In-store customer display device and method

• US 7,529,687 B1
• Filed: 12/13/2000
• Issued: 05/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Phan, Cung Ngoc
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca; Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US09/736,543
• Time in Patent Office: 3,065 Days
• Field of Search: 705/16, 705/26, 705/27, 705/20, 705/1
• US Class Current: 705/20
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/201 Price look-up processing, e.g. updating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement

Abstract

A system and method for displaying information to a customer during a point-of-sale transaction by showing the information about the customer'"'"'s purchase and infomercial on a single display screen. A PC-based POS system with the ability to control two display units is used. The cashier uses one of the display unit while the other is targeted to the customer. The description, price, and quantity of items scanned or entered in by cashier are shown on the customer display, along with an area programmable for advertisements, promotional offers, customer discounts, coupons, or the like. As a result, the merchant will get the additional revenues from up-sells and advertisements displayed on the customer screen, while the customer can monitor the checkout process to ensure correct pricing.

Claims

1. A display system that displays information to an in-store customer during a point-of-sale transaction, the display system comprising:

a control unit configured to operate a customer display device by accessing an infomercial database and receiving input data related to item information in a sales transaction from at least one of a plurality of input devices, the infomercial database including a list of types of trigger events and their corresponding sequence of multimedia entries to be displayed based on the type of trigger event;

a point-of-sale program module coupled to the control unit and configured to process the input data by accessing a point-of-sale database;

a customer display program module coupled to the control unit and the point-of-sale program module, the customer display program module configured to display the processed input data and configured to display the sequences of multimedia entries located in the infomercial database on the customer display device;

an event management unit configured to receive and interpret the input data processed by the point-of-sale program module to notify the control unit when trigger events occur that require an update to the customer display device; and

wherein the control unit includes an internal timer, the control unit is configured to display each multimedia entry on the customer display device for a duration of time based on the internal timer until the event management unit detects a trigger event, upon detection of the trigger event, the control unit interrupts the sequence of multimedia entries and changes the multimedia content to be displayed on the customer display device by displaying a different sequence of multimedia entries that match a type of the detected trigger event as indicated in the infomercial database.

2. The display system of claim 1, wherein the point-of-sale database comprises merchant data including price information, tax information and description information related to items for sale by a merchant.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the point-of-sale program module processes the input data by comparing the input data to the merchant data located in the point-of-sale database and calculating a price for each item selected by a customer for purchase.

4. The display system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of input devices comprises a barcode scanner, a keyboard and a mouse.

5. The display system of claim 1, wherein the sequence of multimedia entries are displayed on the customer display device when the point-of-sale program module begins to process the input data.

6. The display system of claim 1, wherein each multimedia entry displayed on the customer display device comprises a web page accessible by a web browser.

7. The display system of claim 1, wherein each web page displayed on the customer display device comprises one of text, graphics, photographs and video images.

8. The display system of claim 1, wherein the customer display program module comprises a display control unit, the display control unit displays the sequence of multimedia entries until the trigger event occurs.

9. The display system of claim 1, wherein the trigger event causes a corresponding trigger entry to be displayed on the customer display device.

10. The display system of claim 1, wherein the customer display device comprises a touch sensitive screen for use in allowing a customer to interact with the customer display device.

11. The display system of claim 1, wherein the multimedia entries comprise advertisement content, promotional content and coupon content.

12. A computer-implemented method of displaying information to an in-store customer during a point-of-sale transaction, the method comprising:

receiving input data related to a sales transaction from at least one of a plurality of input devices;

processing the input data by accessing a point-of-sale database;

accessing an infomercial database that includes types of trigger events and their corresponding sequence of multimedia entries to be displayed upon occurrence of the type of trigger event;

displaying the processed input data on a customer display device;

interpreting the processed input data to determine when a trigger event occurs that requires an update to the customer display device;

displaying a sequence of multimedia entries on the customer display device, each multimedia entry of the sequence of multimedia entries is displayed for a duration of time;

detecting a trigger event; and

interrupting the sequence of multimedia entries to change content on the customer display device to a different sequence of multimedia entries that match the type of trigger event.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein displaying the sequence of multimedia entries is initiated upon processing the input data.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein processing the input data comprises:

comparing the input data with data stored in the point-of-sale database; and

calculating a price for at least a portion of the sales transaction based on the data stored in the point-of-sale database.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 and further comprising displaying the processed input data on a cashier display device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 and further comprising printing a customer receipt at the end of the sales transaction using a printer.

17. A computer-implemented method of displaying multimedia information to an in-store customer during a point-of-sales transaction, the method comprising:

accessing sequences of multimedia entries that are stored in an infomercial database, each sequence of multimedia entries correspond with a type of trigger event;

displaying a select sequence of multimedia entries on a customer display device during the point-of-sales transaction, wherein each multimedia entry in the select sequence of multimedia entries is displayed for a duration of time;

receiving an input indicative of a trigger event while the select sequence of multimedia entries are displayed; and

displaying a different sequence of multimedia entries than the select sequence of multimedia entries, the different sequence of multimedia entries match the received trigger event.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the trigger event comprises an end of the point-of-sales transaction.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein displaying the sequence of multimedia entries begins upon initiation of the point-of-sales transaction.