Point of sale apparatus

• US 7,523,049 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2002
• Issued: 04/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Platforms, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: NEC Infrontia Corporation (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Tokorotani, Mitsuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender; F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUCHANAN, CHRISTOPHER R
• Application Number:
  US10/231,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20030055730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,426 Days
• Field of Search: 705 16- 25, 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10

Abstract

A POS (point of sales) apparatus has: database constructing means for classifying a commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer to prepare a database for related commodities; and processing means for retrieving a related commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer from the database by using, as a key word, the above commodity sold to the customer and for printing information of the related commodity on the receipt.

Claims

1. A POS (point of sales) apparatus adapted for settling the accounts for a commodity sold to a customer and for printing the results on a receipt to be handed to the customer at the place and time of sale, said POS apparatus comprising:

database constructing means for classifying a commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer and for preparing a database measuring a level of relation for commodities purchased by said customer at the same time; and

processing means for retrieving from said prepared database at the place and time of said sale a related commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer by using, as a key word, the above commodity sold to the customer, the processing means automatically updating the database concurrently with the accounting each time a customer buys a commodity at the same time as another commodity; and

means for printing information of the related commodity on the receipt.

2. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a plurality of related commodities having a high level of relation to the above commodity sold to the customer are retrieved from the database, the processing means randomly selects one of the plurality of related commodities to use it as the information of the related commodity.

3. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information of the related commodity having a high level of relation to the above commodity sold to the customer contains the name and a recommendation message for the related commodity.

4. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing means prints, on the receipt, not only the information of the related commodity having a high level of relation to the above commodity sold to the customer but also a commodity discount coupon.

5. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the database constructing means produces a plurality of databases for the related commodity each prepared using as a condition upon said commodity counter measure, said measure being incremented at each said simultaneous purchase, a category comprising one or more of time and weather at the time of the simultaneous purchase of the related commodity, sex, age and area for the customer.

6. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing means displays the information of the related commodity on a display together with the printing of the information of the related commodity on the receipt.

7. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the level of relation for related commodities is considered high when a use of the one commodity in combination with the another commodity is expected to provide a better effect, or the commodities are in many cases simultaneously purchased by the customer due to a nature of a sales area.

8. The POS apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the related commodity with the high level of relation that has not been purchased is printed on the receipt.

9. A POS (point of sales) apparatus adapted for settling the accounts for a commodity sold to a customer and for displaying on a display information for the customer at the place and time of sale, said POS apparatus comprising:

database constructing means for classifying a commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer and for preparing a database showing a level of relation for related commodities, said database constructing means having a related commodity counter for recording as related commodities those commodities simultaneously purchased by the customer, the counter being incremented to show each instance that one commodity is purchased at the same time as another commodity, a value of the counter being a measure of said level of relation between any two commodities;

processing means for retrieving at the place and time of said sale, from the database as so prepared, a related commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer by using, as a key word, the above commodity sold to the customer; and

means for displaying information of the related commodity on the display.

10. The POS (point of sales) apparatus as in claim 9, wherein said related commodity counter is implemented as a matrix relating each commodity to each other commodity.

11. The POS (point of sales) apparatus as in claim 9, wherein said related commodity counter is utilized as said database.

12. A POS (point of sales) apparatus adapted for settling the accounts for a commodity sold to a customer and for printing the results on a receipt to be handed to the customer at the place and time of sale, said POS apparatus comprising:

database constructing means for classifying a commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer and for preparing a database measuring a level of relation for commodities simultaneously purchased by the customer;

processing means for retrieving from said prepared database a related commodity with a high level of relation to a commodity sold to the customer by using, as a key word, the above commodity sold to the customer, the processing means automatically updating the database concurrently with accounting for all the commodities simultaneously purchased by a customer each instance that one commodity is purchased at the same time as another commodity; and

means for printing information of the related commodity on the receipt.