U.S. patent application number 14/200377 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-30 for real-time product delivery during customer-driven point of sale retail transactions.
This patent application is currently assigned to TOSHIBA GLOBAL COMMERCE SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is TOSHIBA GLOBAL COMMERCE SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Michael John BURKHART, James C. COLSON, Phuc Ky DO, Justin Monroe PIERCE.
Application Number | 20140324611 14/200377 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47142495 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140324611 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BURKHART; Michael John ; et
al. |
October 30, 2014 |
REAL-TIME PRODUCT DELIVERY DURING CUSTOMER-DRIVEN POINT OF SALE
RETAIL TRANSACTIONS
Abstract
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an
approach is provided in which a product request is received that
corresponds to a point-of-sale (POS) device, which is located at a
merchant facility. In addition to identifying a product location
corresponding to the product, an employee location of an employee
in proximity to the product location is also identified. In turn,
an electronic message is sent to the employee's mobile device that
includes a request to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device.
Inventors: |
BURKHART; Michael John;
(Round Rock, TX) ; COLSON; James C.; (Austin,
TX) ; DO; Phuc Ky; (Morrisville, NC) ; PIERCE;
Justin Monroe; (Cary, NC) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TOSHIBA GLOBAL COMMERCE SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS CORPORATION |
TOKYO |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
TOSHIBA GLOBAL COMMERCE SOLUTIONS
HOLDINGS CORPORATION
TOKYO
JP
|
Family ID: |
47142495 |
Appl. No.: |
14/200377 |
Filed: |
March 7, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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13107870 |
May 13, 2011 |
8719098 |
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14200377 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/21 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0268 20130101;
G06Q 30/06 20130101; G06Q 20/202 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/21 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/20 20060101
G06Q020/20 |
Claims
1. A method for selling products at a merchant facility, wherein
customers generally select products in the merchant facility and
bring the selected products to a point-of-sale (POS) device at the
merchant facility for checkout, the method comprising: during a
customer checkout at a (POS) device at a merchant facility,
receiving a product request at the POS device corresponding to a
product, identifying an employee location, from a plurality of
employee locations, that is in proximity to a product location of
the requested product, the employee location corresponding to an
employee; and sending an electronic message to a mobile device that
corresponds to the employee, wherein the electronic message
includes a request to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
identifying an initial product at the POS device that is purchased
by a user; determining that the product corresponds to the initial
product; querying the user to indicate whether the user wishes to
purchase the product; and in response to receiving the indication
that the user wishes to purchase the product, generating the
product request.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising: computing an estimated
transport time to transport the product from the product location
to the POS device; and including the estimated transport time in
the query to the user.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving a different
product request corresponding to a different product that is
located at a different product location within the merchant
facility; determining that a transport grouping option is selected;
and in response to determining that the transport grouping option
is selected, including a different request in the electronic
message to transport the different product from the different
product location to the POS device.
5. The method if claim 4 further comprising: in response to
identifying that the transport grouping option is based upon a
retrieval perimeter: computing the retrieval perimeter based upon
the employee location; and determining that the different product
location resides within the retrieval perimeter; and in response to
identifying that the transport grouping option is based upon a
transport direction: computing the transport direction based upon
the employee location and a point-of sale device location that
corresponds to the point-of-sale device; and identifying that the
different product location is in proximity to the transport
direction.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: in response to
receiving the product request, automatically charging the requested
product to a user bill prior to receiving the product at the POS
device.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising: identifying an initial
employee location, from the plurality of employee locations, that
is closer in proximity to the location than the employee location;
identifying an amount of stationary time that an initial employee
is located at the initial employee location; in response to
determining the amount of stationary time, determining that the
initial employee is unavailable to transport the product from the
product location to the point-of-sale device; in response to
determining that the initial employee is unavailable, determining
that the employee is available to transport the product from the
product location to the to the point-of-sale device; and in
response to determining that the employee is available, sending the
electronic message to the mobile device corresponding to the
employee.
8. An information handling system comprising: one or more
processors; a memory coupled to at least one of the processors; a
set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and
executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform
actions of: during a customer checkout at a point-of-sale (POS)
device at a merchant facility, receiving a product request at the
POS device corresponding to a product, wherein customers generally
select products in the merchant facility and bring the selected
products to a POS device at the merchant facility for checkout;
identifying an employee location, from a plurality of employee
locations, that is in proximity to a product location of the
requested product, the employee location corresponding to an
employee; and sending an electronic message to a mobile device that
corresponds to the employee, wherein the electronic message
includes a request to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device.
