US 10,592,944 B2Granted

Notification system and methods for use in retail environments

AssigneeNCR Corporation

InventorsMalay Kundu, Joshua Migdal

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Abstract

Embodiments herein include novel ways of alerting store personnel when various activities, events, conditions, etc., occur at the checkout in retail establishments. For example, in accordance with one embodiment, the alerting can take place in substantially real-time, when the event occurs, allowing personnel to take appropriate measures, corrective or otherwise, to deal with the detected event. Examples of such events may include situations such as when a person of interest is detected as shopping at the store, when a cashier has missed scanning an item at the checkout, or to alert store personnel if a non-empty shopping cart has exited the store without payment (a.k.a., a cart push-out). Although the discussion below uses a grocery store as an example retail environment, embodiments herein can be used in any type of retail environment.

Claims25

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

monitoring a shopping cart throughout a retail environment with a remote monitoring device selected from the group consisting of a video camera, a video storage system, and an image generator;
detecting presence of the shopping cart in a predetermined area in the retail environment with the remote monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, wherein the predetermined location comprises an exit path which avoids checkout lanes in the retail environment;
and
responsive to detecting presence of the shopping cart in the predetermined area in the retail environment with the remote monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing the at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, generating a notification indicating a cart pushout event when the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area in the retail environment, the monitoring the shopping cart further including:
responsive to analyzing the video data, identifying whether the shopping cart includes one or more items;
analyzing received transaction logs indicating items recently purchased in the retail environment;
determining whether a recordation for purchase transaction occurred identifying the one or more items in the shopping cart, wherein the recordation for purchase transaction is based on a transaction record including recorded instances of one or more items in the transaction logs and the video data associated with the at least one image;
responsive to determining whether the recordation for purchase transaction occurred, detecting that the one or more item in the shopping cart, as identified from the at least one image, were not properly recorded for purchase in the transaction logs as the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area of the retail environment;
and
generating the notification in response to detecting absence of the recordation for purchase transaction associated with the one or more items included in the shopping cart.

7 more elements

A system comprising:

at least one processor device;
a storage resource that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the at least one processor device;
and
an interconnect coupling the at least one processor device and the storage resource, the at least one processor device executing the application and performing operations of:
monitoring a shopping cart in a retail environment with a remote monitoring device selected from the group consisting of a video camera, a video storage systems, and an image generator;
detecting presence of the shopping cart in a predetermined area in the retail environment with the remote monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, wherein the predetermined location comprises an exit path which avoids checkout lanes in the retail environment;
and
responsive to detecting presence of the shopping cart in the predetermined area in the retail environment with the monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing the at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, generating a notification indicating a cart pushout event when the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area in retail the environment, the monitoring the shopping cart further including:
responsive to analyzing the video data, identifying whether the shopping cart includes one or more items;
analyzing received transaction logs indicating items recently purchased in the retail environment;
determining whether a recordation for purchase transaction occurred identifying the one or more items in the shopping cart, wherein the recordation for purchase transaction is based on a transaction record including recorded instances of one or more items in the transaction logs and the video data associated with the at least one image;
and
responsive to determining whether the recordation for purchase transaction occurred, detecting that the one or more item in the shopping cart, as identified from the at least one image, were not properly recorded for purchase in the transaction logs as the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area of the retail environment;
and
generating the notification in response to detecting absence of the recordation for purchase transaction associated with the one or more items included in the shopping cart.

12 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for processing data information, such that the instructions, when executed by at least one processing device, cause the at least one processing device to perform the operations of:

monitoring a shopping cart in a retail environment with a remote monitoring device selected from the group consisting of a video camera, a video storage system, and an image generator;
detecting presence of the shopping cart in a predetermined area in the retail environment with the remote monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, wherein the predetermined location comprises an exit path which avoids checkout lanes in the retail environment;
and
responsive to detecting presence of the shopping cart in the predetermined area in the retail environment with the remote monitoring device by analyzing video data capturing the at least one image of the shopping cart in the predetermined area, generating a notification indicating a cart pushout event when the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area in the retail environment, the monitoring the shopping cart further including:
responsive to analyzing the video data, identifying whether the shopping cart includes one or more items;
analyzing received transaction logs indicating items recently purchased in the retail environment;
determining whether a recordation for purchase transaction occurred identifying the one or more items in the shopping cart, wherein the recordation for purchase transaction is based on a transaction record including recorded instances of one or more items in the transaction logs and the video data associated with the at least one image;
responsive to determining whether the recordation for purchase transaction occurred, detecting that the one or more item in the shopping cart, as identified from the at least one image, were not properly recorded for purchase in the transaction logs as the shopping cart leaves or attempts to leave the predetermined area of the retail environment;
and
generating the notification in response to detecting absence of the recordation for purchase transaction associated with the one or more items included in the shopping cart.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/490,286Filed 6 Jun 2012 · us provisional application
Priority: 6 Jun 2011
Published: US 2012/0320199 A120 Dec 2012
Granted: 17 Mar 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

G06Q 30/06
Commerce: buying, selling or leasing transactions
G06Q 20/202
Point-of-sale [POS] network systems: interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network…
G06Q 20/208
Point-of-sale [POS] network systems: input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
G07G 1/0036
Cash registers: checkout procedures