System for automation and efficient execution of tasks related to mobile POS in retail business

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9607296-B2
Application number	US-201414546377-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2014
Priority date	Mar 11, 2014
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

Method for managing mobile point of sale (mPOS) operations using a wireless network to detect location data includes capturing video data of one or more customers within a retail store premises. The video data is analyzed to determine one or more customer behavior indicators potentially indicating a need for mPOS services. The location data is used to correlate the customer behavior indicators with the one or more customers. The method also involves determining a probability that at least one of the customers will be requesting mPOS services within a predetermined interval of time.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for management of mobile point of sale (mPOS) operations in a retail store setting, comprising:
using a plurality of portable wireless communication devices (PWCDs) in communication with at least one wireless access point (WAP) to obtain customer location data of one or more customers in the retail store and employee location data of one of more store employees in the retail store;
using one or more imaging devices mounted to vantage point locations in the retail store to obtain images of the one or more customers in the retail store;
tagging the images with metadata to indicate a location within the retail store which corresponds to at least one portion of a scene captured in the images;
applying video analytics to process the images of the customers in an mPOS server to determine video image data which includes one or more customer behavior indicators for the customers in the retail store, the customer behavior indicators comprising events or conditions other than location which are known to be associated with a potential customer need for mPOS services;
using the metadata to correlate the video image data with the customer location data to associate the customer behavior indicators with specific customers;
analyzing with an mPOS server the customer location data, the employee location data, and one or more of the customer behavior indicators;
determining on the basis of the one or more customer behavior indicators for at least one of the customers a probability of the customer requiring mPOS services within a predetermined interval of time,
selecting a preferred store employee to provide mPOS services; and
responsive to the selecting, automatically generating with the mPOS server a communication comprising an assignment notification to the preferred store employee, said assignment notification directing the preferred store employee to a defined location proximate a selected customer to perform an mPOS task.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scene captured in each of the images is defined as comprising a plurality of scene sectors which are specified by the metadata, each scene sector comprising a portion of the scene and corresponding to a defined location within the retail store.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising using the scene sector information included in said metadata to facilitate the correlating step.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving at the mPOS server at least one mPOS checkout request, and using the mPOS checkout request as a customer behavior indicator.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining at least one employee assignment indicator for the one or more store employees, the employee assignment indicator comprising events or conditions other than location to be evaluated when determining which employee to assign to the mPOS task, wherein the selecting of the preferred store employee to provide mPOS services is further based on the at least one employee assignment indicator.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one employee assignment indicator includes a current mPOS activity status of a particular store employee, the current mPOS activity status specifying whether the particular store employee is currently engaged in a previously begun mPOS task.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the mPOS activity status further specifies a percentage completion of the previously begun mPOS task the particular employee is currently transacting.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one employee assignment indicator includes a predetermined customer preference value that specifies a degree of preference a particular customer has for a particular store employee.

9. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one employee assignment indicator includes a predetermined store preference value that specifies a degree of preference a particular store has for assigning a particular store employee to the mPOS task.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one customer behavior indicator is determined by determining a percentage completion of a predetermined shopping list for a particular customer.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing step further comprises determining a queue factor by evaluating a likelihood that two or more of the customer in a predetermined area will be requesting mPOS services within a predetermined interval of time, and wherein the assigning step is further based on the queue factor.

12. A method for management of mobile point of sale (mPOS) operations in a retail store setting, comprising:
using a wireless data network to determine location data indicating a location of one of more customers in a retail store;
providing one or more video imaging devices mounted to vantage point locations within the retail store;
capturing with the one or more video imaging devices video data of the one or more customers within the retail store, the video data including associated metadata which corresponds to a scene location within the retail store which is associated with the video data;
receiving the location data and the video data in an mPOS server;
analyzing with the mPOS server at least the video data to determine one or more customer behavior indicators exclusive of location-based indicators which potentially indicate a need for mPOS services;
using the location data and the metadata to correlate the customer behavior indicators with the one or more customers;
determining on the basis of the one or more customer behavior indicators a probability that at least one of the one or more customers will be requesting mPOS services within a predetermined interval of time; and
based on said determining, automatically generating a data message directing at least one store employee to perform an mPOS task.

13. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising, assigning the at least one store employee to the mPOS task for a particular customer based at least in part on the probability that the particular customer will be requesting mPOS services within the predetermined interval of time.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising automatically determining a location of a plurality of store clerks within the retail store, wherein the at least one store employee who is assigned to the mPOS task is selected based on the location of that store employee within the retail store relative to the particular customer requiring mPOS assistance.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the store employee who is assigned to the mPOS task is selected based on at least one employee assignment indicator for store employees, the employee assignment indicator comprising events or conditions, other than location, which are to be evaluated when determining which store employee to assign to the mPOS task.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one employee assignment indicator includes a current mPOS activity status of a particular store employee, the current mPOS activity status specifying whether the particular store employee is currently engaged in an mPOS task.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the current mPOS activity status further specifies a percentage completion of a previously begun mPOS task a particular employee is currently transacting.

18. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one employee assignment indicator includes a predetermined customer preference value that specifie

Assignees

• Rasband Paul B
• Rao Manjuprakash R
• Ramanna Sreenath K
• Borah Surajit
• Hall Stewart E
• Tyco Fire & Security Gmbh

Inventors

• Rasband Paul B
• Rao Manjuprakash R
• Ramanna Sreenath K
• Borah Surajit
• Hall Stewart E

Classifications

• G06Q20/3224

  Transactions dependent on location of M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q30/01

  Customer relationship services · CPC title

• G06Q30/00

  Commerce · CPC title

• G06Q20/202 Primary

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title