ES2719742A1 - Comprehensive purchase system using mobile devices in physical commerce through near field communications (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

The integral system for purchase in physical stores is composed of labels of near field communication with unique identifier in each product, an electronic surveillance system of articles, a database of products and a web page or mobile application for electronic commerce. This system allows customers to make purchases in these stores without going through point of sale terminals. The customer uses a mobile device with near field communication to identify the item to be purchased and to make the purchase through the website or mobile application with electronic payment means. The system allows customers to exit the store without going through a point-of-sale terminal, as it automatically verifies that the product is paid for by radiofrequency identification technology or by the customer himself deactivating acousto-magnetic alarms. or electromagnetic (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

D E S C R I P C I Ó N

INTEGRAL PURCHASE SYSTEM USING MOBILE DEVICES IN

PHYSICAL TRADE THROUGH NEARBY FIELD COMMUNICATIONS

SECTOR OF THE TECHNIQUE

The present invention relates to a comprehensive purchasing system for physical stores that allows customers to choose and pay for products with electronic means without going through the box. The system is applicable to any establishment or chain of establishments that has or intends to implement a database with the products available for sale in its premises, an electronic article surveillance system and a website or mobile application of electronic commerce .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

So far there are two different models of purchase of items: purchase in physical store and purchase in electronic commerce in online stores (with home delivery or collection at specific points).

Buying in a physical store is the most classic method. In this case, the seller exposes products with characteristics and price in an establishment or store. The client goes to this establishment where he can see, touch and even try the products to select the desired one. Once the products to be purchased have been selected, the customer has to go to a box in which a person makes the payment of said products generally paid by cash or by plastic card with magnetic stripe or chip. The main advantages of this type of purchase is the advice and personal treatment that can be given to the client by the establishment's staff, to be able to see and, in some cases to test, the product and the security provided by checking and paying for the item on the spot. On the contrary, it has the disadvantage of queues and high waiting times to complete the purchase of the product.

Online store purchases are characterized by transactions using the Internet through a web page or mobile application. The seller makes available to customers a web page or an application for mobile devices in which it shows the different items for sale with images, specifications and prices. In this way, the customer can search for the desired item and make their purchase by means of electronic payment or cash on delivery. Once the customer has made the purchase, the products purchased are sent through a parcel service or can be picked up at specific points. The main advantages of this method of purchase are the convenience of being able to do it from any place and at any time along with the widest range of products. On the contrary, it has the disadvantage of not being able to see, test the product and have personalized advice prior to its purchase, as well as possible shipping problems.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes an integral system to allow the purchase in physical stores by means of electronic commerce. There are currently no systems for allow customers to complete the entire purchase process in a physical store with mobile devices without going through a box with a point of sale terminal. The proposed system offers a solution to this technical problem using a set of components in a novel way:

- Near field communication labels with unique identifier located attached or integrated in each product for sale in the establishment.

- An electronic article surveillance system to prevent theft based on radiofrequency identification or acousto-magnetic or electromagnetic alarms.

- A database with remote access with the products for sale in each establishment

- A web page or mobile application for electronic commerce

The combination of these elements together with a unique code system and a real-time status assignment allows customers to offer a solution to choose and pay for products to buy in physical stores quickly and easily without going through point terminals. selling. Customers can then use a mobile device (phone or tablet) with near-field communication capability to identify items to buy on the establishment's website or mobile application that incorporates electronic payment methods. The customer can leave after the store without going through the box or use a point of sale terminal since the electronic product monitoring system automatically checks the products by radiofrequency identification. In the case of acoustomagnetic or electromagnetic systems, the customer himself will carry out the disassembly of the products purchased with this system by means of specific equipment that will only allow disassembly if they detect that the product has been paid.

The system for physical stores described in this document combines the advantages of the two purchase methods described in the previous section (physical store purchase and e-commerce): the ability to view and test the product prior to purchase with the ease and speed characteristic of the purchase in electronic commerce when making the payment of the product.

Prior to the invention described herein, other solutions have been proposed that sought to achieve a similar purpose, although with different and disadvantageous methods with respect to the present invention. Related inventions are:

