by the customer in the particular customer profile. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein authenticating the customer includes at least one of GPS recognition of the customer's mobile device, biometrically scanning a hand or a finger of the customer, receiving a customer access card, scanning a retina of the customer, and receiving a password having a unique ID. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising vendors in the network of vendors accessing said data management system and generating marketing and special offers from a customer's customer profile and/or the location of the customer's mobile device at a particular point in time based on a GPS recognition that the customer's mobile device is at or near a particular area in proximity of a vendor. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the customer profiles include an indication of how a customer would like to receive marketing and/or special offers from said vendors. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising recognizing when a mobile device of an ordering customer is in a particular area in proximity of a vendor, and said data management system providing a pre-registered order and/or event to said vendor for delivery to the recognized ordering customer in said particular area upon validation of the ordering customer. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , the data management system providing the customer with access to a pre-registered order and/or event of the ordering customer upon the ordering customer's entry into said particular area and validation of the ordering customer. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising accessing the ordering customer's profile via an interface of a mobile device. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising queuing the pre-registered event and/or order for preparation and/or delivery by the vendor upon validation and acceptance of the ordering customer. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising using, by the selected vendor, the pre-registered order, customer profile, and/or event to provide a targeted discount offer, special offer, and/or gifting option to the ordering customer. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising a vendor using the customer profile of a customer with the determined location of the customer to generate alerts regarding entertainment, restaurant, hospitality, and/or shopping options and offers in the vicinity of the customer during a particular time period. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving, by the data management system, from the customer, prior to seating in a restaurant, a reservation including a preorder of food and/or drink the customer wishes to receive upon seating at the restaurant and validating the reservation, using a remote access device, once the customer has arrived at the restaurant, wherein once the reservation is validated and a wait time for the customer is determined to be less than or equal to a preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink, forwarding, using the data management system, the preorder of food and/or drink of the validated reservation to a kitchen, a kitchen management system, and/or a bar for preparation at or before the time the customer is seated at a table. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving from the customer's mobile device, by the data management system, after the customer's arrival at a point of service but before departure, a further order in addition to the pre-registered order, said data management system further forwarding the further order to a preparation queue, adding the further order to data stored for the pre-registered order, and setting the further order for delivery in accordance with the customer profile or as specified in the further order.