Methods for assigning traceability information to and retrieving traceability information from a store shelf

• US 8,833,654 B1
• Filed: 01/08/2013
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Original Assignee: YottaMark, Inc.
• Inventors: Grant, Elliott
• Primary Examiner(s): HESS, DANIEL A
• Application Number:
  US13/736,521
• Time in Patent Office: 616 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/385
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A shelf code in a machine readable format, such as on a QR code on a printed card, is provided where bulk merchandise displayed in a bin. When the bin is stocked from a case bearing a case code, the case code is associated with the shelf code. Lot-specific and lot-independent information previously associated with the case code is then linked to the shelf code. Consumers scan the shelf code with a mobile device to establish a communication channel to access the linked information. Retailers and producers use the channel to reach the consumer, and to solicit feedback from the consumer at a known time and location. A mobile device can also be used to associate quality assessments of merchandise to the shelf code. Analysis of consumer ratings and quality inspection assessments that are tied to time and location can provide valuable insights to both producers and retailers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

creating a batch of paired labels, each pair of labels including

a case label including a case code, and

a shelf label including a machine-readable URL including a domain and an extension, the extension specifying a shelf code;

storing an association between the shelf code and the case code for each pair of the batch;

associating lot-specific information to a case code from the batch; and

creating a web site identified by the URL from at least one of the shelf labels.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the machine-readable URL is encoded by a QR code.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the shelf label is disposed on the case label, and is removable therefrom.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the case code of each pair of the batch is unique.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the shelf code of each pair of the batch is unique.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a quality rating and associating the rating to the shelf code.

7. A case label comprising:

a primary label including a removable label, the removable label being removable from the primary label after the primary label has been adhered to a surface, the primary label including a case code and information about bulk merchandise;

the removable label including a call to action and a bar code comprising a URL, the URL including a domain and an extension, the extension specifying a shelf code.

8. The case label of claim 7 wherein the removable label peels off of the primary label.

9. The case label of claim 7 wherein the removable label comprises a separable tab removable along a line of perforations.

10. The case label of claim 7 wherein the bar code is a QR code.

11. The case label of claim 7 wherein the removable label includes a low-tack and pressure-sensitive adhesive on a side opposite the bar code.