SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POINT OF SALE TRANSACTION LOGGING

• US 20150206118A1
• Filed: 01/23/2015
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Pomo Search Ltd. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Cummins, Mark Joseph, Cummins, Ian
• Granted Patent: US 9,881,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3276 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/14 Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit data transmission in general H04L; telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 5/00 Receipt-giving machines cash registers giving receipts G07G1/00

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to a method and a hardware and software system for collecting data from retch point of sale. The hardware connects to a wide variety of barcode scanners and receipt printers. Collected data is transmitted to a cloud-based infrastructure backend system using a wireless inter net connection built into the hardware. The collected data can be processed to extract item-level transaction information, and estimate the price and in-stock status of items in particular shops. A search engine can be provided using this data, which allows a customer to discover which nearby shop has an item of interest in stock. A targeted advertising system that complements this search service is also presented. The data can be used by retailers and manufacturers for business analysis and optimization,

Claims

1. A system for logging retail purchases, the system comprising a logger device configured for installation at a retail location, the logger device comprising:

a first connector configured to be communicatively coupled to a point of sale system at the retail location;

a second connector configured to be communicatively coupled to a point of sale peripheral at the retail location;

at least one electronic processor configured to receive point of sale data from at least one of the point of sale system or the point of sale peripheral and extract product information therefrom; and

a wireless interface configured to direct the product information to a backend system;

whereby the logger device receives the point of sale data and uploads the product information without disrupting communication between the point of sale system and the point of sale peripheral.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the point of sale system comprises a cash register and wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises at least one of a receipt printer or a barcode scanner.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a barcode scanner, wherein the product information comprises barcode data.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the product information comprises at least one of product price, location of sale, and time of sale.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the backend system or the logger device is configured to estimate a product inventory at the retail location.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising a search engine configured to accept queries for retail products and provide search results based at least in part on the product inventory.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising a website associated with the retailer, wherein the website is configured to provide the product inventory.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a receipt printer, and wherein the point of sale data is sent from the point of sale system to the receipt printer, the system further comprising an optical character resolution engine configured to generate computer readable text from the point of sale data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a barcode scanner, wherein the point of sale data is sent from the barcode scanner, wherein the at least one processor is configured to augment the point of sale data to produce augmented point of sale data, and wherein the augmented point of sale data is sent to the point of sale system.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless interface is configured to direct the product information to an internet connected device configured to send the product information to the backend system.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising estimating a product inventory at the retail location by at least one of the back and system or the logger device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing a search engine configured to provide search results based at least in part on the product inventory in response to a query for a retail product.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing a website associated with the retailer, wherein the website is configured to provide the product inventory.

11. A method of logging retail purchases using a logger device communicatively coupled to a point of sale system and to a point of sale peripheral at a retail location, the method comprising:

obtaining point of sale data, by the logger device, via at least one of the point of sale system or the point of sale peripheral, without disrupting communication between the point of sale system and the point of sale peripheral;

extracting product information from the point of sale data; and

directing, by a wireless interface of the logger device, the product information to a backend system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the point of sale system comprises a cash register and wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises at least one of a receipt printer or a barcode scanner.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a barcode scanner, wherein the product information comprises barcode date.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the product information comprises at least one of:

product price, location of sale, and time of sale.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a receipt printer, and wherein the point of sale data is sent from the point of sale system to the receipt printer, the method further comprising generating from the point of sale data, by an optical character resolution engine, computer readable text.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a barcode scanner, wherein the point of sale data is sent from the barcode scanner, the method further comprising:

augmenting the point of sale data to produce augmented point of sale data and sending the augmented point of sale data to the point of sale system.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the directing comprises directing the product information to an internet-connected device configured to send the product information to the backend system.