9. The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: identifying an
initial product at the POS device that is purchased by a user;
determining that the product corresponds to the initial product;
querying the user to indicate whether the user wishes to purchase
the product; and in response to receiving the indication that the
user wishes to purchase the product, generating the product
request.
10. The information handling system of claim 9 wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: computing an
estimated transport time to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device; and including the estimated transport
time in the query to the user.
11. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: receiving a
different product request corresponding to a different product that
is located at a different product location within the merchant
facility; determining that a transport grouping option is selected;
and in response to determining that the transport grouping option
is selected, including a different request in the electronic
message to transport the different product from the different
product location to the POS device.
12. The information handling system of claim 11 wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: in response to
identifying that the transport grouping option is based upon a
retrieval perimeter: computing the retrieval perimeter based upon
the employee location; and determining that the different product
location resides within the retrieval perimeter; and in response to
identifying that the transport grouping option is based upon a
transport direction: computing the transport direction based upon
the employee location and a point-of sale device location that
corresponds to the point-of-sale device; and identifying that the
different product location is in proximity to the transport
direction.
13. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: in response to
receiving the product request, automatically charging the requested
product to a user bill prior to receiving the product at the POS
device.
14. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the
processors perform additional actions comprising: identifying an
initial employee location, from the plurality of employee
locations, that is closer in proximity to the product location than
the employee location; identifying an amount of stationary time
that an initial employee is located at the initial employee
location; in response to determining the amount of stationary time,
determining that the initial employee is unavailable to transport
the product from the product location to the point-of-sale device;
in response to determining that the initial employee is
unavailable, determining that the employee is available to
transport the product from the product location to the to the
point-of-sale device; and in response to determining that the
employee is available, sending the electronic message to the mobile
device corresponding to the employee.
15. A computer program product stored in a non-transitory computer
readable storage medium, comprising computer program code that,
when executed by an information handling system, causes the
information handling system to perform actions comprising: during a
customer checkout at a point-of-sale (POS) device at a merchant
facility, receiving a product request at the POS device
corresponding to a product, wherein the product request corresponds
to a point-of-sale (POS) device located at a merchant facility;
identifying an employee location, from a plurality of employee
locations, that is in proximity to a product location of the
requested product, the employee location corresponding to an
employee; and sending an electronic message to a mobile device that
corresponds to the employee, wherein the electronic message
includes a request to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device.
16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the
information handling system performs further actions comprising:
identifying an initial product at the POS device that is purchased
by a user; determining that the product corresponds to the initial
product; querying the user to indicate whether the user wishes to
purchase the product; and in response to receiving the indication
that the user wishes to purchase the product, generating the
product request.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the
information handling system performs further actions comprising:
computing an estimated transport time to transport the product from
the product location to the POS device; and including the estimated
transport time in the query to the user.
18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the
information handling system performs further actions comprising:
receiving a different product request corresponding to a different
product that is located at a different product location within the
merchant facility; determining that a transport grouping option is
selected; and in response to determining that the transport
grouping option is selected, including a different request in the
electronic message to transport the different product from the
different product location to the POS device.
19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the
information handling system performs further actions comprising: in
response to identifying that the transport grouping option is based
upon a retrieval perimeter: computing the retrieval perimeter based
upon the employee location; and determining that the different
product location resides within the retrieval perimeter; and in
response to identifying that the transport grouping option is based
upon a transport direction: computing the transport direction based
upon the employee location and a point-of sale device location that
corresponds to the point-of-sale device; and identifying that the
different product location is in proximity to the transport
direction.
20. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the
information handling system performs further actions comprising:
identifying an initial employee location, from the plurality of
employee locations, that is closer in proximity to the product
location than the employee location; identifying an amount of
stationary time that an initial employee is located at the initial
employee location; in response to determining the amount of
stationary time, determining that the initial employee is
unavailable to transport the product from the product location to
the point-of-sale device; in response to determining that the
initial employee is unavailable, determining that the employee is
available to transport the product from the product location to the
to the point-of-sale device; and in response to determining that
the employee is available, sending the electronic message to the
mobile device corresponding to the employee.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/107,870, filed May 13, 2011. The
aforementioned related patent application is herein incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present disclosure relates to real-time product delivery
during customer-driven point of sale transactions. More
specifically, the present disclosure relates to fulfilling product
requests in real-time that are in response to a recent product
purchase.
