Inventory control and point-of-sale system and method

This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/935,393, filed on Aug. 23, 2001, by William Kress Bodin, which is commonly assigned.

This invention was not developed in conjunction with any Federally sponsored contract.

Not applicable.

The related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/935,393, filed on Aug. 23, 2001, by William Kress Bodin, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, including figures.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the arts of inventory control devices and systems, point-of-sale systems, electronic article surveillance, theft control, supply chain management systems, and on-line purchasing systems.

2. Description of the Related Art

As shown in FIG. 1, many retail stores use electronic article surveillance systems (“EAS”) ( 10 ) to detect and deter theft of products from the retail space or show room floor. These systems, such as Ultra-Max [TM] by Sensormatic Electronics Corporation, may include a number of “pedestals” ( 12 ) which are positioned near the exits ( 18 ) of the protected retail space, often resembling stylized gates beside doorways, inconspicuous metal loops above exit doors, or even concealed in the floor near an exit.

EAS systems ( 10 ) typically use EAS “tags” or labels ( 16 ), which consist of small and inexpensive (e.g. disposable) antenna and transmitter systems, operated on acoustic-magnetic principles or by radio frequency technologies. Tags which operate on radio-frenquency-based techniques are often referred to as “RFID”, or “radio frequency ID” tags. The tags ( 16 ) are affixed to the products ( 15 ) to be protected, either though a semi-permanent attachment means or in an adhesive label.

The tags are activated when they are placed in a field P 1 emitted by a pedestal ( 12 ), such as a short-range RF signal. When activated, the tags ( 16 ) transmit a signal to the pedestal ( 12 ), which results in an alarm being sounded to alert store personnel to the attempted theft.

In their simplest form, a “dumb” tag may simply be enabled and disabled by a signal transmitted to it by a point-of-sale system. These dumb tags are disabled at the time of check-out by a cashier using a point-of-sale ( 13 ) disabling device ( 14 ). Any products which enter the proximity P 1 of a pedestal ( 12 ) which are not disabled cause an alarm to be sounded, signifying a potential theft in progress. These types of simple tags are typically employed to protect items of relatively low retail value, such as certain clothing articles, accessories, etc.

More sophisticated tags, though, may be programmed to include more information about the product. The programming may be done by the manufacturer of the item, or may be done by the retailer using specialized programming tools ( 17 ) having a short-range communications capability P 3 to the tag ( 16 ). The tag program can include an item identification number such as a stock tracking number, stockkeeping unit number (“SKU”), universal product code (“UPC”), product category codes, etc. This tag information may be used by a pedestal controller computer ( 11 ) to track which items are being “stolen” most often, at what times, etc.

RF ID tags can also be embedded into credit cards and ID badges and used by automatic door lock activators to provide secure door operations. When a person carrying such a badge or card approaches the door, the badge is place in proximity of the pedestal ( 12 ) or “reader”, which collects the ID code from the badge and sends it to the pedestal controller computer ( 11 ). If the ID code is associated with a person who is entitled to enter or pass through the door ( 18 ), the controller ( 11 ) provides an unlock signal to an electronically actuated door lock ( 19 ). The controller ( 11 ) may implement in software a number of other security features, such as tracking of entries and exits, production of access reports, time-based access, etc.

The related patent application disclosed a system and method of using an RF ID or a pervasive computing device to allow the highlighting of products on display according to a shopper's interests or preferences. For example, a shopper can be provided with a store credit card which includes an RF ID device embedded in it. A special pedestal is placed near a point of display, such as a show display. When the shopper nears the display and enters the proximity of the pedestal, the RFID is activated, and the shopper's ID is established. Then, an enhanced controller computer accesses a data store over a computer network to determine if any products on display match the shopper's preferences or interests, such as a certain size, style or color of shoe.

If a match is found, then small indicators such as LED's are activated near the matching products in order to bring the shopper's attention to the products. In a further enhancement of the related invention, the enhanced controller computer can interface to a stores supply chain management (“SCM”) or inventory tracking system to determine if a product matching the preferences is actually in stock at the store.

In alternate and more advanced embodiments, the system and method of the related invention employed proximity-enabled pervasive computing devices, such as wireless networked personal digital assistants (“PDA”) and handheld computers, and wireless application protocol (“WAP”) enabled cellular and PCS telephones instead of the RF ID badge or card for identifying the consumer. Further, in these embodiments, more information such as screens of text and images can be provided to the consumer, instead of a simple indication of a product and/or it's stock availability.

While the related invention has provided certain improvements to a shopping experience, there remain other problems yet unsolved with the experience of shopping and buying products in a “real” or “bricks-and-mortar” environment compared to an online shopping experience. One such problem is the issue of waiting in line for service by a cashier, especially during peak shopping hours.

For example, many video rental stores experience very low customer volumes during the majority of a business day, except the time immediately following the end of the traditional business shift. So, to maintain profitability, the store cannot afford to maintain a large staff throughout the entire day just to accommodate a significant surge of consumer traffic for a 1 or 2 hour period. Consequently, during these peak hours, a consumer may be required to wait in a check out line for many minutes to be serviced by a minimum number of cashiers.

