IL113352A - Interactive sales promotion system - Google Patents

Description

JlTTDrj DTFp"? Γ ΙΓϋΡίΠϋΓΝ Ώ31Ί3Ώ Interactive Sales Promotion System INTERACTIVE SALES—PROMO ION SYSTEM AND METHOD FTET.D AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an automatic sales promotion system, and in particular to such system located in a retail store to adjust prices dynamically according to the momentary purchase pattern of the customers.

Sales promotion is a well-known retail technique, aiming at increasing revenues, attracting customers, encouraging purchase at certain hours, accelerating the sales of manufacturer-promoted products, reducing the inventory of rapidly-aging or slow-selling products and the like.

An effective sales-promotion method is the Sale, which is a temporary price-reduction on specified items or specified item combinations. We'll relate hereinafter to Sales which are executed at a retail store interactively with the momentary purchase pattern of the customers.

A Sale must be announced to the customers to be effective. Therefore, our invention uses announcement means to inform customers on items on Sale and their prices. Presenting actual prices on price labels adjacently to merchandise items is usually advantageous, and often required by law. Therefore, a sales promotion system with dynamic prices requires frequent changes of many price labels, which can be best carried out by electronic shelf labels. Such labels are described in a number of U.S. patents: 4,002,886, 4,139,149, 4,521,677, 4,766,295, 5,019,811 and 5,313,569.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System OBJECT AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide an interactive sales promotion system, which reacts automatically to the momentary purchase pattern. It detects the customer purchase patterns through the POS (points of sale) and optionally through additional sensors, calculates price-reductions related to the momentary purchase patterns of the customers, and announces to the customers a Sale including said price-reductions, to affect the purchase pattern in a way desirous to the merchant.

By providing real-time response to the actual customer behavior, the system of the present invention provides sales promotion capability which responds to the actual weak points of the sales with effective, immediate corrections. It is friendly to the customer as it offers frequent price-reduction surprises, while being an effective tool in the hands of the merchant, to ensure that price-reductions are made exactly where and when they are needed to reach a desired sales goal.

According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a sales promotion system at a retail store managed by a merchant, said retail store offering a variety of items to customers, comprising: a) a store computer system comprising storage devices to store and update basic price information, purchase pattern information and price-reduction criteria, and a Sale calculation unit to calculate price-reduction of items and/or item combinations according to the basic price information, purchase pattern information and price- Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System reduction criteria. b) at least one POS (point of sale) communicating with said store computer system, to identify each purchased item, calculate the total purchase price according to the current prices stored in said store computer system, and to update the store computer system of purchased items to update the purchase pattern information stored therein; c) Sale announcement system, controlled by the store computer system, to inform customers on current price-reductions of items and/or item combinations; d) merchant interface with said store computer system, to allow entering and updating said basic price information and price-reduction criteria.

According to another aspect of the invention, the Sale announcement system comprises display units such as electronic shelf labels and in-store electronic signs. Optionally, it can include also ex-store electronic signs and/or a public address system According to another aspect of the invention, the Sale calculation unit at the store computer system is programmed to identify, from the purchase pattern detected by the POS, situations of low-traffic, and to reduce prices to promote sales according to the price-reduction criteria stored in said store computer system.

According to another aspect of the invention, the Sale calculation unit at the store computer system is programmed to identify, from the purchase pattern detected by the POS, slow-selling items, and to reduce prices of these items to promote Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System their sales according to the price-reduction criteria stored in said store computer system.

According to another aspect of the invention, the Sale calculation unit is further programmed to analyse the purchase pattern detected by the POS of items already on Sale, to identify the effect of the previous price-reduction on the purchase pattern, and to readjust the level of price reduction accordingly.

According to another aspect of the invention, the data communication between the store computer and the displays of the Sale announcement system is using a wireless link.

According to another aspect of the invention, the display units include eye-catching means, to attract customer attention to items on Sale .

According to another aspect of the invention, the display units include multiple message registers to allow price change at many display units at once.

