초록 ▼

An automated system and method for electronically auditing point-of-sale transactions is provided. Each retail store outfitted with the present invention has at least partially automated point-of-sale system for processing a retail sales transaction in the normal operation of the retail store. A non

An automated system and method for electronically auditing point-of-sale transactions is provided. Each retail store outfitted with the present invention has at least partially automated point-of-sale system for processing a retail sales transaction in the normal operation of the retail store. A non-invasive automated electronic auditing system is disposed in each store for monitoring the point-of-sale system in a substantially totally passive manner and for collecting a copy of each retail sales transactions on the point-of-sale system. The electronic auditing system preferably includes a sensor assembly for detecting the processed retail sales transactions and a computer processor coupled to the sensor assembly for processing the detected retail sales transactions. The point-of-sale system operates independently of the electronic auditing system; the electronic auditing system operating responds to the point-of-sale system without requiring any responsive operation by the point-of-sale system and without requiring any modificaiton of the point-of-sale system. An audit system processor is also provided which is remotely located from the retail store for receiving the processed retail sales transaction data for subsequent use by manufacturers.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [9.] A method for electronically auditing point-of-sale transactions, comprising the steps of:passively recording by an electronic audit system within a retail store an entire point-of-sale system sales transaction, the transaction comprising at least one coupon redemption;storing by sai

[ I claim:] [9.] A method for electronically auditing point-of-sale transactions, comprising the steps of:passively recording by an electronic audit system within a retail store an entire point-of-sale system sales transaction, the transaction comprising at least one coupon redemption;storing by said electronic audit system said recorded entire sales transaction as a record in an audit transaction database, the record of the sales transaction including at least one coupon transaction record for the at least one coupon redemption, the at least one coupon transaction record including the UPC number of the purchased item and the UPC number of the coupon;repeating said steps of recording and storing until a request for uploading of said stored records is received by said electronic audit system;communicating to an audit system processor remotely located from said electronic audit system said stored records;analyzing said at least one coupon transaction record based on predetermined guidelines stored in said audit system processor to audit the redemption of coupons to insure the coupons have been used only in connection with the specific articles for which the coupons were issued; andpreparing reports based on results of said step of analyzing, said reports flagging activity of said point-of-sale system which is a predetermined statistical deviation from normal.