Loading patent…
AssigneeSymbol Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJerome Swartz, Stephen J. Shellhammer, Joseph Katz, Theo Pavlidis, John Woffinden, Judith Murrah, Edward Beadle, Raj Bridgelall
Estimating the term…
A statistical basis for use in a self-scanning checkout system determines how many items to check in a shopper's shopping cart for incorrect or missing scans as well as which particular or types of items to check to determine if they were properly scanned, if the shopper is determined to be audited. The present invention does not audit every customer, but rather determines whether a given shopper or customer is to be audited on a given shopping trip based upon obtaining a minimum checkout loss for such customer. The methodology determines how many items to check for a given shopper as well as which particular items to check for that shopper. The following factors attempt to model the real world of shopping and may be considered, alone or in varying combinations, in determining the number of items to check for a particular shopping transaction: shopper frequency; queue length; prior audit history; store location; time of day, day of week, date of year; number of times items are returned to shelf during shopping; dwell time between scans; customer loyalty; store shopping activity and other factors. Using statistical decision theory for auditing policies a minimum loss per shopper transaction improves the security and reduces the labor of self-check out without being too intrusive to customers.
A method for auditing a self-checkout system wherein a customer selects a plurality of items for purchase, registers the plurality of items with a portable terminal and deposits the plurality of items in a container, said method comprising the steps of:
The method of 3 further comprising the step of adding to said tally list any item present in the container but omitted from said tally list.
A shopping system for self-service checkout by customers that includes a security check to determine if customers have failed to correctly register an item deposited in a container, said shopping system comprising:
A method for selectively checking a self-checkout system wherein a customer registers a plurality of items with a portable terminal and deposits a plurality of items in a container, comprising the steps of:
A system for checking self-scanned items at a security station to determine if customers have failed to correctly register an item deposited in a container, said system comprising security logic for determining types of items to check in the container and a security list generator for generating a list including said types of items to check.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.