JP2002304673A - Shelf label system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shelf label system capable of surely detecting a miss of returning discount price display to normal price display and efficiently processing the miss in the case of displaying commodity information. SOLUTION: In an electric shelf label(ESL) for displaying commodity information, a commodity whose elapsed period of discount from a discount start date exceeds a previously set prescribed period is judged as a warning commodity, i.e., a commodity whose discount price display is not carelessly returned to normal price display and a warning flashing pattern is displayed on the ESL corresponding to the commodity. In the case of checking the actual state of the price display on a selling area based on the selected result of the warning commodity, a store clerk can easily specify the commodity or the ESL based on the flashing display.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shelf label system, and more particularly to a shelf label system capable of finding and dealing with a mistake in forgetting to return a bargain price display, and belongs to the field of product price management technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores, so-called POS (Po
(int of Sales) system has become widespread. This POS system mainly includes a plurality of POS terminals (registers) and a store controller (central control device of the entire store system) arranged in a back room. The store controller performs merchandise management such as display and aggregation of data on merchandise. According to the POS system, it is possible to determine, for example, top-selling products and unpopular products, and to obtain very effective information when planning a sales strategy in the future. Note that a POS server dedicated to a POS system may manage the POS terminal instead of the store controller.

In the POS system, since merchandise management is performed by using a barcode attached to a merchandise, the barcode can be linked to merchandise information such as a price, and a price tag can be attached to each merchandise. No need to attach. Therefore, in a store employing the POS system, a shelf label indicating the price of the product is placed on the shelf where the product is displayed, so that the price of the product is shown to the customer. I have.

Recently, in addition to the above-mentioned POS system, ESL (Electric Shelf Label) has been proposed.
l: Electronic shelf labels) Some stores adopt the system.
In this ESL system, a transceiver installed in a store and an ESL attached to each product on a sales floor communicate wirelessly, and each ESL is connected to the POS server, store controller,
Alternatively, it is linked to a computer of the chain headquarters that manages a plurality of stores at a higher rank. In that case,
The ESL server obtains information on each product from the product master stored in the store controller and the actual sales price data stored in the POS server, and obtains the ESL information.
To the ESL to display the actual sales price of the product. The product master is a set of information on products, and for each product, a barcode, a product name, a normal price,
It has information such as special price.

Therefore, if the above ESL system is used, the actual selling price at the POS terminal and the ESL of each product
Can be automatically matched with the displayed price of the system.
No. 8 discloses a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8 (1999) -86. As a result, the trouble of replacing the paper shelf label at the time of bargain sale is eliminated, and the replacement of the shelf label is incorrect, or the actual selling price between the change of the actual selling price and the replacement of the shelf label does not match the displayed price. Does not occur, and not only can the customer's trust be ensured, but also the disadvantage of the store can be avoided.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-mentioned ESL system, when a bargain sale starts or bargain sale ends, the data of the merchandise master stored in the store controller and the data of the actual sales price stored in the POS server are stored. By updating, the actual selling price at the POS terminal and the ESL display price of each product can be changed at the same time, so that there is no problem as long as the above updating is performed surely. Because it is performed by, there is a concern that updating will be forgotten. In this case, for example, as a result of forgetting to return to the normal price despite the end of the special sale period for the product sold at the special sale price, both the actual sale price at the POS terminal and the displayed price of the ESL are the special sale price. Therefore, the merchandise that should be sold at the normal price is sold at the special sale price, and the store suffers disadvantage.

As a solution to the above-mentioned problem, all the products for which a special sale price has been set are selected from the product information stored in the store controller, and the ESL display price is checked for each of these products. It is conceivable to confirm whether the user has forgotten to return to the normal price. However, since a large number of bargain products are usually sold, the checking work imposes a very heavy load on store workers.

[0008] In view of the above-mentioned problem in the shelf label system for displaying the product information based on the product information, the present invention reliably detects a mistake in forgetting to return the bargain price display to the normal price display. Another object of the present invention is to provide a shelf label system capable of efficiently coping with the problem.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is characterized in that it is configured as follows.

