Method for transferring shopping cart contents to a register from a mobile electronic device

• US 9,171,328 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2012
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Argue, Stuart, Marcar, Anthony Emile
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Ahshik
• Application Number:
  US13/723,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20140175167A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/381, 235/462.1, 235/462.09, 705/14.38, 705/16
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3274 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

A method is disclosed for allowing a customer to create a digital shopping cart on a mobile electronic device while shopping at a brick and mortar store. The customer may scan barcodes, e.g. UPC variants, from a product with the camera of the mobile electronic device and record these product barcodes into the mobile electronic device. The shopping cart contents may be transferred to a checkout register without a data connection between the register and the device. The mobile electronic device may create one or more 2D barcodes with the item information embedded into the 2D barcode and may display the barcode on the device screen. Multiple 2D barcodes may be displayed in sequence. The 2D barcode may be scanned at the checkout register to read the barcode and thereby transmit the shopping cart information to the checkout register.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting item information from a mobile electronic device and a checkout register comprising:

capturing a UPC code from a plurality of items into self-checkout software on a mobile electronic device;

receiving item information into the self-checkout software on the mobile electronic device for each of the plurality of items;

embedding the item information into a plurality of machine readable codes, each machine readable code containing information for a plurality of the items and including a total number of machine readable codes and a sequence number of the machine readable code within the total number of machine readable codes;

displaying the machine readable codes on the mobile electronic device;

scanning the machine readable codes with a scanner at a checkout register; and

receiving the item information into the checkout register from the machine readable codes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method more specifically comprises capturing a UPC code from an item using a camera on a mobile electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the item information comprises at least a part of the UPC code from the item.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the item information further comprises a quantity of the item for purchase.

5. The method of claim of claim 1, wherein each machine readable code comprises a 2D barcode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of codes are indexed to verify that each of the plurality of codes is scanned by the scanner.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of codes has a checksum to verify that each of the plurality of codes is scanned by the scanner.

8. A method for transmitting item information from a mobile electronic device and a checkout register comprising:

for each of a plurality of items at a brick and mortar store;

capturing a UPC code from an item with self-checkout software on a mobile electronic device;

receiving item information into the self-checkout software on the mobile electronic device;

embedding the item information for the plurality of items into a plurality of two dimensional barcodes, each barcode containing information for a plurality of the items and including a total number of barcodes and a sequence number of the barcode within the total number of barcodes;

displaying the barcodes on the mobile electronic device;

scanning the barcodes with a scanner at a checkout register; and

receiving the item information into the checkout register from the barcodes.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the item information includes at least a portion of the UPC code for each of the plurality of items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the item information includes item quantity information.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the method more specifically comprises embedding the item information for the plurality of items into multiple two dimensional barcodes.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method more specifically comprises displaying the multiple barcodes in a sequence on the mobile electronic device.

13. A method for transmitting information from a mobile electronic device and a checkout register comprising:

receiving a list of items for purchase at a brick and mortar store into self-checkout software on a mobile electronic device;

creating a plurality of two dimensional barcodes on the mobile electronic device, each barcode having item information for the list of items embedded therein and including a total number of barcodes and a sequence number of the barcode within the total number of barcodes;

displaying the barcodes on the mobile electronic device;

scanning the barcodes with a scanner at a checkout terminal at the store to thereby receive the item information into the checkout terminal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method comprises capturing UPC codes from items at a brick and mortar store into self-checkout software.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the method more specifically comprises creating multiple two dimensional barcodes, each barcode having item information for multiple items embedded therein, and displaying the barcodes in sequence on the mobile electronic device.