According to another aspect of the invention, there are selected customer groups, the members of which are eligible for special reduced prices when identifying themselves at the POS; said members carrying group ID transmitters to communicate with the display units of the Sale announcement system to change temporarily the displayed information to the information which relates to the special prices assigned to their respective selected customer group.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a general block diagram of the sales promotion system of the present invention.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System Fig. 1A is a block diagram of the store computer system.

Fig. IB is a symbolic representation of an integrated database of the merchandise items .

Fig. 1C is a symbolic representation of price reduction criteria .

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the Sale announcement system.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the main procedure for price-reduction calculation.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of sales promotion in a low-traffic situation .

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of sales promotion of a slow-selling item.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of sales promotion of a combination of slow-selling items .

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of sales promotion with automatic readjustment .

Fig. 8 describes a typical layout of a wireless data communication system.

Fig. 9 describes a typical electronic shelf label.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a multiple-register display which allows changing the information on many displays at once.

Fig. 10A is a flowchart describing the preparation of the displays of Fig. 10 toward a global change.

Fig. 10B is a flowchart describing the execution of a simultaneous global price change at the displays of Fig. 10.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a system allowing the assignment of a special price to selected customer groups.

Fig. 11A is a flowchart describing the setting procedure of an alternative price list for a selected customer group in the Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System system of Fig. 11.

Fig. 11B is a flowchart describing the procedure for the display of special price information message to a customer who is a member of a selected customer group, in the system of Fig. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS GENERAL DESCRIPTION - FIG. 1. 1A. IB AND 1C The system of the present invention is described generally in the block diagram of Fig. 1. The merchant 111 communicates with the store computer system 101, through merchant interface 102 which can be, for example, a keyboard and screen, or, alternatively, an interface with another local or remote computer maintained by the merchant . The merchant interface 102 provides the store computer system 101 with cost information regarding merchandise items offered by the store; basic price information, which contains the normal price for each merchandise item, which is determined or calculated separately from the present invention and may include also predetermined price-reductions, for instance regarding manufacturer-promoted Sale or a seasonal or weekend Sale; price-reduction criteria, which determine the correlation between the customers' purchase pattern and the price-reduction for merchandise items and/or item combinations; inventory replenishment data which notify the computer about inventory additions through the warehouse. Optionally, the merchant may also acknowledge Sale details through the merchant interface.

The store computer system 101 communicates with one or more points of sale 103, for determining the actual price of each merchandise item presented at the POS and for receiving purchase Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System data. The purchase data is used for both determining the momentary purchase pattern and for updating the inventory information stored at the computer. The store computer system 101 uses the information stored therein, as will be described in detail below, to generate a list of price reductions, which updates the current prices charged at the POS 103, and is announced to the customer as Sale information through the Sale announcement system 104. The customer 110 interfaces with the Sale announcement system 104 to receive Sale information, and with the POS for presenting purchased items . Optional customer and purchase sensors 105 may be used to enrich the information used for Sale calculation or to acquire such information earlier; for example, optical sensors at the store entrance may detect an exceptionally large group of customers entering the store, which may be attracted by a special Sale. Detectors at the isles may identify which parts of the store are temporarily deserted, which may be the cause for an immediate Sale on items situated at said isles.

Fig. 1A is a block diagram, describing in detail the store computer system, which may include one computer or several linked computers. The store computer system 101 stores cost information 123 as entered by the merchant through the merchant interface 102, basic price information 122, determined by the merchant for each merchandise item according to calculations and considerations made separately. The basic price information determines the price for an item when the present invention is not activated to reduce its price. The inventory information 121 is calculated from purchase information received from the POS 103, and inventory replenishment information received through the merchant interface 102.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System Purchase pattern information 124, is calculated from the purchase data received from the POS 103 and/or from sensors 105, and includes data such as number of sales, units sold of each merchandise item and dollars collected at each minute. These data are used for calculating short-term statistics, used by the Sale calculation unit 125 to determine short-term price-reductions according to the price-reduction criteria 126. The short-term price-reduction is announced as a Sale through the Sale announcement system 104.