First, the invention according to claim 1 relates to a shelf label system for storing merchandise information for each item including a normal price and a special sale price, and displaying these merchandise information based on the merchandise information. A plurality of product information display means for displaying the product information, a special sale identification display means for identifying a special sale when the product information display means displays a special sale price, and a special sale price for the product information display means. Special sale start date and time storage means for storing the date and time when the item was displayed, and predetermined period setting means for setting a predetermined period for each item as a reference for determining whether or not the sale price display by the product information display means is appropriate. A warning product selection unit for selecting a product for which a predetermined period set by the predetermined period setting unit has elapsed from the special sale start date and time; Characterized in that the warning item display means for displaying the article information is provided.

According to the present invention, the merchandise for which the bargain price is displayed over a predetermined period set in advance for each item is selected as a warning merchandise and merchandise information relating to the merchandise is displayed, so that the store worker can Based on this display, it is possible to confirm whether or not the product is an intended product to be sold out or a product to be specially sold without going to the sales floor. Therefore, the load on the store worker is greatly reduced.

When visiting the sales floor and checking the actual state of the price display, the store worker does not check all the products for which the bargain price is displayed, but instead checks the products for which the bargain price is displayed. Since it is sufficient to check the product selected by the warning product selection unit, the work load of the store worker is reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the shelf label system according to the first aspect, the merchandise information display means is turned on when displaying a special sale price or when displaying a normal price. At least one of the mode and the display color is different.

According to the invention, the product information display means includes:
Since the special price is displayed by making at least one of the lighting mode and the display color different from the case of displaying the normal price, when the store worker goes to the sales floor and checks the actual state of the price display, the store worker will The product information display means to be confirmed can be easily specified based on the difference in display. Therefore, the work load is further reduced, and the store worker can perform an efficient checking operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the shelf label system according to the second aspect, when the product information display means displays the product information of the product selected by the warning product selection means, a special sale is performed. It is characterized in that at least one of the lighting mode and the display color is different from the case of displaying the price and the normal price.

According to the present invention, the product information display means includes:
Since at least one of the lighting mode and the display color is different from the case of displaying the special sale price and the normal price, the product information of the product selected by the warning product selection means is displayed. The product information display means to be confirmed can be more easily specified based on the information. Therefore, an even more efficient checking operation can be performed.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an ESL as one embodiment of a shelf label system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The system will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an ESL system 1 and a part of a store management system including the ESL system 1. This store management system is for performing a series of data processing such as merchandise management and sales totalization employed in stores such as supermarkets. In addition to the ESL system 1, the store management system is connected to a backbone LAN 2 provided in the store. A POS system 4, a printer 5, and the like.

[Store Controller] The store controller 3 is also called a store automation server, and is connected to the backbone LAN 2 as a central control device of the entire store management system. The store controller 3 stores a product master file 3a including product information such as a product name, a product price, and a barcode of each product. Then, based on the product master file 3a, the store controller 3 performs management related to each business in the store, such as product price management, inventory management, delivery / injection warehouse management, and sales management. When the store is one of the supermarket chains, the product master file 3a is transmitted to the store controller 3 from the headquarters of the normal chain.

[Configuration of POS System] The POS system 4 includes a POS server 6 and a plurality of ECRs (Electric Cash Registers) as POS terminals.
ter: electronic cash register) 7. Note that, depending on the system configuration, the function of the POS server 6 may be provided to the store controller 3 and the installation of the POS server 6 may be omitted.

<POS Server> The POS server 6 stores a totaling file (not shown) for totalizing registration information of ECRs 7... 7 described later, an actual selling price data file 6a of each product currently used, and the like. I have. And the P
The OS server 6 manages actual selling price information, sales information, and the like of the product based on these files and transmits the information to the store controller 3.

