Abstract:
A system and method for displaying information to a customer during a point-of-sale transaction by showing the information about the customer&#39;s purchase and infomercial on a single display screen. A PC-based POS system with the ability to control two display units is used. The cashier uses one of the display unit while the other is targeted to the customer. The description, price, and quantity of items scanned or entered in by cashier are shown on the customer display, along with an area programmable for advertisements, promotional offers, customer discounts, coupons, or the like. As a result, the merchant will get the additional revenues from up-sells and advertisements displayed on the customer screen, while the customer can monitor the checkout process to ensure correct pricing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable 
   REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not Applicable 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally relates to point-of-sale (POS) systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to displaying information to shoppers using POS systems in which a personal computer is employed as a control device for controlling a display means, a printer means, a barcode scanner means, and any other peripheral equipment. 
   A POS terminal is usually installed inside a retail store, particularly on a counter where sales transactions take place. Computerized POS terminals use a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) coding system or the Universal Product Coding (UPC) system to facilitate quick item checkout and to maximize customer service. The SKU or UPC coding system uses a set of numbers to uniquely identify each inventory item or item variation. These coding systems contain a series of numbers that can be represented using vertical bars varying in width and spacing, “barcode”. The code may contain manufacturer identification as well as other information, such as size, contents, etc. Selling price and item description are stored in the computer memory and can be modified when necessary by the merchant. The code may be read by machine or by optical means as binary information. The deciphered coding digits may then be indexed with a computer file that contains the actual pricing and/or information associated with each SKU or UPC. Such coding arrangements permit the automatic checkout of merchandise at one or more checkout counters by optically scanning each items&#39; barcode which, when fed to the store&#39;s point-of-sale (POS) computer, identifies the product and automatically registers the established price for that item. 
   The POS terminal also contains a control unit for generating data for visual display or to be printed on a receipt in accordance with the barcode data scanned by the cashier. Recently, personal computers (PCs) have been widely used as the control unit for POS terminals. These POS terminals are commonly referred to as PC-based POS systems. PC-based POS systems are generally less expensive than proprietary POS terminals because the same hardware can be configured for various types of applications by employing the appropriate software. 
   But current PC-based POS systems are limited by their display means and the methods used to communicate an item&#39;s price, description, and quantity to the customer as well as promote product advertising, sale items, and other customer purchase incentives, commonly referred to as “up-sells”. Current POS systems use small customer displays, commonly referred to as pole displays. Most are limited to displaying two lines of text containing about twenty alphanumeric characters per line. LED or LCD displays capable of displaying both text and graphic images are recently available. Such displays use proprietary interfaces that must be programmed and customized for various display types, and as a result, require a computer or an embedded controller to process display commands from the point of sale terminal. These displays are usually integrated in multi-function devices such as payment terminals, electronic signature capture devices, hand-held terminals, etc. Most can present images of the complete POS transaction or advertising messages, but not both simultaneously. The present invention uses inexpensive and widely available industry standard display adapters that are common to all PC-based computer systems, and as a result can display any combination of image formats simultaneously on a single screen. 
   The look of any displayed message is important because it needs to keep the customer&#39;s attention in order to be effective. While the customer&#39;s purchase is being processed at the checkout counter, the messages that are shown on the pole display are simple and relatively boring and cannot be effectively used for advertising and promotion purposes. Other drawbacks with this approach are the inflexibility of the display output and the difficulty in changing the contents of the message being displayed. Most of these messages are generic for use throughout the day, for example, “Welcome to ABC Store”, and cannot be easily targeted to the individual customer or the changing conditions in the store throughout the day. What is needed is a simpler and more effective system and method for displaying messages using appealing and colorful displays to communicate to the customer at the checkout stand. 
