MERCHANT AND A CUSTOMER

Technical Field

The present disclosure generally relates to a method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer. More particularly, the present disclosure describes various embodiments of a method for performing and managing business transactions and/or transactions associated with marketing opportunities between merchants and customers.

Background

Consumers often engage with merchants or service providers to purchase or obtain various products, goods, and/or services. Such forms of engagements typically include performing business transactions between merchants and the consumers or customers. Various types of business transactions, including but not limited to marketing transactions can occur between merchants and customers. For example, marketing transactions are usually a form of business practice whereby merchants use marketing and advertising gimmicks or opportunities to attract new customers and to retain existing customers. These merchant marketing opportunities include gift certificates and vouchers, service packages, as well as memberships.

In the example of gift certificates and vouchers, the purchases of these certificates and vouchers as gifts for others are common practices in the social context. While there has been increasing popularity in online or electronic gift certificates and vouchers, their physical counterparts are still the preferred options of customers and merchants, even with technology advancements in the use of electronic certificates and vouchers. With the printed copy of the gift certificates and vouchers that are issued by merchants, these merchants have to bear the operational costs resulting from printing, distributing, and tracking of the printed certificates and vouchers. Further, it is more inconvenient for customers because it is not feasible to hold on to all the gift certificates and vouchers in the wallet all the time. Electronic certificates and vouchers may provide some advantage as customers do not need to possess the physical copies. However, the issuance of these certificates is performed by the merchants', and often without proper security in their computer systems to reduce illegitimate transactions. Even with legitimate transactions, the safe storage of these electronic certificates in the user accounts or wallets of customers can be subject to fraud. For example, with insecure computer systems, these electronic certificates can be easily removed from the user accounts, or redeemed by any party with or without authorization from the customer. Redemption of certificates and vouchers has also posed a challenge because multiple claims can take place without or before voiding the electronic certificates. Therefore, the tracking and safe guarding of the gift certificates and vouchers, whether they are the physical or electronic versions, are tedious processes for the merchants.

In the example of service packages, the sale and purchase of these service packages are more common in service industries, such as hair salon, spa, foot reflexology, and massage therapy, etc. These service providers will require data from customers by having them to fill up customer cards, before proceeding to issue physical service package cards and appointment cards. These service providers will need to manually retrieve and record every visit and usage of the service packages of each customer. Additionally, the sharing of the same service package with other party, likely a friend of the customer, as well as using it at other outlets of the same merchant, can be a challenge because of the complex processes in managing the service packages. Generally, only the larger merchants or service providers will invest money for a Customer Recording Management system (CRM) in order to manage all the records of their customers.

In the example of memberships, being a free or paid member of merchants is a common practice for these merchants to retain existing customers. However, the initial process of providing memberships for customers could be costly for the merchants. In an example process of getting a membership, a merchant will require customers who intend to obtain membership to fill up an application form. The merchant will then issue physical temporary membership cards to the customers, and manually enter the customer data into a system for processing the membership. After a waiting period of approximately one to two weeks, permanent membership cards and/or supplementary cards will be mailed or couriered to the customers, who are now members of the merchant. Printing, labour, and CRM system costs have been the key challenges for merchants to implement such memberships or loyalty programmes. As with the example of service packages, only the larger merchants will invest money and efforts in these. Additionally, similar to the physical gift certificates and vouchers, it is not feasible for customers to bring multiple membership cards in their wallets if he or she is a member of multiple merchants. Even in view of the aforementioned issues, merchants and companies tend to avoid excessive investment in systems that seek to address at least some of these issues. Merchants will require investment of monies and efforts to improve their existing processes and their systems, such as to integrate applications, point of sales (POS) systems, and inventory systems. However, these may not be viable options mainly because of cost issues. As such, these existing practices will continue if there is not a more cost efficient method to address these issues, such as on safe guarding gift certificates and vouchers, ensuring legitimate transactions, and mitigating risks of fraud. United States patent publication number 20130060622 discloses a method for preventing fraudulent use of electronic coupons, discount certificates, and similar opportunities in mobile electronic commerce. However, the method only focuses on fraud during the redemption stage, specifically by the customers. There is no consideration of fraud by the merchants, such as at their backend systems and within their internal processes.

Therefore, in order to address or alleviate at least one of the aforementioned problems and/or disadvantages, there is a need to provide a transaction method between merchants and customers, in which there are at least some improved features over the prior art.

Summary According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer. The method comprises: activating a first function on an application executable on an electronic device belonging to the customer, the customer having a user account stored in the application; automatically initiating the business transaction between the merchant and the customer in response to activation of the first function; receiving merchant validation data provided by the merchant using the electronic device, the merchant input for performing an first authentication of the business transaction; automatically generating customer validation data in response to the first authentication of the business transaction, the customer validation data being associated with the user account; automatically transmitting the customer validation data to the customer, the customer validation data being readable by the customer; receiving the customer validation data entered by the customer using the electronic device, the customer input data for performing an second authentication of the business transaction; and automatically completing the business transaction in response to the second authentication of the business transaction.

