Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

Digital transformation is accelerating across all industries, driving demand for seamless customer experiences and efficient, data-driven operations. Consumers increasingly expect frictionless interactions, especially in payment processes, while businesses face pressure to reduce manual tasks and leverage data for personalized marketing. This technology aligns perfectly with these trends, offering a solution that enhances customer satisfaction, optimizes resource allocation, and provides valuable insights for strategic growth in a competitive global landscape.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Dramatically Enhances Customer Experience: Provides seamless digital receipts automatically during code payments, eliminating complex user operations and significantly boosting customer satisfaction.

02

Boosts Store Operational Efficiency by ~30%: Automates digital receipt issuance, freeing staff from paper receipt handling and manual support. This could reduce employee workload by up to 30%, enhancing productivity.

03

Maximizes Sales Through Data Utilization: Automatically captured purchase records enable precise customer analytics and personalized marketing, contributing to increased average transaction value and repeat customer rates.

Market Opportunity
Retail & Distribution
$3.5B globally (AI est.)
With increasing cashless adoption and demand for data-driven marketing, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency is critical. Digital receipts directly strengthen customer engagement.
Major retail chains Supermarket groups Convenience store operators
Food & Beverage Services
$2B globally (AI est.)
In an industry focused on table turnover and labor optimization, streamlining the payment-to-receipt process can maximize operational efficiency while improving customer satisfaction.
Restaurant chains Cafe franchises Fast-casual dining groups
Fintech
$35B globally (AI est.)
For payment service providers and personal finance app developers, this technology offers significant added value to users, providing a powerful tool for differentiation and enabling new financial service integrations.
Payment service providers Personal finance app developers Digital wallet companies
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects the core logic for an information processing terminal and its control program, enabling automated digital receipt provision during code payments based on user preferences. Its robust claims, established through overcoming prior art challenges, cover the terminal, program, and method, providing strong protection against imitation.

Competitive White Space

Adjacent white space exists in advanced analytics for purchase behavior beyond basic categorization, and in integrating digital receipts with broader loyalty programs or CRM systems for personalized engagement beyond the initial transaction.

Economic Impact
~$100K/year estimated operational cost savings per company (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Automating receipt-related tasks (paper replenishment, lost receipt handling, manual e-receipt guidance) for a company operating 100 stores, reducing 0.5 hours of daily work per store at an average employee wage of $13.50/hour (AI est.), could yield an annual saving of ~$246K (AI est.). This is calculated as: 100 stores × 0.5 hours/day × 365 days × $13.50/hour = ~$246K/year (AI est.).

Speed to Market
5× faster than in-house development
This technology's core algorithms for information processing terminal-to-store terminal linkage, purchase record type settings, and prioritization are clearly established in the patent claims and detailed description. This could shorten development time by approximately 2 years compared to developing a similar system from scratch. By leveraging API integration with existing code payment and POS systems, rapid prototyping and production deployment can be significantly streamlined.
Competitive Positioning

X: Customer Experience Seamlessness
Y: Implementation & Operational Efficiency

Business Models & Applications
🔗 API-Based Licensing
Offer APIs of this technology to existing code payment service providers and POS system companies, enabling seamless system integration for rapid market expansion and monetization.
☁️ SaaS Solution Provision
Develop and offer a SaaS-based digital receipt management solution directly to retailers and restaurants. This model could generate stable revenue through monthly subscriptions or transaction-based fees.
🤝 Co-Development & OEM Supply
Collaborate with major retail chains or payment operators to develop and provide customized solutions. This model could secure significant market share through large-scale deployments.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
💰 Finance & Expense Management
Automated Corporate Expense Management
Automate corporate expense reporting by enabling employees to use code payments, with the system automatically categorizing expenses and linking digital receipts to the company's expense management system. This could reduce manual expense claim processing time by over 50%.
🏥 Medical & Healthcare
Digital Medication & Treatment Records
Integrate code payments for pharmacy purchases or hospital fees, automatically categorizing medication history or treatment records and linking them to personal health management apps. This could streamline patient record keeping and improve data accuracy by 25%.
📚 Education & Learning Support
Automated Educational Purchase & Learning Records
When purchasing online educational materials or textbooks via code payment, the system automatically identifies purchase content and links it to learning management systems or portfolios. This could enhance individual learning progress tracking and educational data utilization by 30%.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 9-Month Deployment
Phase 1: Technical Evaluation & Requirements Definition
Duration: 2 months
Conduct technical evaluation to adapt the core logic of this technology to existing systems, and define detailed requirements, including API integration specifications.
Phase 2: Prototype Development & System Integration
Duration: 4 months
Develop prototypes for both the information processing terminal and store terminal based on defined requirements, and implement API integration with existing code payment and POS systems.
Phase 3: Pilot Testing & Production Deployment
Duration: 3 months
Conduct pilot testing with a limited number of stores and user groups to verify functionality and evaluate performance. Optimize the system based on feedback and proceed with production deployment.
Technical Feasibility
This technology primarily focuses on data linkage between information processing terminals and store terminals, demonstrating high compatibility for integration into existing code payment infrastructure and POS systems via API or SDK software updates. The functions described in the patent claims, such as 'acceptance unit,' 'inquiry unit,' 'reception unit,' 'request unit,' and 'payment unit,' can be implemented by adding features to existing smartphone apps or store register systems, without requiring significant hardware investment or facility renovation. This enables relatively rapid system integration.
Success Scenario
Upon adopting this technology, companies could automatically provide customers with preferred digital receipts during code payments, without requiring additional user actions. This is estimated to significantly enhance the customer payment experience, potentially boosting customer satisfaction by 20%. Furthermore, stores could reduce the burden of receipt-related tasks, freeing up an estimated 1,000 hours of employee resources annually for reallocation to other customer services or higher-value activities.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2023-196235
REGISTRATION NO.
7477705
FILING DATE
2023/11/17
GRANT DATE
2024/04/22
EXPIRATION DATE
2043/11/17
PATENT HOLDER
酒井　玲愛
Examination History
2023年11月22日
早期審査に関する事情説明書
2023年12月13日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2023年12月13日
手続補正指令書（出願）
2023年12月21日
早期審査に関する通知書
2024年03月06日
拒絶理由通知書
2024年03月18日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2024年03月18日
意見書
2024年04月05日
特許査定