   Another problem that regularly results from the current pole display&#39;s inability to communicate the necessary information to the customer is when the merchant uses the POS system to scan barcodes. The problem occurs when the price associated with a particular barcode in the Price Look Up (PLU) tables contained in a POS control unit&#39;s memory, is different than the price displayed on the shelf or on the item itself. Such a problem results when a merchant changes the price of an item and only the data in the PLU tables or only the displayed price has been changed for that item. When a customer purchases such an item with this price discrepancy, the customer may actually be paying a higher price at the checkout counter than the price displayed on the shelf or the item itself. When the cashier scans an item&#39;s barcode, the POS computer calculates the item&#39;s price according to the price contained in the PLU tables located in the computer&#39;s memory, and not the low price displayed on the shelf or on the item itself that originally motivated the customer to purchase the product. A cashier operating the POS system may not be aware of all the daily price changes in a retail store and therefore may not notice the price discrepancy. Customers may not be aware that they are actually paying the higher price until they check their printed receipt, if they check the printed receipt at all. Upon discovering the higher price, the customer must return to the cashier, present the printed receipt, find the purchased item containing the barcode among all the other items purchased, have the cashier re-scan the item and check the price in the PLU tables against the price located on the shelf or on the item itself, edit the electronic record of the original purchase, adjust or refund the customer&#39;s money based on the true price, and print a new receipt with the corrected price. Whereby, the customer is greatly inconvenienced and frustrated with their shopping experience. 
   Another problem that commonly occurs in POS systems is when no barcode symbol is present and the cashier must manually enter a code associated with the item. The POS system must associate the manually entered code with the corresponding data in the PLU table to display the price associated with that item. An error can occur when the cashier enters the code incorrectly or when the cashier enters a code for a different but similar looking item. As a result the customer may pay for the similar item, possibly at a higher price, rather than the actual item selected. 
   Therefore as a result of these errors, caused by the customer&#39;s inability to monitor the scanning and pricing of the purchased items, customers feel cheated and merchants appear as deceptive, incompetent, and totally lacking in customer service which results in lost sales and failed businesses. Therefore customers and merchants need a POS system in which the customer can monitor the prices associated with their items in real-time at the checkout counter and alert the cashier to any errors so that any adjustments in the price may be made immediately and with minimum inconvenience to the customer. 
   PC-based POS systems running the Windows operating system can easily control multiple displays. This multiple display feature was included in the Microsoft Windows operating system to allow the computer user to increase the size of the “desktop” of the operating system to cause the computer to span the “desktop” area over two smaller monitors instead of having to purchase one large, expensive, and bulky monitor. In effect each screen when using this capability represents one half of the “desktop” of the computer, allowing the computer operator to display large documents or files across both screens for easy viewing or comparison. Such capability was included primarily for the financial services market that includes stockbrokers and commodity traders and the graphic arts field for designers and artists. 
   Therefore, by implementing a dual display system and method both the merchant and the customer are benefited. The cashier works with the traditional PC display screen, while pricing and advertising information are combined together on a separate customer display screen. As a result, the merchant will get the additional revenues from up-sells and advertisements displayed on the customer screen, while the customer can monitor the checkout process to ensure correct pricing. 
   Accordingly, a customer display system has been developed based on a novel concept of using the built-in dual display feature in PC-based systems, which maximizes advertising exposure, customer service and satisfaction while minimizing barcode-pricing errors. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The above problems are solved in accordance with the principles of this invention by providing a machine for in-store customer display and a method for showing purchase information and advertisement on a single display screen. 
   The primary object of the invention is to use the second display capability of Microsoft Windows or similar operating system in a new and unique manner that allows the customer to see in real-time the prices, description, and quantity input into the POS system from the barcode scanner and PLU tables. 
   Another object of the invention is allowing the customer to audit/monitor the prices displayed by the POS system for the items selected against the price displayed on the shelf or the item itself. 
   Another object of the invention is allowing the merchant to show advertising, special offers, and cross-promotions, among other items, using multimedia content including visual and sound information displayed concurrently to the customer with the pricing and quantity information of the items purchased. 
   A further object of the invention is to display to the customer a graphic description, static or video, of the actual item scanned so customers may instantly compare selected items with items displayed by the POS system. 
   Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. 