- The US patent 20150012396 A1 describes a system of purchase in physical commerce based on the identification of the customer at his entry and exit, as well as on the identification of the products he takes in the establishment to automatically assign them to each user and then upload them to his account. In order to identify the article that the user takes, the system is also based on data stored in a central system but this purchasing system has some drawbacks that are intended to be improved in the present invention. On the one hand, this system needs a very high data processing capacity for the identification of users and assignment of articles, which can cause problems and failures especially if there is a large number of users in the establishment simultaneously. In the present invention these difficulties are solved by the use of near-field communication technology and electronic payment methods in a mobile device of the user or made available by the store. This allows the identification of the user and the assignment of selected articles in a simple, fast and minimizing the possibility of errors. On the other hand, the system of the mentioned patent does not allow the user at any time the validation of the products and the acceptance of the purchase, being charged to its account automatically upon leaving the establishment. This prevents the user from verifying the correct assignment and collection of selected items, which may lead to possible subsequent conflicts when leaving the store. In the present invention this is solved when the user makes the purchase by electronic means on a mobile device with a screen, being able to verify at all times the products selected to buy, their price and the payment method before confirming the purchase. In fact, the system proposed in US patent 20150012396 A1 is not compatible with European Union legislation (Payment services PSD 2 -Directive EU 2015/2366) while the solution described in this patent is perfectly suited to this regulation.

- US 8963717 B2 describes a shop purchase system using a mobile phone to read the item and payment data by bar code or near field communication, carry out the transaction remotely and then send a signal to the device. security anchored to the article to be detached. The main differences of this system with respect to the present invention are that the article must contain payment information and the greater complexity of the security device added to each article since it must have the ability to receive signals and open automatically. In the present invention, the product identification data is an individual product code to identify it and it is the mobile application or web page where payment is made in the same way as in e-commerce purchases. On the other hand, the type of safety device (described in US patent 9117355 B2) necessary for the system described in this US patent 8963717 B2 implies a more complex and more expensive system than the one proposed in the present invention which makes use of security systems already used massively today such as radio frequency identification tags and acoustic-magnetic alarms. - The patent WO 2017155485 A1 is very similar to the previous US 8963717 B2 as it describes a purchase system based on security devices anchored to the items that are automatically released upon receiving an external signal once the purchase has been made.

- The patent ES 2394319 B2 describes a shopping cart that allows to pay for the products introduced in the car by means of a tablet with connection to a remote network integrated in said car. In this case, the car needs a specific system while in the system described in this patent the user's mobile system (phone or tablet), payment methodologies in electronic commerce are used together with standard electronic article surveillance technologies (labels radio frequency identification, acousto-magnetic and electromagnetic). Therefore the present invention offers a simpler and easier to integrate solution by being compatible with the technologies currently employed in retail.

- US patent 20170186072 A1 is similar to the previous one (ES 2394319 B2) and is also based on a shopping cart that allows products to be introduced and paid for at the end of the purchase process. As in the previous case, this US patent 20170186072 A1 requires a specific type of car while the present invention is based on a unique combination of technologies compatible with the current systems used in stores.

- US patent 20160005019 A1 for mobile payment at Point of Sale Terminals (POS) through the use of barcodes. This patent is related to mobile payment systems using barcodes or Near field communications in POS of physical stores. This system requires using the same traditional purchase process and only replaces payment in cash or with plastic cards with a mobile payment. The system proposed in the present invention does not require the use of a POS for payment so it allows a faster and easier purchase since it avoids queues and the associated waiting time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description, it is accompanied as an integral part of

this, two schemes with an illustrative and non-limiting nature:

FIGURE 1 - General scheme of the system detailed in the invention described herein.

FIGURE 2 - Flowchart of the complete process of purchasing an item in a

establishment using the system set forth in the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows in detail what the parts that form the system for the physical store purchase described in the present invention would be. The establishment or chain of establishments must assign a unique identification data to each of the items that it puts on sale. This unique identification data is stored in a database (101) together with other information of the article such as the price, size, material or the status of the transaction in which it is located (in store, in store for sale or in paid store per customer) That same identification data is recorded on a near field communication label (102) that adheres to the article during the manufacture of the article, in the logistics warehouses or in the retail stores themselves. In addition to this, a radio frequency identification tag (103) can be added, on which the same unique identification data of the article will be recorded, or an acoustic-magnetic alarm (104) that will be used to activate the surveillance system alarm electronics of items in case of taking unpaid products from the store. Finally, the establishment or chain of establishments will have a website or a mobile application (105) of electronic commerce that allows the purchase of products that are for sale in the physical store. On this website or mobile application, the different items will also have the same unique identifier associated, in addition to the price and product specifications.

Optionally, the seller may also make available to customers an area equipped with tablets or smartphones with near field communication reader and connection to their website or mobile application, so that customers can use these devices to perform the articles purchase. Also optionally, in case you want to add acoustic-magnetic alarms to the items, an area equipped with de-alarm devices (106) will be enabled so that users can remove those alarms once the item has been paid. In the case of using an electronic article surveillance system based on radiofrequency identification technology, RFID arcs will be used at the exit of the establishment (107). Both the screwdrivers and the radio frequency identification arcs will be managed by a CPU (108) that will have access to the database to check the unique identification codes of the items and the status of these articles.

Using the system described in the present invention, physical stores can offer their customers an agile and fast way to make purchases following the steps described below and which are schematically collected in the diagram of FIG. two.