[0003] Traditional point of sale interactions deal with a customer
collecting product at a merchant facility, and then taking the
collected products to a merchant's point-of-sale (POS) device,
which are scanned and purchased. These POS devices may be, for
example, self-service checkout counters or employee attended
checkout counters. Some products may correspond with other,
additional products, such as batteries for a new toy.
SUMMARY
[0004] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an
approach is provided in which a product request is received that
corresponds to a point-of-sale (POS) device, which is located at a
merchant facility. In addition to identifying a product location
corresponding to the product, an employee location of an employee
in proximity to the product location is also identified. In turn,
an electronic message is sent to the employee's mobile device that
includes a request to transport the product from the product
location to the POS device.
[0005] The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,
simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail;
consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way
limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the
present disclosure, as defined solely by the claims, will become
apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a real-time product delivery
management system (RPDMS) sending product transport requests to
employees to fulfill a product request initiated by a user;
[0007] FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an employee transporting
multiple products to POS devices based upon the employee's location
relative to the POS devices (transport direction);
[0008] FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an employee transporting
multiple products to POS devices based upon a retrieval perimeter
that corresponds to the employee's location;
[0009] FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a customer facing display that
displays an inquiry to a customer (user) regarding an additional
product to purchase;
[0010] FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a customer facing display that
displays an inquiry to a customer (user), along with an estimate
delivery time, regarding an additional product to purchase;
[0011] FIG. 3C is a diagram showing an employee's mobile device
display that displays transport requests for the employee to
fulfill;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing steps taken in identifying an
additional sale opportunity and, once confirmed, sending an
electronic message to an employee to retrieve the identified
product and deliver the product to a point-of-sale device;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing steps taken in including
transport requests into electronic messages and sending the
electronic messages to employees to transport the additional
product to one or more POS devices;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing steps taken in estimating a
delivery time for an employee to transport a product from a
corresponding product location to a POS device;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing steps taken in generating and
analyzing product transport metrics;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a data processing system in
which the methods described herein can be implemented; and
[0017] FIG. 9 provides an extension of the information handling
system environment shown in FIG. 8 to illustrate that the methods
described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information
handling systems which operate in a networked environment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of
the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and
"the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood
that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this
specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude
the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
[0019] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and
equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the
claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or
act for performing the function in combination with other claimed
elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present
disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the
disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations
will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The
embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the
principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to
enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the
disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as
are suited to the particular use contemplated.
[0020] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of
the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or
computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present
invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an
entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident
software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and
hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a
"circuit," "module" or "system." Furthermore, aspects of the
present invention may take the form of a computer program product
embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer
readable program code embodied thereon.
[0021] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s)
may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer
readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A
computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not
limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any
suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a
non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would
include the following: an electrical connection having one or more
wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access
memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a
portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage
device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of
the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable
storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or
store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction
execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0022] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any
computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage
medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device.
[0023] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any
suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0024] Computer program code for carrying out operations for
aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination
of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented
programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like and
conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C"
programming language or similar programming languages. The program
code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the
user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the
user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the
remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider).
[0025] Aspects of the present invention are described below with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program
instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or
blocks.
[0026] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0027] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other
devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on
the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to
produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions
which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus
provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in
the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0028] The following detailed description will generally follow the
summary of the disclosure, as set forth above, further explaining
and expanding the definitions of the various aspects and
embodiments of the disclosure as necessary.
[0029] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a real-time product delivery
management system (RPDMS) sending product transport requests to
employees to fulfill a product request initiated by a user. POS
Device 120 (e.g., self-service checkout station) and RPDMS 110
provide a point-of-service that allows customers to play an active
role in the checkout process. This includes the ability to offer
customers the ability to purchase additional products during
checkout (e.g., "cross-sell" or "up-sell" opportunities). In one
embodiment, the additional products are items that are in some way
related to an item purchased, such as batteries for a toy.
[0030] FIG. 1 shows merchant facility 100, which may be a location
that customers (user 115) purchases products, such as a grocery
store, drug store, electronics store, etc.
[0031] Merchant facility 100 includes real-time product delivery
management system 110 and point-of-sale (POS) device 120. POS
device 120, in one embodiment, may be a self-checkout station for
which user 115 utilizes to purchase products (groceries, electronic
merchandise, etc.). As user 115 purchases products, such as by
scanning products at POS device 120, POS device 120 (or real-time
delivery system 110) identifies additional products that correspond
to user 115's purchased products. For example, user 115 may
purchase a toy that requires four AAA batteries. In this example,
POS device 120 identifies the four AAA batteries as an additional
product that user 115 may wish to purchase.