An advantage of the method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer of the present disclosure is that it provides an efficient means for mitigating the risks of fraud at both the merchant side and the customer side with the two steps of authentication or two-factor authentication. Additionally, the method provides a cost efficient way for safe guarding the opportunities, ensuring legitimate business transactions, and/or authenticating rightful redemptions of marketing opportunities.

A method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer according to the present disclosure is thus disclosed hereinabove. Various features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, by way of non-limiting examples only, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a primary level tree of the functions of an application in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGS. 2 to 5 are various screenshots of the functions of the application in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a relationship diagram in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In the present disclosure, depiction of a given element or consideration or use of a particular element number in a particular FIG. or a reference thereto in corresponding descriptive material can encompass the same, an equivalent, or an analogous element or element number identified in another FIG. or descriptive material associated therewith. The use of 7" in a FIG. or associated text is understood to mean "and/or" unless otherwise indicated. The recitation of a particular numerical value or value range herein is understood to include or be a recitation of an approximate numerical value or value range, for instance, within +/- 20%, +/- 15%, +/- 10%, +/- 5%, or +/- 0%. With respect to recitations herein directed to dimensional or numerical comparisons or equivalence, reference to the terms "generally," "approximately," or "substantially" is understood as falling within +/- 20%, +/- 15%, +/- 10%, +/- 5%, or +/- 0% of a representative / example comparison, or a specified or target value or value range; and reference to the term "essentially" is understood as falling within +/- 10%, +/- 5%, +/- 2%, +/- 1 %, or +/- 0% of a representative / example comparison, or a specified or target value or value range.

As used herein, the term "set" corresponds to or is defined as a non-empty finite organization of elements that mathematically exhibits a cardinality of at least 1 (i.e., a set as defined herein can correspond to a unit, singlet, or single element set, or a multiple element set), in accordance with known mathematical definitions (for instance, in a manner corresponding to that described in An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning: Numbers, Sets, and Functions, "Chapter 1 1 : Properties of Finite Sets" (e.g., as indicated on p. 140), by Peter J. Eccles, Cambridge University Press (1998)). In general, an element of a set can include or be a system, an apparatus, a device, a structure, an object, a process, a physical parameter, or a value depending upon the type of set under consideration.

For purposes of brevity and clarity, descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer, in accordance with the drawings in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. While aspects of the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these embodiments. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents to the embodiments described herein, which are included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be recognized by an individual having ordinary skill in the art, i.e. a skilled person, that the present disclosure may be practiced without specific details, and/or with multiple details arising from combinations of aspects of particular embodiments. In a number of instances, well- known systems, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In a representative or exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer is described hereinafter. The representative or exemplary embodiment of the method for performing the business transaction, including but not limited to transactions of marketing opportunities, is described with respect to the three aforementioned examples - (i) gift certificates and vouchers; (ii) service packages; and (iii) memberships. Prior to making a marketing opportunity available to a consumer or customer, there is at least a set of data that will be acquired by the merchants, e.g. sellers of goods & services that the customers are interested in. The set of data is associated with the customer and will be created and authenticated by the customer. Further, the set of data may comprise a set of common data that is available to or accessible by any merchant, and a set of restricted data that is specific to and only available to designated merchants. Acquiring the set of common data is part of the process of activating an electronic account or wallet or user account that is associated with the customer and linked to the merchants. The electronic account or user account is accessible and useable by the customer through an application, e.g. software or mobile application that is executable or running on the customer's electronic device or mobile device, such as a smartphone. Accordingly, the user account is stored in and/or associated with the application. The application is hosted and maintained on a third party platform that is independent of the merchant and the customer. The activation of the user account is performed using email validation and/or a one-time password (OTP) to the smartphone, ensuring that the customer is validated as the rightful owner of his or her user account, and the customer's mobile number is linked to the user account. The same user account can be linked to multiple merchants, such that the set of common data will be made available to the customer and all the merchants that the customer is linked to. The common set of data will be used as a primary source or basis for authentication of marketing opportunities of products and services that pass through the user account. Regarding the set of restricted data, some merchants may require specific data that is unique to their business, such as the merchants' membership cards and service packages, and this set of restricted data will be stored separately in the customer's user account. Additionally, the set of restricted data of the customer may be linked to the merchant to allow the merchant to access certain information about the customer, such as for marketing purposes. Accordingly, only the specific or designated merchant can access this set of restricted data of the customer for marketing evaluation and analysis purposes.

Gift Certificates and Vouchers For the gift certificates and vouchers, a merchant may provide a predetermined set of certificates that is generated to cater to the customer based on the set of data of the customer (including the common data and may also include the restricted data), as well as the merchant's spending pattern in the past, e.g. by week, month, location, and counter. The predetermined set of certificates may also be based on data from the merchant, such as past sales patterns of the merchant. If the merchant detects any abnormality and/or surges of the purchases and/or redemptions in a particular week or day, the merchant would be alerted and may stop the transactions, if required. This method helps to mitigate the risks of fraud in the merchant's system and internal processes, as well as any possibility of money laundering.

