Patent Publication Number: US-2023153891-A1

Title: Wireless beacon shopping experience

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/220,094, filed Dec. 14, 2018, which claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/079,320, filed on Nov. 13, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,163,148, entitled “WIRELESS BEACON SHOPPING EXPERIENCE,” the entirety of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This specification relates to wireless communication between devices. 
     Fixed radio receivers can also be used to triangulate a location of a mobile device. Mobile device locations can also be determined using Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a user inside a store that has installed wireless beacons. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram of an example view of a user interface of a user application installed on a mobile user device. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram of an example view of a user interface of a user application installed on a mobile user device. 
         FIG.  4    is a block diagram of an example system. 
         FIG.  5    is a flow chart of an example process for presenting information about items in a particular store section. 
     
    
    
     Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Wireless beacons installed in a physical store location can help a user to obtain information about products in the store and to maintain a shopping list using a mobile user device. Each wireless beacon can be installed in a particular section of a store. A user device can receive signals emitted by the wireless beacon to present information about the items in a virtual shopping list that are located in the particular section of the store. 
     For example, a user application installed on the user device can determine that a user has entered a particular section of a physical store location using information communicated by a wireless beacon assigned to that section of the store. The user application can then present items on the user&#39;s shopping list that are located in that particular section. The user application can also arrange the items on the shopping list in an order according to distance from the user&#39;s current location and can provide directions to items on the shopping list that have not yet been purchased. The user application can also use past purchases by the user to guide the user to those items in the physical store environment and suggest new items for purchase by the user. The user application can also use past purchase history and the user&#39;s location in the store to present manufacturer offers in real-time, e.g., a coupon to switch detergent brands. 
     In this specification, wireless beacons refer to devices that use direct radio signal communication to directly communicate information wirelessly to other devices using mid-range to short-range radio signal protocols. In other words, the wireless beacons can directly communicate using radio signals without interaction with any intermediary devices between the communicating devices. Furthermore, a device can communicate information using radio signals, e.g. a user identifier, to another device without the devices engaging in a pairing process that requires user input and without requiring explicit user authorization to communicate with another device. The direct radio signal communication functionality can be performed by any appropriate computing device, e.g. wristwatch, a mobile phone, a portable music player, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a keychain beacon, or another handheld or wearable mobile device to name a few examples. The radio signals emitted by the devices for such wireless communication can be part of any appropriate standard for mid-range to short-range radio communications having an operable range of at least 1 meter and up to about 50 meters, e.g., Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The radio signals described in this specification can be any appropriate type of signal, e.g., a broadcast or advertiser signal that indicates presence of the device to nearby devices, or a connection signal that transmits data to a connected nearby device, to name a few examples. In this specification, a device can be said to be “nearby” if the device is within the operable range for performing direct radio signal communication with another user device. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a user inside a store that has installed wireless beacons. A user holding a user device  102  stands between two store shelves  110  and  120 . The user device  102  receives radio signals emitted by nearby wireless beacons in the store, e.g., the wireless beacons  112  and  122 . 
     The wireless beacon  122  is installed, e.g., on the shelf  120 , and emits a signal  124  that encodes information about a particular store section. For example, the signal  124  can encode the section-specific information, e.g., “Meats,” to indicate that the wireless beacon  122  is installed in a section that includes meats. Nearby user devices, e.g., the user device  102 , can use the information encoded in the signal  124  to present information about products sold in that section or about products on a user shopping list that are located in that section. The signal  124  can also encode product-specific information, e.g., “Laundry detergent” or brand specific information, e.g., “A1 brand laundry detergent” about products that are nearby. 
     The wireless beacon  112  is installed, e.g., on the shelf  110 , in a different section of the store. Similarly, the wireless beacon  112  emits a signal  114  that can encode information about the different store section or nearby products or brands. The user device  102  may measure signal strength from nearby wireless beacons, and use the measurement to determine which wireless beacon is closest. The user device  102  may present information only for a closest wireless beacon or may blend or otherwise combine information relevant to information received multiple wireless beacons. 
     Because the user device  102  can receive the signals  114  and  124  using direct radio signal communication, an otherwise “offline” user device  102 , e.g., a user device that has deactivated its WiFi and cellular data transceiver, can still obtain such information from the wireless beacons. 
