Abstract:
Described are a system and method for conducting an auction. The system may include a plurality of mobile devices and a server. Each mobile device may include a data reading arrangement (e.g., a barcode reader) for reading from products product identifier data and a data transmission arrangement (e.g., a modem or a wireless modem) for transmitting product selection data including product identifier data read from a product, customer identifier data corresponding to a customer controlling the mobile device and desired transaction data (e.g., a price). The server communicates with a product database where the server stores the product selection data. For each selected product, the server compares product selection data received from the customers to determine, based on information stored in the product database, whether the product selection data received from one or more customers meets predetermined sale criteria.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0001]    In a traditional retail store, products are typically offered at fixed prices. Users who are willing to pay the fixed prices, purchase the products at these prices. If the store cannot sell a product within a predefined period of time, such product is “marked down” (once or several times) over an extended time period until it is sold. Typically, after the markdown time period elapses, the products which the store cannot sell, are returned to a vendor/manufacturer or sent to a consolidation/clearance center. The administration, labor, handling of markdowns and clearance items are expensive to the retailer.  
           [0002]    There are systems that provide the user with a mechanism to “bid” on markdown or clearance items in an open market or an auction. Such systems may work well in some cases where, for example, the product&#39;s price is a variable which may depend on user&#39;s buying preferences or on a perceived value of products.  
           [0003]    One of such systems is an on-line auction that allows a user to buy a variety of products. The on-line auction may work well where the user knows exactly which product he wants to buy. For example, a user who wants to buy an item, may research the one or more products to learn about available features, price information, performance characteristics, expert opinions, etc. Once the user has decided on a particular product, he may utilize an on-line auction (e.g., e-Bay, Yahoo! Auctions, etc.) to purchase the product.  
           [0004]    Such systems may work well for users willing to make decisions based solely on research data and/or who are willing to purchase products without physically looking at and/or touching them. However, for users who want to look and touch products before buying, the above-described systems may be inadequate. For example, before deciding which product to purchase, certain users may want to go to a local store to personally review the features of the player, consult with a salesperson, try the product, etc. Once the user is satisfied and has decided on a product he may purchase the player in the store without knowing whether he could have bought player for a better price using an on-line action. Alternatively, after examining the product in a store a user may try to buy the player in an on-line auction to obtain a lower price. Of course, this requires the user to find access to the Internet and locate an on-line auction which features the selected product. If the user is successful in the auction, he purchases the player.  
           [0005]    The above-described systems may be even more inadequate for users searching for unique or hard-to-find items which are not easily identifiable by a model number, etc. In such cases, the user usually ends up buying the item either in a store without the price savings of an on-line auction or in an on-line auction without the benefit of a personal examination of the product.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention relates to a system and method for conducting an auction. The system may include a plurality of mobile devices and a server. Each mobile device may include a data reading arrangement (e.g., a barcode reader, an RFID interrogator, a magnetic strip scanner, etc.) for reading from products product-identifier data and a data transmission arrangement (e.g., a modem or a wireless modem) for transmitting product selection data including product identifier data read from a product, customer identifier data corresponding to a customer controlling the mobile device and desired transaction data (e.g., a price, quantity, etc.).  
           [0007]    The server communicates with a product database where the server stores the product selection data. For each selected product, the server compares product selection data received from the customers to determine, based on information stored in the product database, whether the product selection data received from one or more customers meets predetermined sale criteria. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain examples of the present invention. In the drawings:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system for a multi-channel retail auction according to the present invention; and  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]    The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system  1  for a multi-channel retail auction (“MCRA”) according to the present invention. In particular, a retail store  10  offers a plurality of products to consumers. Such products may include regularly priced products and/or products that need to be sold by the store  10  relatively quickly (e.g., clearance items, seasonal merchandise, reconditioned items, etc.). In order to expedite sales of certain products, the store  10  may be only interested in marking down the price of such products to the highest price which will generate the desired sales and to determine this price level at the least possible costs. The store  10  may achieve these and other goals by implemented the system  1  according to the present invention.  
         [0013]    The system  1 , as illustrated in FIG. 1, may include a plurality of mobile units  12  which communicate with an Access Point Arrangement (“APA”)  16 . The APA  16  may serve as an intermediary arrangement situated between the mobile units  12  and a server  30 . In particular, the APA  16  and the server  30  may communicate via a communication network  50  (e.g., a local area network, the Internet, etc.). Alternatively, the APA  16  may be directly linked to the server  30 . In alternative exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mobile unit  12  may communicate with the server  30  in a “batch” type mode.  
         [0014]    The mobile unit  12  may be, for example, a portable digital assistant (“PDA”), a handheld scanner, a keyfob scanner, a cell phone, etc. which is capable of reading encoded data such as bar codes. More specifically, an example of an mobile unit  12  is the Consumer Scanner CS1504 manufactured by Symbol Technologies (keyfob scanner). Such a mobile unit  12  may include a bar code scanner or other imager, a processor and a memory arrangement which allow the mobile unit  12  to read bar codes and store corresponding data. The mobile unit  12  may communicate with the APA  16  using any of conventional wired or wireless connections (e.g., IEEE 802.11b, Bluetooth, TCP/IP, USB, IEEE 1394, etc.) or a combination of both such connections. For example, the mobile unit  12  may communicate via a wireless WAN (e.g., a cellular phone or data network). The APA  16 , for instance, may be an access point allowing a wireless communication with the mobile unit  12  or may be a personal computer (e.g., in-store computer or a kiosk computer  18 ) having a “docking port” (e.g., a USB port) to which the mobile unit  12  may be coupled.  
