Patent Publication Number: US-2009228363-A1

Title: Shopping system and method therefor

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/031,034, filed on 25 Feb. 2008 in the name of Yaniv SEGEV and entitled SHOPPING SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREFOR. 
     The content of the aforementioned provisional application is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to shopping, in particular a system therefor wherein the cost of an item to be purchased is determined by a quantity parameter such as the weight or volume of the item. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Shopping, at a supermarket for example, can be a time consuming and frustrating experience as much time can be spent waiting in line to pay for purchases. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shopping system and method that is quick and convenient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect, the present invention relates to a shopping system wherein the cost of an item to be purchased is determined by a quantity measurement such as the weight or volume of the item. For the sake of convenience, the term “weight” may be used interchangeably with the term “quantity measurement” or “quantity parameter” herein the specification and claims. 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides a shopping system comprising a store and a shopping cart adapted to provide shopping by a quantity parameter. In other words, the items for sale are priced in relation to their weight or volume; or any other measureable parameter, and/or their specific category/type, there being a specific price per weight for each good or category of goods (e.g. candy, perfume, breakfast cereal, etc). Goods/items of a particular category are typically located in the same area of the store; however items of different categories may be located in the same area of the store if they have the same category price (price per weight). There is essentially no limit to the type of item that can be purchased in this manner, in accordance with the present invention. 
     The present invention provides a system and method of shopping as understood from the following components and description: 
     1) Products in a retail or commercial facility (hereinafter store”) belong to various groups or categories, wherein for each group there is a specific price per quantity parameter (e.g. weight). 
     2) A shopping cart adapted to allow for shopping for goods on the basis of the quantity parameter of those goods. 
     3) In different areas of the store the shopping (price) system will set the cost per quantity parameter of the items in that area according to the group of products and/or their location. 
     4) When a product is put in the shopping cart in a specific area in store, it will be measured and on the basis of its quantity parameter measurement the cart will automatically account for the purchase. 
     5) The shopper will have the possibility to see the quantity parameter measurement of the purchase and the price on a cart-mounted screen prior to deciding whether to make the purchase. 
     6) The shopping cart will typically be able to independently debit the purchase via a credit card or other form of payment. 
     7) The price of a category of products/goods will be set as a price per quantity parameter of the finished product for the customers, which includes the packaging of the item, so that it can be measured and a price/cost is determined. For example, all the perfumes in the store may be set at a price of $1 per gram of the gross item (i.e. not merely the weight, for example, of the perfume inside the packaging, rather including any bottle/container and outer packaging if any). The cost for sweets and candy may be, for example, 10 cents per gram. 
     8) The shopping cart will be designed so that the shopping system can identify the cart&#39;s physical location such that the cart will be able to determine the price per quantity parameter of the item while the cart is in a particular location in the store, in an area where there is a set price per quantity parameter, typically adjacent to where the goods are positioned for sale. In other words, in one aisle of the store, or portion of an aisle, there may be perfumes which the cart knows to be priced at $1 per gram, while in another location, where candy is displayed for sale, the cart knows that the price is 10 cents per gram. When a shopper places a candy in the cart in that area of the store, the candy is measured, for example, weighed, and the weight and price are displayed for the shopper. 
     9) The store will typically further comprise a mechanism to inform the shopper upon moving a product outside “its area” prior to placing it in the shopping cart. This mechanism can be similar to an anti-theft alarm of the type that is sounded when a tagged item is removed from a store without paying (without first removing or neutralizing the tag). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       The invention may be understood upon reading of the following detailed description of non-limiting exemplary embodiments thereof, with reference to the following drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a shopping cart according to an embodiment of the shopping system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective view of a store according to an embodiment of the shopping system of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic perspective view of a side of a store aisle according to another embodiment of the shopping system of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary shopping cart allowing for the purchase of products in a store on the basis of weight as provided by the shopping system of the present invention. The shopping cart comprises a number of components common to most shopping carts including a basket  10  where items to be purchased are disposed during shopping, a set of wheels  12 , typically attached to a base portion  14 , and a handle  16  to grasp and push the cart. The shopping cart of the present invention further comprises a product weight-sensing device  18 , for example, an electronic scale. Several publications disclose examples of appropriate weight-sensing devices, including U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,755, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,740 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,206. Weight-sensing device  18  is typically located all along the bottom of basket  10 . 
