JP2021099692A - Electronic rack tag, electronic rack tag system and commodity management method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an electronic rack tag and electronic rack tag system, capable of preventing loss of sales opportunity by enabling the imperfection of a commodity being displayed to be detectable in addition to the display of commodity information.SOLUTION: An electronic rack tag system includes an electronic rack tag management server which executes mutual communication and an electronic rack tag. The electronic rack tag displays commodity information transmitted from the electronic rack tag management server, is disposed in the vicinity of an on-display commodity to be displayed, detects an on-display state of a commodity when the approaching of a customer's hand is detected and transmits the information showing the on-display state to the electronic rack tag management server according to instructions from the electronic rack tag management server. The electronic rack tag management server distributes required information to a portable terminal of a shop employee on the basis of the information showing the on-display state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

It relates to an electronic shelf tag that is installed near a product displayed in a store and displays product information related to the product.

In stores such as supermarkets, if the display status of the products displayed on the display shelves is inadequate, a loss of sales opportunity will occur, and this loss of sales opportunity will have a great impact on the sales of the store. If there is a defect in the product, it is necessary to promptly carry out product management work (organization work and replenishment work) to resolve it. The above-mentioned "defective display state" means that there is a shortage of products, that is, there is no product on the display shelf, or that the display is disturbed, that is, the product is on the display shelf and is not in the shortage state. However, it means that the existence of the product cannot be confirmed from the front of the display shelf.

As related to such product management work, conventionally, there is known a technique of determining the necessity of replenishing a product based on an image of a display area and giving a notification instructing the replenishment work (). The following Patent Document 1). Further, there is known a technique of generating information on a product display method and a shortage status based on an image of a display area and transmitting the information to a terminal of the headquarters (Patent Document 2 below). Further, there is known a technique of determining the necessity of tidying up products based on an image of a rear display worker and giving a notification instructing the tidying up work (Patent Document 3 below).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-081552 JP-A-2002-366621 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-230131

In each of the above documents, a method of monitoring the display state of products by an imaging device has been proposed. However, when using tall display shelves to increase the number of products, or when using display shelves with narrow shelf spacing to give a sense of density in order to make the products look full, conventional imaging devices When it is difficult to install an imaging device by the method of monitoring the display state of products by the above, or even if it can be installed, the number of imaging devices required to monitor products without omission increases and the introduction cost increases. There are issues such as.

By the way, in stores such as supermarkets, it is necessary to display product information such as the name and price of each product to be sold. Conventionally, a shelf tag containing the product name and price is installed near the product and displayed. Was. However, this poses a problem in terms of work efficiency and work cost, and recently, an electronic shelf tag system that electronically displays product information for this product has been proposed. This electronic shelf label system is composed of a plurality of electronic shelf labels and a server provided in the vicinity of each product displayed in a store, and the server and the electronic shelf label are connected by a wireless communication line or the like. In this system, the electronic shelf label is a mechanism in which information for each product displayed in the vicinity of the electronic shelf label is transmitted from the server and displayed. When this electronic shelf label system is adopted, the information for each product can be displayed by displaying the information transmitted from the server on the electronic shelf label provided in the vicinity of each product to be displayed. However, despite the fact that electronic shelf labels are provided in the vicinity of each product, conventional electronic shelf labels and electronic shelf label systems are used to deal with inadequate display conditions such as insufficient product quantity and disordered display. Then no action is taken.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to deal with the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to detect defects in the displayed products as well as simply display the product information, thereby providing a sales opportunity. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic shelf label and an electronic shelf label system that prevent loss of the product.