   The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a functional diagram illustrating the various functional blocks of an in-store customer display system in accordance with the invention, 
       FIG. 2  shows a screen configuration of one example of a screen displayed to the customer during checkout, 
       FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of a functional configuration of a customer display program, 
       FIG. 4  shows a data structure of an example POS database, 
       FIG. 5  shows a data structure of an example infomercial database, 
       FIG. 6  shows a flow chart of a process conducted when performing a sales transaction, and 
       FIG. 7  shows a flow chart example of a process for displaying infomercial contents on the customer display device. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner. 
     FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of an example of a system configuration of the in-store customer display system in accordance with the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , numeral  110  denotes a personal computer which realizes various functions of the sales transaction using POS program  330 , to be described later, stored in memory unit  188  and customer display program  310 , stored in memory unit  188  and to be described later, used to display text, graphics, multimedia content, and sound during the sales transaction in accordance with the present invention. Numeral  130  denotes a keyboard and numeral  120  denotes a mouse. Each is used by the cashier to enter data and select the operations required during a sales transaction. Numeral  140  denotes a barcode scanner used by the cashier to scan the UPC code of each item purchased by the customer. Alternatively, keyboard  130  can be used by the cashier to manually enter the UPC or SKU code. Numeral  150  denotes a display device facing the cashier. The POS program uses this display device to communicate with the cashier and shows the pricing information on each item as it is being scanned in. Numeral  160  denotes a customer display device capable of displaying both text and graphics. This device can be a video monitor similar to a computer monitor or LCD display and is normally faced toward the customer. Numeral  180  denotes one or more speakers that output audio information when such information is included in the message to be displayed on the customer display device  160 . Numeral  170  denotes a printer used to print a sales receipt at the end of each transaction. Numeral  190  denotes a cash drawer. The in-store customer display system can exchange data with a customer display contents server, to be described later, to receive remote-feed messages through a communication network  192  such as a LAN (local area network), PSTN (public switched telephone network) or the Internet via the communication unit  186 . 
   When an item is scanned or keyed-in, the control unit  110  looks up the pricing information in the POS database  182 , displays the item price on the cashier display device  150 , and formulates a data screen to be shown on the customer display device  160  using the information contained in the infomercial database  184 . The POS database  182  and the infomercial database  184  are stored in a memory unit such as a disk device that is accessed by the control unit  110 . The contents of the infomercial database  184  can be loaded from a storage device such as magnetic tape, CD-ROM, or downloaded via the communication unit  186  and a network  192 . 
     FIG. 2  shows an example of a customer display screen presented on the customer display device  160  during the checkout process in accordance with the present embodiment. In  FIG. 2 , numeral  200  denotes the entire screen of the customer display device  160 . This screen consists of two windows, the receipt window  210  and the infomercial window  220 , which can be arranged horizontally as shown or vertically. In the present embodiment, each window is implemented as an HTML browser, similar to Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, capable of displaying text, graphics, and multi-media content. The receipt window  210  shows a description of each item scanned or keyed in by the cashier, along with pricing and quantity information used by the customer to monitor what he or she is buying. In the present embodiment, when an item is scanned or keyed-in, the item&#39;s description is expressed by displaying characters or images and the subtotal, tax, and total amount is recalculated by POS program  330  as explained later. What content is displayed in infomercial window  220  is controlled by the customer display window program  300  as explained later. 
     FIG. 3  shows a functional configuration of the in-store customer display system  100  in accord with the present invention, which includes a POS program and the customer display program stored in memory unit  188 . In  FIG. 3 , numeral  300  denotes a customer display program for providing the in-store customer display function, which comprises a display control unit numeral  310 , and an event management unit numeral  320 . The event management unit  320  receives and interprets the event information generated by the internal timer numeral  342  of the operating system numeral  340  and delivers the event information to the display control unit  310 . The display control unit  310  receives the event information from the event management unit  320  and processes the event information to control the position and type of content displayed in the infomercial window  220 . 
   Numeral  330  denotes a POS program that receives and interprets scanner or keyboard input event information sent from operating system  340 . POS program  330  then uses the interpreted input event information to look-up the corresponding item in the POS database  182 ; obtains the corresponding pricing information for that item; computes the subtotal, tax, and total amount based on the pricing information; and then delivers the computed amount to the event management unit  320 . The event management unit  320  receives and interprets the event information generated by the POS program  330  and signals the display control unit  310  when a new condition that requires a display update is detected. The display control unit  310  receives the event information from the event management unit  320  and processes the event information to control the position and type of content displayed in the receipt window  210 . 