     The shopping cart further comprises a payment device  20  with a display  22  (operably connected to weight-sensing device  18 ) to inform the shopper of details of the product which at least include its weight and its price (and price per weight). The payment device  20  may be more sophisticated and include additional features, for example, identification of the product purchased (e.g. via an RF tag or bar code), consumer information such as the location of complimentary goods or sale products, and so on. 
     The payment device  20  also comprises a payment collection mechanism  24 , for example a credit card slot; and/or a cash slot for accepting bills and coins and providing change; and/or a payment voucher slot, coupon slot and the like. If payment is by credit card, the collection mechanism may comprise a credit card owner verification/identification system  26  (e.g. a signature pad, finger print check system, retina check, etc). 
     Alternatively, payment collection can be conveniently performed without using the shopping cart. For example, after the shopper has completed his/her purchases, he/she can go to a location where a cashier merely takes/verifies payment. All of the purchases will have already been totaled by the payment device  20  and so this procedure will take little time. 
       FIG. 2  shows a schematic view of an exemplary store for use with an embodiment of the shopping system of the present invention. The store comprises a number of display modules  40  and aisles  42 . At various locations there are gates  44   a - 44   g  disposed at the ends of pre-determined category areas (as described above) to separate between those areas. According to particular embodiments, these gates  44   a - 44   g  are adapted to be readily moveable in order to provide flexibility in defining the size and location of the category areas. For example, a first category area where perfume is displayed for sale is defined by gates  44   a  and  44   b;  and a second category area defined by gates  44   c  and  44   d  defines an area where candy is displayed for sale. 
     To shop, a shopper can move his/her shopping cart down aisle  42  to a particular category area, for example where perfume is sold (i.e. between gates  44   a  and  44   b ), select a perfume and put it in basket  10  (i.e. on weight-sensing device  18 ) of the cart. This will cause the perfume to be weighed and this weight and/or the price of the perfume will be displayed on display  22 . The shopper may remove the perfume if he/she decides not to purchase it and continue shopping, else it will automatically be tallied as an intended purchase. 
       FIG. 3  shows a schematic view of one side of an aisle  42   a  of another exemplary store for use with an embodiment of the shopping system of the present invention. Here there are a number of display modules  40  and the location of the cart is known due to a cable  50  connected to a track  52  along the bottom of the display modules  40 . The position of the cart can then be transferred to a central computer (not shown), which thereby provides the price per weight of the items for sale in any particular area of the store. It should be understood that the location of the cart can be identified by any appropriate technology (RF tags, GPS and so on). 
     At the completion of the shopping, the shopper can pay for the items in the cart, for example, with a credit card via payment collection mechanism  24 . Typically if payment is by credit card, the credit card owner will be required to provide some verification or identification that he/she is indeed the credit card owner, for example via credit card owner verification/identification system  26 . 
     In accordance with other embodiments, the purchases can be paid for at more centralized location, for example, by a cashier or payment machine. As the purchases have already been tallied, there is no need for bar codes or removing the purchases from the cart in order to “ring up” the purchases. 
     It should be understood that the above description is merely exemplary and that there are various embodiments of the present invention that may be devised, mutatis mutandis, and that the features described in the above-described embodiments may be used separately or in any suitable combination. For example, the measured quantity parameter used to price the goods could be the volume of the good, measured by any appropriate means; or any other measureable parameter related to the quantity of the goods. 
     In an alternative to items being located in particular areas according to their cost per weight (or other measureable quantity parameter), the goods comprise an identifier (e.g. bar code, RFID tag) that can be used to identify the product and thus classify it in a particular price per weight and/or category.