LOCATION BASED ALERTS FOR SHOPPER

• US 20140207570A1
• Filed: 01/23/2013
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Cancro, Richard Neil, Acker, Joel Bennett Jr., Pedley, Douglas James
• Granted Patent: US 9,589,294 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.53
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0081 the reader being a portable scanner or data reader G07G1/009 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for generating reminders to shoppers to purchase products. Using a customer'"'"'s current location, products stocked at that location are identified and compared to the customer'"'"'s purchase history. Items regularly purchased by the customer found among the products stocked at the location are identified. Upon departing the location without adding the product to an electronic shopping cart an alert may be generated to remind the customer to purchase the product. In some embodiment, an alert is generate for a product found in the purchase history if an elapsed time since purchase of the product exceeds an expiration period or purchase period for that product. The methods disclosed herein may be used in the context of a self-checkout using an electronic shopping cart and navigational aids to facilitate retrieval of items on a shopping list.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating shopping, the method comprising:

detecting, by a computing device, a location of a customer in a store;

detecting, by the computing device, a need of the customer for at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer;

detecting, by the computing device, failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to a cart; and

generating, by the computing device, an alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a server computer;

wherein detecting the location of the customer in the store includes detecting a location of a mobile computing device associated with the customer; and

wherein generating, by the computing device, the alert comprises transmitting a message to the mobile computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the computing device, failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to the cart further comprises:

detecting, by the computing device, movement of the customer away from the location without having added the needed product to the cart.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein detecting, by the computing device, movement of the customer away from the location without having added the needed product to the cart further comprises detecting movement of the computing device away from the location without detecting addition of the needed product to an electronic shopping cart accessed by the computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the computing device, failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to the cart further comprises failure to detect a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal for the needed product from within the cart.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scanning, by the computing device, an optical code corresponding to an in-store point of sale (POS) device; and

in response to scanning of the third optical code, transmitting, by the computing device, the shopping list to the POS device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the computing device, the location of the customer in a store further comprises obtaining the location of the customer from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver included in one of the computing device and a mobile device carried by the customer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, by the computing device, the alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product further comprises displaying, to the customer, a promotion for the needed product.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, by the computing device, the alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product further comprises displaying, to the customer, a promotion for a related product for the needed product.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, by the computing device, the alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product further comprises displaying, to the customer, directions to the needed product.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the computing device, the need of the customer for the at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer further comprises:

determining from the purchase history an elapsed time since a last purchase of a nearby product stocked proximate the location of the customer; and

if the elapsed time exceeds an expiration period for the nearby product, identifying the nearby product as the at least one needed product.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the computing device, the need of the customer for the at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer further comprises:

determining from the purchase history a typical purchase period for a nearby product stocked proximate the location of the customer; and

if the elapsed time exceeds the typical purchase period for the nearby product, identifying the nearby product as the at least one needed product.

13. A system for facilitating shopping, the system comprising one or more processors and one or more memory devices operably coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more memory devices storing executable and operational code effective to cause the one or more processors to:

detect location of a customer in a store;

detect a need of the customer for at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer;

detect failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to a cart; and

generate an alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to detecting failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to the cart by detecting movement of the customer away from the location without having added the needed product to the cart.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to detect movement of the customer away from the location without having added the needed product to the cart by detecting movement of the computing device away from the location without detecting addition of the needed product to an electronic shopping cart accessed by the computing device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to detect failure of the customer to add the at least one needed product to the cart as a failure to detect a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal for the needed product from within the cart.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to:

scan an optical code corresponding to an in-store point of sale (POS) device; and

in response to scanning of the third optical code, transmit the shopping list to the POS device.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to generate the alert perceptible by the customer and identifying the needed product by displaying, to the customer, directions to the needed product.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to detect the need of the customer for the at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer by:

determining from the purchase history an elapsed time since a last purchase of a nearby product stocked proximate the location of the customer; and

if the elapsed time exceeds an expiration period for the nearby product, identifying the nearby product as the at least one needed product.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable and operational data are further effective to cause the one or more processors to detect the need of the customer for the at least one needed product stocked proximate the location and included in a purchase history of the customer by:

determining from the purchase history a typical purchase period for a nearby product stocked proximate the location of the customer; and

if the elapsed time exceeds the typical purchase period for the nearby product, identifying the nearby product as the at least one needed product.