The invention according to claim 1 is a means for solving the above problems.
An electronic shelf tag system that displays product information
It consists of an electronic shelf label and an electronic shelf label management server that communicate with each other.
The electronic shelf label is installed in the vicinity of the displayed product to be displayed, and is placed in the vicinity of the displayed product.
A means for displaying product information transmitted from the electronic shelf tag management server, and
A means of detecting the approach and detachment of a customer's hand,
A means for detecting the distance from the electronic shelf label to the product,
According to an instruction from the electronic shelf label management server, the electronic shelf label management server is provided with a means for transmitting information indicating the display state of the product derived based on the distance to the product to the electronic shelf label management server.
The electronic shelf label management server is a means for receiving information representing the display state transmitted from the electronic shelf label and a means for receiving the information representing the display state.
It is an electronic shelf tag system characterized by providing means for transmitting predetermined information to a mobile terminal of a store employee based on the information indicating the display state.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that it includes one or more relay devices connected to the electronic shelf label management server, and wirelessly communicates with a plurality of the electronic shelf labels through the relay device. The electronic shelf label system according to 1.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is
The electronic shelf according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more access points connected to the electronic shelf label management server are provided, and wireless communication is performed with the mobile terminal of the store employee through the access point. It is a bill system.

The invention according to claim 4 is an electronic shelf label that can be used in the electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
A communication means that communicates with the electronic shelf label management server and
Display means that displays based on the communication content,
A detection means that detects the approach of the customer's hand and the distance to the product,
Control means to control each means and
A storage means for holding the information necessary for the control, and
It is an electronic shelf label characterized by having at least a power supply means for supplying power to them.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is
It is a product management method using electronic shelf labels.
In the electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, when the electronic shelf label detects the approach of a customer's hand, the distance to the product on the display shelf is detected to bring the product into the display state. When it is determined that there is a deficiency, it is a product management method characterized by transmitting information for correcting the deficiency to a mobile terminal of a store employee.

Further, in the invention according to claim 6, the information for correcting the deficiency is provided.
The product management method according to claim 5, wherein at least the position information of the electronic shelf label, which is determined to be defective in the product display state, and the product name are included.

Further, the invention according to claim 7 is the position information of the electronic shelf label and the position information of the mobile terminal of the store employee when there are a plurality of electronic shelf labels determined to be defective in the product display state. Is characterized by using Dijkstra's algorithm, Belman-Ford's algorithm, Floyd-Warshall-Floyd's algorithm, or other shortest path derivation algorithm to find the optimal patrol route for the defect correction of the store employee. The product management method according to claim 5 or 6.

According to the present invention, the electronic shelf label constituting the electronic shelf label system is provided with a means for detecting the display state of the product, and detects the display state of the product corresponding to the product displayed on the electronic shelf label. Therefore, it is possible to detect the display disorder of this product and the shortage of the product. Therefore, in the conventional method of monitoring the display state of products by an imaging device, the introduction cost due to the increase in the number of imaging devices does not increase significantly, and even when the installation of the imaging device is difficult, the display of products is disturbed or the products are displayed. It is possible to know the shortage of products and prevent the loss of sales opportunities.

In addition, the electronic shelf labels that make up the electronic shelf label system are further equipped with detection of the approach of the customer's hand, and detect the approach of the customer's hand at a place corresponding to the product displayed on the electronic shelf label. By detecting the display state of the product corresponding to the product displayed on the electronic shelf label, the customer's behavior can also be detected. For example, if there is a big change in the display state of the product after detecting the approach of the customer's hand, the product is sold, if there is no change or the change is slight, it is once obtained but restored. , Etc. can be obtained.

Further, only when the approach of the customer's hand is detected, the display state of the product needs to be detected and the customer's behavior information and the display state information need to be transmitted to the electronic shelf label management server by communication means, so that the electronic shelf label is a battery. It is possible to reduce the power consumption in the case of driving. A product that should be improved on the mobile terminal of an employee when the electronic shelf label management server analyzes customer behavior information and display status information obtained from the electronic shelf label and determines that the display status is inadequate. Employees can patrol efficiently because they can be notified of the location of the location. In addition, when there are multiple locations of products to be improved, the location of employees and the location of products to be improved can be analyzed to provide the optimum patrol route.

