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AssigneeElectronic Retailing Systems, Inc.
InventorsBruce F Failing, Jr., Anthony P Fernandez, George T Briechle, Edward J Fenwick, Robert J Venable
Estimating the term…
An improved system for space management in retail stores is described. The space management system includes price display labels mounted on rails along the edges of shelves in a store. A communications link between the computer and the labels permits the computer to address each label by a logical address and to determine the physical location of each label to within a resolution of typically four feet. The system prepares price audit lists and adjacency audit lists that permit economical use of the time of store personnel during the audit. The lists are generated in such a way that the items on a particular list are physically contiguous; thus once the correct general area has been located by the auditor little additional time need be spent locating the individual items. In performing an audit of product facings, the user is able to use the display hardware, including the pushbutton on each label, as a data collection system for product facing information. In product location mode, the user starts at the first label at one end of a shelf and presses the button on the first label. The user moves to the second label, presses its button, moves to the third label, and the process is repeated for each label along the shelf, and for the rest of the shelves in the area being audited. This permits the system to collect information as to the sequence of labels along a rail.
A space management system for use in a premises having items on shelves, the system comprising:
A scan audit management system for use in a premises having items on shelves, the system comprising:
A method for use in a space management system, the system comprising a computer, a plurality of rails disposed on shelves, electronic price display labels, each label comprising a display, a memory, a printer, and address-matching means, communications means communicatively coupling said labels with said computer, each label having an address, said address-matching means responsive to a first message communicated from the computer for determining whether there is a match between address information in the first message and the address of the label, said address-matching means responsive to the match for generating a response communicated by the communication means to the computer, each rail comprising mechanical means for mechanically securing the labels, the computer comprising a storage means for storing automatically updated information including a first list of said electronic price display labels and a respective address for each electronic display label, a second list of prices desired to be displayed on respective labels, a third list of plain-English descriptors for products associated with respective labels, and a fourth list indicative of previous dates on which the prices of respective labels were audited, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.