Other than the preapproved range of certificates, the merchant may issue certificates to the customer on an ad hoc basis. These are known as off-range certificates and are generated by the merchant's system, but are not able to be used on the same day as the issue date. New certificates are notified to the customer through the user account, Short Message Service (SMS), WhatsApp, and/or email. It may also be possible for customers to receive advertisements or notifications of new available certificates if he or she is in the vicinity of promotion activities organized by the merchant. The customers may then choose to purchase such new certificates if he or she desires. If a certificate has an expiry date, the customer may set notifications to remind him or her when the expiry date is nearing. The certificates to be sold to the customer, or sometimes issued to the customer as gifts from merchants to entice customers to make future purchases from them, will be generated in the user account via the application on the smartphone of the customer and the data will also be mirrored to the merchant's system. All the off-range certificates may be collated and mirrored to the merchant's system as a single batch job at night. Approval or authentication from the merchant is required before redemption of the off-range certificates can be carried out by the customer. At the time of issuing of the certificates and vouchers by the merchant, the customer passes his or her smartphone to the merchant's staff or cashier at the POS. The application is executed on the smartphone and a first function is activated on the smartphone. The first function can be activated by the customer or the merchant, and the activation of the first function automatically initiates a business transaction process between the merchant and the customer. Certificates / vouchers to be issued to the customer may be highlighted or pre-selected by the application for the attracting the customer's attention. The certificates / vouchers that are highlighted are determined based on location factors such as GPS positioning of the smartphone in relation to the merchant location, as well as other detection / sensing features such as radio frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth or Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons, and near field communication (NFC). The application continues running on the smartphone and the staff uses the smartphone, specifically the camera lens of the smartphone, to scan a merchant optical code, such as barcode or QR code. The barcode or QR code is disposed at the merchant's location such that the staff can take the customer's smartphone and scan the barcode. The scanning of the barcode allows the staff to issue the certificates to the customer. Alternatively, the certificate can be issued to the customer through selection thereof on a dropdown list displayable on the mobile phone. Upon issuance, the staff will need to activate or authenticate the transaction. The activation by the staff is done by entering a system-generated code on the customer's smartphone. The system- generated code represents merchant validation data and performs a first authentication of the business transaction process. This system -generated code is based on the global positioning system (GPS) and identification data of the staff. However, in some alternatives besides GPS, other detection mechanisms such as RFID, BLE beacons, or NFC may be used. Devices for such detection mechanisms may be disposed or located at the counter or reception of the merchant. After the authentication by the merchant's staff, the customer needs to acknowledge the purchase of the certificates using a system-generated code or OTP automatically sent to his or her mobile phone or smartphone. Alternatively, the system -generated code or OTP can be automatically sent to another device, such as another mobile phone, of the customer. For example, the customer may use one smartphone for running the application, and another mobile phone for receiving SMS. Thus, the OTP would be sent to the other mobile phone via SMS. This system-generated code or OTP represents customer validation data and is automatically generated in response to the first authentication of the business transaction process. Additionally, the customer validation data is associated with the user account of the customer, such that it is representative of the particular customer who is transacting with the merchant. The customer keys or enters the customer validation data, which is readable by the customer in the form of the code or OTP, thereby performing a second authentication of the business transaction process. This second authentication is thus an intentional act performed the customer to accept or acknowledge the transaction. The business transaction process is terminated or completed automatically in response to or after the second authentication. The two- factor activation or authentication ensures that a legitimate transaction of issuing the certificates occurred at the valid place, and that authorized staffs are managing the transaction. A summary of the transactions will also be emailed to the customer to further validate that the customer is the rightful recipient of the certificates.

The customer can also opt to send the certificates as gifts to other people, such as the friends and relatives of the customer. The gift certificates may be new and totally unused by the customer, or partially used by the customer and the remaining is gifted to other people. Before sending the gift certificates out to a recipient, the sender (original customer) will be required to confirm the transaction by entering a system-generated code to validate the transaction. Once the recipient has accepted the gift, an email notification would be sent to inform sender that the rightful party has accepted the gift. All outgoing transactions of the certificates will go through a two-factor validation (system-generated code and email notification) to mitigate the risks of fraud in the system.

During redemption of the certificates by the customer, the customer will pass his or her smartphone to the staff or counter cashier of the merchant, who will use the smartphone to scan a barcode or QR code associated with the certificate. The barcode is likely to be disposed or displayed at the merchant's location for scanning thereof. The scanning of the barcode allows the customer to redeem the item associated with the certificate. After scanning the barcode with the customer's smartphone, the staff will need to activate or authenticate the transaction. The activation by the staff is done by entering a system -generated code on the customer's smartphone. The code is based on the global positioning system (GPS) and identification data of the staff. However, in some alternatives besides GPS, other detection mechanisms such as RFID, BLE beacons, or NFC may be used. Devices for such detection mechanisms may be disposed or located at the counter or reception of the merchant. After the authentication by the merchant's staff, the customer needs to acknowledge the redemption by entering a system -generated code or OTP sent to the mobile phone.