A block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic shelf label. External view of the electronic shelf label. The block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic shelf label system using the electronic shelf label. Arrangement example of display shelves. A table showing the results of the shortest patrol route in FIG. The figure which showed the situation of the product display shelf for demonstrating the operation of the electronic shelf label. A schematic flowchart showing the operation of an electronic shelf label. A schematic flowchart showing the operation of the sensor detection process.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic shelf label 1, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the electronic shelf label 1.

The electronic shelf label 1 includes an MCU (Micro Controller Unit) 11 as a control means, a memory 14 as a storage means, a wireless communication unit 12 having an antenna 121 as a communication means, a display unit 13 as a display means, and a detection means. It is composed of a part 15 of the sensor and a power supply unit 16 as a power supply means. Further, the MCU 11, the memory 14, the wireless communication unit 12, the display unit 13, and the sensor unit 15 are connected to each other via the serial interface line 17. The MCU 11 is composed of a CPU core, a memory for storing a program, a timer, an input / output unit for communicating with an external peripheral device, and the like, and performs various processes according to the stored program. The memory 14 has image information to be displayed on the display unit 13, sensor information from the sensor unit 15, wireless information from the wireless communication unit 12, wireless information to the wireless communication unit 12, and ID information of the electronic shelf label 1. , Etc. are stored. The wireless communication unit 12 is composed of a wireless device using a power-saving short-range wireless communication technology in the sub-GHZ band. The antenna 121 of the wireless communication unit 12 is provided with a small chip antenna on the upper part of the housing of the electronic shelf tag 1. The wireless communication unit 12 can use various communication technologies other than the power-saving short-range wireless communication technology in the sub-GHZ band. However, since the sub-GHZ band is excellent in radio wave propagation characteristics (line-of-sight communication distance, wraparound characteristics), good communication is possible even if the electronic shelf label 1 is arranged at a position with poor line-of-sight, which is preferable. The display unit 13 is composed of electronic paper, and displays product information, price information, product management barcode information, and the like. The display unit 13 can use a display means other than electronic paper such as an LCD. However, electronic paper is convenient for battery operation because it does not consume electric power except when the display is rewritten. The sensor unit 15 has an infrared sensor 151 as a detection means for detecting that a customer's hand approaches or passes above the electronic shelf tag 1, and a detection that is arranged on the back surface of the electronic shelf tag 1 and detects a distance to a product. It is composed of ultrasonic distance sensors 152 and 153 as means.

In FIG. 2, an infrared sensor is used as a detection means for detecting the approaching or passing of the customer's hand, but another sensor may be used as long as it can detect the approaching or passing of the customer's hand. Similarly, an ultrasonic distance sensor is used as a detection means for detecting the distance to the product, but another sensor may be used as long as the distance to the product can be detected.

Further, in FIG. 2, the infrared sensor 151 is arranged toward the upper side of the electronic shelf label 1, but it may be arranged at a side other than the upper side as long as it is arranged toward the side where the customer's hand approaches or passes.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic shelf label system using the electronic shelf label 1. The electronic shelf label system is a system used in stores such as supermarkets and retail stores, and manages an electronic shelf label 1 installed in the vicinity where products are displayed for each product in the store and a plurality of electronic shelf labels 1. The electronic shelf label management server 2, the access point 3, the relay device 4, and the mobile terminal 5 are provided. The electronic shelf label system illustrated here includes four electronic shelf labels 1, two relay devices 14, one access point 3, and one mobile terminal 5. , More electronic shelf labels 1, a relay device 4, an access point 3, and a mobile terminal 5 can be provided, and the number of electronic shelf labels 1 and the repeater 4 included in the electronic shelf label system. May be less than the illustrated example. In the illustrated electronic shelf label system, the electronic shelf label management server 2, the access point 3, and the plurality of relay devices 4 are connected by a wired network, and data communication can be performed with each other. Further, the access point 3 and the mobile terminal 5 are connected by a wireless network such as a wireless LAN, and data communication can be performed with each other. Further, these electronic shelf labels 1 and the relay device 4 are connected by a wireless network using a power-saving short-range wireless communication technology in the sub-GHz band, and data communication can be performed with each other. As a result, the electronic shelf label management server 2 and the mobile terminal 5, the electronic shelf label management server 2 and these electronic shelf labels 1 can perform data communication with each other.

