System and method for adaptively configuring a shopping display in response to a recognized customer profile

• US 6,826,554 B2
• Filed: 06/29/1998
• Issued: 11/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Sone, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, UYEN T
• Application Number:
  US09/106,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20020035560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,346 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/5, 707/104.1, 707/2, 707/8, 707/9, 707/10, 707/100, 707/101, 707/102, 705/1, 705/17, 235/375, 235/383, 235/379, 235/380, 340/5, 345/158, 345/744-747
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing

Abstract

An electronic personal shopping system, communicating between a store platform computer and a number of reconfigurable display terminals located throughout a retail facility, each display terminal associated with an RF interrogator unit which interfaces with a portable customer data card. As a customer enters the interrogator unit'"'"'s RF field, the customer is identified and the merchandise information message being displayed on the display panel associated with that interrogator unit is adaptively reconfigured to conform to that customer'"'"'s display preferences in accordance with demographic profile information maintained on record for that customer. The display panel is adaptively reconfigured to display merchandise item information messages in a number of different national languages, weights and measures systems, currency systems, and to display specific messages based on a customer'"'"'s date of birth, gender or disability status.

Claims

1. An electronic personal shopping system for use in a retail facility of the type having a plurality of display locations at which merchandise items are offered for purchase, the system comprising:

a plurality of individually addressable electronic display units mounted at corresponding ones of the display locations, each display unit configured to present an information message relating to the merchandise item offered for purchase at that display location;

a plurality of interrogator units, each interrogator unit being associated with and in proximity to a corresponding one of the individually addressable electronic display units, each interrogator having a unique address assigned thereto, and each interrogator defining an interrogation area characterized by a radiation field;

a store platform computer coupled to the interrogators and display units by a bi-directional communication bus for receiving data from each interrogator unit and for transmitting a corresponding information message to the corresponding display unit;

a portable customer data card including;

means for automatically communicating with an interrogator unit upon the data card'"'"'s entry into an interrogation area;

at least a memory storage area, the memory storage area holding at least a customer indicia, the customer indicia being communicated to the interrogator unit and thence to the store platform computer as data; and

means for automatically adaptively reconfiguring a display unit corresponding to a particular interrogator based on profile information of a customer retrieved in response to the customer data card'"'"'s entry into the interrogation area to display a corresponding information message, the adaptive reconfiguration allowing customization of a display format of the information message while preserving the message content.

2. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 1, the portable customer data card comprising a contactless-type smart card, the means for communicating with an interrogator unit including an RF transceiver circuit, the smart card further comprising an integrated circuit processor for managing data information transfer between the memory element and the transceiver circuit, wherein the interrogator unit is configured to enter into wireless RF communication with the transceiver circuit so as to read at least customer indicia from the memory storage area.

3. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 2, wherein the contactless-type smart card is powered by radiative induction, the radiation field characterizing the interrogation area comprising an RF induction field to power said card.

4. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 3, the customer indicia held by the memory storage area comprising a unique customer ID, the ID being read from the smart card by the interrogator unit.

5. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 4, the system including a customer profile message script characterized by a multiplicity of profile information fields, each profile message script associated to a corresponding unique customer ID, each profile information field containing profile entries specific to a customer, each entry selected from a list consisting of preferred national language, gender, date of birth, preferred weights and measures system, preferred currency and special status.

6. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 5, the adaptive reconfiguring means comprising a database including a multiplicity of profile specific data sets, each data set including an item description table containing information messages for merchandise items offered for purchase at respective ones of the display locations, wherein the information messages of each table differ from one another in accordance with a selection criteria metric selected from the list consisting of preferred national language, gender, date of birth, preferred weights and measures system, preferred currency and special status.

7. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 6, the adaptive reconfiguring means further comprising:

a profile decoder circuit, the circuit decoding a profile message script into selection criteria data;

a selection and presentation circuit for receiving selection criteria data from the profile decoder, the selection and presentation circuit selecting a particular one of the profile specific data sets for presentation on the basis of said selection criteria data;

and wherein the store platform computer directs the selected merchandise item information message to the display unit associated with the interrogator unit which received the customer'"'"'s ID, thereby adaptively reconfiguring the display to present a merchandise item information message in a form specified by a customer'"'"'s profile message script.

8. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 7, wherein the merchandise item information message comprises at least an item identification.

9. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 8, the adaptive reconfiguring means further including a data table organized as a list of entries, each entry containing a customer profile message script for a particular customer, each entry identified by a unique customer ID specific to that customer.

10. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 9, the adaptive reconfiguring means further comprising means for matching a received customer ID to a corresponding customer profile message script, the matching means further providing the profile message script to the profile decoder circuit.

11. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 8, the customer profile message script held in the memory storage area of the smart card, the profile message script being transmitted to the interrogator unit and thence to the store platform computer along with the customer ID.

12. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 5, the adaptive reconfiguring means comprising:

an item description table containing item information message entries, each entry pertaining to particular ones of merchandise items offered for purchase at corresponding display locations; and

a plurality of conversion rules, each rule for converting an item information message entry into a particular form in accordance with a selection criteria metric selected from a list consisting of preferred national language, gender, date of birth, preferred weights and measures system, preferred currency and special status.

13. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 12, the adaptive reconfiguring means further comprising:

a profile decoder circuit, the circuit decoding a profile message script into selection criteria data;

a selection and presentation circuit for receiving selection criteria data from the profile decoder, the selection and presentation circuit selecting a particular one of the converter rules for converting the item information message into a particular form for presentation on the basis of said selection criteria data; and

wherein the store platform computer directs the converted merchandise item information message to the display unit associated with the interrogator unit which received the customer'"'"'s ID, thereby adaptively reconfiguring the display to present a merchandise item information message in a form specified by a customer'"'"'s profile message script.

14. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 13, wherein the merchandise item information message comprises at least an item identification.

15. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 14, the adaptive reconfiguring means further including a data table organized as a list of entries, each entry containing a customer profile message script for a particular customer, each entry identified by a unique customer ID specific to that customer.

16. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 15, the adaptive reconfiguring means further comprising means for matching a received customer ID to a corresponding customer profile message script, the matching means further providing the profile message script to the profile decoder circuit.

17. The electronic personal shopping system according to claim 14, the customer profile message script held in the memory storage area of the smart card, the profile message script being transmitted to the interrogator unit and thence to the store platform computer along with the customer ID.

18. In an electronic personal shopping system for use in a retail facility of the type having a plurality of display locations at which merchandise items are offered for purchase, the system including individually addressable electronic display panels associated with each display location and presenting information messages, a method for adaptively reconfiguring the form of the information messages to conform to a particular customer'"'"'s demographic requirements, the method comprising:

providing an interrogator unit in association with each display panel, each interrogator unit having a unique address assigned thereto, and each interrogator unit defining an interrogation area characterized by a radiation field;

providing a store platform computer, the computer coordinating the information message presented over each display panel;

providing a bi-directional interconnection for coupling the computer to receive data from each interrogator unit and for transmitting a corresponding information message to the corresponding display unit for presentation;

providing a portable customer data card, the card including at least a memory containing a customer indicia and means for automatically communicating with an interrogator unit upon entry into an interrogation area;

providing customer profile data, the profile data defining a demographic indicia specific to a customer associated with the customer indicia;

automatically retrieving the customer profile data using the customer indicia in response to the customer data card'"'"'s entry into the interrogation area; and

automatically adaptively reconfiguring a display unit corresponding to a particular interrogator based on the retrieved profile data to display the information message, the adaptive reconfiguration allowing the form of the information message to be modified to conform the message to the customer'"'"'s demographic requirements.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

