Digital sign with incorrectly stocked item identification

• US 9,031,872 B1
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Inventors: Foster, Robert F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilder, Hunter
• Application Number:
  US13/796,580
• Time in Patent Office: 791 Days
• Field of Search: 705/20, 705/22, 705/28, 340/5.91
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/025 LAN communication management
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/04 Electronic labels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

A merchandising unit has a merchandise support unit supporting items for sale and an electronic sign. The electronic sign displays a price for correctly stocked items on the merchandise support unit, detects incorrectly stocked items on the merchandise support unit, retrieves a price for the incorrectly stocked items, and alters display information so that the price for the correctly stocked items and the price for the incorrectly stocked items are displayed.

Claims

1. An electronic sign comprising:

a sensor sensing merchandise near the electronic sign and providing at least one merchandise identifier;

a processor that is programmed to execute instructions that cause the processor to perform steps comprising;

determining that more than a first threshold quantity of one type of merchandise near the electronic sign is mis-shelved based on the at least one merchandise identifier;

altering display information to include a stocking alert that the first threshold quantity of the one type of merchandise near the electronic sign is mis-shelved;

determining that more than a second threshold quantity, higher than the first threshold quantity, of the one type of merchandise near the electronic sign is mis-shelved; and

altering display information to include a price for the one type of mis-shelved merchandise when the second threshold quantity is exceeded; and

a display, communicating with the processor, including a display section under control of the processor, wherein the display section includes a correctly shelved merchandise section that displays a price for correctly shelved merchandise and a mis-shelved merchandise section that displays the altered display information when the first threshold quantity of the one type of merchandise near the electronic sign is mis-shelved or the altered display information when more than the second threshold quantity of the one type of merchandise near the electronic sign is mis-shelved, and wherein the price for correctly shelved merchandise is displayed concurrently with the altered display information for the first or second threshold quantities.

2. The electronic sign of claim 1 wherein altering the display information to include the stocking alert comprises altering the display information to include a colored alert wherein the color of the colored alert indicates a quantity of mis-shelved merchandise that is not described in the altered display information.

3. The electronic sign of claim 1 wherein the processor performs further steps of receiving a request from a handheld device for merchandise identifiers of mis-shelved merchandise that is not described in the altered display information and in response transmitting merchandise identifiers of the mis-shelved merchandise that is not described in the altered display information to the handheld device.

4. The electronic sign of claim 1 wherein the price of the one type of mis-shelved merchandise is obtained by passing the at least one merchandise identifier to a server and receiving a price in return from the server.

5. The electronic sign of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises an RFID sensor that senses radio frequency signals emitted from the merchandise.

6. A merchandising unit comprising:

a merchandise support unit supporting items for sale; and

an electronic sign configured for;

displaying a price for correctly stocked items on the merchandise support unit,

detecting incorrectly stocked items on the merchandise support unit,

retrieving a price for the incorrectly stocked items,

determining when a quantity of a type of incorrectly stocked items exceeds a first threshold,

altering display information when the quantity of the type of incorrectly stocked items exceeds the first threshold so that the price for the correctly stocked items and the price for the incorrectly stocked items are concurrently displayed,

detecting a quantity of additional incorrectly stocked items,

determining that the quantity of additional incorrectly stocked items does not exceed the first threshold and therefore not displaying the price of the additional incorrectly stocked items, and

determining that the quantity of additional incorrectly stocked items exceeds a second threshold, lower than the first threshold, and in response displaying an alert indicating that incorrectly stocked items are present on the merchandise support unit.

7. The merchandising unit of claim 6 wherein the electronic sign further receives a request from a handheld device for identifiers for incorrectly stocked items and in response provides identifiers for the additional incorrectly stocked items to the handheld device.

8. A method comprising:

transmitting a request for an identification of incorrectly stocked items from a handheld device to a digital sign, the digital sign positioned on a merchandise support unit and displaying information about items on the merchandise support unit;

receiving an identifier of at least one incorrectly stocked item at the handheld device from the digital sign, the at least one incorrectly stocked item comprising at least one item that has been stocked on the merchandise support unit but is not assigned to the merchandise support unit and that has been detected by a sensor in the digital sign;

displaying a first indicator on the digital sign indicating that a quantity of the at least one incorrectly stocked item has been incorrectly stocked;

displaying a second indicator on the digital sign indicating that a predetermined number of the at least one incorrectly stocked items higher than the quantity of the at least one incorrectly stocked item have been incorrectly stocked, wherein the second indicator is different from the first indicator and includes a price of the at least one incorrectly stocked item;

displaying on the digital sign information relating to correctly stocked items on the merchandise support unit concurrently with the first and second indicators; and

displaying on a display of the handheld device a description of at least one incorrectly stocked item based on the received identifier of at least one incorrectly stocked item.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising displaying on the display of the handheld device an image of the at least one incorrectly stocked item.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising transmitting a request for the image of the at least one incorrectly stocked item from the handheld device to a server and receiving the image of the at least one incorrectly stocked item at the handheld device from the server.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising receiving a location where the at least one incorrectly stocked item is to be stocked at the handheld device from the server.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising receiving a description of items that are correctly stocked on the merchandise support unit at the handheld device from the digital sign.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising before transmitting the request for an identification of incorrectly stocked items to the digital sign:

displaying a merchandise support unit selection user interface on the handheld device;

receiving a selection of the merchandise support unit through the user interface; and

identifying a communication address for communicating with the digital sign based upon the selection of the merchandise support unit.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein identifying a communication address comprises requesting the communication address from a server by transmitting an identifier for the merchandise support unit to the server and receiving the communication address from the server.