<ECR> ECRs 7... 7 provided at so-called cash registers where shoppers settle the price of goods are connected to the POS server 6. The ECR7 ... 7 is
A scanner (not shown) for reading a barcode attached to a product is provided, and the barcode is read by the scanner, and information related to the barcode is displayed. Also, EC
R7... Perform registration by section, display on a display unit, and printout by a printer,
Send to S server 6. And the POS server 6
The registration information from ECRs 7... 7 is accumulated in the total file.

[Configuration of ESL System] In the example shown in the figure, the ESL system 1 includes an ESL server 11, two base stations 12 and 12 as transponders, a plurality of transceivers 13... 14 as a display.

<ESL Server> The ESL server 11 is one in which software for controlling the ESL system 1 is installed in a computer such as a workstation or a personal computer. As shown in FIG.
The CPU 21 controls the L system 1 and includes a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a storage unit 24, a display unit 25, an input unit 26, and the like connected to the CPU 21. The ESL server 11 is installed, for example, in a room provided in a part of a backyard of a store.

When the ESL system 1 is started, a product information file 24a and a unit price calculation data file 24b are created in the storage unit 24 of the ESL server 11.

The merchandise information file 24a is a file for storing information on each merchandise, and includes a bar code attached to the merchandise, an ESL code (described later) unique to each of the ESLs 14. Price, bargain price at bargain sale, actual bargain price of the product currently used in the POS system 4, bargain period of the bargain, start date and time of bargain sale, and predetermined period for determining whether or not bargain price display is appropriate The unit price for the normal price of the product, the unit price for the actual selling price of the product, and the like are stored for each product.

The product information file 24a includes information obtained from the product master file 3a of the store controller 3 and an actual sales price data file 6a of the POS server 6.
The information is created based on the information obtained from the server, and is automatically updated based on the information whenever the information is updated. When the information of the product information file 24a is updated, the ESL server 11
The change of the merchandise information is transmitted to the corresponding ESLs 14 through 14 and the transceivers 13.

The unit price calculation data file 24b stores data necessary for calculating the unit price of each product from the sales price of each product. The data such as the unit amount of the data is stored. The content or weight of each product is taken from the product master file 3a, while the unit quantity of the product is created by data transmission from the headquarters or the like or by manual input at a store.

<Transceiver> Transceiver 13 ... 13
Transmits the product information held by the ESL server 11 wirelessly to each ES.
L14 ... 14, while receiving the feedback signal from each ESL14 ... 14.

<ESL> ESL14... 14 are arranged in the vicinity of commodities displayed on the sales floor in the store. As shown in FIG.
Display units 31 to 37, a solar cell 38, and a wireless reception unit 39
, A wireless transmission unit 40, and labels 41 and 42. Note that the label 41 has a product name printed thereon, while the label 42 has a bar code printed thereon.

In the example shown in the figure, the first to third display portions 31 to 33 are capable of displaying four-digit numbers.
The normal price and unit price are displayed. The fourth display unit 34 is capable of displaying a four-digit number, and when the special sale price is displayed as the actual sale price on the first display unit 31, the CP
The number of days elapsed from the special sale start date calculated by U21 is displayed. The fifth display unit 35 displays the characters “normal price” indicating that the display on the second display unit 32 is the normal price. The sixth display unit 36 displays the characters “sale item” indicating that the product is a sale target. At the time of bargain sale, the seventh display unit 37 displays “m” when the bargain sale period is a month, “w” when the bargain sale period is a week, and “d” when the bargain sale period is only on the day. I do.

The first, sixth, and seventh display sections 31, 36, and 37 of the display sections 31 to 37 are provided with a blinking pattern and a changeable display color. Although the blinking interval is changed as a method of changing the blinking pattern, intermittent blinking may be performed instead, or the blinking display units 31, 36, and 37 may be changed. Although a full-color liquid crystal display is used as a display color changing method, cost may be reduced by using a liquid crystal display having polarizing plates having different transmission characteristics instead. Further, various displays can be made by combining the change of the blinking pattern and the change of the display color.