In the illustrated example, the electronic shelf label management server 2 and the relay device 4 are connected by a wired network, but the wired network to a part or all of the relay device 4 is replaced with a wireless network such as a wireless LAN to replace the access point 3 You may connect with a wireless network such as a wireless LAN via. By making the connection between the electronic shelf label management server 2 and the relay device 4 wireless, it becomes easy to introduce the electronic shelf label system and add the relay device 4. The access point 3 relays information from the electronic shelf label management server 2 to the mobile terminal 5. Conversely, information is also relayed from the mobile terminal 5 to the electronic shelf label management server and information to the relay device 4. The relay device 4 relays information from the electronic shelf label management server 2 to the electronic shelf label 1. On the contrary, information is also relayed from the electronic shelf label 1 to the electronic shelf label management server 2.

The electronic shelf label management server 2 analyzes the information from the electronic shelf label 1, and when it is determined that the display status is defective, the electronic shelf label management server 2 corresponds to each pre-registered product of the product with the defective display status. Information such as the location information and product name of 1 is transmitted to the mobile terminal 5. Further, when there are a plurality of products having a defective display state, the electronic shelf label management server 2 analyzes the position information of the electronic shelf label 1 corresponding to each product registered in advance and the position of the target mobile terminal 5. Then, information such as the position information and product name of the electronic shelf label 1 corresponding to each pre-registered product of the product having an incomplete display state is transmitted to the target mobile terminal 5 in order so as to be the optimum patrol route. To do. Electronic by using the radio wave strength from multiple access points, using the radio wave of short-range wireless communication including the ID information of a specific electronic shelf label 1 as a radio wave beacon, or installing a separate radio wave beacon device. The position of the target mobile terminal 5 can be notified to the shelf tag management server 2.

The following method can be used as an example for searching for the optimum patrol route. FIG. 4 is an example of the arrangement of the display shelves (201), and shows a plan view of the arrangement. In this example, a certain range of display shelves is indicated by circles as one node (vertex), and adjacent nodes are arranged at equal intervals. In this example, the nodes are evenly spaced, but each spacing can be set freely. In addition, the distance and time of the interval are expressed as cost. In addition, nodes are connected by edges, and a certain range of electronic shelf labels on display shelves are linked to individual nodes. Here, the numbers in the circles represent the node numbers. Finding the shortest patrol route is to find the route that minimizes the above-mentioned cost. S in FIG. 4 indicates the location of the mobile terminal 5, R1, R2, and R3 indicate the locations of defective products. When represented by node numbers, S is node 8, R1 is node 7, and R2 is node 9. , R3 is node 17.

In order to find the shortest patrol route, it is necessary to search for the shortest route of the node between the two target points. Algorithms such as Dijkstra's algorithm, Bellman-Ford algorithm, and Washaroufroid method can be used as the shortest path search method. Further, when all the edges (edges) are not weighted at equal intervals as in the example of FIG. 7, breadth-first search and depth-first search algorithms can be used. The Dijkstra method and the Bellman-Ford method are methods for finding the cost of the shortest path between a specific node and all other nodes, and the Washaroufroid method is a relatively simple implementation of the cost of the shortest path between all nodes. There is a feature that can be obtained at once. In the embodiment, the washer roofroid method is used in advance to obtain the shortest path cost between each node and hold it in the electronic shelf label management server 2. The cost of the shortest path may be obtained each time, or another shortest path search method may be used.