       FIG.  2    is a diagram of an example view of a user interface  202  of a user application installed on a mobile user device. The example interface  202  can help a user to manage a shopping list using information obtained from wireless beacons installed in a store. Thus, a user device with poor indoor cellular reception or even an offline user device can present the information illustrated in  FIG.  2    by using section information received directly from wireless beacons installed in the store. 
     The interface  202  presents a shopping list  210  of items on a display device of a mobile user device. The shopping list  210  is organized into rows, with each row including a name  212  of the item, e.g., “Pizza,” an image  214  of the item, a price  216  of the item, e.g., “$6.99,” and a store section  218  of the item. A row can also include an input field  217  to enter a quantity of an item purchased, e.g., a weight or a number. 
     The interface  202  includes icons that help a user manage the shopping list. A blank icon  220  indicates that a particular item has not yet been selected by the user. For example, the user can select the blank icon  220 , e.g., after the user places the item in a physical shopping cart, which can change the blank icon  220  into a checked icon  250 . Alternatively or in addition, the user application may automatically change a blank icon to a checked icon if certain criteria are met. For example, the user application can change a blank icon for a particular item to a checked icon if the user application detects that the user lingers for at least a threshold period of time at a particular section containing the particular item. Detection that the user has lingered at a particular section can be accomplished by detecting that the signal strength of the wireless beacon for that section has remained above a certain threshold for the threshold period of time. Other information, e.g., signal strength of other beacons or data from motion sensors in the user device can be used. 
     The user application can display an add icon  230  for an item in the shopping list when the user is near the item in question. The add icon  230  can serve as a suggestion to the user to look for the item in question and to add it to the physical shopping cart. Each row can also include a navigation icon  240  that the user can select to receive indoor navigation directions to the location of the item within the store. 
     The interface  202  also includes a current total  260  of items that have been added, e.g., as indicated by items having the checked icon  220 . The interface  202  also includes a projected total  270  for all items in the shopping list. 
     A user can assemble the shopping list  210  before arriving at the store using a mobile device or another computing device, e.g., a desktop computer. The user can also assemble the shopping list as the user selects items in the store, in which case the user application may only present the current total  260  and not the projected total  270 . 
     The user device can obtain one or more of the items of information in the example interface  202  directly from wireless beacons installed in the store. For example, price and other information can be obtained from a product-specific wireless beacon that is installed proximate to particular items within the store. 
     The user device can also use section-specific wireless beacons to arrange items in the shopping list. For example, if the user device receives a signal from a wireless beacon in the “Produce” section, the user device can order the shopping list so that produce items appear near the top of the list and remaining items appear in descending order. For example, if the meat section is further away than the frozen food section, the user device presents information about the fish item on the list above the pizza item on the list. For each of the items located in a closest section, the user application may present an add icon  230  to suggest to the user that the items be added to the physical shopping cart while the user is in that section. 
       FIG.  3    is a diagram of an example view of a user interface  302  of a user application installed on a mobile user device. The example interface  302  can present real-time offers for nearby products. The user can thus easily compare prices and receive offers for items in a section of the store in which the user is currently located. The user interface  302  presents a list  310  of items in a shopping list organized into rows. The information presented for each item can be obtained directly from a wireless beacon installed in the store that is associated with each item or obtained from a serving system. 
     The user interface  302  can also present offer information  340  about a real-time for nearby items. For example, the offer information  340  indicates that the user can save $1 if the user purchases Bargain Brand Detergent. The offer information  340  can be triggered by the user having a particular item listed in a shopping list, e.g., A1 Detergent  320 . The offer information  340  can also be triggered by the user being a particular section of the store, e.g., the detergent section, as determined by a signal received from a wireless beacon. The user can accept the offer by selecting an add icon  330  presented with the item information. 