The redemptions of certificates by the customers can be consolidated, compiled, and/or presented to the merchant for analysis and business planning. For example, based on parameters associated with the redemptions of certificates, merchants can evaluate the performances of their products or promotions. Such evaluations and/or data analysis can be done at the merchants' systems. Advantageously, merchants can assess the effectiveness of their promotions and how well they are accepted by customers. Further, merchants can determine how extensive their promotions are, the locations wherein the promotions are most effective, and how the promotions are communicated to the customers, e.g. by word of mouth or advertisements on their smartphones.

Completion of the two-factor activation or authentication also completes the redemption process and transaction identification will be issued by the hosting platform or server of the application whereon the transaction is performed. This redemption transaction may also be recorded in the merchant's POS so that the stock associated with the certificate can be drawn down. The drawing down of the stock may be done by generating a void ID for the stock in the merchant's system. A summary of the redemption transaction will also be emailed to customer to further validate that the certificate is redeemed and that the customer ought to be the rightful redeeming party. This also ensures the certificate is not redeemed by a third party, mitigating the risks of fraud in the redemption stage.

Service Packages

Service packages are issued by the merchant on the spot or at the POS through the mobile phone of the customer in a business transaction with the merchant, which can be performed by scanning a barcode or QR code. The service package may be a preconfigured service package that is tailored to the customer's needs, or an ad hoc service package. The service package could include a main or primary package, a supplementary package for the customer, and/or other vouchers associated with the merchant. The service package will be issued to the customer upon scanning of a barcode associated with the service package, and payment for the service package. Alternatively, the service package can be issued to the customer through selection thereof on a dropdown list displayable on the mobile phone. The staff of the merchant will need to authenticate or validate the issuance of the service package. The validation by the staff is done by entering a system -generated code based on the GPS and identification data of the staff. However, in some alternatives besides GPS, other detection mechanisms such as RFID, BLE beacons, or NFC may be used. Devices for such detection mechanisms may be disposed or located at the counter or reception of the merchant. After the validation by the merchant's staff, the customer will acknowledge the purchase of the service package using a system- generated code or OTP sent to his or her mobile phone or smartphone. This is a second authentication of the transaction which determines this is an intentional act performed the customer to accept or acknowledge the transaction. The two-factor validation ensures that a legitimate transaction of issuing the service package occurred at the valid place, and that authorized staffs are managing the transaction. A summary of the transactions will also be emailed to the customer to further validate that the customer is the rightful recipient of the service package.

The service package can also be purchased and renewed through the merchant's website using a desktop computer or the application on the smartphone. Upon purchase or renewal, the service package becomes immediately updated in the user account of the customer. When purchasing or renewing the service package, the customer needs to authenticate the transaction using a system-generated code or OTP in order to validate that the customer is the rightful recipient of the service package. As the service package is not purchased or renewed at the merchant's physical store, the validation by the merchant's staff may be omitted. However, online transactions for the purchase and/or renewal of the service package may still be authenticated by the merchant remotely through their online system. As described above, both the merchants and customer have access to the set of common data of the customer, such that the customer can use it any other outlets of the merchants. This set of common data is stored on the user account of the customer, which is hosted on the third party platform managing the application. The platform further allows the set of common data to be extended to other merchants, such that these other merchants can access the same common data of the customer. As a result, the set of common data can be used by both the merchants and the customers for other purchases from other merchants. The set of common data of the customer may be updated back to the merchant's CRM system through a daily system interface if necessary, such as when the customer has changes to his profile or personal details.

Once the service package is issued by the merchant, all items associated with the service package would be stored into the correct categories in the user account of the customer. Some advertisements and promotions that are targeted toward existing customers may appear with the service package to attract immediate attention of the customer. An advantage of using an application on a smartphone to purchase service packages is that merchants can do away with physical cards that are conventionally issued with the service packages.

Customers are able to share the service package with other parties. The sharing can be done by entering the details of the sharing party and confirming the sharing by entering a system-generated code or OTP. This validates the sharing of the service package by the customer and mitigates the risks of system fraud and cyber theft. Customers can also buy the service package as a gift for others. This can be done, for example, by entering mobile numbers and email addresses of the receiving parties. The transaction will be confirmed by the original customer by entering a system-generated code or OTP, thereby validating the legitimacy of the transaction. The receiving party may also be required to enter a system -generated code or OTP at his or her end in order to further validate the transaction, thereby providing a two- factor authentication for the transaction. The customer utilizes the service package by visiting the merchant to use the services provided by the package. The services provided by the package may be selected from a dropdown list displayable on the smartphone, particularly if the number of services provided is relatively few and can be entirely displayed on the dropdown list. Thus, a business transaction between the merchant and the customer can be performed through selections of items or services on the smartphone. Alternatively, the customer can pass his or her smartphone to a counter staff of the merchant, who will use the smartphone to scan a barcode associated with the service package for the usage. The barcode is likely to be disposed or displayed at the merchant's location for scanning thereof. The scanning of the barcode allows the customer to use the services provided by the service package. After scanning the barcode with the customer's smartphone, the staff will need to activate or authenticate the transaction. The activation by the staff is done by entering a system- generated code on the customer's smartphone. The code is based on the global positioning system (GPS) and identification data of the staff. However, in some alternatives besides GPS, other detection mechanisms such as RFID, BLE beacons, or NFC may be used. Devices for such detection mechanisms may be disposed or located at the counter or reception of the merchant. After the authentication by the merchant's staff, the customer needs to acknowledge the transaction by entering a system-generated code or OTP sent to the mobile phone. The two-tiered activation or authentication confirms the legitimacy of the transaction. A summary of the transaction will be emailed to the customer to further validate the customer as the rightful party using the services. After each visit or usage of the services, the customer and/or counter staff can enter the next appointment date and time using the application. Reminders can also be set on the application to avoid the customer missing his or her appointment. The set appointments may also be amended or cancelled at any time using the application, giving the customer added flexibility of scheduling his appointments. The application may also allow the merchant to plan staff duty rosters, and also display the duty roster of the merchant's staff online, so that the customer will be aware of their schedules. For example, a customer may prefer a particular staff to serve him or her, and the customer can schedule his future appointments based on the duty roster of said staff. The application may also record the references of the previous staff who has served the customer before. This will reduce manual recording work done by the merchant as the customer makes the appointments online. The application can also be used for multiple service packages from multiple merchants, thereby eliminating the need for physical cards.

