Integrating Online Ratings and Reviews for Businesses with Point of Sale (POS) or EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) Systems to Increase Integrity and Authenticity

Abstract

The system for integrating online ratings with a point of sale system includes a server and a point of sale (POS) system. The POS sends transaction information for the transaction to the server. A code is generated by the server in response to receiving the transaction information and sent to the POS. A receipt for the transaction is generated by the POS and provided to the customer, the receipt including the code. A user computer is operated by the customer and receives the code from the receipt. The user computer sends the code to the server and the server validates it to confirm the transaction took place between the customer and the business. A review of the business is created by the customer with the user computer only after the code has been validated.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for validating customer reviews, comprising:
 a server;   a point of sale system adapted to complete a transaction between a business and a customer, the point of sale system sending transaction information for the transaction to the server;   a code generated by the server in response to receiving the transaction information, the code associated with the transaction, the server sending the code to the point of sale system;   a receipt for the transaction printed by the point of sale system, the receipt including the code;   a user computer operated by the customer, the user computer having a scanner scanning the receipt to identify the code, the user computer sending the code to the server;   the server validating the code received from the user computer to confirm the transaction took place between the customer and the business;   a review of the business created by the customer, the user computer receiving the review and sending the review to the server only after the code has been validated;   the server publishing the review to users of the system.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user computer comprises a smartphone and the scanner comprises a smartphone camera. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user computer comprises an app downloaded onto the user computer, the app receiving the code and sending the code to the server, and the app receiving the review and sending the review to the server. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the code comprises a plurality of codes;
 the point of sale system asks for the number of codes to be generated by the server; and   the point of sale system sends the number of codes to the server.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the point of sale system comprises an electronic point of sale system. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein after the review is published the customer receives a discount to be applied to a future transaction with any of the businesses using the system. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the discount comprises an electronic coupon received from the server and stored on the user computer. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the discount cannot be redeemed with the business. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the customer is provided a discount to be applied to a future transaction after creating a predetermined number of reviews. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server validates the code by asking the customer one or more security questions. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more security questions comprises asking the customer to identify the business from a selection of businesses. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server publishes the review to a third-party social networking platform where it is shared with contacts of the customer. 
     
     
         13 . A system for validating customer reviews, comprising:
 a server;   a point of sale system adapted to complete a transaction between a business and a customer, the point of sale system sending transaction information for the transaction to the server;   a code generated by the server in response to receiving the transaction information, the code associated with the transaction, the server sending the code to the point of sale system;   a receipt for the transaction generated by the point of sale system and provided to the customer, the receipt including the code;   a user computer operated by the customer, the user computer receiving the code from the receipt, the user computer sending the code to the server;   the server validating the code received from the user computer to confirm the transaction took place between the customer and the business;   a review of the business created by the customer, the user computer receiving the review and sending the review to the server only after the code has been validated.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the user computer comprises a smartphone having an app installed thereon;
 the smartphone having a camera scanning the receipt to identify the code;   the app receiving the code from the camera and sending the code to the server; and   the app receiving the review and sending the review to the server only after the code has been validated.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the code comprises a plurality of codes, each of the plurality of codes validated by the server so that a person can create a review of the business. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the code comprises a plurality of codes, and a number of codes to be generated by the system is automatically determined based on the transaction information. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the point of sale system sends the receipt electronically to the customer. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein after the review is published the customer receives an electronic coupon to be applied to a future transaction. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the server validates the code by asking the customer to select the business from a selection of businesses displayed on the user computer. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the server publishes the review to a third-party social networking platform where it is shared with contacts of the customer.