Fig. IB is an example of an item record 160 in an integrated item database, which comprises item identification information, as well as item-related information regarding the information blocks 121, 122, 123, 124, 126 of Fig. 1A. The item# 161 is used for automatic item identification, for example by a POS bar-code reader or as an electronic shelf label address. The description 162 is used for human recognition on item stickers or in Sale announcements. Group classification 163 allows identifying groups for Sales or for allowed combinations in Sales. Basic price 164 is the price charged for the respective item if its price is not to be reduced by the present invention; it is determined separately by the merchant, and may include preliminary price reduction, for instance, under seasonal or manufacturer-promoted Sales. Cost 165 is included to allow profit calculation, if profit-reduction criteria are used to calculate reduced prices. Quantity currently in inventory 166 is continuously updated by inventory replenishment information provided by the merchant through the merchant interface, and by inventory consumption information received from the POS. It is used for inventory-related price reduction criteria, when compared to the full Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System inventory standard 167. If a price reduction of a specified number of steps is initiated by the system of the present invention, the profit-per-step-reduction parameter 168 is used to calculate the new price. Normal sales parameter 169 is related to long-term sales statistics and is used to determine which items are currently slow-selling, when compared to the current average sales 170. Present sales status parameter 171 is set by the computer to zero if there is no Sale under the present invention, or to the number of price reduction steps currently in effect.

Fig. 1C is an example of price reduction criteria 126 of Fig. IB, which is prescribed by the merchant to determine the correlation between purchase pattern and price reduction. It includes general price reduction criteria 180, while item-specific price-reduction criteria is included in Fig. IB. Short-term averaging time 181 determines the time used for averaging short-term purchase statistics. In this example, items 182 and 183 determine the conditions for 1- and 2-step global price reductions, respectively. Item 184 determines the general condition for price reduction of a slow-selling item, according to its specific parameters defined in Fig. IB. Item 185 defines the expectation for the effect of the price reduction on the sales increase, for deciding when the price would be further reduced, if the sales-increase expectations are not met. Item 186 allows creating combination price reduction on items from specified groups in correspondence to the group specification 163 in Fig. Fig. IB. Item 187 specified specific item combinations, while flag 188 determines whether, when determining price reduction of slow-selling items, combinations allowed under 186 or 187 would be preferred over individual item price reduction.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System THF, SALE ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM - FIG. 2 Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the Sale announcement system. The store computer system 101 uses a data communication medium 201 to send messages to announcement means 203—205. The data communication medium 201 can be a hard wired network, or use electromagnetic radiation in the range of radio frequency or infrared for wireless communication. The in-store electronic signs 203 provide general Sale information relating to identifying items, item combinations or item groups currently on Sale. The ex-store signs 204 are located at the store windows, walls, roof etc. to attract customers to the store by presenting actual Sale information. The electronic shelf labels 205 are placed adjacently to each type of item, to present the current prices, and optionally notifying whether the item is currently on a Sale. The optional public address system 206 sends vocal Sale messages, for example by displaying written Sale messages on a screen to a human announcer who speaks into a microphone of conventional public address system, or through an automatic public address system which uses pre-recorded or synthesized phrases for the announcements .

MAIN PROCEDURE - FTfi. 3 Fig. 3 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the Sale calculation unit 125 of Fig. 1A, which is the heart of the present invention. The present description is made in reference to Fig. 3, 1, 1A, IB and 1C.

Block 301 represents the continuous collection of purchase Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System data through the POS 103 and/or sensors 105, accumulated as purchase pattern information 124 at the store computer system. The purchase pattern is analysed by block 302, in light of the price-reduction criteria 126, to find out whether a low-traffic situation is in effect. For example, whether the conditions 182 or 183 are met. If a low-traffic situation is in effect, then the low-traffic sales promotion procedure 303 is executed, as will be described in detail in Fig. 4 below.