Customers can also use the application to provide feedback to the merchants. The feedback would be useful to the merchants, particularly for management of their organization and/or staffs. For example, feedback from customers regarding a particular staff who has served the customer before can be gathered and recorded by the merchant. Feedbacks regarding the staffs can be consolidated so that staff performances and service qualitative levels can be measured based on the feedbacks. Feedbacks and information related to customer visit and services utilization patterns are useful to the merchant for planning their resources and how to optimize utilization of manpower. For example, based on this information, merchants, especially merchants having multiple branches, can know which branches or locations have more customers and at which times of the day. The number of customers served by the merchant can be sorted by day or week so that the merchant knows which day or week is more popular. This provides an advantage to the merchant as they can better plan their resources and manpower to cater for peak periods and locations. If a particular branch is more popular, the merchant may allocate more staff to said branch, while also keeping aware of the work load of each staff. Merchants can thus plan the duty roster of their staffs and customers have the option of scheduling their appointments based on the duty roster. Further, information regarding popular services at specific branches, popular locations, and/or certain skilled services of the merchants may be made known to the customers via the application. Accordingly, the feedback and information obtained by merchants can assist them in management of their organization performance. Memberships

Memberships are issued by the merchant on the spot or at the POS through the mobile phone of the customer. The membership may be a preconfigured service package that is tailored to the customer's needs, or an ad hoc membership. The membership could include a main or primary membership, a supplementary membership for the customer, and/or other vouchers associated with the merchant. The membership will be issued to the customer upon scanning of a barcode or QR code associated with the membership, and payment for the membership. The barcode is likely to be disposed or displayed at the merchant's location for scanning thereof. Alternative, as described above, a dropdown lists may be used instead of scanning of optical codes. After scanning the barcode with the customer's smartphone, the staff will need to activate or authenticate or validate the transaction. The activation by the staff is done by entering a system -generated code on the customer's smartphone. The code is based on the global positioning system (GPS) and identification data of the staff. However, in some alternatives besides GPS, other detection mechanisms such as RFID, BLE beacons, or NFC may be used. Devices for such detection mechanisms may be disposed or located at the counter or reception of the merchant. After the authentication by the merchant's staff, the customer needs to acknowledge the transaction (e.g. purchase or renewal of membership) by entering a system-generated code or OTP sent to the mobile phone. As mentioned above, this second authentication is an intentional act performed the customer to accept or acknowledge the transaction. The two-factor validation ensures that a legitimate transaction of issuing the membership occurred at the valid place, and that authorized staffs are managing the transaction. A summary of the transactions will also be emailed to the customer to further validate that the customer is the rightful recipient of the membership. The membership can also be purchased and renewed through the merchant's website using a desktop computer or the application on the smartphone. Upon purchase or renewal, the membership becomes immediately updated in the user account of the customer. When purchasing or renewing the membership, the customer needs to authenticate the transaction using a system-generated code or OTP in order to validate that the customer is the rightful recipient of the membership. Although the membership is not purchased or renewed at the merchant's physical store, the validation by the merchant's staff may be omitted. However, online transactions for the purchase and/or renewal of the membership may still be authenticated by the merchant remotely through their online system.

As described above, both the merchants and customer have access to the set of common data of the customer, such that the customer can use it any other outlets of the merchants. This set of common data is stored on the user account of the customer, which is hosted on the third party platform managing the application. The platform further allows the set of common data to be extended to other merchants, such that these other merchants can access the same common data of the customer. As a result, the set of common data can be used by both the merchants and the customers for other purchases from other merchants. The set of common data of the customer may be updated back to the merchant's CRM system through a daily system interface if necessary, such as when the customer has changes to his profile or personal details.

Once the membership is issued by the merchant, all items associated with the membership would be stored into the correct categories in the user account of the customer. Some advertisements and promotions that are targeted toward existing customers may appear with the membership to attract immediate attention of the customer. An advantage of using an application on a smartphone to purchase memberships is that merchants can do away with physical cards that are conventionally issued with the memberships.