In the example of FIG. 4, the shortest route of the node 8 to R1 of S, the node 9 of node 7 to R2, and the node 17 of node 9 to R3, which are the locations of the mobile terminal 5, is searched, and then the node of R1. The shortest routes of node 9 of 7 to R2, node 7 of R1 to node 17 of R3, and node 9 of R2 to node 17 of R3 are searched, and the shortest route and its cost are held. Then, the route with the minimum cost is obtained from the combination of all routes passing through the target node. If the number of target nodes is N, the combination is N! (Factial). In the case of FIG. 7, since N = 3, the number of combinations is 3! = 6. Since the combinations increase exponentially as N increases, it is necessary to limit the number of places to be visited at one time to the number commensurate with the calculation performance of the electronic shelf label management server. When the defect of the product is improved in the patrol, the electronic shelf label management server 2 is notified of the improvement. If a new defect occurs during the patrol, the patrol route is grasped by the electronic shelf label management server 2. Therefore, if the place is on the patrol route and before the patrol, it is possible to notify the place where the product is defective through the mobile terminal.

FIG. 5 is a table showing the results of finding the shortest patrol route in FIG.
FIG. 5A is a table showing the results of the shortest path between two points of the target node and its cost. However, the shortest paths D, E, and F have no route directionality, and the cost between adjacent nodes connected by an edge is set to 1. FIG. 5B is a table in which the total cost for the combination of routes is calculated. According to this table, the minimum total cost is 11, and the combination of the shortest routes is A + E + F. Therefore, the shortest patrol route is 8-5-4-3-7-10-13-17 in terms of node number. The order is -16-15-12-9, and the order is the location of the product of R1, the location of the product of R3, and the location of the product of R2.

Subsequently, the operation of the electronic shelf label 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

FIG. 6 is an example showing the state of the product display shelf for explaining the operation of the electronic shelf tag 1. It shows the display state of the display shelves 25 of the electronic shelf tags (31, 31, 33, 34) and the target products (21, 22, 23, 24), respectively. In FIG. 6, the upper part of the display shelf 25 shows the state in which the product 21 and the product 22 are displayed without any defects, and the lower left part of the display shelf 25 shows that the customer's hand electronically purchases the product 23. It shows a state of approaching the shelf tag 33. Further, the lower right of the display shelf 25 shows a state in which the product 24 has already been purchased on the back side of the electronic shelf tag 34 and the product 24 is not on the front surface of the display shelf.

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the electronic shelf label 1. In FIG. 7, the electronic shelf label 1 confirms whether or not information is received from the electronic shelf label management server 2 as step S1. When there is reception (Y in step S2) and the received information is the display change (Y in step S3), the display change process is performed on the display unit 13 of the electronic shelf label 1 based on the received information (Y in step S3). Step S5), the process returns to step S1. When the received information is not the display change in step S3 (N in step S3) and the received information is the reference acquisition (Y in step S4), the distance to the product is acquired and the reference value (R) is electronic. It is held in the memory 14 of the shelf tag 1 (step S6), and the process returns to step S1. If the received information is not the reference acquisition in step S4 (N in step S4), internal processing is performed based on the received information (step S7), and the process returns to step S1. In the schematic flowchart of FIG. 5, all the processes for the electronic shelf label 1 other than the display change (step S5) and the reference value acquisition (step S6), which are the main operations of the electronic shelf label 1, are represented as internal processes (step S7). ing. If there is no information received from the electronic shelf label management server 2 in step S2 (N in step S2), the sensor detection process is performed (step S10), and the process returns to step S1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the sensor detection process (step S10 in FIG. 7). In FIG. 6, the electronic shelf label 1 confirms the movement of the customer's hand by the infrared sensor 151 (step S11). If the approach of the customer's hand cannot be detected (N in step S12), the sensor detection process ends without performing anything. When the approach of the customer's hand can be detected (Y in step S12), the detection by the infrared sensor 151 is repeated until the separation of the customer's hand can be detected (N in step S13). When the separation of the customer's hand can be detected in step S13 (Y in step S13), the distance (C) to the product is acquired by the distance sensor (152,153) (step S14), and the value is used as the electronic shelf label 1. It is held in the memory 14. The reference value (R) held in the memory 14 of the electronic shelf label 1 in step S6 of FIG. 7 is compared with the distance (C) acquired in step S14 and held in the memory 14 of the electronic shelf label 1 (step S15). The result is held in the memory 14 of the electronic shelf label 1, and the information of the comparison result is transmitted to the electronic shelf label management server 2 via the wireless communication unit 12 of the electronic shelf label 1. After the transmission is completed, the value of the distance (C) to the product held in the memory 14 of the electronic shelf label 1 is replaced with the reference value (R) held in the memory 14 of the electronic shelf label 1 (step S17), and the sensor is detected. End the process.

