Patent ID: 11966900
Assignee: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 9:
10. A method, the method comprising:
receiving, at a local control circuit, one or more images from one or more cameras deployed at a checkout area of a retail store, the one or more images depicting items in a shopping cart, each image of the one or more images associated with individual transaction time information;
analyzing the one or more images to identify the items in the shopping cart and a checkout register identifier associated with the checkout area;
generate a computer vision (CV) profile listing the items in the shopping cart, the CV profile including the checkout register identifier;
obtain electronic transaction records associated with the checkout register identifier from a point-of-sales device, wherein the point-of-sales device records a sales transaction of a customer as the customer purchases items at the retail store and creates an electronic transaction record that includes transaction information, a transaction number, and a unique transaction identifier, wherein the customer obtains a receipt of the sales transaction including the transaction number, wherein the unique transaction identifier is not presented in any form to the customer, the unique transaction identifier and the transaction number being separate and different, wherein the transaction number is obtainable via electronic scan of the receipt;
transmitting the generated CV profile and the electronic transaction record obtained from the point-of-sales device to a central control circuit via an electronic network, wherein the central control circuit is remote from the local control circuit, wherein the central control circuit receives the generated CV profile and the electronic transaction record from the local control circuit and stores the generated CV profile and the electronic transaction record in a central database communicatively coupled to the central control circuit;
wherein the central control circuit retrieves the electronic transaction record from the central database, obtains the unique transaction identifier from the retrieved electronic transaction record, retrieves the generated CV profile from the central database using the unique transaction identifier, and compares the items on the generated CV profile to sales transaction items on the electronic transaction record, and responsive to a determination that there is a discrepancy between the items on the generated CV profile and the sales transaction items, determines an action to take;
wherein the action is one or more of: sending an electronic alert to a mobile device associated with an employee of the retail store, sending electronic information showing the discrepancy to the mobile device associated with the employee of the retail store, sending a control signal to activate a warning indicator at an exit of the retail store, and sending a control signal to instruct an automated vehicle to retrieve an unpaid item from the customer and return the unpaid item to the retail store.