       FIG.  4    is a block diagram of an example system. The example system includes a user device  310 , a wireless beacon  420 , and a merchant device  430 . The wireless beacon  420  can communicate directly with the user device  310  using direct radio signal communication with radio signals  422 . The merchant device  432  can communicate with a serving system  450  over a network  440 . The network  440  can be a wireless cellular network, a wireless local area network, a Wi-Fi network, a mobile telephone or another telecommunications network, a wired Ethernet network, a private network such as an intranet, a public network such as the Internet, or any appropriate combination of such networks. The user device  410  may or may not be configured to communicate with the serving system  450  over the network  340 . 
     The merchant device  430  can install a merchant application received from the serving system  450  that can be used to configure the wireless beacon  420 . In some implementations, the serving system  450  issues item and product-specific identifiers for specific items or products sold by the merchant, and which will be broadcast by the wireless beacon  420 . 
     The user device  410  can install user application received from the serving system  450 . The user application can be used to receive signals  422  from the wireless beacon  420  and to present, on a display device of the user device  410 , a user interface that includes item information received from the wireless beacon  420 . 
       FIG.  5    is a flow chart of an example process for presenting information about items in a particular store section. In general, a user device receives a signal from a wireless beacon that encodes a store section. The user device then presents information about items that are located in the particular store section. The example process can be implemented by one or more computer programs installed on one or more computers. The process will be described as being performed by an appropriately programmed user device, e.g., the user device  310  of  FIG.  3   . 
     The user device obtains shopping list data identifying one or more items selected by a user ( 510 ). A user can create a virtual shopping list on the user device, using a desktop computer, or using another computing device. The shopping list stores item identifiers and other associated information for each item, e.g., a picture, a description, a price, a manufacturer, a website URL, to name a few examples. The item identifiers can be maintained by the serving system, the item manufacturers, a merchant, or another party. 
     The shopping list can be stored on the user device or can be stored at a serving system in an account associated with the user. The user device can then access the shopping list for display to the user through an application installed on the user device. The user device can access the shopping list from local storage of the user device, or the user device can access the shopping list at a serving system over a network. 
     The user device receives a signal from a wireless beacon located in a particular section of a store ( 520 ). The wireless beacon can be part of a number of wireless beacons installed throughout a physical store location. For example, a merchant can divide the store into a number of sections and install a wireless beacon in each section. The merchant can use a merchant device to program each wireless beacon to broadcast a section identifier for the appropriate section. 
     The merchant can obtain section identifiers from a serving system that uses a global categorization of store sections across merchants. For example, the section identifiers can correspond to different grocery store sections, e.g., meat, dairy, produce, to different clothing store sections, e.g., men, women, boys, girls, or to any other appropriate store division or categorization. The merchant can communicate with a serving system to obtain the global section identifiers. The merchant can then use a merchant device to program wireless beacons in each section to broadcast the appropriate section identifier. 
     The user device determines a section identifier from the signal ( 530 ). The user device may first engage in an automatic pairing process with the wireless beacon in which one or more packets are exchanged between the devices in order to set up direct radio signal communication between the devices. The user device can then obtain a section identifier encoded in the signal emitted by the wireless beacon. 
     If the user device receives signals from multiple wireless beacons, the user device can choose a closest wireless beacon, e.g., by comparing the strength of the signal received from each wireless beacon. In some implementations, the user device can select sections identifiers corresponding to multiple wireless beacons. 
     The user device obtains an association between the items in the shopping list and respective store sections ( 540 ). The association provides information about in which sections particular items in the shopping list are located within the store. The association can be defined by a serving system, the merchant, or another party. 
     For example, the merchant can use a merchant device to upload, to a serving system, an association between items for sale in the store and associated store sections. The user device can then access the association uploaded by the merchant. For example, if apples are an item on the shopping list, the user device can obtain an association between apples and an identifier for the produce section of the store. 
     The user device determines one or more items in the shopping list that are located in the section ( 550 ). The user device can use the association between the items in the shopping list and respective store sections to identify items that are located in the section of the store determined by the wireless beacon. 
     The user device displays information related to the one or more items ( 560 ). The user device can present a variety of information about items located in the section. For example, the user device can present only a list of items that are located in the section, along with information about the items, e.g., a description, a price, and whether the item has already been selected for purchase by the user. The user device can display a suggestion icon, e.g., an “Add” icon, for items that are in the section but have not yet been selected by the user. If the user device is receiving signals from multiple wireless beacons from different store sections, the user device can generate a blended list of items from the multiple sections. 