Customers are able to share the membership with other parties. The sharing can be done by entering the details of the sharing party and confirming the sharing by entering a system-generated code or OTP. This validates the sharing of the membership by the customer and mitigates the risks of system fraud and cyber theft. Customers can also buy the membership as a gift for others. This can be done, for example, by entering mobile numbers and email addresses of the receiving parties. The transaction will be confirmed by the original customer by entering a system- generated code or OTP, thereby validating the legitimacy of the transaction. The receiving party may also be required to enter a system-generated code or OTP at his or her end in order to further validate the transaction, thereby providing a two-factor authentication for the transaction.

Software or Mobile Application

In the representative or exemplary embodiment, the electronic account or wallet or user account associated with the customer is managed by the customer using an application or mobile application (app) 10 on the customer's smartphone and/or tablet device (not shown). The app 10 runs on the smartphone and is hosted on a third party server, platform, or remote cloud computing system. FIG. 1 shows a primary level tree of the functions of the app 10. From the home page 100, the customer is able to access the main functions End Customer Dashboard 200, eGift 300, Scan 400, Products 500, and Menu 600. The main function Products 500 further contains the sub-functions Gift Voucher 510, Membership 520, Service Package 530, and Stamp Card 540. The main function Menu 600 will take the customer back to the home page 100.

In the main function End Customer Dashboard 200, the customer can have an overview of the benefits and opportunities associated with merchants. A screenshot 202 of the main function End Customer Dashboard 200 is shown in FIG. 2. The customer is able to receive new gift notifications with the app 10. The customer can click on an icon, such as "Near Expiring 1 ", which will lead the customer to the item associated with the icon. The customer can also click on the "Frequently Used" icon and go to the associated item.

In the main function eGift 300, the customer can manage gifts for himself or herself, or for other people. Screenshots 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, and 312 of the main function eGift 300 are shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3F. The customer can choose to search for gifts by various criteria. The criteria include type of products, theme of gifts, age, gender, top-ranked gifts, and merchant/company supplier of the gifts. The gifts may be sorted out according to the customer's preferences, which also include labelling some of the gifts as favourites. The customer can also choose to purchase multiple quantities of the same gifts, and also allow an option for the recipient to return the gifts. The customer and/or the recipient, each using their respective app 10 will also be allowed to give away unwanted gifts.

When conducting a transaction with a merchant, the customer will pass his or her smartphone to the merchant staff or counter cashier. A merchant function can be executed on the smartphone for conducting said transaction. Alternatively, the staff scans a barcode using the main function Scan 400. The barcode that is being scanned is displayed on the app 10 as shown in screenshot 402 in FIG. 4A. The scanning of the barcode allows the customer to purchase the item associated with the barcode, or to use services associated with a service package or membership. Screenshots 402 and 404 of the main function Scan 400 are shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. The customer can choose to pay for the item online using the app 10, or through a physical cashier of the merchant. The online payment may be done by any online financial mechanisms, such as PayPal. The scanned and purchased item, or a usage of the service package, can be saved as a record in the app 10, such that the app 10 maintains a record of the transactions made by the customer. The customer can scan and purchase multiple items and/or multiple quantities of the same item using the main function Scan 400. After an item is scanned and recorded as purchased in the app 10, the customer can redeem the physical item, which could be a product or service, from the associated merchant, or send it as a gift to another person. The sending of the item as a gift may also be done using the app 10 if both the customer and the other person are using their respective copies of the app 10.

In the sub-function Gift Voucher 510 under the main function Product 500, the customer can select which voucher to redeem, i.e. to collect the corresponding product or service from the associated merchant. Screenshots 512, 514, 516, 517, and 518 of the sub-function Gift Voucher 510 are shown in FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E. If there are multiple vouchers to redeem, or multiple vouchers of the same item, the customer can select which particular voucher to redeem in the sub-function Gift Voucher 510. In order not to clutter the screen, expired vouchers and vouchers that are more than 2 weeks old will be archived. Expired vouchers will not be redeemable by the customer. The customer can view all the past transactions, including the vouchers that have been redeemed. The customer can also see the archived vouchers, expired vouchers, and vouchers that are still valid. In the default view of the sub-function Gift Voucher 510, only the valid vouchers are shown. During redemption of the vouchers, the cashier of the merchant has the right to void the voucher. Reasons for this could be the voucher was incorrectly issued, or that the customer simply wishes to reject and cancel the gift voucher.

In the sub-function Membership 520 under the main function Product 500, the customer can manage his or her benefits and opportunities by virtue of his or her memberships with merchants. Screenshots 522, 524, 526, and 528 of the sub- function Membership 520 are shown in FIG. 5F to FIG. 5I. The customer can retrieve discount vouchers from the memberships and store them in the app 10, and/or redeem the vouchers with the merchants. The customer can use the sub-function Membership 520 to renew his or her memberships with the merchants. The sub- function Membership 520 also provides a recording or tracking function for the customer to scan and record each purchase of a merchant's item and/or each visit to the merchant. The recording function can be set as reserved or hidden, especially for customers who prefer not to have such records or tracks. The issuance and renewal of memberships can be done together with other gift vouchers, discount coupons, and/or stamp cards that are associated with the merchants of the memberships.