If no low-traffic situation is detected by block 302, then the Sale calculation unit 125 loops in 304 through all items which are not currently on Sale by a previous iteration of the present procedure, to identify items whose present sales are lower than a threshold specified by the price-reduction criteria 126, for example, items which comply with condition 184. Such items are put on Sale as individual items or item combinations through procedure 306, described in detail in Fig. 5-6 below.

Items which are currently on Sale by the present procedure are checked by loop 307 to find our whether their sales increase is effective enough according to predefined expectations included in the price-reduction criteria 126. For example, sales of a slow-selling item which has been put on Sale are checked, to find out whether the average under-Sale sales per customer have been increased as specified in 185. If not, procedure 309 is activated to further reduce the item's price, as described in detail in Fig. 7 below.

Additional information may be taken into account for identifying sales promotion conditions not shown in Fig. 3; for example, inventory information 121, calculated from inventory replenishment information inputted by the merchant and inventory Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System consumption information received from the POS. Inventory of fast- aging items which exceeds a specified threshold at a certain hour may be the cause for a special Sale, while low inventory may cancel or discontinue an item' s Sale which may be otherwise desirous, a shown in the example of criteria 184 in Fig. 1C .

SPECTFTC SALES PROMOTION PROCEDURES - FTC. 4-7 Fig. 4 starts in 401 as a low-traffic situation, defined by the price reduction criteria 126, is detected by block 302 of the main procedure of Fig. 3. In this example, the price of all items is reduced so that the profit margin, which is the difference between the item's basic price and the item's cost, stored in blocks 122 and 123 of Fig. l A, is cut by one or two steps, which is determined by items 182, 183 in Fig. 1C and 168 in Fig. IB. After the reduced price list is calculated by 402, it is activated by 403, which makes all POS charge the new, reduced price. Block 404 announces the global Sale and the reduced prices throughout the Store through the Sale announcement system of Fig. 2. The Sale is maintained as long as the low-traffic status is in effect, as described by block 405. When the low-traffic situation ends, the basic price list is announced by the Sale announcement system of Fig. 2. However, as there are customers in the store who have purchased items under the reduced price list, a delay of, say, 30 minutes is maintained by block 407, until the basic price list is actually activated at the POS 103 by block 408.

Fig. 5 and 6 describe sales promotion of an item or item combination, when slow-selling items are detected by the main procedure of Fig. 3, at block 305. When a slow-selling item is detected at 501, its price is reduced at step 502 according to 184 of Fig. 1 C Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System and 168 of Fig. IB. The reduced price is activated at the POS 103 by 503, and then the item's reduced price is announced by 504 through the Sale announcement system 104. This low price is maintained by 505 for, say, 6 hours, after which its basic price is announced by 506. A delay of, say, 30 minutes is maintained by 507 before the basic price is actually reactivated at the POS 103 by 508, a delay made for in-store customers who have picked items under the reduced price.

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 5, except that the Sale is activated for a combination of items, which requires purchasing the entire combination in order to get the reduced price. In this example, two items, which, according to the price-reduction criteria 186, 187 and 188 of Fig. 1C, form an allowed combination, are detected as slow selling items at 601. At 602 the items' price is reduced so that their profit margin is cut according to 184 of Fig. 1C and 168 of Fig. IB, but only when they are purchased together. The combination reduced price is activated at the POS in 603 and announced in 604, normally through the electronic signs 203 and 204, without changing the individual electronic shelf labels 205 of Fig. 2, except for the display of an optional "COMBO" mark on the screen, which encourages the customer to look for the Sale details at the signs. After waiting for, say, six hours in 605, the basic price is announced, or the special Sale announcement is cancelled by 606. 607 allows 30 minutes until the basic price is reactivated by 608 at the POS, a delay made for in-store customers who have picked up an item combination under the reduced price.

