Three Square Obtains Patent For Micromarket Smartphone App

HUDSON, WI -- The U.S. Patent Office has granted Three Square Market (32M) a patent on its micromarket and mobile application. U.S. Patent No. 9,171,300 B2, granted on Oct. 27, is the first of several patents the Hudson, WI, company expects to obtain in the near future. The 32M mobile app is free to download and is available for both Android and iPhone.

"When we entered the micromarket arena, we made a strategic decision to develop cutting-edge technology," said Todd Westby, chief executive of TW Companies, 32M's parent company. "Given the investment we made, both in the short- and long-term, we didn't want to see our proprietary efforts go to waste by not protecting our intellectual property."

More than 20% of transactions occurring at 32M micromarkets occur on its smartphone application. The company expects the mobile trend to increase over the next several years.

When the company entered the micromarket arena, there was no provider with a smartphone application, yet the demand for apps was extremely high, 32M chief operating officer Patrick McMullan recalled.

"Despite significant skepticism from the competition and operators, we rolled this product out and it is now one of the major reasons we have opened over 1,300 stores in less than three years," McMullan said. "Our app does everything a kiosk does except take cash. And customers can check out faster by using the app."

Three Square's app now features inventory management and reporting functions, among other administration tasks.

The mobile market continues to capture record monthly growth in volumes of transactions in the retail industry. Over 70% of shopping efforts involve some usage of a mobile device whether it is searching for a location, buying online, seeking reviews or other related activities, according to 32M.

"In the micromarket arena, a mobile device purchase also eliminates other potential service issues," Westby added. "We have over 25 stores that operate with no kiosk at all. These stores have no bill jams or connection issues, let alone kiosk cost. And our operators who offer the mobile app as a supplement to their kiosk see their per-employee sales being higher, and they have virtually no customer service challenges."

He said 32M intends to "vigorously protect" its intellectual property associated with its patent.