Consumer Device Based Point-Of-Sale

Abstract

Systems and related methods facilitating interactions between a merchant device, a central system and a consumer device are discussed herein. Wallet identifying data may be used to secure messages between the consumer device and the merchant device over a wireless link. For example, the merchant device may include circuitry configured to wirelessly receive the wallet identifying data from a consumer device and to transmit the wallet identifying data to the central system. In response, consumer identifying data associated with the wallet identifying data may be received by the merchant device from the central system. In some embodiments, the consumer identifying data may be associated with a unit of location, such as a dine-in location at a restaurant, to facilitate consumer service.

That which is claimed: 
     
         1 . A merchant device comprising:
 a display configured to present interactive displays;   communications circuitry configured to facilitate communications with a consumer device and a central system, the communication circuitry being configured to establish a wireless connection with a plurality of consumer devices to receive wallet identifying data, the communications circuitry further configured to establish a separate connection with a central system to exchange the wallet identifying data received from the consumer device with consumer identifying data associated with the wallet identifying data;   processing circuitry configured to:
 determine location data indicating a location of the consumer device; 
 determine a unit of location of a plurality of units of location at a merchant shop, the unit of location determined based on the location data and as the nearest unit of location to the consumer device of the plurality of units of location; and 
 associate the consumer identifying data with the unit of location; and 
   an output module configured to provide a user interface to the display, the user interface comprising a graphical representation of a floor plan including at least some of the consumer identifying data and the unit of location within the floor plan.   
     
     
         2 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes the circuitry being configured to determine the location data based on a wireless communication received from the consumer device. 
     
     
         3 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes the circuitry being configured to:
 associate a location device with each of the plurality of units of location, wherein each location device is associated with a unit of location at which the location device is located at the merchant shop;   receive an signal from a location device indicating that the location device has received a wireless communication from the consumer device;   determine the unit of location based on the signal.   
     
     
         4 . The merchant device of  claim 3 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to associate the merchant device with a unit of location where the merchant device is located, the merchant device being a second location device of the location devices. 
     
     
         5 . The merchant device of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the circuitry configured to determine the location data includes the circuitry being configured to determine the location data based on receiving signals from a plurality of the location devices; and   the circuitry configured to determine the unit of location includes the circuitry being configured to apply one or more of near field communication (NFC), received signal strength indication (RSSI), triangulation, and radio frequency identification (RFID) to the received indications from the plurality of location devices.   
     
     
         6 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry configured to determine the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes the circuitry being configured to:
 associate a location device with each of the plurality of units of location, wherein each location device is associated with a unit of location at which the location device is located at the merchant shop.   receive a signal from a location device indicating that the location device has received a code from the consumer device;   determine the unit of location based on the signal.   
     
     
         7 . The merchant device of  claim 6 , wherein the code is optically captured by the location device from a presentation of the code on a display of the consumer device. 
     
     
         8 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the processing circuitry is further configured to receive, from the central system, consumer information; and   the output module is configured to provide the user interface to the display including at least some of the consumer information with the unit of location within the floor plain, wherein the consumer information includes at least one of:
 dine-in preference data configured to facilitate customized dining service; 
 menu item preference data; 
 consumer history data; 
 purchase history data; 
 promotion data indicating promotional vouchers available for purchase; 
 promotion data indicating redeemable promotional vouchers; 
 recommended menu item data; and 
 table setting preference data. 
   
     
     
         9 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least some of the consumer identifying data includes one or more of a consumer name and a consumer image. 
     
     
         10 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the circuitry is further configured to receive, from the consumer device, consumer request data indicating a request for merchant assistance; and   the output module is further configured to provide an indication of the request to the user interface, the indication of the request associated with the unit of location within the floor plan.   
     
     
         11 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface includes a selectable button associated with the unit of location within the floor plan; and
 the processing circuitry is further configured to:
 generate a tab associated with the unit of location; 
 in response to receiving input data indicating selection of the selectable button, provide a tab display to the user interface including selectable menu item buttons; and 
 associate a menu item selected via a selectable menu item button with the tab associated with the unit of location. 
   
     
     
         12 . The merchant device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the unit of location comprises a table identifier and the plurality of units of location comprise a plurality of table identifiers; and   the processing circuitry configured to determine the unit of location includes the processing circuitry being configured to determine the table identifier from the plurality of table identifiers, the table identifier associated with a table that is nearest to the consumer device.   
     
     
         14 . A machine-implemented method of registering consumer device presence at monitored locations, comprising:
 wirelessly receiving, by circuitry of a merchant device, wallet identifying data from a consumer device;   transmitting, by the circuitry, the wallet identifying data to a central system;   receiving, from the central system and by the circuitry, consumer identifying data associated with the wallet identifying data transmitted to the central system;   determining, by the circuitry, location data indicating a location of the consumer device;   determining, by the circuitry, a unit of location of a plurality of units of location at a merchant shop, the unit of location determined based on the location data and as the nearest unit of location to the consumer device of the plurality of units of location;   associating, by the circuitry, the consumer identifying data with the unit of location; and   providing, by the circuitry, a user interface to the display, the user interface comprising a graphical representation of a floor plan including at least some of the consumer identifying data and the unit of location within the floor plan.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein determining the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes determining the location data based on a wireless communication received from the consumer device by the circuitry. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein determining the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes, by the circuitry:
 associating a location device with each of the plurality of units of location, wherein each location device is associated with a unit of location at which the location device is located at the merchant shop;   receive a signal from a location device indicating that the location device has received a wireless communication from the consumer device;   determine the unit of location based on the signal.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising, by the circuitry, associating the merchant device with a unit of location where the merchant device is located, the merchant device being a second location device of the location devices. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 determining the location data includes determining the location data based on receiving signals from a plurality of the location devices; and   determining the unit of location includes applying one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI) and signal triangulation to the received signals from the plurality of location devices.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein determining the location data indicating the location of the consumer device includes:
 associating a location device with each of the plurality of units of location, wherein each location device is associated with a unit of location at which the location device is located at the merchant shop.   receiving a signal from a location device indicating that the location device has received a code from the consumer device; and   determining the unit of location based on the signal.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the code is optically captured by the location device from a presentation of the code on a display of the consumer device. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising, by the circuitry:
 receiving, from the central system, consumer information; and 
 providing the user interface to the display including at least some of the consumer information with the unit of location within the floor plain, wherein the consumer information includes at least one of:
 dine-in preference data configured to facilitate customized dining service; 
 menu item preference data; 
 consumer history data; 
 purchase history data; 
 promotion data indicating promotional vouchers available for purchase; 
 promotion data indicating redeemable promotional vouchers; 
 recommended menu item data; and 
 table setting preference data. 
 
 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least some of the consumer identifying data includes one or more of a consumer name and a consumer image. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising, by the circuitry:
 receiving, from the consumer device, consumer request data indicating a request for merchant assistance; and 
 providing an indication of the request to the user interface, the indication of the request associated with the unit of location within the floor plan. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface includes a selectable button associated with the unit of location within the floor plan; and
 the method further includes, by the circuitry:
 generating a tab associated with the unit of location; 
 in response to receiving input data indicating selection of the selectable button, providing a tab display to the user interface including selectable menu item buttons; and 
 associating a menu item selected via a selectable menu item button with the tab associated with the unit of location. 
   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the unit of location comprises a table identifier and the plurality of units of location comprise a plurality of table identifiers; and   determining the unit of location includes determining the table identifier from the plurality of table identifiers, the table identifier associated with a table that is nearest to the consumer device.