A global electronic
receipt platform for recording, managing and accessing transaction receipts through retailers' physical or
internet based point of sale system. This
system allows consumers to be assigned a
Consumer Unique Identifier (CUI) and have retailers submit a given purchase transaction information to this
global system through a secured internet connection between the retailer's
point of sale system and the global electronic
receipt system every time the CUI is presented. Programmed plugs-ins called Global Electronic
Receipt Transfer Agents (GERTA) are made available to retailers which can be integrated into existing
point of sale systems in order to process and submit electronic receipts to the Global Electronic
Receipt Database Agent (GERDA). Each
consumer is provided with an electronic
receipt card which stores their
Consumer Unique Identifier (CUI) and is presented at the time of purchase or in order to process a return, an exchange or claim a promotion such as a coupon or a rebate. This same UI is used to get access to different interfaces in order to view, manage and search through their transaction history consisting of the detailed electronic receipts generated from the different retail stores and stored in GERDA. The UI may also be linked to a
credit card number and / or a phone number and / or email and / or any other loyalty card and / or any other data string accepted by the system and used to identify the
consumer through the electronic receipt system in order to identify the customer at the time of purchase without the need for the electronic receipt card. Advertisers and retailers are provided with tools in order to send promotions and communicate with a selected
consumer base which meets defined criteria based on the consumers' profile and purchase history stored in GERDA.