[0032] POS device 120 queries user 115 as to whether user 115
wishes to purchase the additional product. If user 115 wishes to
purchase the additional product, RPDMS 110 identifies a product
location of the product (product location 160), along with employee
locations of employees that are working at merchant facility
(employee locations 125-135). In one embodiment, in order to
identify employee locations 125-135, each employee may possess a
mobile device that transmits GPS information to RPDMS 110. In
another embodiment, merchant facility 100 may utilizes micro
transceivers that identify each employee's location through
triangulation techniques (send/receive signals to/from employee
mobile devices).
[0033] RPDMS 110 determines that employee location 130 is in
closest proximity to product location 160 and, in turn, selects the
corresponding employee to fulfill the product request. As such,
RPDMS 110 sends an electronic message to the selected employee's
mobile device that includes a transport request. The transport
request includes product request information (product name, SKU
number, etc.), along with other information (product location and
POS device location), that instructs the selected employee to
retrieve the product from product location 160 and transport the
product to POS device 120. In turn, user 115 receives the product
and purchases the additional product.
[0034] In one embodiment, RPDMS 110 may determine that, due to the
selected employee's duration at an employee location 130, the
selected employee may be busy assisting another customer. In this
embodiment, RPDMS 110 may select a different employee to transport
the product, such as the employee corresponding to employee
location 135.
[0035] In another embodiment, in order to ensure that a given
collection of additional product purchases does result in a
particular employee unnecessarily traveling back and forth from POS
120 to various product locations, RPDMS 110 may group transport
requests together and send out a single electronic message, thus
effectively utilizes employee resources. In this embodiment, a
grouping algorithm may also include a delay to allow for multiple
items to be requested simultaneously rather than via separate
requests that might possibly end up coming from the same area of
the store (see FIGS. 2A, 28, and corresponding text for further
details).
[0036] FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an employee transporting
multiple products to POS devices based upon the employee's location
relative to the POS devices (transport direction). In one
embodiment, a RPDMS (RPDMS 110 shown in FIG. 1) groups product
requests based upon a delivery direction from employee location 220
to POS devices 210. The example shown in FIG. 2A shows that after
receiving an electronic message that includes multiple transport
requests, the employee corresponding to employee location 220
retrieves and transports products 230-245 to POS devices 210. In
this embodiment, the electronic message may organize the transport
requests according to product locations, thus minimizing
backtracking (see FIGS. 3C, 5, and corresponding text for further
details). In another embodiment when the RPDMS combines product
requests from different POS devices 210, the RPDMS may instruct the
employee to transport some products to one POS device, and
transport other products to a different POS device.
[0037] FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an employee transporting
multiple products to POS devices based upon a retrieval perimeter
that corresponds to the employee's location. In one embodiment, the
RPDMS identifies employee location 250 and groups products
according to retrieval perimeter 255, which is an area
corresponding to employee location 250. The example shown in FIG.
28 shows that the employee corresponding to employee location 250
receives an electronic message to transport products 260-270 to POS
devices 210. In one embodiment, the employee is instructed to
retrieve products 230-250 in a particular order, thus minimizing
backtracking
[0038] FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a customer facing display that
displays an inquiry to a customer (user) regarding an additional
product to purchase. A POS device identifies an additional product
that a customer may wish to purchase based upon a product the
customer purchased (scanned). The POS device queries the customer
via customer facing display 300 as to whether the customer wishes
to purchase the additional product (e.g., self-checkout screen).
FIG. 3A shows that the customer has the option of selecting premium
batteries, standard batteries, or choose not to purchase
batteries.
[0039] FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a customer facing display that
displays an inquiry to a customer (user), along with an estimate
delivery time, regarding an additional product to purchase. FIG. 38
is similar to FIG. 3A with the exception that FIG. 38 includes
estimate delivery time 330. In one embodiment, the POS device (or a
real-time delivery management system) computes an estimate delivery
time in order for the customer make an informed decision as to
whether the customer wishes to purchase the additional product. For
example, a customer may be at the beginning stages of purchasing a
large amount of products and the estimate delivery time for an
additional product is 2 minutes. In this example, the customer may
choose to purchase the additional product since the additional
product purchase would not delay the customer's overall checkout
time.