         [0015]    The server  30  may be a conventional server which is connected to or including a database  20  data relevant to the store  10  and the products offered thereby and the system  1  in general. The server  30  is utilized to collect and process data and to manage communications among the various parts of the system  1 .  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the present invention. In step  102 , a products preparation stage for the MCRA is performed by the store  10 . In particular, the store  10  identifies products which will participate in the MCRA. For example, a product  14  is selected to participate in the MCRA. The product  14  is then correspondingly marked with, e.g., a tag. The tag may be in the form of a bar code and may include information indicating, e.g., that this product  14  participates in the MCRA, along with an initial price, a time frame for the MCRA, a unique identification number identifying the product  14 , the store  10  and the system  1 , etc. In addition, the information is transmitted to the server  30  and stored in the database  20 . The store  10  may utilize a conventional handheld scanner (not shown) to enter data, scan bar code information, present bar codes and transmit information to the server  30 . Alternatively, or in addition, the store  10  may utilize a conventional computer (not shown) including a scanner to perform functions similar to the functions described above.  
         [0017]    Once the products preparation stage has been completed, customers in the store  10  are informed that they may participate in the MCRA. The store  10  provides interested customers with mobile units  12 . Each mobile unit  12  is associated/registered with a corresponding customer. For example, a customer, who pre-registers with the store  10 , maybe assigned a unique customer identification number (CIN) which is provided to the corresponding mobile unit  12 . The customers may browse through the store  10  to look at the products sold in the store  10  as well as the products participate in the MCRA. A customer finding a participating product  14  that he would like to buy may bookmark the product  14  by, e.g., scanning the corresponding bar code using his mobile unit  12  (step  104 ). If a customer utilizes the mobile unit  12  which has interactive capabilities (e.g., using, RF, LAN or WAN) and has an ability to determine a customer&#39;s location in the store  10  (e.g., using GPS), the mobile unit  12  may notify the consumer of products that participate in the MCRA as the customer visits various locations or departments within the store  10 .  
         [0018]    The information from the bar code of the product  14  along with the CIN, is then transmitted via the APA  16  to the server  30  and is stored in the database  20 . This step may be performed as soon as the mobile unit  12  receives the data or when the mobile unit  12  is connected to the APA (e.g., returns when the customer returns to the store  10 .  
         [0019]    In step  106 , the customer monitors the MCRA for the particular product  14  in which he is interested. In particular, the customer may access this MCRA through the kiosk computer  18  situated in the store  10 , or may remotely access the MCRA (e.g., from his residence or any other place which has access to the communication network  50 ) using a computer  40 . In an alternative exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mobile unit  12  may include various functionalities of the computer  40 . In particular, the mobile unit  12  may be capable of scanning bar codes and displaying the progress of the auction on its screen while also allowing, the user to participate in the MCRA by making offers, etc. This allows the customer to monitor the MCRA as while browsing in the store  10  and, if the customer is successful in the auction, the customer may pick up the product before leaving the store  14 .  
         [0020]    By utilizing his CIN, the customer may easily find products  14  and corresponding MCRAs in which he has previously expressed an interest. The customer may monitor these MCRAs. Alternatively, or in addition, regular updates maybe automatically sent to interested customers (e.g., by email or via an interactive messaging system such as SMS). Customers may also be provided with a plurality of options including, for example, increasing or decreasing his bid for the product  14  or withdraw his bid for the product  14 , etc. In addition, a customer may decide to add a particular product  14  to his “wish list” and bid for it later. Alternatively, a customer may conditionally withdraw from the auction, but request to be informed (e.g., via email), if the price for the product  14  falls below a predefined price, etc.  
         [0021]    The server  30  performs the MCRA during a time frame specified by the store  10  and in accordance with predetermined rules which are may also be set by the store  10 . Once the auction is closed, the server  30  identifies the successful bidder (step  108 ). For example, the highest bidder for the product  14  maybe entitled to purchase the product  14  at the accepted price. This customer may request that the product  14  be shipped to his residence or may pick up the product  14  in the store  10 . All of these transactions may be completed by using the point of sale (“POS”) system  19  in the store  10 . In addition, all the unsuccessful bidders may also be notified that their bid has not been accepted and that this MCRA is closed (step  112 ). Some products  14  may be sold to multiple customers at different prices.  
         [0022]    This system provides a customer with a new shopping experience combining the excitement and cost-saving potential of an on-line auction is combined with the ambiance and experience of “a brick and mortar” retail store.  
         [0023]    In addition, this system provides customers with a direct channel to clearance merchandise and, at the same time, provides cost saving benefits to the store  10  (e.g., drastically reducing the labor associated with multiple markdowns, handling, distribution center consolidation, selloffs to jobbers, etc.), while aiding the store in moving merchandise in a timely manner at the highest possible price.  
         [0024]    As would be understood by those of skill in the art, this system is equally applicable to other sales systems including is expandable, e.g., reverse auctions to “push” out premium offers to customers, etc.  
         [0025]    There are many modifications to the present invention which will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing form the teaching of the present invention. The embodiments disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to describe the bounds of the present invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.