Fig. 7 demonstrates sale promotion with automatic Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System readjustment, for items on Sale by the present invention, which their sales increase is below the expectations predefined by the price-reduction criteria 126 of Fig 1A or, more specifically, by item 184 of Fig. 1C, as detected by the main procedure of Fig. 3 at 308. When such an item is detected at 701, the price is further reduced at 702 by cutting the profit margin by another, price reduction step specified by item 168 of Fig, IB. The new price is activated at the POS 103 by 703, followed by announcing the new price in the Sale announcement system of Fig. 2 at 704. After a delay of, say, 2 hours at 705, the effect of the new price-reduction is checked by 706. If the sales are still insufficient, another price-reduction iteration is initiated at 702. Otherwise, the Sale is maintained for another, say, four hours at 707, and then the basic price is announced in 708 and then reactivated in 710 after a delay in 708 made for in-store customers who have purchased items under the reduced price.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System WIRELESS DATA COMMUNICATION - FIG. B When a large number of displays is involved in the Sale announcement system of Fig. 3, as is the case when electronic shelf labels 205 are included, wireless data communication is advantageous. A wireless data communication system, as described in detail in the cited prior art, comprises a number of transmitters 801, usually located at the store ceiling and hardwired to the store computer system. They send messages through coded pulses 804, which are received by the receivers 805 of the electronic shelf labels 803A, 803B, ... and by the electronic in-store signs 802A, 802B, ... Each receiving unit checks whether the message is addressed to it, and if so, it changes the information stored or displayed therein according to the contents of the message .

ELECTRONIC SHELF LABEL — FIG . 9 900 describes the front panel of an electronic shelf label, located adjacently to the respective merchandise items and operated by the wireless data communication system of Fig. 8.

Wireless receiver 906 receives the coded pulses, which are decoded by the internal circuitry to determine whether they are addressed to the specific label. If so, the information included in the message will update the product-specific information on the screen 901, such as the price 903, price-per-unit 904, and whether the product is on Sale 905 or on combo Sale 908. Sticker 902 includes permanent product information, such as its description and specific bar-code.

Optional blinker 907 is actuated at the electronic shelf Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System labels of items currently on Sale, to attract customer attention and increase the effectiveness of the sales promotion system of the present invention. Logically, it is an extension of the display 901, and instructions regarding the blinking activation, which may include also the blinking rate and blinker on/off ratio, are preferably packed with the display information addressed to the electronic shelf label.

MULTIPLE-REGISTER DISPLAY FOR SIMULTANEOUS PRICE CHANGE - FIG. 10. 10A AND 10B If many prices are to be changed at once, as happens, for example, in the global price-reduction of Fig. 4, then the actual price change in thousands of electronic shelf labels and signs may take many minutes, which may cause temporary discrepancies, for example between the prices shown on electronic signs and prices shown on electronic shelf labels. To allow for a simultaneous change of many displays, which may include both electronic shelf labels and electronic signs, a multiple-register display is proposed, as described in Fig. 10, 10A and 10B. By using such displays, the system of the present invention may take all the time needed to prepare for an alternative price list, and then change and activate the new price list at once.

The display 1003, which may be an electronic shelf label or an electronic sign, displays on the screen 1009 the contents of any specific message register out of 1005A, 1005B, ... 1005N, as determined by the displayed message selector 1006, according to the contents of active message* register 1007.

The price change is made in two steps, as described in Fig. 10A and 10B. Initially at 1019, the active message* register Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System contains the number "1", thus all screens 1003 show on their screen 1009 the content of their message register #1. At 1020 the store computer system 101 prepares the next price list, for example according to the procedure of Fig. 4; the alternative price list is not yet activated at the POS . At 1021, 1022 a series of messages, each addressed to a specific display 1003 by an address which matches the content of its address register 1006, is sent through the data communication link 201. Each message comprises an address, the alternative price to become effective soon, and the number "2" to denote the message register selected for the next effective message. When a display 1003 receives through its receiver 1004 such a message, its controller 1007 checks whether the address in the message matches the address stored in the address register 1006, and if so, it changes the contents of message register 1005B to include the future price included in the received message. However, the content of the message shown on the screen 1009, is still of message register 1005A, because the content of active message* register is still "1". When all displays 1003 have been updated in this way, the store computer system 101 is ready, at 1023, for a global price change .