[0040] FIG. 3C is a diagram showing an employee's mobile device
display that displays transport requests for the employee to
fulfill. In one embodiment, an employee possesses a mobile device
that receives electronic messages for fulfilling one or more
transport requests. Employee display device 340 shows transport
requests 350 and 360, each corresponding to a particular product
request. Each of transport requests 350 and 360 includes a product
identifier (product name/SKU number), a product location (Isle,
shelf, etc.), and a POS device location (checkout station number).
In one embodiment, the electronic message and, in turn, employee
display device 340, organizes the transport requests based upon a
most efficient retrieval process for the employee, thus minimizing
backtracking
[0041] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing steps taken in identifying an
additional sale opportunity and, once confirmed, sending an
electronic message to an employee to retrieve the identified
product and deliver the product to a point-of-sale device.
Processing commences at 400, whereupon a point-of-sale (POS) device
scans one of products 415 from user 435 at step 410. A
determination is made as to whether an additional product
corresponds to the scanned product (e.g., cross sale or up sale
opportunity) (decision 420). For example, a toy that is scanned may
require four AAA batteries and, in this example, the POS device
identifies the four AAA batteries as an additional product that the
customer may wish to purchase. In one embodiment, the POS device
(or RPDMS) may access a database that cross-references products to
identify additional sale opportunities.
[0042] If an additional product is not identified, decision 420
branches to "No" branch 422, which bypasses additional product
purchasing/transporting steps. On the other hand, if an additional
product is identified, decision 420 branches to "Yes" branch 428,
whereupon the POS device provides an additional product option to
user 435, which informs user 435 that the recently scanned item has
a corresponding additional product that the customer may be
interested in purchasing. In one embodiment, processing computes an
estimate delivery time that the product will be delivered to the
POS device. In this embodiment, user 435 makes an informed decision
as to whether to purchase the additional product.
[0043] A determination is made as to whether user 435 wishes to
purchase the additional product (decision 440). If user 435 does
not wish to purchase the additional product, decision 440 branches
to "No" branch 442, bypassing steps to add a product request to a
transport queue. On the other hand, if user 435 wishes to purchase
the additional product, decision 440 branches to "Yes" branch 448,
whereupon processing adds a product request to queue 458 at step
450. In one embodiment, the product request includes one or more
product identifiers such as a name and/or a SKU number. In another
embodiment, the product is automatically charged to user 435's user
in so user 435 does not have to wait until the product arrives
before checking out.
[0044] In one embodiment, the product request may be immediately
processed, which includes sending an electronic message to one of
employees 490 to retrieve and transport the corresponding product.
In another embodiment, product requests may be grouped according to
a particular transport grouping option in order to increase
employee efficiency (see FIG. 5 and corresponding text for further
details).
[0045] At step 455, processing adds a product retrieval entry to
queue 458 that includes a product identifier (e.g., name, sku
number, etc.), a product location, an employee identifier, and an
employee location. In turn, the POS device, or a product delivery
management system, sends an electronic message to the identified
employee to transport the product to the POS device (see FIG. 6 and
corresponding text for further details). In one embodiment,
processing tracks product transport times in order to analyze
employee performance and/or grouping parameters (see FIG. 7 and
corresponding text for further details). Queue 458 may be stored on
a volatile or nonvolatile storage area, such as computer memory or
a computer hard drive.
[0046] A determination is made as to whether user 435 has finished
scanning products and is ready to checkout (decision 460). If user
435 has more products to purchase, decision 460 branches to "Yes"
branch 462, which loops back to scan another product. This looping
continues until user 435 wishes to checkout, at which point
decision 460 branches to "No" branch 468. At step 470, processing
completes the checkout processes (accepting credit card
information, printing receipt, etc.) and ends at 480.
[0047] In one embodiment, such as at a large merchant facility with
multiple POS devices (e.g., checkout stations), steps shown in FIG.
4 may be performed by a combination of the POS devices and the
RPDMS. In another embodiment, such as at a small drug store, steps
shown in FIG. 4 may be performed by the POS device.
[0048] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing steps taken in including
transport requests into electronic messages and sending the
electronic messages to employees to transport the additional
product to one or more POS devices. Product transport fulfillment
commences at 500, whereupon a determination is made as to whether a
transport grouping is selected to group product requests into an
electronic message (decision 505). If a transport grouping option
is not selected, decision 505 branches to "No" branch 505,
whereupon processing retrieves a product request from a queue
(queue 458 in FIG. 4) and identifies a product location of the
corresponding product (step 510). In one embodiment, an RPDMS may
utilize a lookup table that maps product identifiers (e.g., SKU
number, product name, etc.) to geographic coordinates (GPS
location, etc.).