This phenomenon, of course, is not limited to video rental stores. In fact, many types of retail establishments experience peak customer periods correlating to lunch break periods, ends of work shifts, and weekend shopping, including home improvement stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, gift shops, and cleaners.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method which reduces the personnel support required to service customers through a checkout or cashier process. This system and method must be compatible with current anti-theft and inventory control systems to avoid the requirement of trained personnel to operate point-of-sale theft tag disablers.

The following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the figures presented herein provide a complete disclosure of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the prior art arrangement of retail antitheft systems, or “electronic article surveillance” systems.

FIG. 2 illustrates arrangement of system components according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 sets forth the logical process of the present invention.

The present invention provides a system and method for a consumer to make a purchase within a retail area and to remove that purchased item from the retail area without causing an alarm by an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system. The system first identifies the consumer and the product to be purchased, then validates the selected item. If the selected product is a valid selection, then the system posts the transaction to the consumer's account, optionally including a convenience charge, and commands the EAS to allow removal of the purchased item from the secured retail area, thereby allowing the consumer to make the purchase and avoid waiting for the availability of a human cashier or salesperson.

The system and method of the invention provides a means for allowing a customer to use an electronic identification device, such as an RFID-equipped store credit card, or a pervasive computing device, such as a WAP-enabled wireless telephone, to electronically purchase an item on display in an EAS-secured retail space, and to remove that item from the retail space without interaction or service by a salesperson or cashier, thereby providing an enhanced shopping experience with greater experience and reducing a peak-demand for cashiers and sales staff experienced by the retailer.

The consumer is identified by the invention, and the consumer's selected product is indicated by the consumer to the system. The system then validates the purchase, including verifying the selected product is indeed a stocked item and that the consumer's account is in order to complete the purchase. Following validation of the purchase, the antitheft device and system associated with the selected product is configured to allow the consumer to remove the purchased item from the secured premises without initiating an alarm. The consumer's account is then charged for the purchased item, and preferably a convenience charge or handling charge is posted, as well.

Turning to FIG. 2, a generalized arrangement of components and subsystems according to the invention is shown. First, a secure passageway ( 18 ′), such as an entrance or exit door, is equipped with a standard pedestal ( 12 ) interfaced to a controller ( 11 ), and optionally an electronically actuated door lock ( 19 ). The store's supply chain management system ( 25 ) is enhanced to interface to a gateway server ( 27 ), either through a local computer network (e.g. a LAN or WAN) or through the Internet ( 26 ). Most SCM systems are already equipped with LAN and Internet interfaces for other purposes, so according to the preferred embodiment, these existing interfaces and messaging protocols are leveraged to provide communications to the gateway server ( 27 ).

Further, the gateway server ( 27 ) may interface to a point-of-sale (POS) terminal ( 13 ) and tag disabler ( 14 ), or may provide emulation of these devices to the store's main purchase tracking computer, in order to be able to post a charge to a customer's account and receive approval and authorization for the purchase.

A consumer identification unit (“CIDU”) ( 22 ) is provided to interface to the consumer's ID device ( 23 ). In a basic embodiment, the user may be provided with a credit card, key chain fob, or other article having an RF ID device, and the CIDU ( 22 ) may be simply a pedestal positioned within the secured retail space. In the preferred embodiment, the user is provided with a pervasive computing device such as a WAP-enabled telephone, in which case the CIDU may simply be a software “log in” algorithm incorporated into the gateway server ( 27 ).

The product to be purchased may be provided with specialized markings, such as a label, indicating that it is available for electronic purchase. Alternatively, standard markings such as SKU or UPC numbers may be used to identify the product to be purchased.

Tables 1 and 2 illustrate the fundamental steps of the process of the invention, with details of two possible embodiments. The first embodiment (Table 1) employs the low-cost RF ID for the consumer identification device ( 23 ) and an associated RF ID terminal for the CIDU ( 22 ). The second embodiment (Table 2) employs a networked persistent computing device (e.g. WAP-enabled phone, networked PDA, two-way pager, etc.) as the consumer identification device ( 23 ).

FIG. 3 illustrates the logical process as set forth in Tables 1 and 2. First, the consumer is identified ( 31 ), either through use of an in-store pedestal and an RF ID tag associated with the consumer, or through use of a pervasive computing device, such as by logging on to a web site via a WAP-enabled wireless telephone.

Next, the product is identified ( 32 a ) which the consumer wishes to purchase, either by RF ID tag or bar code scanner, or by consumer indication in a form on a web site using a pervasive computing device.

The invention then validates that the chosen product is a valid product choice and that it is in stock by communicating to the store's SCM system ( 32 b ). If the product is out of stock, or if it is likely to be difficult to physically be taken by the consumer (e.g. a large item such as a big screen TV), the system may allow the consumer to schedule a delivery time ( 300 ). Otherwise, if the product is available in stock, the system may confirm the chosen product to the consumer ( 32 c ), and proceed to complete the sales transaction by communicating with the in-store sales system ( 33 ).

Finally, if the product is being physically removed from the secured sales area, the system may disable the product's EAS tag or label, or configure the EAS system to allow the removal of one such product when immediately associated with the consumer's RF ID tag upon detection of the exit pedestal ( 34 ).

While a preferred embodiment has been disclosed in detail, and wherein certain alternate embodiments and enhancements have been given, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that some variations and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Likewise, it will also be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that the examples given herein are for illustrative purposes only, and do not form limitations as to the usefulness, applicability or objectives of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.