ON-SHELF TRACKING SYSTEM

• US 20130117053A2
• Filed: 03/16/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Triangle Strategy Group, LLC
• Original Assignee: Triangle Strategy Group, LLC
• Inventors: Campbell, Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 9,727,838 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A system to be installed on a merchandising unit having one or more inventory zones, one or more units of product, one or more product sensors, a mounting structure, and an electromagnetic signal processor. The one or more inventory zones can present the one or more units of product in several different arrangements. The one or more product sensors, each at least associated operatively with one of the one or more inventory zones, converts a sensed quantity of the one or more units of product into a respective analog electromagnetic signal. The mounting structure secures the one or more product sensors to the merchandising unit relative to the one or more units of product so that the one or more product sensors sense a quantity of the one or more units of product. The electromagnetic signal processor in communication with the one or more product sensors can sample output from the one or more product sensors periodically and converts the analog signal into a digital signal.

Claims

1. A system to be installed on a merchandising unit comprising:

One or more inventory zones, where within the inventory zones, the inventory zones present one or more units of product in one or more of the following arrangements;

the one or more units of product arranged in a container in a geometric pattern of one or more layers deep,

the one or more units of product arranged loosely in a container, or

the one or more units of product each hanging from a peg hook;

One or more product sensors, each at least associated operatively with one of the one or more inventory zones, that convert a sensed quantity of the one or more units of product into a respective analog electromagnetic signal;

A mounting structure that secures the one or more product sensors to the merchandising unit relative to the one or more units of product so that the one or more product sensors sense a quantity of the one or more units of product;

An electromagnetic signal processor in communication with the one or more product sensors that samples output from the one or more product sensors periodically and converts the analog signal into a digital signal;

self-calibration system in communication with the electromagnetic signal processor that detects background variability of the analog electromagnetic signal and therefrom establishes an activity threshold for each of the one or more product sensors, wherein the activity threshold is a configurable multiple of the background variability, and wherein the activity threshold represents sensitivity of the associated product sensor; and

A pickup-event detection system that determines an initiation of an inventory event at one of the one or more inventory zones when variability of the respective analog signal exceeds the activity threshold, where the pickup-event detection system suspends self-calibration during the inventory event, where the pickup-event detection system identifies one or more other product sensors contributing to signaling the inventory event prior to completion of the inventory event, and where the pickup-event detection system determines termination of the inventory event when the variability of each of the respective analog electromagnetic signals has returned below the activity threshold of each of the contributing product sensors.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor identification and event classification system, configured to:

determine one or more inventory event metrics from the analog electromagnetic signal, digital signal, or a derivative thereof for types of inventory events, including;

start time, end time, starting load, ending load, difference between the starting and ending load, highest load, lowest load, difference between the highest and lowest load, maximum variance, and cumulative variance over an inventory event;

determine a function for each of the one or more product sensors involved in the inventory event with respect to one or more of the one or more inventory event metrics;

identify each of the one or more product sensors signaling the inventory event; and

based on one or more of the one or more inventory event metrics, assign a type of inventory event, including;

one or more pickups of the one or more units of product, one or more returns of the one or more units of product, one or more touches of the one or more units of product touch, a container refill event, and a container removal event.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

one or more proximity zones next to the merchandising unit;

one or more proximity sensors associated operatively with each of the one or more proximity zones measuring one or more of presence of a person, distance of a person from the sensor, two dimensional coordinates of a person within the one or more proximity zones, and, any motion within the one or more proximity zones;

a proximity sensor mounting system associated operatively with the one or more proximity sensors, which secures the one or more proximity sensors to or near the merchandising unit, and which aligns a field of view of the one or more proximity sensors; and

a proximity event detection system that detects a proximity zone event that occurs when an electromagnetic signal outputted by the one or more proximity sensor exceeds a configurable threshold.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

a data logging system that records information derived from the digital signal pertaining to one or more of the inventory event and the proximity zone event, where the data logging system stores the information pertaining to each of the one or more of the events to a database, including;

a unique identifier;

a start time;

duration of the event;

initiation of the event;

the one or more sensors signaling the event;

one or more classifications of the event, including the type of inventory event if applicable; and

any one of the one or more inventory event metrics; and

a transmitter that transmits the information pertaining to each of the one or more of the events to one or more of a local display device, a remote display device, a local memory device, and a remote memory device.