[0049] At step 515, processing identifies employee locations in
proximity to the product location and, at step 520, processing
identifies a closest available employee. Processing may identify
the closest available employee, for example, based upon the amount
of stationary time that the employee is at a single location, or an
"unavailable" signal transmitted from the employee's mobile device
that was activated by the employee.
[0050] Processing includes a transport request corresponding to the
product and the identified employee in an electronic message, and
transmits the electronic message to one of employees 490 (step
530). Processing ends at 530. As those skilled in the art can
appreciate, processing may repeat steps 510-525 as long as product
requests exist in the queue.
[0051] Referring back to decision 505, if a transport grouping
option is selected, decision 505 branches to "Yes" branch 509,
whereupon processing retrieves product requests from the queue, and
identifies product locations for each of the corresponding
products. At step 540, processing identifies employee locations of
the employees within a merchant facility. In one embodiment,
processing identifies employee locations of employees that are
available to transport products.
[0052] A determination is made as to whether a retrieval perimeter
grouping option or a transport direction grouping option is
configured (decision 545). For example, a merchant may configure an
RPDMS to group transport requests according to a retrieval
perimeter for certain areas of the merchant facility (e.g., frozen
food section), and configure the RPDMS to group transport requests
according to a transport direction for other areas of the merchant
facility (see FIGS. 2A, 28, and corresponding text for further
details).
[0053] If the retrieval perimeter grouping option is configured,
decision 545 branches to "Perimeter" branch 547, whereupon
processing computes retrieval perimeters corresponding to each
employee location at step 550 (e.g., by isles). At step 560,
processing groups product requests according to product locations
and retrieval perimeters, such as products A, B, C in isle 4 are
grouped with an employee whose retrieval perimeter includes isle
4.
[0054] Processing generates transport requests (includes product
identifier, product location, etc.) into electronic messages
according to the groupings from step 560, and sends the electronic
messages to employees 490 to retrieve and transport the additional
products corresponding to the product requests to various POS
devices (step 475). In one embodiment, the transport requests are
organized in a manner to minimize employee backtracking as
discussed herein.
[0055] On the other hand, if the transport direction grouping
option is configured, decision 545 branches to "Transport
Direction" branch 549, whereupon processing computes transport
directions corresponding to each employee location relative to POS
device locations at step 550. At step 560, processing groups
product requests according to product locations and transport
directions. For example, an employee's transport direction may be
across the front of the store and, in this example, processing
groups products with the transport direction whose product
locations are at the front of the store.
[0056] Processing generates transport requests (includes product
identifier, product location, etc.) into electronic messages
according to the groupings from step 570, and sends the electronic
messages to employees 490 to retrieve and transport the additional
products corresponding to the product requests to various POS
devices (step 575). Processing ends at 580.
[0057] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing steps taken in estimating a
delivery time for an employee to transport a product from a
corresponding product location to a POS device. Processing
commences at 600, whereupon processing identifies a product
location at step 610 corresponding to an additional product that a
customer wishes to purchase (e.g., isle 4, 4th shelf, midsection).
At step 615, processing identifies employee locations within the
merchant facility. For example, each employee may have a mobile
device that transmits GPS information to a product delivery
management system. In another example, the merchant facility may
have micro transceivers that identify each employee's location
through triangulation (send/receive signals to/from employee mobile
devices).
[0058] Processing, at step 620, identifies the closest available
employee based upon the employee locations and the product
location. In one embodiment, processing identifies which employees
are available based upon the amount of stationary time that the
employee is at a single location, or an "unavailable" signal
transmitted from the employee's mobile device as discussed
herein.
[0059] A determination is made as to whether a grouping selection
is enabled to group product transport requests into a single
electronic message (decision 630). In one embodiment, a merchant
may wish to send an electronic message to an employee to transport
five products to different POS devices instead of sending five
different messages to five different employees. In this embodiment,
the merchant may select a particular grouping option, which
instructions the POS device (or RPDMS) to group product transport
requests (see FIGS. 2A, 28, and corresponding text for further
details).
[0060] If grouping selection is enabled, decision 630 branches to
"Yes" branch 638, whereupon processing computes an estimate
delivery time based upon the identified employee and the products
that the employee is currently scheduled to transport (decision
640). On the other hand, if the grouping selection is not enabled,
decision 640 branches to "No" branch 632, whereupon processing
computes an estimate delivery time based upon the employee
location, the product location, and the POS device location (step
635).