   The configurations shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  are mere examples to implement the present invention and other configurations may be adopted. For example, in the present embodiment, either the infomercial window or the receipt window may be hidden, thus allowing one window to take up the entire screen. The event management unit  320  may be implemented to respond to display change events other than the internal timer  342 , for example, an external message received from the communication unit  186 , or events generated by the POS program  330  based in the item purchased or information in the customer&#39;s profile. 
     FIG. 4  shows an example of information on the items stored in the POS database  182 . In  FIG. 4 , numeral  400  denotes an item lookup code or barcode for identifying individual items, numeral  410  denotes a description of individual items, numeral  420  denotes an area for storing a unit price of the item, and numeral  430  denotes an area for storing the tax rate to be applied when the item is sold. 
     FIG. 5  shows an example of the contents of the infomercial database  184 . In  FIG. 5 , numeral  500  denotes the type of event that will trigger a change of the contents in the infomercial window  220 , numeral  510  denotes a universal resource locator (URL) address that indicates where to find the contents of the information to be displayed in infomercial window  220 , numeral  520  denotes the length of time the contents will be displayed, and numeral  530  denotes the sequential order under which each infomercial content will be shown. The infomercial contents are shown in the order specified unless pre-empted by a trigger event in  500 . 
     FIG. 6  shows a simplified flow chart of a process conducted by the POS program  330  to perform a sales transaction and to update the receipt window  210  in accordance with the present embodiment. In conducting a sales transaction, the cashier starts a new transaction. A new transaction identification number (ID) is generated (step  600 ) and the receipt windows cleared (step  602 ). The cashier then begins to scan the barcodes or key in the item look up code. This action is continuously monitored (step  604 ) and when a new item is detected, the POS program searches for the item in the POS database  182  to find relevant data, performs price and tax computations, and shows the item data on the cashier display device  150  (step  606 ). The same information is formulated for display on the receipt window  210  (step  608 ). If more items are to be entered, the sequence is repeated from step  604 . Otherwise, the total amount due is displayed on the cashier display device  150  and customer receipt window  210  and the cashier accepts amount paid (step  612 ). The cash drawer is opened (step  614 ) for the cashier to deposit the money or make change. A receipt is printed (step  616 ) and an event indicating the end of the sales transaction is generated (step  618 ). This event may be used to trigger a change of content in the infomercial window  220  at the end of a sales transaction. 
     FIG. 7  shows a simplified flow chart of a process conducted by the customer display window program  300  to show the desired information to the customer in accordance with the present embodiment. The display sequence is started at the same time as the POS program  330 . The infomercial window  220  is created and cleared (step  700 ). The software method for creating a HTML browser window, capable of displaying text, graphics, and multi-media content in a Windows operating system is well known in the art. The entries in the infomercial database  184  are read to form a chain of contents (step  702 ) to be displayed, based on the sequential order entries  530 , the duration entries  520 , and the trigger entries  500 . The first entry in the chain is displayed (step  704 ) using the contents found in the URL address entry  510 . The event management unit  320  determines from the internal timer  342  or other events generated by the POS program that it is time to display the next entry in the infomercial chain (step  706 ). If the current contents have been displayed for the specified duration and there is no other trigger event, the next contents in the sequence will be shown (step  708 ). If a trigger event is detected, the current contents will be replaced with the contents that match the trigger event (step  708 ). Otherwise, the current contents will be displayed until it expires. If the current contents are the last entry in the chain, the first one in the chain will be re-displayed (step  710 ). Upon detection of an exit or termination event from the operating system, the customer display window program will terminate (step  712 ). 
   The flowcharts shown in  FIGS. 6 , and  7  are mere examples to implement the minimum processing actions to achieve the objectives of this invention and other variations may be adopted. For example, additional steps may be added to allow the cashier to select a customer from a list of customers in the POS database, or to accept and process credit cards, or to add additional trigger types into the infomercial chains. 
   While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.