Shopping cart
First Claim
7. A shopping cart system for receiving customer information input by a customer and receiving individualized pricing information about a good for purchased based on the customer information, comprising:
- a shopping cart;
a control system communicatively coupled to at least one customer checkout; and
a customer information input device mounted to said shopping cart, comprising;
a reader for reading the customer information input by the customer; and
a communications interface for receiving the customer information and transmitting the customer information to said control system via a wireless communication;
said communications interface receives loyalty program information about the customer from said control system based on the customer information and causes the price associated with the good be discounted if the customer is a member of a loyalty program.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A shopping cart transmits customer information to a store information display system and a checkout system thereby providing individualized pricing or advertising information and automated checkout services to one or more customers operating such shopping carts. A store includes various product display areas with one or more information display units (IDUs) mounted proximate to the various product display areas. The IDUs display pricing related to the proximate products, and can also display advertising information. A customer information input device (CIID) is associated with each product display area and is adapted to receive the customer information transmitted by a browsing customer'"'"'s proximate shopping cart. Pricing information displayed on the IDUs associated with the CIID through which the customer information was received is updated based on the customer information. This allows a store to display individualized pricing to a browsing customer based on, for example, that customer'"'"'s standing in a store loyalty program. The shopping cart is further adapted to transmit customer information to a checkout system for the purpose of automatically applying loyalty program benefits associated with the customer during the checkout transaction. If the customer has previously given the store permission, credit account information may be automatically associated with the customer information received from the shopping cart. In this manner, charges for the transaction may be automatically assessed against a customer'"'"'s credit account, thereby saving checkout time and reducing complexity for both the customer and checkout system operator.
43 Citations
24 Claims
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7. A shopping cart system for receiving customer information input by a customer and receiving individualized pricing information about a good for purchased based on the customer information, comprising:
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a shopping cart;
a control system communicatively coupled to at least one customer checkout; and
a customer information input device mounted to said shopping cart, comprising;
a reader for reading the customer information input by the customer; and
a communications interface for receiving the customer information and transmitting the customer information to said control system via a wireless communication;
said communications interface receives loyalty program information about the customer from said control system based on the customer information and causes the price associated with the good be discounted if the customer is a member of a loyalty program. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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8-1. The system of claim 7, wherein said control system is further adapted to cause the price associated with the good to change back to the default pricing inform after a defined interval of time.
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17. A method of providing discounted pricing of a good to a customer in a retail environment, comprising the steps of:
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providing a shopping cart that includes a customer information input device;
receiving customer information from a customer;
communicating the customer information to a control system;
receiving loyalty program information about the customer from said control system based on the customer information; and
adjusting the price associated with the good if the customer is a member of a loyalty program.
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Specification