[0061] At step 650, processing provides the estimate delivery time
to the customer, which assists the customer in deciding whether to
purchase the additional product (see FIG. 38 and corresponding text
for further details). Processing ends at 660.
[0062] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing steps taken in generating and
analyzing product transport metrics. The product transport metrics
may, in one embodiment, enables a merchant to track employee
efficiency and/or monitor the effectiveness of the merchant's
product transport grouping techniques.
[0063] Processing commences at 700, whereupon processing logs an
additional product's request time (e.g., from POS device 715),
transport request time (e.g., from RPDMS 110), and an employee that
is identified to transport the product. At step 720, processing
detects that the additional product is scanned at POS device 715
and, at step 730, processing computes an actual delivery time. In
one embodiment, processing computes the actual delivery time based
upon the transport request time and the scanned time, which
indicates the amount of time that the employee took to transport
the product once the electronic message was sent to the employee.
In another embodiment, processing computes the actual delivery time
based upon the product request time and the scanned time, which
indicates the amount of time that a customer (user) waited to scan
the additional product once the customer requested the additional
product.
[0064] At step 740, processing stores a delivery entry in metrics
store 745, which may include information such as a product
identifier, an employee identifier, one or more computed actual
delivery times (as discussed above), an employee location, a
product location, and whether a transport grouping option was
enabled for the transport request.
[0065] A determination is made as to whether to continue tracking
additional product transport times (decision 750). If processing
should continue tracking additional product transport times,
decision 750 branches to "Yes" branch 752, which loops back to
continue logging additional product information. This looping
continues until processing should terminate, or the merchant wishes
to analyze metric information, at which point decision 750 branches
to "No" branch 758. At step 760, processing retrieves delivery
entries from metrics store 745 and, in one embodiment, generates
report 770. Report 770, for example, may include transport times
sorted by employees, transport grouping options, product locations,
etc. Processing ends at 780.
[0066] FIG. 8 illustrates information handling system 800, which is
a simplified example of a computer system capable of performing the
computing operations described herein. Information handling system
800 includes one or more processors 810 coupled to processor
interface bus 812. Processor interface bus 812 connects processors
810 to Northbridge 815, which is also known as the Memory
Controller Hub (MCH). Northbridge 815 connects to system memory 820
and provides a means for processor(s) 810 to access the system
memory. Graphics controller 825 also connects to Northbridge 815.
In one embodiment, PCI Express bus 818 connects Northbridge 815 to
graphics controller 825. Graphics controller 825 connects to
display device 830, such as a computer monitor.
[0067] Northbridge 815 and Southbridge 835 connect to each other
using bus 819. In one embodiment, the bus is a Direct Media
Interface (DMI) bus that transfers data at high speeds in each
direction between Northbridge 815 and Southbridge 835. In another
embodiment, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus connects
the Northbridge and the Southbridge. Southbridge 835, also known as
the 1/0 Controller Hub (ICH) is a chip that generally implements
capabilities that operate at slower speeds than the capabilities
provided by the Northbridge. Southbridge 835 typically provides
various busses used to connect various components. These busses
include, for example, PCI and PCI Express busses, an ISA bus, a
System Management Bus (SMBus or 5 MB), and/or a Low Pin Count (LPC)
bus. The LPC bus often connects low-bandwidth devices, such as boot
ROM 896 and "legacy" 1/0 devices (using a "super 1/0" chip). The
"legacy" 1/0 devices (898) can include, for example, serial and
parallel ports, keyboard, mouse, and/or a floppy disk controller.
The LPC bus also connects Southbridge 835 to Trusted Platform
Module (TPM) 895. Other components often included in Southbridge
835 include a Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller, a Programmable
Interrupt Controller (PIC), and a storage device controller, which
connects Southbridge 835 to nonvolatile storage device 885, such as
a hard disk drive, using bus 884.
[0068] ExpressCard 855 is a slot that connects hot-pluggable
devices to the information handling system. ExpressCard 855
supports both PCI Express and USB connectivity as it connects to
Southbridge 835 using both the Universal Serial Bus (USB) the PCI
Express bus. Southbridge 835 includes USB Controller 840 that
provides USB connectivity to devices that connect to the USB. These
devices include webcam (camera) 850, infrared (IR) receiver 848,
keyboard and trackpad 844, and Bluetooth device 846, which provides
for wireless personal area networks (PANs). USB Controller 840 also
provides USB connectivity to other miscellaneous USB connected
devices 842, such as a mouse, removable nonvolatile storage device
845, modems, network cards, ISDN connectors, fax, printers, USB
hubs, and many other types of USB connected devices. While
removable nonvolatile storage device 845 is shown as a
USB-connected device, removable nonvolatile storage device 845
could be connected using a different interface, such as a Firewire
interface, etcetera.