When an "update prices" command is received at 1030, either automatically, at a predetermined hour or under the merchant decision through the merchant interface 102 of Fig. 1, a single global command is broadcasted at 1031, to change the contents message* register 1007 in all displays 1003 to "2", irrespective of the display address stored in register 1006. This causes a simultaneous, global change of the contents of the information shown on the screen 1009 of all displays 1003. Immediately after Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System this change/ the new price list is activated at 1032 at the store computer system, to affect the prices at the POS.

SALES PROMOTION TO SELECTED CUSTOMER GROUPS - FIR. 11. 11A AND 11 B In some cases, special price-reduction is granted to selected customer groups, such as students, senior citizens or frequent shoppers. The discounted prices are included at the basic price information 122 of Fig. 1A, and may be also further reduced according to the price-reduction criteria 126. When a customer 110 is identifying himself at the POS 103 as belonging to an eligible group by presenting his group ID verifier 1100, he is charged the special prices.

Fig. 11 shows a display which shows temporarily the message assigned to a specific customer group, instead of the standard message shown to the general public. Such a message on an electronic shelf label would be the reduced price, while with an electronic sign it would be special offers related to the specific customer group.

Normally, the active message* register 1110 includes "0", which causes the message selector 1109 to display the contents of the common message register 1112 to be displayed on screen 1111.

Fig. 11A describes the procedure of installing special messages for the selected groups. After computer 101 assigns at 1120 special prices to a selected group, it loops at 1121 through all displays, sending at 1122 messages with the display address, the register* X, the respective group ID, and the special message assigned to said group at said display. The controller 1105 of display 1103, when receiving such a message trough receiver 1104, Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System checks whether the address incorporated in said message matches the contents of register 1106, and if so, changes the contents of a respective register pair 1108X and 1107X, to include the group ID and its corresponding message, respectively.

The operation is described in Fig. 11B, where a customer approaches a display at 1130. In 1131 he uses his group ID transmitter 1101, to identify his group.

The group ID transmitter 1101 is a device which is capable of transmitting group ID information to the display's receiver 1104. If a wireless data communication system is used, such as in Fig. 8 and 9, the group ID transmitter would preferably be a portable, short range wireless transmitter, best implemented in infrared communication. The group ID transmitter 1101 may also serve as the customer group ID verifier 1100 at the POS, or two separate units may be used.

When, at 1131, a group ID is received at display 1103 through receiver 1104, at 1132 the controller 1105 checks whether the received group ID matches any of the group IDs stored in registers 1108A—N . If so, at 1133 the controller changes temporarily the contents of the active message* register 1110 to the number group ID register 1108, which causes the message selector 1109 to display the contents of the respective message register 1107 on the screen 1111. This change is reversed after a predetermined period of time, or as the transmission of the group ID from transmitter 1101 to receiver 1104 terminates.

Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System

Claims (19)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A sales promotion system at a retail store managed by a merchant, said retail store offering a variety of items to customers, comprising: a) a store computer system comprising storage devices to store and update basic price information, purchase pattern information and price-reduction criteria, and a Sale calculation unit to calculate price reductions of items or item combinations according to the basic price information, purchase pattern information and price-reduction criteria. b) at least one point of sale communicating with said store computer system, to identify each purchased item, calculate the total purchase price according to the prices stored in said store computer system, and to update the store computer system of purchased items to update the purchase pattern information stored therein; c) Sale announcement system, controlled by the store computer system, to inform customers on current reduced prices of items or item combinations; d) merchant interface with said store computer system, for entering and updating said cost information, basic price information, and price-reduction criteria.

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein the the Sale announcement system comprises a plurality of electronic shelf labels, each placed adjacently to a group of identical merchandise items, for displaying price information related to the respective items.