5. The system of claim 1, where the one or more product sensors include one or more of piezoelectric sensors, pressure sensors, and force sensing resistors, and where each of the one or more product sensors has one or more raised actuators concentrating load of one or more units of product onto a load sensitive part of the one or more product sensors.

6. The system of claim 1, where the one or more product sensors are mounted at a support point of the peg hook so that as load is applied to the peg hook the load is transmitted to the one or more product sensors.

7. The system of claim 1, where the one or more product sensors are one or more of a sensor that relies on sound waves and a sensor that relies on light waves, where the one or more sensors identifies the inventory event by movement of a shopper'"'"'s hand reaching into a curtain of energy in front of the one or more inventory zones, where two or more distance sensing sensors measure a distance from the shopper'"'"'s hand to each of the one or more product sensors, and based on the measured distances, the system locates coordinates of the shopper'"'"'s hand and identifies associated inventory zones and inventory events.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more peripheral inventory zones in communication with the electromagnetic signal processor through a network, where the one or more peripheral inventory zones are not located at the merchandising unit.

9. The system of claim 1,

where the mounting structure is modular,

where positioning of the one or more product sensors or corresponding circuits includes arranging the one or more product sensors or the corresponding circuits in parallel strips at or abutting dividers, which are T or L dividers connected to the mounting structure,

where the one or more product sensors are attached on an upward facing surface of the mounting structure or the dividers, so as to align the one or more sensors to contact a fixed and reproducible location on an underside of the one or more units of product or a container holding the one or more units of product, and

where the mounting structure is adjustable to accommodate any width of the one or more units of product.

10. The system of claim 9,

where the mounting structure comprises a sliding track that facilitates adjusting the position of the T or the L dividers on the sliding track,

where the sliding track is readily fastened and unfastened from the mounting structure without hardware tools, and

where the adjusting the position of the T or L dividers is readily done without hardware tools.

11. The system of claim 1,

where the sliding track is configured to form a channel,

where the channel is manufacturable to fit any size shelf,

where wires associated with the one or more sensors run within the channel so to conceal the wires,

where the wires terminate at a connector on one edge of the mounting structure from where the wires are further wired to the electromagnetic signal processor, and

where the one or more product sensors are fixed to respective parts of the sliding track that interlock so as to allow for adjusting a respective position of the one or more product sensors.

12. The system of claim 1,

where the one or more sensors are arranged to cover an entire area of a shelf of the merchandising unit, and

where a respective circuit of each of the one or more sensors is one or more of the following circuit shapes:

a honeycomb circuit shape, a square circuit shape, and a round circuit shape.

13. The system of claim 12, where the mounting structure is a flexible printed circuit board that can be rolled out into place on a display surface of the merchandising unit.

14. The system of claim 1, where the mounting system positions the one or more product sensors on a display surface edge lip perpendicular to a display surface, and where an angle of tilt of the display surface exceeds a configurable display surface tilt angle threshold.

15. The system of claim 1, where the one or more product sensors are connected to a spring or are integrated with a spring to detect removal or addition of a lightweight product.

16. The system of claim 3, where the one or more proximity sensors are configurable to detect a basket, cart, bag or any other item used for carrying units of product.

17. The system of claim 1, where the system can switch to a power-save mode of operation when the one or more proximity sensors have not detected motion for a predetermined amount of time.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more video cameras surveying one or more of:

an individual shopper so to identify biometric and demographic information, including approximate age, gender, mood, and ethnicity; and

the merchandising unit to perform remote surveillance of the merchandising unit, and a full set of items that a shopper is purchasing including items from other parts of a store remote from the merchandising unit.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising an anomaly detection system that detects anomalies of the respective analog electromagnetic signal,

where the anomalies include unusually high variability, deactivation, or a sudden large change, and

where the anomaly detection system, after detecting an anomaly provides a notification of the anomaly via a local or remote alert.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising a retail activation system able to generate or execute one or more of:

sensory stimuli including visual, audio, tactile, and olfactory stimuli;

product sampling;

coupon generation; and

electronic signage.