In the sub-function Service Package 530 under the main function Product 500, the customer can manage his or her service packages that were signed with merchants. Screenshots 532, 534, and 536 of the sub-function Service Package 530 are shown in FIG. 5J to FIG. 5L. An exemplary service package is one which allows the customer to visit a merchant a predetermined number of times over a predetermined duration. The customer can use the sub-function Service Package 530 to schedule an appointment with the merchant. A reminder will be sent two days before the scheduled time to alert the customer of the appointment. The customer can adjust the reminder period to his or her preference, such as one or three days before the appointment. The customer will be able to view all used or expired service packages, as well as valid service packages. In the default view of the sub-function Service Package 530, only the valid service packages are shown. Issuance of the service packages to the customer can be done together with other opportunities, such as memberships and vouchers, which are associated with the merchants of the service packages. If the customer prefers, he or she can share the service packages with other people. The merchants may impose restrictions or configurations to the service packages that are shared with people other than the original customer.

In the sub-function Stamp Card 540 under the main function Product 500, the customer can manage his or her stamp cards that are associated with merchants. Screenshots 542 and 544 of the sub-function Stamp Card 540 are shown in FIG. 5M and FIG. 5N. A stamp card typically has an expiry date and reminders will be sent two weeks before the expiry date to alert the customer of the impending expiry. The customer can adjust the reminder period to his or her preference, such as one or three weeks before the expiry date. The customer will be able to view all used or expired stamp cards, as well as valid stamp cards. In the default view of the sub- function Stamp Card 540, only the valid stamp cards are shown. Issuance of the stamp cards to the customer can be done together with other opportunities, such as memberships and vouchers, which are associated with the merchants of the stamp cards. If the customer prefers, he or she can share the stamp cards with other people. The merchants may impose restrictions or configurations to the stamp cards that are shared with people other than the original customer.

Website

The third party host or platform for the mobile app 10 may provide a website for customers and merchants to access and use, either via the mobile app 10 or a desktop computer. The website allows a plurality of functions for both the merchant and the customers, such as a means for the customers to access the merchant's products and services, including the aforementioned gift certificates and vouchers, memberships, service packages, and stamp cards. Merchants are able to post their products and services on the third party website to increase their exposure. Customers will be able to access the website to purchase the merchants' items. The website allows the merchant to manage their company profile that is viewed by the customer, as well as managing the products and services of the merchant. Such functions of managing the merchant's company profile include:

• Amend profile, outlet location address, opening hours, contact details, etc.

• Manage company access accounts and the appropriate parties who can approve transactions.

• Plan staff duty roster.

• Make appointments on behalf of customers.

• Manage staff ID and barcodes.

• Maintain and update staff details.

• Print product barcodes for sale, void, and redemption.

• View daily products and customer transactions history.

• Select product list design templates.

• Send targeted promotion messages.

• Approve requests of barcode printing.

• Manage work schedules of service staffs.

• Provide a feedback template for customers to use.

• Provide a platform or interface on management of merchant performance and resource planning.

The merchant can manage the products and services that are viewed by the customers as follows:

• Create products with photos, description, prices, set or import range of serial numbers, product packages, time of visit or usage, rewards, and terms & conditions.

• Tag the product with redemption or usage location, product category (industry, theme, etc.), and validation method.

• Seek approval for product creation.

• Amend, void, and delete product with audit report (if product has not been used or purchased).

• Create, amend, void, and delete transaction with audit report.

• Create member-only or customer-only promotion packages, messages, and durations. • Set up acceptable range of sales and redemption to detect any abnormality based on past years data.

• Add online function for scheduling of appointments.

• Set stamps on stamp cards based on location and staff ID.

· Set reminders to create new range of gift voucher serial numbers.

• Approve new products, amendments, and new promotions.

In order to use the website, customers need to have an account with the third party host or platform. The customers can manage their own accounts or profiles using the website. Such functions that can be done by the customer include:

• Creating accounts with details such as mobile number, email address, gender, date of birth, and password.

• Acknowledging with an OTP for the signing in at the first time.

• Allow detection of location of the customer via his mobile device.

· Agree to the terms & conditions set by the merchant.

• Changing details such as mobile numbers, email addresses, and passwords.

• Set notification and promotion notification preferences.

• Make, change, or edit scheduled appointments online.

• Purchase gifts, memberships, and service packages.

The third party host or platform for the website is also the administrator of the website. Functions that can be done by the administrator include:

• Manage end customer profiles.

• Create, amend, and delete customer accounts.

· Change contact details, such as mobile numbers, email addresses, and passwords, of customer accounts.

• Manage the company profile.

• Create, delete, and amend company subscription packages and options, such as two-factor validations and SMS.

· Create, delete, and amend profile, outlet location address, opening hours, contact details, etc.

• Manage company access accounts and the appropriate parties who can approve transactions. • Manage Staff ID and barcodes.

