US 7,069,238 B2 · Shopping assistance service

Abstract

A shopping assistance method and service system is provided in which a shopper captures information about an item of interest (90) and sends it over a mobile radio infrastructure (10) to a service system (40). At the service system, the information is processed to identify at least the type of item of interest. A determination is also made of a location associated with the information, this location will generally be that of the store (92) where the shopper captured the information, but could also be the shopper's home location. The service system next carries out a specific task (72) relating to the identified item (90), such as obtaining comparative prices, and then provides a report back to the shopper, the contents and/or organisation of the report taking account of the location previously determined as being associated with the information.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A shopping assistance service method, comprising the steps of:

(a) capturing information, by a user using a mobile device, about an item of interest at a business premises where the item is being offered and sending said information, at the time of capture, to a service system over a communication link including a mobile radio infrastructure;
(b) at the service system:
(i) receiving the information,
(ii) determining a physical location associated with said information, and
(iii) processing said information to identify at least the type of item of interest;
and
(c) delivering to said user at least one of comparative-pricing and availability data for items of the type identified in step (b) for other business premises relative to said physical location, said data being categorized into zones of different physical accessibility of the business premises as they relate to the physical location of the user, the delivering step being over a communication link originating at the service system and including a mobile radio infrastructure.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Shopping assistance service

Life of this patent

Shopping assistance service

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19