21. The system of claim 4, where there are more than one merchandising units for possibly executing multiple experiments in parallel, further comprising:

a program management system for managing experiments administered on the more than one merchandising units that are in communication with each of the electronic components of the system of claim 4 and are configured to;

select one or more of the records or fields of the records from the database;

determine, from the one or more of the records or the fields of the records from the database, whether a predetermined number of shoppers have passed by the more than one merchandising units to satisfy a statistical validity threshold, which represents a minimum number of shoppers the system must observe to provide a desired level of confidence in respective experimental data;

manage experiment configurations by one or more of;

direct end users of the system via electronic messages to implement the experiment configurations locally or remotely; and

progressively enhance calibration of units by comparing data from the one or more of the records or fields of the records from the database against manual audit results and changing calibration parameters for detection of an inventory event.

22. The system of claim 4, further comprising a changeover system comprising one or more repetitions of the system of claim 4,

where the changeover system is configured according to a historical state or current state of the system of claim 4,

where the changeover system is readily swappable with the system of claim 4,

where the components of the changeover system are readily swappable with the corresponding components of the system of claim 4,

where the components of the changeover system and the system of claim 4 are swapped manually or automatically via a moveable merchandising apparatus, and

where the program management system or an end user can control the moveable merchandising apparatus remotely or locally.

23. The system of claim 4, further comprising a sales analysis system configured to perform one or more of the following:

determine traffic patterns of shoppers within a predetermined distance from the merchandizing unit;

quantify a ratio of a number of shoppers performing an inventory event with respect to a total number of shoppers entering a predetermined region surveyed by the system;

quantify the value of a specific area on a merchandising unit (hotspot) after correcting for all other factors that could affect rate of sale, including demand for specific items and impact of facings;

quantify additional sales created by adding additional facings of a specific item at any location on the merchandising unit;

quantify an extent to which shoppers'"'"' purchase decisions are impacted by changes in pricing for a specific item including both an effect on an item itself and all other items on the merchandising unit;

quantify an extent to which sales performance of an item is impacted by either where a store hosting the merchandising unit is located or a specific location within the store;

quantify an extent to which sales of any item are increased by placing literature, advertising or display materials (point of sale materials) on or near to the merchandising unit;

quantify an extent to which sales of an item are impacted by a design of the merchandising unit on which it is displayed;

quantify an extent to which different merchandising locations in store contribute toward the overall sales of an item;

quantify an extent to which sales of an item or items are impacted by use of retail activation techniques designed to stimulate shoppers'"'"' senses including audio interruption (shelf talkers), audiovisual display, scenting systems, and vibration devices (rumblers);

quantify an extent to which shopper interest in an item varies by time of day, time of week, or any other cyclical basis, including likelihood of a shopper to touch an item, and likelihood to purchase;

quantify an extent to which purchase likelihood can be increased by use of retail activation techniques and point of sale materials;

quantify an extent to which new products contribute incrementally to overall sales when introduced in a specific store or merchandising location;

determine a price point at which a product maximizes its incremental contribution to overall sales, taking into account both sales of the item itself and cannibalization of sales of other items on the same display;

determine an optimal location within a store having the merchandising unit or location on the merchandising unit, which maximizes sales performance of a new product;

quantify an overall incremental contribution of an item to overall sales (incrementality), taking into account sales performance of an item, decrease in sales of other items (cannibalization), and increase in sales of other items (halo);

determine items within a product line that provide least overall contribution to sales (“

tail items”

) in order to eliminate them from product line so as to create additional space for better performing items;

quantify an incrementality of direct and indirect competitors'"'"' products when included in a mix of items for sale; and

quantify an extent to which increasing or decreasing total number of items on display (“

range”

) contributes to overall sales performance.