A series of associated merchant websites or respective merchant websites each selling narrowly defined product categories to shoppers who browse to select products for placement into a shopping cart. While each website is operated and controlled by a different merchant or a single merchant, each website has access to a shared server farm where information about each shopper is stored. Also shared is a virtual e-commerce shopping cart that the shopper can use to check out at any of the merchant websites even though the virtual e-commerce shopping cart may contain products from multiple different merchant websites. Each merchant website is associated with metadata limited to the narrowly defined product category, thereby providing enhanced SEO benefits without the need to purchase ad words. Each boutique specifically targets a single category making the shopping and buying experience easier. Information gathered from shoppers at each unique boutique is stored at the server farm for being shared with other associated merchants in the collection of sites. A shopper's user account will transfer between sites and allow the data gathered to be used in a cross-promotional method and will ensure the shopper's experience is consistent with what they like and want in future visits. Moreover, a merchant incentivizes an account holder to make an authorized transaction by terms and agreement to auditably donate to the account holder's affinity entity. To incent desirable commerce with locals, the merchant's terms may limit its donation by a derivation of navigation time between account holder and merchant, and/or by date and time of the transaction. The account holder can direct the donation to one of more affinity entities within their own community, and/or within a community where the transaction was physically conducted. An account holder can also donate at the time of transaction where the donation is paid by the account's issuer for reimbursement as a debit to the account holder's account statement. Other payment system participants may donate (the merchant's acquirer, issuer, and transaction handler for the issuer and acquirer), by way of favorable interchange rates, can also make audible donations to account holder directed affinities entities.

A system and method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network, according to one or more embodiments, includes communicating with a user via a user device and an issuer of payment media via an issuer device over the network, the payment media being issued to the user by the issuer, receiving user instruction over the network to link the payment media to a user account related to the user, prompting the user over the network to input a secure password known only by the issuer and the user, receiving the secure password from the user over the network, verifying that the payment media is owned by the user over the network via a secure protocol, returning a response to the user related to verification of the payment media, and storing payment media verification information.

An online raffle system and method allows a seller to offer a product and/or service at a validated price, and set raffle limits. Eligible consumers may purchase raffles for the product. When the raffle limit is reached within an allowed time, a winner is selected using multiple random number generations. The winner and other consumers are notified of the winning raffle. The product is provided to the winner. Funds received from sales of raffle tickets are disbursed, with portions going to the seller for the price and an administrative fee to the administrator of the raffle.

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for electronic transactions based on a reply message. In the context of a computer executed method, the method includes receiving a message, from a sender device, including a reply to buy (RTB) identifier associated with a promotion and a RTB validation code. The method also includes authenticating, using a promotion and marketing service host, the RTB validation code, associating the message from the sender with a recipient identifier, and causing the transmission of a purchase order message to the recipient device based on the RTB identifier.

Described herein are systems, methods, and apparatuses for performing a user-less payment for an item upon its delivery by an unmanned delivery vehicle. The unmanned delivery vehicle may navigate to a delivery location, receive payment information, initiate a payment transaction with a remote server, and release the item at a specified location upon successful completion of the payment transaction. Upon arrival of the unmanned delivery vehicle, a wireless data transmission device may send payment information to a remote server, and the remote server may provide the unmanned delivery vehicle with an indication of whether the item can be released and a specific location at which the item can be released.

Systems and methods for ordering items from an electronic menu and servicing thereof, in a networked computing environment that communicably connects via at least one network at least a plurality of first handheld electronic devices (e.g., wait staff operated devices in a restaurant), a plurality of second handheld electronic devices (e.g., patron operated devices in a restaurant) configured to display the electronic menu, and a venue computer are described. Corresponding apparatuses are also described.

A method for purchasing goods, access authorizations or authorizations for using a service from a plurality of offered goods, access authorizations or authorizations for using a service. A defined spatial region is subdivided into defined subregions assigned, in each case, to a purchasable good, access authorization or authorization for using a service. A good, an access authorization or an authorization for using a service from a plurality of offered goods, access authorizations or authorizations for using a service is purchased, and a user registered in advance for carrying out the method on the basis of biometric features and/or on the basis of features, which may be assigned to the user uniquely, or an item registered in advance for carrying out the method is identified and localized in the defined subregion (1, 2, 3) assigned to the good, access authorization or authorization for using a service.

Automated order management techniques for order problem learning and mitigation in an order processing system are disclosed. For example, a method comprises obtaining historical order data associated with an order processing system. The method applies a reinforcement learning-based algorithm to the obtained historical order data to generate a state-based data structure that reflects successes and failures of actions associated with previous orders processed by the order processing system. The state-based data structure is utilized to identify one or more issues in a given pending order, and recommend one or more mitigating actions to remedy the one or more issues in the given pending order.

A wireless communications system is provided that runs on a mobile device and includes a computer system run on at least one platform on which a plurality of different lottery transactions for different jurisdictions are supported and run from the at least one platform. A decentralized and distributed digital ledger is used to record transactions for the lottery transactions, where each of a lottery transaction can include a lottery element. At least one computer readable storage medium stores computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one network processor in the workflow server residing in the mobile communications network, implement components including: a workflow module comprising sets of workflow instructions for processing different types of lottery game packets from a plurality of different jurisdictions; and a deep packet inspection module for inspecting a received lottery game packet and providing information about the lottery game packet to the workflow module.

Smart meal preparation can be performed where a consumer order for a food item and a consumer request related to the food item are received. One or more recipes for the food item are received. The one or more recipes are analyzed to determine a conflict with the consumer request. The consumer request and the determined conflict are transmitted to a wearable device worn by a cook who will prepare the food item. Alerts related to the conflict are provided to the cook via the wearable device during preparation of the food item. Preparation of the food item is monitored for compliance with the consumer request.