Systems and methods for retrieving items for a customer at checkout

• US 10,062,066 B2
• Filed: 01/30/2013
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Cancro, Richard Neil, Acker, Jr., Joel Bennett, Pedley, Douglas James
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, Florian M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Haider, Fawaad
• Application Number:
  US13/754,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20140214572A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,036 Days
• Field of Search: 705 21
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07773 Antenna details antennas for wireless devices, e.g. RFID tags, in general H01Q1/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1413 1D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3274 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 3/006 False operation

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for processing transactions at an in-store POS where some of the items of the transaction have not been retrieved, i.e. the customer neglected to add a needed item to a shopping cart. A customer selects a product on a user computing device and invokes display of an optical code corresponding to an unretrieved product. A point of sale (POS) device then scans the optical code to add the product to the transaction. The POS device or user computing device may transmit an alert to a representative computing device instructing a store representative to retrieve the product and deliver it to the POS or some other location.

Claims

1. A method for processing a transaction with said method utilizing a user computing device coupled to and in data communication with a point-of-sale (POS) device in a store and the POS device coupled to and in data communication with a computing device of a store representative, the POS device having a scanner and the user computing device having a user interface, a memory for storing one or more application programs including computer-readable instructions, and a processor for executing the computer-readable instructions, and said method comprising steps of:

providing a merchant application on the user computing device;

building an electronic shopping cart utilizing the merchant application on the user computing device with said electronic shopping cart including a plurality of products retrieved from the store by a user;

coupling the user computing device with the POS device utilizing a coupling code generated by the POS device;

transmitting the electronic shopping cart from the user computing device to the POS device in the store using the coupling code generated by the POS device, wherein transmitting the electronic shopping cart from the user computing device to the POS device in the store using the coupling code generated by the POS device comprises;

receiving, at a global server system, the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart and the coupling code from the user computing device;

interpreting, by the global server system, the coupling code to identify the POS device that generated the coupling code; and

transmitting the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart to the POS device;

determining a list of product suggestions from one or more of (1) an expiry period of products in a purchase history of the user, or (2) a consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user;

utilizing the merchant application to display the list of product suggestions on the user interface of the user computing device;

selecting a selected item from the list of product suggestions utilizing the merchant application on the user computing device, wherein the selected item corresponds to a product which is unretrieved from the store by the user;

displaying an optical code corresponding to the selected item on the user interface of the user computing device;

scanning the optical code displayed on the user computing device utilizing the scanner of the POS device in the store to add the selected item to the electronic shopping cart with an indicator that the selected item corresponds to the product which is unretrieved from the store by the user;

flagging, by the POS device, the selected item added to the electronic shopping cart; and

transmitting, from the POS device to the computing device of the store representative, (1) an alert indicating that the transaction includes the selected item as flagged, (2) a location of the selected item, (3) an identifier of the POS device issuing the alert, and (4) a location of the POS device issuing the alert.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the coupling code comprises an address from which the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart is transmitted to the POS device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the list of product suggestions from the one or more of (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, or (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user comprises;

determining the list of product suggestions from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the coupling code comprises an address from which the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart are transmitted to the POS device; and

determining the list of product suggestions from the one or more of (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, or (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user comprises;

determining the list of product suggestions from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.

5. A method, comprising:

generating, with a point-of-sale (POS) device in a store, wherein the POS device comprises a scanner, a coupling code;

coupling a user computing device in data communication with the POS device in the store utilizing the coupling code generated by the POS device, wherein the user computing device comprises a merchant application having a user interface, a memory for storing one or more application programs including computer-readable instructions, and a processor for executing the computer-readable instructions;

receiving, at the POS device in the store, an electronic shopping cart from the merchant application on the user computing device using the coupling code generated by the POS device, the electronic shopping cart comprising one or more products retrieved from the store by a user, wherein the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are received from a global server system that previously (1) received the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart and the coupling code from the merchant application on the user computing device and (2) interpreted the coupling code to identify the POS device that generated the coupling code;

scanning, with the POS device of the store, an optical code displayed on the user computing device to add a selected item, the selected item having been previously selected from a list of product suggestions displayed on the user interface of the merchant application on the user computing device, to the electronic shopping cart with an indicator that the selected item corresponds to a product from the list of product suggestions which is unretrieved from the store by the user wherein the list of product suggestions is determined from one or more of;

(1) an expiry period of products in a purchase history of the user or (2) a consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user;

flagging, by the POS device, the selected item added to the electronic shopping cart; and

transmitting, from the POS device to a store computing device of a store representative, (1) an alert indicating that a transaction corresponding to the electronic shopping cart includes the selected item as flagged, (2) a location of the selected item, (3) an identifier of the POS device issuing the alert, and (4) a location of the POS device issuing the alert.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the coupling code comprises an address from which the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are transmitted to the POS device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the coupling code comprises an address from which the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are transmitted to the POS device; and

the list of product suggestions is determined from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user associated with the user computing device, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.

8. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing computing instructions configured to run on the one or more processors and perform acts of;

generating, with a point-of-sale (POS) device in a store, wherein the POS device comprises a scanner, a coupling code;

coupling a user computing device in data communications with the POS device in the store utilizing the coupling code generated by the POS device, wherein the user computing device comprises a merchant application having a user interface, a memory for storing one or more application programs including computer-readable instructions, and a processor for executing the computer-readable instructions;

receiving, at the POS device in the store, an electronic shopping cart from the merchant application on the user computing device using the coupling code generated by the POS device, the electronic shopping cart comprising one or more products retrieved from the store by a user, wherein the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are received from a global server system that previously (1) received the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart and the coupling code from the merchant application on the user computing device and (2) interpreted the coupling code to identify the POS device that generated the coupling code;

scanning, with the POS device of the store, an optical code displayed on the user computing device to add a selected item, the selected item having been previously selected from a list of product suggestions displayed on the user interface of the merchant application on the user computing device, to the electronic shopping cart with an indicator that the selected item corresponds to a product from the list of product suggestions which is unretrieved from the store by the user wherein the list of product suggestions is determined from one or more of;

(1) an expiry period of products in a purchase history of the user or (2) a consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user;

flagging, by the POS device, the selected item added to the electronic shopping cart; and

transmitting, from the POS device to a store computing device of a store representative, (1) an alert indicating that a transaction corresponding to the electronic shopping cart includes the selected item as flagged, (2) a location of the selected item, (3) an identifier of the POS device issuing the alert, and (4) a location of the POS device issuing the alert.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the coupling code comprises an address from which the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are transmitted to the POS device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the coupling code comprises an address from which the one or more products of the electronic shopping cart are transmitted to the POS device; and

the list of product suggestions is determined from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user associated with the user computing device, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing computing instructions configured to run on the one or more processors and perform acts of;

providing a merchant application on a user computing device;

building an electronic shopping cart utilizing the merchant application on the user computing device with said electronic shopping cart including a plurality of products retrieved from a store by a user;

coupling the user computing device with a point-of-sale (POS) device utilizing a coupling code generated by the POS device;

transmitting the electronic shopping cart from the user computing device to the POS device in the store using the coupling code generated by the POS device, wherein transmitting the electronic shopping cart from the user computing device to the POS device in the store using the coupling code generated by the POS device comprises;

receiving, at a global server system, the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart and the coupling code from the user computing device;

interpreting, by the global server system, the coupling code to identify the POS device that generated the coupling code; and

transmitting the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart to the POS device;

determining a list of product suggestions from one or more of (1) an expiry period of products in a purchase history of the user, or (2) a consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user;

utilizing the merchant application to display the list of product suggestions on a user interface of the user computing device;

selecting a selected item from the list of product suggestions utilizing the merchant application on the user computing device, wherein the selected item corresponds to a product which is unretrieved from the store by the user;

displaying an optical code corresponding to the selected item on the user interface of the user computing device;

scanning the optical code displayed on the user computing device utilizing a scanner of the POS device in the store to add the selected item to the electronic shopping cart with an indicator that the selected item corresponds to the product which is unretrieved from the store by the user;

flagging, by the POS device, the selected item added to the electronic shopping cart; and

transmitting, from the POS device to a computing device of a store representative, (1) an alert indicating that a transaction includes the selected item as flagged, (2) a location of the selected item, (3) an identifier of the POS device issuing the alert, and (4) a location of the POS device issuing the alert.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the coupling code comprises an address from which the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart is transmitted to the POS device.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein:

determining the list of product suggestions from the one or more of (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, or (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user comprises;

determining the list of product suggestions from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the coupling code comprises an address from which the plurality of products of the electronic shopping cart is transmitted to the POS device; and

determining the list of product suggestions from the one or more of (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, or (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user comprises;

determining the list of product suggestions from both (1) the expiry period of the products in the purchase history of the user, and (2) the consumption period of the products in the purchase history of the user.