     The user device can also present items in the shopping list in an order, with items determined to be in the section first in a list. In addition, unselected items within the determined section can be presented above items that the user has indicated as being selected. The user device may also arrange items in other sections in an increasing order by distance to the current section, as measured from the current section or a location of the user device. The user device can also present an option to obtain a map of the store or navigation directions to other items in the shopping list. 
     The user device can also automatically determine that the user has selected one or more items for purchase, e.g., by placing the items in a physical shopping cart. For example, if the user device has remained near a particular section for a threshold period of time, e.g., at least 1 minute, the user device can automatically determine that the user has selected the items in that section for purchase. 
     The user device can also automatically determine that the user has selected an item for purchase from a wireless device installed in a physical shopping cart. For example, the shopping cart can have installed on it a device that communicates with item-specific wireless beacons embedded in or coupled to the items themselves. The shopping cart beacon can then communicate with the user device to provide item identifiers of the items that are determined to be in the shopping cart. The shopping cart device can determine that items are in the shopping cart by computing a measurement of signal strength emitted by the item-specific wireless beacons embedded in the items. 
     The user device can also obtain information about current offers for one or more items in the section and present the offers when the user is determined to be in the section. The user can redeem the offer by selecting the item mentioned in the offer and carrying through with the purchase of the item. 
     The offers can be identified by a serving system based on various criteria, in addition to the user being located in a particular section of the store. For example, the offers can be identified based on items in the shopping list of the user. The serving system can identify offers for the items currently in the user&#39;s shopping list, or the serving system can identify offers for products that are competing with or otherwise related to the products in the shopping list. 
     The serving system can also identify offers based on the purchase history of the user. For example, if the user has purchased a particular brand in the past, the serving system can identify offers for products based on that particular brand or on a competing brand. The serving system can also identify offers for products that other people have purchased with products in the user&#39;s shopping list. 
     The serving system can also identify offers based on regularity of a particular purchase by the user. For example, if the user typically buys milk once per week, the serving system can identify offers for milk if the user is in the milk section and about a week has passed since the user last purchased milk. The serving system can also use pattern matching to determine items that users typically purchase when in particular store sections. For example, the serving system may determine that users that buy milk also typically buy diapers when in the diaper section of the store. Thus, if the user has milk in the shopping list, the serving system can present an offer for diapers when the user is in the diaper section of the store. 
     Embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, in tangibly-embodied computer software or firmware, in computer hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible non-transitory program carrier for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition, the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. The computer storage medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory device, or a combination of one or more of them. The computer storage medium is not, however, a propagated signal. 
     The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). The apparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them. 
     A computer program (which may also be referred to or described as a program, software, a software application, a module, a software module, a script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative or procedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document, in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files, e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions of code. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network. 
     As used in this specification, an “engine,” or “software engine,” refers to a software implemented input/output system that provides an output that is different from the input. An engine can be an encoded block of functionality, such as a library, a platform, a software development kit (“SDK”), or an object. Each engine can be implemented on any appropriate type of computing device, e.g., servers, mobile phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, music players, e-book readers, laptop or desktop computers, PDAs, smart phones, or other stationary or portable devices, that includes one or more processors and computer readable media. Additionally, two or more of the engines may be implemented on the same computing device, or on different computing devices. 
     The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable computers executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). 
     Computers suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, can be based on general or special purpose microprocessors or both, or any other kind of central processing unit. Generally, a central processing unit will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a central processing unit for performing or executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device, e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to name just a few. 
     Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry. 
     To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor, an LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, or an OLED display, for displaying information to the user, as well as input devices for providing input to the computer, e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, or a presence sensitive display or other surface. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user by sending resources to and receiving resources from a device that is used by the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on a user&#39;s client device in response to requests received from the web browser. 
     Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet. 
     The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. 
     For a system of one or more computers to be configured to perform particular operations or actions means that the system has installed on it software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them that in operation cause the system to perform the operations or actions. For one or more computer programs to be configured to perform particular operations or actions means that the one or more programs include instructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the operations or actions. 
     While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a sub combination. 
     Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system modules and components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. 
     Particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.