Each of the ESLs 14... 14 has a small CPU inside, and in addition to the above display function,
It has a receiving function, a comparing function, and a transmitting function. That is, the internal memory of ESL14.
The ESL code included in the product information from the transceivers 13... 13 received by the wireless receiving unit 39 is stored in the self-set ESL code.
Compared with the SL code, if they match, the received actual sales price and unit price are updated and displayed on each of the display units 31 to 37.
After the update, the ESLs 14... 14 transmit a feedback signal from the wireless transmission unit 40 to the transceivers 13.

Here, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. In the ESL system 1 having the above configuration, the ESL server 11 stores information from the product master file 3a of the store controller 3 and an actual sales price data file of the POS server 6. The information obtained by adding the ESL code specifying the ESL 14... 14 and the unit price of the normal price and the actual selling price to the information from the storage unit 24 as the product information file 24a.
To memorize. The product information file 24a is updated immediately with the update of the product master file 3a and the actual sales price data file 6a, so that it is always the latest information.

In order to return a product that had been a special sale price to a normal price in accordance with a change instruction of the product master file 3a from the headquarters of the chain, a sales strategy at each store, or the like, E
The product information file 24a of the SL server 11 is automatically changed simultaneously with the product master file 3a. That is,
The ESL server 11 sends the ESL 14 to change the display.
... 14, the updated product information is transmitted. In that case, E
SL14 ... 14 are the ESL code included in the product information received from the transceivers 13 ... 13 and the E attached to itself.
The product code is compared with the SL code, and if they match, the product information is taken in and updated information such as the actual selling price and unit price is displayed on each of the display units 31 to 37. Therefore, when the merchandise information is updated in the store controller 3, the display of the corresponding ESL 14... 14 is automatically updated.

On the other hand, since the actual sales price data file 6a of the POS server 6 in the POS system 4 is also updated at the same time, the actual sales prices in the ECRs 7.
The display price of 14, that is, the actual sales price displayed by the first display unit 31 always matches. As a result, the trust relationship between the shopper and the store does not break down.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a bargain sale display on the ESL 14. The bargain sale price “480 yen”, which is the actual sale price, is displayed on the first display unit 31, and the regular price “58” is displayed on the second display unit 32.
"0 yen" is displayed in the third display unit 33 at the unit price of the special price "32 yen".
Is displayed on the fourth display unit 34 as the number of days “1” elapsed since the sale start date.
2 ”is displayed on the fifth display unit 35 as“ normal price ”.
The word “sale item” is displayed on the display 36 and the seventh display 3
In FIG. 7, “w” indicating that the special sale period is a week is displayed. In this case, in the ESL 14, the first, sixth, and seventh display sections 31, 36, and 37 are blinking in order to appeal to the shopper that the bargain is for sale.

By the way, in the above example, although the bargain period is set to week, the display on the fourth display section 34 indicates "12", which is 12 days after the bargain start date. That is, in this example, the display is mistakenly forgotten to be returned, that is, the product master file 3a in the store controller 3 or the actual sales price data file 6a in the POS server 6.
In this case, the user forgets to input the update.

Even if there is such a mistake of forgetting to return the display, if the selection of a warning product according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Can be found reliably. That is, the CPU 21 of the ESL server 11 determines whether or not the bargain sale period of each bargain product exceeds a predetermined period (step S1).

If it is determined in step S1 that the bargain sale period has exceeded the predetermined period, it is determined that the bargain sale for the product is still unusual.
The product information on the product is displayed on the display unit 25 of the SL server 11 (step S2), and the ES corresponding to the product is displayed.
The blinking pattern of the first display unit 31 in L14 is made different from the normal sale time and the special sale time (step S3). It is to be noted that instead of different blinking patterns, different display colors may be used. If the blinking pattern of the first display unit 31 looks strange to the eyes of the shopper, for example, the first display unit 31
Instead, the blinking pattern of the sixth display section 36 or the seventh display section 37 may be different from those at the time of normal sale and at the time of special sale. Further, the fourth display unit 34 may be newly enabled to blink, and the blinking pattern of the display unit 34 may be different from the normal sale and the special sale for the warning product. Then, the printer 5 can print out the product information of the product.

