Method for detecting the handling of products on a display stand, display stand and automated shop

Method for detecting the handling of products on a display stand by one or more people, said products being equipped with electronic tags each containing a unique identifier, each person being associated with an object communicating by radio frequency and periodically transmitting a signaling signal, said display stand comprising a plurality of near-field communication antennas, and at least two radio frequency receivers placed close to the display stand, a central processing unit connected to said display stand and to said receivers to carry out said method, which comprises repeating the following steps:

• a product inventory step, during which the display stand sends and receives messages via the near-field communication antennas in order to identify and to locate the electronic tags of products present on the display stand,
• a step of comparing inventories, during which the central processing unit determines a difference in the products present on the display stand between two successive inventory steps, said step identifying a product removed from or added to said display stand and determining a position on said display stand where said product was removed or added,
• a person-locating step, during which each of the radio frequency receivers receives a signaling signal, transmitted by an object communicating by radio frequency, measures the strength of the received signal and determines the position of the communicating object associated with a person by triangulation as a function of the position of the radio frequency receivers and the measurement of the strength of the received signal,
• an association step, during which the central processing unit associates a person with a product when the position of the communicating object associated with said person is located close to the position of the identified electronic tag of a product having been removed from or added to the display stand, said associated person having removed the product from or added it to the display stand.