Using radio frequency identification with customer loyalty cards to detect and/or prevent theft and shoplifting

• US 7,240,824 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2003
• Issued: 07/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Stockton, Marcia L.
• Primary Examiner(s): CAPUTO, LISA M
• Application Number:
  US10/666,483
• Publication Number:
  US 20050061870A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/376, 235/383, 235/384, 235/385, 235/462.46, 235/472.02, 340/539.13, 3405721-5724, 705/16, 705/28, 705/64, 705/72
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 3/003 Anti-theft control theft alarms G08B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2482 EAS methods, e.g. description of flow chart of the detection procedure

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for detecting shoplifting or theft, particularly in a retail environment, using radio-frequency identification (“RFID”). Preferred embodiments leverage RFID tags on merchandise and RFID data that is written at the point of sale on the merchandise-borne RFID tags themselves, on the customer'"'"'s receipt, or both. Some embodiments also leverage RFID tags on customer identification or “loyalty” cards. After writing RFID data on the merchandise-borne tags and/or receipt, a matching operation is performed at an RFID reader when the shopper and his merchandise exit the premises, in order to determine whether the shopper has paid for the items in his possession.

Claims

1. A method of preparing information usable in theft detection using radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) technology, comprising steps of;

for a current transaction, reading a customer identifier from a customer loyalty card; and

during the current transaction, storing the customer identifier in an item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of at least one items being paid for by a shopper in the current transaction, such that the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of at least one items possessed by the shopper can subsequently be searched to determine whether the at least one possessed items were paid for in the current transaction.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the customer identifier is read with an RFID reader from a loyalty card RFID tag affixed to the customer loyalty card.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

subsequently searching, for each of the at least one items possessed by the shopper, the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to the item to determine whether the customer identifier from the customer loyalty card was previously stored therein; and

for any of the subsequently-searched item-identifying RFID tags for which the customer identifier is determined not to be previously stored therein, concluding that the item to which the item-identifying RFID tag is affixed was not paid for in the current transaction.

4. A method of detecting potential theft using radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) technology, comprising steps of;

reading, from a customer loyalty card possessed by a shopper, a customer identifier;

searching, for each of at least one items possessed by the shopper, an item-identifying RFID tag affixed to the item to determine whether the customer identifier from the customer loyalty card was previously stored therein during a particular purchase transaction; and

concluding that one or more selected ones of the items possessed by the shopper were not paid for in the particular purchase transaction if the searching step fails to locate the customer identifier in the RFID tag affixed to the selected ones.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the customer identifier is read from a loyalty card RFID tag affixed to the customer loyalty card.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of storing the customer identifier in the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of the items when the items are paid for during the particular purchase transaction, prior to operation of the searching step.

7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of remembering each item that was in the shopper'"'"'s possession when the shopper entered an establishment in which the particular purchase transaction was conducted, and wherein the searching and concluding steps omit the remembered items.

8. A system for preparing information usable in theft detection using radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) technology, comprising;

means for reading, for a current transaction, a customer identifier from a customer loyalty card; and

means for storing, during the current transaction, the customer identifier in an item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of at least one items being paid for by a shopper in the current transaction, such that the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of at least one items possessed by the shopper can subsequently be searched to determine whether the at least one possessed items were paid for in the current transaction.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the customer identifier is read with an RFID reader from a loyalty card RFID tag affixed to the customer loyalty card.

10. The system according to claim 8, further comprising:

means for subsequently searching, for each of the at least one items possessed by the shopper, the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to the item to determine whether the customer identifier from the customer loyalty card was previously stored therein; and

for any of the subsequently-searched item-identifying RFID tags for which the customer identifier is determined not to be previously stored therein, means for concluding that the item to which the item-identifying RFID tag is affixed was not paid for in the current transaction.

11. A system for detecting potential theft using radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) technology, comprising;

means for reading, from a customer loyalty card possessed by a shopper, a customer identifier;

means for searching, for each of at least one items possessed by the shopper, an item-identifying RFID tag affixed to the item to determine whether the customer identifier from the customer loyalty card was previously stored therein during a particular purchase transaction; and

means for concluding that one or more selected ones of the items possessed by the shopper were not paid for in the particular purchase transaction if the means for searching fails to locate the customer identifier in the RFID tag affixed to the selected ones.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the customer identifier is read from a loyalty card RFID tag affixed to the customer loyalty card.

13. The system according to claim 11, further comprising means for storing the customer identifier in the item-identifying RFID tag affixed to each of the items when the items are paid for during the particular purchase transaction, prior to operation of the means for searching.

14. The system according to claim 11, further comprising means for remembering each item that was in the shopper'"'"'s possession when the shopper entered an establishment in which the particular purchase transaction was conducted, and wherein the means for searching and means for concluding omit the remembered items.