Then, it is determined whether or not there is the next special sale product (step S4). If there is no next special sale product, the selection of the warning product is terminated.
Return to 1.

If it is determined in step S1 that the special sale elapsed period has not exceeded the predetermined period, the process proceeds to step S4 to execute the subsequent control.

When a warning product is selected in the selection of the warning product, the store worker enters the sales floor based on the display of the warning product on the display unit 25 or the list of the warning products printed out by the printer 5. Without going out, it is possible to confirm whether or not the product is a clearly intended product to be sold out or a product to be sold. Therefore, the load on the store worker is greatly reduced.

When the store worker goes to the sales floor to check the actual price display, the first display section 31 of the ESL 14... Are different, the corresponding ESL
14... 14 are easily specified, and the load of the confirmation work is reduced.

Then, as a result of the confirmation operation based on the list displayed on the display unit 25 or the list printed out by the printer 5 or the confirmation operation at the sales floor, the update input is executed for the product for which the mistake of forgetting to return was found. Needless to say.

In the above embodiment, the fourth display unit 34 displays the number of days elapsed from the start of the special sale when the first display unit 31 displays the special sale price as the actual sale price. Alternatively, the special sale start date may be displayed. Alternatively, the number of days remaining for the scheduled sale end date may be displayed. Further, the planned sale end date may be displayed. In any case, it is possible to directly find or confirm the mistake of forgetting to return the display at the counter.

In the above embodiment, the ESL
Although the display using the blinking pattern for the warning product is displayed on the first display unit 31 of the display units 14..., The display may be stopped and the display using the flashing pattern for the special sale may be displayed on the ESLs 14. When the store worker goes to the sales floor to check the actual state of the price display, this also narrows down the ESLs 14 to 14 to be checked, thereby reducing the load of the check operation.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a shelf label system that displays the product information based on the product information, a product whose bargain sale period exceeds a predetermined period set in advance for each item is selected and displayed as a warning product, so that the bargain price display The mistake of forgetting to return to the normal price display can be reliably found. As a result, it is possible to suppress the disadvantage of the store caused by the mistake of forgetting to return.

When the store worker goes to the sales floor to check the actual price display based on the result of the selection of the warning product, the display of the product information display means corresponding to the warning product displays the special sale price and the normal price. Since the lighting mode and at least one of the display colors are different from those in the case where the item is displayed, it is easy to specify the item to be checked or the item information display means, and the work load of the store worker is reduced. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention is widely suitable for the field of the price management of goods in stores, such as a supermarket.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a store management system including an ESL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an ESL server.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration example of an ESL.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of a special sale display of ESL.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a warning product selection.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ESL system (shelf label system) 11 ESL server 14 ESL (product information display means, special sale identification display means) 21 CPU (predetermined period setting means, warning product selection means) 24 storage unit (sale start date and time storage means) 25 display unit (Warning product display means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A shelf label system for storing merchandise information for each item including a normal price and a bargain price, and displaying the merchandise information based on the merchandise information. Merchandise information display means, special sale identification display means for identifying a special sale when the special sale price is displayed on the commodity information display means, and special sale for storing the date and time when the special sale price was displayed on the commodity information display means Start date and time storage means, predetermined period setting means for setting a predetermined period for each item as a criterion for determining whether or not the sale price display by the product information display means is appropriate, and the predetermined period from the special sale start date and time A warning product selection unit that selects a product for which a predetermined period set by the setting unit has elapsed, and a warning product display unit that displays product information of the product selected by the warning product selection unit. The shelf label system characterized by being provided. 2. The shelf according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise information display means changes at least one of a lighting mode and a display color when displaying a special sale price, and when displaying a normal price. Tag system. 3. The merchandise information display means, when displaying merchandise information of the merchandise selected by the warning merchandise selecting means, if at least one of a lighting mode and a display color is different from displaying a special sale price and a normal price. The shelf label system according to claim 2, wherein