Patent ID: 8403215

Claim:
A method in which a shopper obtains information about an item from an electronic shelf label (ESL) by using a mobile processing device in a store, the method comprising the steps of: encoding a machine readable first image containing first information about an item; generating a second image containing second information about the item; displaying the machine readable first image on the ESL at frame intervals of a first specific period, wherein the machine readable first image is invisible to a shopper; displaying the second image for the item on the ESL at frame intervals of a second specific period, wherein the second image is visible to the shopper; obtaining the machine readable first image in synchronization with the frame interval of the first specific period with a time stamp by using a photographing function of the mobile processing device; decoding the machine readable first image into first information about the item by the mobile processing device; storing the decoded first information about the item and the time stamp in an internal memory of the mobile processing device; and performing a shopper operation on the mobile processing device that transmits the first decoded information about the item and the time stamp from the internal memory of the mobile processing device to an external data processing system, wherein shopping behavior and habits are analyzed upon the transmittance and shopping behavior and habits are analyzed using the first information about the item and the time stamp.