Media enabled shopping cart system with point of sale identification

• US 20060293968A1
• Filed: 12/01/2005
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Media Cart Holdings, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Media Cart Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Carpenter, Steve, Brice, David George
• Granted Patent: US 7,660,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.63
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/1424 Electronic display devices
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 5/0096 Identification of the cart or merchandise, e.g. by barcodes or radio frequency identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0266 based on the position of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A media enhanced shopping cart system comprises a shopping cart comprising a frame, a basket, a handle, a base tray, and a plurality of wheels, an inventory component for determining an inventory contained by the shopping cart, an identification component for associating a unique identity of the shopping cart, a correlation component of a modular computing device for correlating the inventory contained by the shopping cart with the unique identity of the shopping cart, and a communication component for conveying to a retailer system the correlation between the inventory and the unique identity of the shopping cart.

Claims

1. A media enhanced shopping cart system, comprising:

a shopping cart comprising a frame, a basket, a handle, a base tray, and a plurality of wheels,

an inventory component for determining an inventory contained by the shopping cart;

an identification component for associating a unique identity of the shopping cart;

a correlation component of a modular computing device for correlating the inventory contained by the shopping cart with the unique identity of the shopping cart; and

a communication component for conveying to a retailer system the correlation between the inventory and the unique identity of the shopping cart.

2. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 1, wherein the retailer system comprises a point of sale system, a consumer loyalty system, or a security system.

3. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 2, wherein the identification component comprises an RFID tag conveying the unique identity of the shopping cart when read.

4. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 2, wherein the identification component comprises a bar code conveying the unique identity of the shopping cart when scanned.

5. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 2, wherein the identification component comprises a label visibly conveying the unique identity of the shopping cart.

6. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 2, further comprising a display component for displaying advertising to a consumer, wherein the correlation component anonymously correlates advertising shown during a particular use of the shopping cart to the inventory contained by the shopping cart.

7. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 2, further comprising a display component for displaying advertising to a consumer, wherein the correlation component correlates advertising shown to a particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart;

wherein the inventory comprises at least one of products scanned by the inventory component and products verified as present in the cart by the inventory component.

8. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 7, wherein the correlation of the particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart is via a consumer identifier;

wherein the consumer identifier comprises at least one of a loyalty card, a pin code and a telephone number.

9. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 8, wherein the correlation of the particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart is used to generate a shopping list for the consumer that is accessible via the shopping cart during a future store visit.

10. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 1, further comprising a retailer system for receiving the inventory contained by the shopping cart and for processing payment thereof.

11. The media enhanced shopping cart system of claim 8, wherein the inventory component comprises at least one of a bar code scanner and an RFID reader comprising one or more RFID antennas.

12. A method, comprising:

associating a unique identity with a shopping cart;

determining an inventory of a shopping cart by an inventory component affixed to the shopping cart;

correlating with a modular computing device the inventory to the unique identity of the shopping cart; and

conveying at least one of the unique identity of the shopping cart, the inventory of the shopping cart, and the correlation of the inventory to the unique identity to a retailer system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein conveying to a point of sale system the unique identity further comprises conveying the unique identity via a RFID tag.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein conveying to a point of sale system the unique identity further comprises conveying the unique identity via a bar code.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein conveying to a point of sale system the unique identity further comprises conveying the unique identity via a label.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying advertising to a consumer and anonymously correlating the advertising shown during a particular use of the shopping cart to the inventory contained by the shopping cart.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying advertising to a consumer and correlating advertising shown to a particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart;

wherein the inventory comprises at least one of products scanned by the inventory component and products verified as present in the cart by the inventory component.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising scanning a loyalty card, wherein the correlation of the particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart is via a consumer identifier;

wherein the consumer identifier comprises at least one of a loyalty card, a pin code and a telephone number.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating a shopping list for the consumer that is accessible via the media enhanced shopping cart during a future store visit, wherein the correlation of the particular consumer to the inventory contained by the shopping cart is used to generate a shopping list for the consumer that is accessible via the shopping cart during a future store visit;

wherein the inventory comprises at least one of products scanned by the inventory component and products verified as present in the cart by the inventory component.

20. A method, comprising:

associating a unique identity with a shopping cart;

determining an inventory contained by a shopping cart by an inventory component affixed to the shopping cart;

correlating with a modular computing device the inventory to the unique identity of the shopping cart;

conveying the unique identity of the shopping cart to a retailer system; and

conveying the inventory of the shopping cart to the retailer system.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein conveying the unique identity to a retailer system further comprises conveying the unique identity via a RFID tag to an RFID reader, scanning a bar code or manually entering a serial identification number.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the retailer system comprises a point of sale system, a consumer loyalty system, or a security system.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein determining an inventory comprises scanning a bar-coded product with a bar code scanner or reading a RFID tagged product with an RFID reader upon placement of the product in the shopping cart and storing the identity of the product to convey to the retailer system.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising conveying the correlation of the unique identity to the inventory to the retailer system.