3. The system of Claim 1, wherein the the Sale announcement system comprises at least one in-store electronic sign. Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System

4. The system of Claim 1, wherein the Sale announcement system comprises at least one ex-store electronic sign.

5. The system of Claim 1, wherein the Sale announcement system comprises a public address system.

6. The system of Claim 1, further including customer and purchase sensors to detect customer presence and purchase behavior in order to enrich and precipitate said purchase pattern information stored in said store computer system.

7. The system of Claim 1, wherein said Sale calculation unit is programmed by said price reduction criteria to identify, from said purchase pattern information, situations of low traffic, and accordingly to reduce prices in correspondence to the price reduction criteria.

8. The system of Claim 1, wherein said Sale calculation unit is programmed by said price reduction criteria to identify, from said purchase pattern information, slow-selling items, and accordingly to reduce prices on these items in correspondence to the price reduction criteria.

9. The system of Claim 1, wherein said Sale calculation unit is programmed by said price reduction criteria to identify, from said purchase pattern information, situations where the sales increase of items on Sale is insufficient, and to readjust the price reduction of such items according to the price reduction criteria.

10. The system of Claim 1, wherein said store computer system further includes a storage device for maintaining inventory information, and said Sale calculation unit is programmed by said price reduction criteria to identify, from said inventory information, situations where the inventory of a predetermined item exceeds, at a predetermined time, a predetermined quantity, Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System and to reduce the price of such item according to the price reduction criteria.

11. The system of any of the Claim 7—9, where said store computer system further includes a storage device for maintaining inventory information, and said Sale calculation unit is programmed by said price reduction criteria to identify, from said inventory information, situations where the inventory of a predetermined item falls below a predetermined minimal quantity, and to disable price reduction on said item.

12. The system of Claim 1, further comprising a wireless data communication link for the control of said store computer system on said sale announcement system.

13. The system of Claim 12, wherein the wireless data communication link is an infrared data communication link.

14. The system of Claim 2, wherein the electronic shelf label further displaying information identifying whether the price of the respective item is reduced.

15. The system of Claim 2, wherein the electronic shelf label further includes an eye catching indicator seen from distance, signaling that an item is on Sale.

16. The system of Claim 15, where the eye-catching indicator is a light emitting blinker.

17. The system of Claim 2, wherein further: a) each electronic shelf label is having a screen to display messages and its own address register; b) at least some electronic shelf labels having a plurality of message registers each identified by a message register number; and active message number register for storing a single message register number, such that the message Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System actually displayed on the electronic shelf label relates to the content of the message register corresponding to the message register number stored in said active message number register; c) said store computer system capable of communicating with each individual electronic shelf label by its address to change the content of any selected message register therein; d) said store computer system capable of simultaneously communicating with a plurality of electronic shelf labels, to change at once the number stored at their active message number register, thus changing at once the messages displayed by said plurality of electronic shelf labels.

18. The system of Claim 2, wherein further: a) each electronic shelf label having a screen for displaying information, and its own address register; b) at least some electronic shelf labels having a common message register and a number of register pairs each including a group message register and a corresponding group ID register; said common message register and each of said register pairs individually addressable by said store computer system to selectively store group ID and messages therein; c) a portable group ID transmitter carried by a customer to communicate with said electronic shelf labels for identifying the customer's group; d) control means at said electronic shelf label, to temporarily change, when receiving group ID information Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System from said group ID transmitter, the content of the message displayed on the electronic shelf label's screen, from the content of the common message register to the content of the group message register corresponding to said received group ID information.

19. A method for interactive price reduction at a retail store managed by a merchant, said retail store offering a variety of items to customers and colleting payment through its POS hooked to a store computer system, said store further having a Sale announcement system for transmitting price reduction information to the customers, comprising the steps of: a) acquiring sales information from the POS; b) analyzing said sales information to identify situations which justify price reduction to enhance sales; c) changing the prices of items according to the results of said sales information analysis and predetermined price reduction criteria; d) activating the reduced prices at the POS; e) announcing the reduced prices through said Sale announcement system. Eldat Communication Ltd. Interactive Sales Promotion System