providing a database including a multiplicity of profile specific data sets, each data set including an item description table containing information messages for merchandise items offered for purchase at respective ones of the display locations, wherein the information messages of each table differ from one another in accordance with a selection criteria metric selected from a list consisting of preferred national language, gender, date of birth, preferred weights and measures system, preferred currency and special status.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:

providing a profile decoder circuit, the circuit decoding a customer'"'"'s demographic indicia into selection criteria data;

providing a selection and presentation circuit for receiving selection criteria data from the profile decoder, the selection and presentation circuit selecting a particular one of the profile specific data sets for presentation on the basis of said selection criteria data; and

causing the store platform computer to direct the selected merchandise item information message to the display unit associated with the interrogator unit which received the customer indicia, thereby adaptively reconfiguring the display to present a merchandise item information message in a modified form specified by a customer'"'"'s profile data.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the merchandise item information message comprises at least an item identification.

22. The method according to claim 21, further including providing a data table organized as a list of entries, each entry containing customer profile data for a particular customer, each entry identified by a unique customer indicia specific to that customer.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising;

matching a received customer indicia to a corresponding customer profile data entry; and

providing the customer profile data to the profile decoder circuit.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein the customer profile data is held in the memory of the portable customer data card, the customer profile data being transmitted to the store platform computer along with the customer indicia.

25. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

providing an item description table containing item information message entries, each entry pertaining to particular ones of merchandise items offered for purchase at corresponding display locations; and

providing a plurality of conversion rules, each rule for modifying an item information message entry by converting said item information message entry into a particular form in accordance with a selection criteria metric selected from a list consisting of preferred national language, gender, date of birth, preferred weights and measures system, preferred currency and special status.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:

providing a profile decoder circuit, the circuit decoding customer profile data demographic indicia into selection criteria data;

providing a selection and presentation circuit for receiving selection criteria data from the profile decoder, the selection and presentation circuit selecting a particular one of the conversion rules for modifying the item information message into a particular form for presentation on the basis of said selection criteria data; and

causing the store platform computer to transmit the modified merchandise item information message to the display unit associated with the interrogator unit which received the customer indicia, thereby adaptively reconfiguring the display to present a merchandise item information message in a modified form specified by a customer'"'"'s profile data.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the merchandise item information message comprises at least an item identification.

28. The method according to claim 27, further including providing a data table organized as a list of entries, each entry containing customer profile data for a particular customer, each entry identified by a unique customer indicia specific to that customer.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising:

matching a received customer indicia to a corresponding customer profile data entry; and

providing the customer profile data to the profile decoder circuit.

30. The method according to claim 27, wherein the customer profile data is held in the memory of the portable customer data card, the profile data being transmitted to the store platform computer along with the customer indicia.

31. In an electronic personal shopping system for use in a retail facility of the type having a display location at which a merchandise item is offered for purchase, the system including an electronic display panel associated with the display location, a method for presenting an information message on the display panel relating to the merchandise item offered for purchase at the display location, the method comprising:

displaying the information message on the electronic display in a first form;

automatically identifying a customer carrying a customer card in the vicinity of the electronic display;

retrieving a customer indicia from the customer card;

transmitting the customer indicia to a store platform computer;

retrieving customer profile information using the customer indicia;

automatically adaptively reconfiguring the electronic display based on the retrieved customer profile information, the adaptive reconfiguration allowing the information message to be displayed in a second form while conveying a same meaning as the information message displayed in the first form.

32. A store platform computer comprising:

a network interface for receiving data from a plurality of interrogator units, said interrogator units coupled to said network interface by a bi-directional bus, and for transmitting information messages to a plurality of display units corresponding to said interrogator units; and

means for automatically adaptively reconfiguring a particular display unit to display a corresponding information message based on customer profile information of a customer retrieved in response to a customer'"'"'s data card entry into an interrogation area of an interrogator unit corresponding to the particular display unit, the adaptive reconfiguration allowing customization of a display format of the information message while preserving the message content.