The electronic shelf label management server 2 can obtain the following information from the information transmitted from the electronic shelf label 1 in association with the operation of the electronic shelf label 1 described above. For example, if the comparison method is positive, the value obtained by subtracting the reference value (R) from the distance (C) indicates that the customer has purchased the product and that there is no product in front of the display shelf, and that the approach and separation are performed. If the value of the distance (C) and the reference value (R) are the same while detecting, the customer did not purchase the product without picking it up, and the reference value (R) was subtracted from the distance (C). If the value of the distance (C) and the value of the reference value (R) become the same within a short time after the value is positive, the customer picks up the product and then returns it to the display shelf. In addition to detecting inadequate display status, it is possible to obtain information on customer behavior, which can be useful for marketing.

1 Electronic shelf label 2 Electronic shelf label management server 3 Access point 4 Relay device 5 Mobile terminal 11 MCU
12 Wireless communication unit 13 Display unit 14 Memory 15 Sensor unit 16 Power supply unit 17 Serial interface line 21, 22, 23, 24 Product 25 Product display shelf 31, 32, 33, 34 Electronic shelf label 121 Antenna 151 Infrared sensor 152, 153 Super Sound sensor

Claims (7)

An electronic shelf tag system that displays product information
It consists of an electronic shelf label and an electronic shelf label management server that communicate with each other.
The electronic shelf label is installed in the vicinity of the displayed product to be displayed, and is placed in the vicinity of the displayed product.
A means for displaying product information transmitted from the electronic shelf tag management server, and
A means of detecting the approach and detachment of a customer's hand,
A means for detecting the distance from the electronic shelf label to the product,
According to an instruction from the electronic shelf label management server, the electronic shelf label management server is provided with a means for transmitting information indicating the display state of the product derived based on the distance to the product to the electronic shelf label management server.
The electronic shelf label management server is a means for receiving information representing the display state transmitted from the electronic shelf label and a means for receiving the information representing the display state.
An electronic shelf tag system comprising a means for transmitting predetermined information to a mobile terminal of a store employee based on information indicating the display state. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, further comprising one or more relay devices connected to the electronic shelf label management server, and wirelessly communicating with a plurality of the electronic shelf labels through the relay device. The electronic shelf according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more access points connected to the electronic shelf label management server are provided, and wireless communication is performed with the mobile terminal of the store employee through the access point. Tag system. An electronic shelf label that can be used in the electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
A communication means that communicates with the electronic shelf label management server and
Display means that displays based on the communication content,
A detection means that detects the approach of the customer's hand and the distance to the product,
Control means to control each means and
A storage means for holding the information necessary for the control, and
An electronic shelf tag characterized in that it is provided with at least a power supply means for supplying power to these. It is a product management method using electronic shelf labels.
In the electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, when the electronic shelf label detects the approach of a customer's hand, the distance to the product on the display shelf is detected to bring the product into the display state. A product management method characterized in that when it is determined that there is a deficiency, information for correcting the deficiency is transmitted to a mobile terminal of a store employee. Information for correcting the above deficiencies
The product management method according to claim 5, wherein at least the position information of the electronic shelf label, which is determined to be defective in the product display state, and the product name are included. When there are a plurality of electronic shelf labels that are determined to be defective in the product display state, the position information of the electronic shelf labels and the position information of the mobile terminal of the store employee are analyzed, and the Dijkstra method and the Bellman-Ford method are used. The fifth or sixth aspect of claim 5, wherein the optimal patrol route for the correction of the deficiency of the store employee is obtained by using any of the Floyd-Warshall-Floyd methods or other shortest path derivation algorithms. Product management method.

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