Patent ID: 6926202

Claim:
A method for deterring theft in a retail environment comprising the steps of: scanning one or more products selected by consumer for purchase for a transaction in a retail environment via a consumer operable scanning device, communicating scanned information from said scanned one or more products with a database having product identification information associated with said scanned information in relation to each of said one or more scanned products, receiving said product identification information from said communication to said consumer via a notification means identifying a scanned product comprising an electronic tag which emits an electronic signal when activated, wherein said notification means informs said consumer to place said scanned product comprising an electronic tag into a predetermined location within said cart, placing each identified scanned product comprising an electronic tag at a deactivation point, and scanning each identified scanned product comprising an electronic tag, assessing whether each scanned product comprising an electronic tag was scanned by consumer via said scanning device, deactivating each activated electronic tag of each identified scanned product comprising an electronic tag, updating said transaction to calculate a total purchase amount, and monitoring said consumer following completion of said transaction for alarm notification of a product comprising an activated electronic tag.