Integration of customer-stored information with media enabled shopping systems

• US 10,438,271 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2013
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Media Cart Holdings, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Media Cart Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Stawar, Saul, Singleton, Cody, Aylor, Bret
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelly, Rafferty D
• Application Number:
  US13/794,156
• Publication Number:
  US 20140108195A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,402 Days
• Field of Search: 235383, 705 268
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 2501/065 Plastics
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/1408 Display devices mounted on it, e.g. advertisement displays
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/142 mounted on the basket
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/1424 Electronic display devices
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 5/0096 Identification of the cart or merchandise, e.g. by barcodes or radio frequency identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

A media enhanced shopping cart system comprises a shopping cart comprising a frame, a basket, a handle, a base tray, a plurality of wheels, a read component for performing a proximity scan of the shopping cart, a locationing component for determining a location of the shopping cart within a store based on the scan, and a display component for displaying at least one advertisement for a product based on the location of the shopping cart within the store, wherein the locationing component is further operable to determine a location of the product within the store relative to the shopping cart based on the scan, and wherein the display component is further operable to display an indication of the location of the advertised product relative to the location of the shopping cart.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining an inventory contained within a media enhanced shopping cart, wherein the inventory is determined automatically without any customer action beyond placing a product in the media enhanced shopping cart;

confirming the inventory contained within the media enhanced shopping cart by comparing one or more parameters associated with the inventory to known parameters for the media enhanced shopping cart;

generating a customer item based on the inventory;

saving the customer item at an enterprise level for an enterprise, whereby the customer item is accessible from any retailer store associated with the enterprise; and

upon identification by a customer at a particular retailer store associated with the enterprise, displaying the customer item to the customer on a display of the media enhanced shopping cart in the particular retailer store.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the customer item comprises a shopping list, a reminder, a registry, a recipe, a vendor site favorite, or combinations thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the customer item further comprises receiving a download from a web site associated with the retailer.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the customer item further comprises receiving a download from a mobile device associated with the customer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the customer item further comprises receiving an entry via a navigational device on the media enhanced shopping cart.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a customer-supplied name for the customer item, and associating and saving the customer-supplied name with the customer item at the enterprise level.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein identification by the customer at the particular retailer store comprises receiving from the customer a customer loyalty identifier.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein displaying the customer item to the customer on the media enhanced shopping cart further comprises displaying the reminder on a predetermined date associated with the reminder when the customer item comprises a reminder.

9. The method according to claim 2, further comprising generating and sending an email of the customer item.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein saving the customer item at the enterprise level comprises storing the customer item in a customer information database in an enterprise server accessible by a server in each retailer store associated with the enterprise, and thereby accessible by each media enhanced shopping cart within each retailer store.

11. The method according to claim 2, when the customer item comprises a shopping list, further comprising displaying a course to a product from the shopping list on a store map.

12. The method according to claim 2, when the customer item comprises a registry, further comprising displaying a course to a product from the registry on a store map.

13. A system, comprising:

an enterprise server for an enterprise, wherein the enterprise server stores customer items and customer identities;

one or more store servers, each store server associated with a retailer, wherein each store server is operable to access the enterprise server; and

one or more media enhanced shopping carts located at each retailer, wherein each media enhanced shopping cart is operable to (i) determine an inventory contained within each media enhanced shopping cart, wherein the inventory is determined automatically without any customer action beyond placing a product in the media enhanced shopping cart, (ii) confirm the inventory contained within the media enhanced shopping cart by comparing one or more parameters associated with the inventory to known parameters of the media enhanced shopping cart, (iii) generate a customer item based on the inventory, (iv) access the enterprise server through the store server, wherein the enterprise server receives the customer item and saves the customer item, and (v) upon identification by a customer at a particular media enhanced shopping cart in a particular retailer store, display, via the particular media enhanced shopping cart, the customer item to the customer.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the customer item comprises one of a shopping list, a reminder, a registry, a recipe, a vendor site favorite, or combinations thereof.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the enterprise server receives the customer item as a download from a web site associated with the retailer, as a download from a mobile device associated with the customer, as an entry via a navigational device on the media enhanced shopping cart, or combinations thereof.

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein the enterprise server is further operable to receive a customer-supplied name for the customer item, and associating and save the customer-supplied name with the customer item.

17. The system according to claim 13, wherein identification by the customer at the particular retailer store comprises the customer entering a customer loyalty identifier on the media enhanced shopping cart.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the media enhanced shopping cart displays the reminder on a predetermined date associated with the reminder when the customer item comprises a reminder.

19. The system according to claim 13, wherein the enterprise server generates and sends an email of the customer item when the customer elects at the media enhanced shopping cart to send the email.

20. A media enhanced shopping cart system, comprising:

a shopping cart comprising a read component for performing a proximity scan of the shopping cart using a set of proximity scan parameters, wherein the proximity scan reads the area surrounding the shopping cart;

an accuracy component for providing real-time adjustments to the set of proximity scan parameters at which the proximity scan is performed;

a locationing component for determining a location of the shopping cart within a store based on the scan, wherein the locationing component is further operable to determine a location of a product within the store relative to the shopping cart based on the scan;

a display component for displaying at least one advertisement for the product based on the location of the shopping cart within the store, wherein the display component is further operable to display an indication of the location of the product relative to the location of the shopping cart, and wherein the display component'"'"'s display of the location of the product relative to the location of the shopping cart comprises providing information concerning the product'"'"'s location relative to the location and direction of travel of the shopping cart; and

a voice activated interface, wherein the voice activated interface enables a user to request shopping cart functionality via voice command.