- The client will access the establishment (201) and look for the item (s) he wishes to buy (202), being able to see and test them as the case may be.

- Once the customer has selected the item they want to buy, with their mobile phone they will read the near field communication label attached to said item (203), which will automatically take them to the purchase page of that same article in the mobile application or web page, adding said article to the virtual shopping cart associated with that physical store (204). This process will be repeated as many times as items the user wishes to acquire until completing their purchase. After this, the user makes the electronic payment of the items (205), an action that makes the establishment's database update the status of each of those items from "for sale" to "paid by the customer". - Alternatively to perform the previous step with the user's own phone, in case the establishment has an area with tablets with near field communication reader for customers, they can use them to make the purchase and electronic payment . To do this, you will have to identify yourself previously in said tablet and then follow the same process mentioned above, read the near field communication label and make the purchase and payment using electronic commerce systems.

- Once the purchase has been made, if the establishment's items are equipped with a radio frequency identification tag to prevent theft, the user will leave the store with the items purchased through an area equipped with radiofrequency identification arcs (206) that will read the radio frequency identification tags of all the products that the customer carries. With this reading, the unique identifiers of the items carried by the customer will be obtained and with them, the establishment's database will be accessed to check if all of them are paid (207). In that case, the user leaves without any impediment (209), while if any of the items are not paid, the alarm (208) of the electronic article monitoring system of the establishment will be activated.

- Once the purchase is made and if the items are equipped with an acoustic-magnetic alarm, the user must go through an area of the establishment equipped with devices to remove or deactivate the aforementioned alarms (210) before leaving the store since Otherwise, an alarm would be activated. When placing the article in this de-alarm device (211), it will obtain the unique identifier of the article, it will be verified with it that it is paid (212) and at that time it will allow to remove the acoustic-magnetic alarm (213). This process will be repeated with all the items purchased and, after that, the user may leave the establishment (209). In case it is verified that the item is not paid the device will not remove the alarm (214).

The integral system for the purchase in physical stores of agile and simple form that is described in the present invention has clear application in the establishments or chains of establishments for sale to the public. The proposed system has industrial application for new suppliers digital solutions for the purchase in physical stores since it is compatible with the current systems of logistics and electronic surveillance of articles and offers several advantages: the possibility of seeing, touching and testing the products prior to its purchase in an establishment together with the ease and speed of the purchase in electronic commerce.

Claims (1)

1- A product identification and payment system for physical stores consisting of a near field communication label attached to each item with a unique identification code, an electronic article surveillance system based on radiofrequency identification or product alarms type acoustomagnetic or electromagnetic, a database of products for sale in the physical store and a website or mobile application of the store for electronic commerce. Each individual item is assigned a unique identifier code stored in the near field communication label memory and in the establishment's database. The customer reads the near-field communication label of the product that he wants to acquire with the near-field communication reader of a mobile device (phone or tablet) with an internet connection. The customer can directly make the payment of the selected item on the website or mobile application of the establishment through electronic means of payment. Once the payment of the item is confirmed, the transaction is communicated to the customer on the website or mobile application, and the establishment's database is updated so that this item goes to the state of payment paid by the customer. After this, the customer can leave the establishment without going through the cashier and the electronic article monitoring system will check if the item is paid or not in the database and the alarm will be activated if the item has not been paid. 2 - Dependent claim of the 1 characterized by the use by the store of a radio frequency identification tag also attached to each item of the store to be used by the logistics and electronic surveillance systems of items of the establishment. The same unique identification code of the item stored in the near field communication label and in the establishment's database is stored in the radio frequency identification tag. The establishment's electronic article surveillance system uses radiofrequency identification to detect the unique identification code of products that are taken from the store by customers. The electronic article monitoring system checks in the establishment's article database whether the corresponding item has been paid by the customer on a mobile device (phone or tablet) and if this is not the case it will activate an alarm and protection measures that has defined the store. 3 - Dependent claim of the 1 and alternative to the 2 characterized by an electronic store monitoring system based on the use of acoustic-magnetic or electromagnetic alarms. The store will then have one or more disassembly devices for the customer to remove or deactivate the acoustic-magnetic or electromagnetic alarms after making the payment of their items and prior to leaving the establishment. The disarming device will have a near field communication reader that will read the unique identification code of the item to be dismantled and a connection to the store's product database so that it will only allow the acoustic-magnetic alarm to be removed or deactivated or Electromagnetic if the product has been paid by the customer. 4- Claim dependent on the 1 characterized by the use of mobile devices (phones or tablets) with near-field communication reader, made available to the user by the establishment in some area of the store (such as testers or self-service kiosks), to make the payment of the items to be purchased in the manner described in claim 1.