[0069] Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) device 875 connects to
Southbridge 835 via the PCI or PCI Express bus 872. LAN device 875
typically implements one of the IEEE 802.11 standards of
over-the-air modulation techniques that all use the same protocol
to wireless communicate between information handling system 800 and
another computer system or device. Optical storage device 890
connects to Southbridge 835 using Serial AT A (SATA) bus 888.
Serial ATA adapters and devices communicate over a high-speed
serial link. The Serial ATA bus also connects Southbridge 835 to
other forms of storage devices, such as hard disk drives. Audio
circuitry 860, such as a sound card, connects to Southbridge 835
via bus 858. Audio circuitry 860 also provides functionality such
as audio line-in and optical digital audio in port 862, optical
digital output and headphone jack 864, internal speakers 866, and
internal microphone 868. Ethernet controller 870 connects to
Southbridge 835 using a bus, such as the PCI or PCI Express bus.
Ethernet controller 870 connects information handling system 800 to
a computer network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN), the
Internet, and other public and private computer networks.
[0070] While FIG. 8 shows one information handling system, an
information handling system may take many forms. For example, an
information handling system may take the form of a desktop, server,
portable, laptop, notebook, or other form factor computer or data
processing system. In addition, an information handling system may
take other form factors such as a personal digital assistant (PDA),
a gaming device, ATM machine, a portable telephone device, a
communication device or other devices that include a processor and
memory.
[0071] The Trusted Platform Module (TPM 895) shown in FIG. 8 and
described herein to provide security functions is but one example
of a hardware security module (HSM). Therefore, the TPM described
and claimed herein includes any type of HSM including, but not
limited to, hardware security devices that conform to the Trusted
Computing Groups (TCG) standard, and entitled "Trusted Platform
Module (TPM) Specification Version 1.2." The TPM is a hardware
security subsystem that may be incorporated into any number of
information handling systems, such as those outlined in FIG. 9.
[0072] FIG. 9 provides an extension of the information handling
system environment shown in FIG. 8 to illustrate that the methods
described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information
handling systems that operate in a networked environment. Types of
information handling systems range from small handheld devices,
such as handheld computer/mobile telephone 910 to large mainframe
systems, such as mainframe computer 970. Examples of handheld
computer 910 include personal digital assistants (PDAs), personal
entertainment devices, such as MP3 players, portable televisions,
and compact disc players. Other examples of information handling
systems include pen, or tablet, computer 920, laptop, or notebook,
computer 930, workstation 940, personal computer system 950, and
server 960. Other types of information handling systems that are
not individually shown in FIG. 9 are represented by information
handling system 980. As shown, the various information handling
systems can be networked together using computer network 900. Types
of computer network that can be used to interconnect the various
information handling systems include Local Area Networks (LANs),
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), the Internet, the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), other wireless networks, and any
other network topology that can be used to interconnect the
information handling systems. Many of the information handling
systems include nonvolatile data stores, such as hard drives and/or
nonvolatile memory. Some of the information handling systems shown
in FIG. 9 depicts separate nonvolatile data stores (server 960
utilizes nonvolatile data store 965, mainframe computer 970
utilizes nonvolatile data store 975, and information handling
system 980 utilizes nonvolatile data store 985). The nonvolatile
data store can be a component that is external to the various
information handling systems or can be internal to one of the
information handling systems. In addition, removable nonvolatile
storage device 845 can be shared among two or more information
handling systems using various techniques, such as connecting the
removable nonvolatile storage device 845 to a USB port or other
connector of the information handling systems.
[0073] While particular embodiments of the present disclosure have
been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in
the art that, based upon the teachings herein, that changes and
modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure
and its broader aspects. Therefore, the appended claims are to
encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as
are within the true spirit and scope of this disclosure.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is solely
defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those with
skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim
element is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the
claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is
present. For non-limiting example, as an aid to understanding, the
following appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases
"at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim elements.
However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply
that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles
"a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced
claim element to disclosures containing only one such element, even
when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more"
or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an"; the
same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles.
* * * * *