Item pick-up system

An item pick up system comprising:

• a point-of-sale terminal located remotely from a stock room and a pick up area, wherein the point-of-sale terminal is arranged to process a point of sale transaction during which an item is purchased by a customer;
• a pick up terminal being located in the pick up area and outside the stock room, the pick up terminal being arranged to receive data directly from the customer, to identify the customer and the item from the data, and to transmit a message identifying the customer and the item;
• and,
• a stock room terminal coupled to the point-of-sale terminal and to the pick up terminal and being located in or near the stock room and outside the pick up area, the stock room terminal being arranged to notify, in response to the message, a stock room attendant in the stock room of the item and of the customer to be given the item.

An item processing kiosk comprising:

• customer identifying means for identifying a customer in response to data supplied directly by the customer;
• item identifying means for identifying an item from a database based upon the identification of the customer by customer identifying means, wherein the item is to be picked up by the customer;
• displaying means for displaying the identified item to the customer;
• and,
• message transmitting means for electronically transmitting a message in response to the customer identifying means and in response to the item identifying means, wherein the message provides a notification of the customer and the item.

An item processing method performed by a kiosk comprising the following steps:

• displaying selections allowing a customer to choose whether the customer is picking up an item, returning an item for exchange or refund, or dropping off an item for servicing;
• in response to the customer selecting one of the displayed selections, displaying a request for the customer to enter a customer and item identification;
• and,
• in response to the customer entering the customer and item identification, electronically transmitting a message, the message being arranged to provide a notification of the customer and the item, wherein the message designates whether an item is to be picked up, or returned, or dropped off.

An item processing kiosk comprising:

• identifying means for identifying, in response to data supplied directly by a customer, the customer and an item to be dropped off by the customer;
• message transmitting means responsive to the identifying means for electronically transmitting a message to an item holding area in order to notify a holding area attendant of the identified item, wherein the message provides a notification to the holding area attendant of the customer and the item;
• the identifying means comprising customer identifying means for identifying, in response to data supplied directly by the customer, the customer, and item identifying means for identifying the item from a database based upon the identification of the customer by the customer identifying means;
• the database containing identifications of items linked to customers with respect to past transactions, and wherein the item identified by the item identifying means is from the database.