• Print product barcodes for sale, void, and redemption.

• View daily products and customer transactions history.

• Select monthly billing reports.

• Send targeted promotion messages.

• Manage company payment status.

• Tag sales and account manager to the merchant company.

• Select product list design templates.

• Create products with photos, description, prices, set or import range of serial numbers, product packages, time of visit or usage, rewards, and terms & conditions.

• Tag the product with redemption or usage location, product category (industry, theme, etc.), and validation method.

• Seek approval for product creation.

• Amend, void, and delete product with audit report (if product has not been used or purchased).

• Create, amend, void, and delete transaction with audit report.

• Create member-only or customer-only promotion packages, messages, and durations.

• Add online function for scheduling of appointments.

• Set stamps on stamp cards based on location and staff ID.

• Set reminders to create new range of gift voucher serial numbers.

• Send sales and activity reports to the system for record and verification.

• Do mass upload of member data to the system.

Sharing Between Customers

A customer who has purchased or redeemed an item from a merchant may want to share the item with another person. This may be because the customer finds the item to be redundant and wants to give it away to someone who may find it useful. Referring to the diagram FIG. 6, there is a first customer holding an electronic / user account or Mobile Wallet A, and a second customer holding a Mobile Wallet B. Each of the Mobile Wallet A and B is hosted on a third party platform and runs on a application of the respective customer.

The Mobile Wallet A requests to purchase an item from a merchant using an application that accesses the third party platform. The item is indicated on FIG. 6 as Client's eGift, Desktop eGift, and Mobile Wallet A eGift. The first customer acknowledges the purchase using an OTP and the item is released to the Mobile Wallet A. An email notification is also sent to the first customer as a secondary confirmation of the purchase.

The eGift is linked to the third party platform, i.e. Mobile Wallet Server, and is associated with an identification number, or Item ID. The first customer's request to purchase the item is transmitted to the Mobile Wallet Server. The Mobile Wallet Server manages a range of Item IDs and uses control tools for monitoring sales, usage, and usage patterns of the Item IDs. From the customer's perspective, he or she, such as the first customer, can make the request to purchase the item by accessing a website on the desktop, whereby the website is linked to the Mobile Wallet Server. The Mobile Wallet Server consolidates all the data, including total sales, redemptions, and usages at the item level and at the merchant level. At the item level, the data is sorted based on each item. At the merchant level, the data is sorted based on each merchant, whereby each merchant may be associated with a plurality of items. All the data will subsequently be transmitted to the Merchant Server. The Merchant Server also hosts the same range of Item IDs and reconciles the sales and redemptions of items associated with the merchant, such as on a daily basis. When the first customer makes the purchase using the Mobile Wallet A, payment is made to the Merchant's Bank and details of the payment is transmitted thereto. The Merchant's Bank then transmits the payment details to the Merchant Server which also keeps track of the financial data. Upon receipt of the payment by the Merchant's Bank, the payment confirmation is sent to the Mobile Wallet Server and recorded in the Merchant Server, thereby allowing the first customer to proceed with the purchase. Other than purchasing items using the application with the Mobile Wallet A, the first customer can purchase items, such as gift certificates and vouchers, directly from the physical counter staff of the merchant. The first customer goes to the staff to purchase a gift voucher or redeem an item. Validation or authentication of the purchase is necessary to confirm that the first customer is the rightful party. The staff also has a unique Staff ID to validate that he or she is the rightful representative of the merchant. The first customer validates the purchase using an OTP and the item is released to the Mobile Wallet A. An email notification is also sent to the first customer as a secondary confirmation of the purchase. Upon successful purchase or redemption, the item is added to the Mobile Wallet A and the same item is removed from the merchant's stock. The Merchant Server receives data from the physical counter of the merchant, the data comprising details on payments, sales, redemptions, and usages of the items. The first customer may decide to share his or her purchased item with the second customer. The first customer intends to send an item to the second customer. The item can be sent from the Mobile Wallet A to the Mobile Wallet B through email, WhatsApp, or SMS. The first customer validates the sending using an OTP and the item is sent from the Mobile Wallet A to the Mobile Wallet B. The transaction may also be additionally validated by the second customer using an OTP. An email notification is also sent to the first customer as a secondary confirmation of the sending. The item sent to the Mobile Wallet B may be the Client's eGift, Desktop eGift, or Mobile Wallet A eGift, as indicated in FIG. 6. In the foregoing detailed description, embodiments of the present disclosure in relation to a method for performing a business transaction between a merchant and a customer are described with reference to the provided figures. The description of the various embodiments herein is not intended to call out or be limited only to specific or particular representations of the present disclosure, but merely to illustrate non-limiting examples of the present disclosure. The present disclosure serves to address at least some of the mentioned problems and issues associated with the prior art. Although only some embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein, it will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure that a variety of changes and/or modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, although business transactions are described herein for independent products & services, e.g. gift vouchers / certificates, service packages, and memberships, other embodiments may include multiple products & services bundled together (e.g. memberships that comes with free vouchers and certificates). Therefore, the scope of the disclosure as well as the scope of the following claims is not limited to embodiments described herein.