RU2709282C1 - Method of analyzing delays at cash registers and device for its implementation - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: computer engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method and a device for analyzing delays in cash registers. Method comprises transmitting data on technical operations of POS terminals from POS terminals of a sales point to a central server in which said data are processed and analyzed by determining start and end markers of operations, performing calculations of the "end minus start" or by generating and verifying hypotheses based on logical sequences and relationships between technical and manual operations included in operations, changes in incoming cash flow when paying goods at POS terminals, occurring errors when working with POS-terminals, non-standard behavior and unscheduled output from the business process, observation and influence of external factors, on the basis of the performed analysis, delays in technical operations at POS-terminals are determined and an economic indicator of influence of delays on the profit of the trading point is calculated.

EFFECT: automation of analysis and determination of delays at cash registers.

6 cl, 6 dwg

Description

The invention relates to data processing systems and methods specifically designed for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervisory or prognostic purposes in trade, and can be used to analyze data delays on cash registers for enterprises of the retail network.

In accordance with GOST R 51303-99 “Trade. Terms and definitions ”, which entered into force on January 1, 2000, defines the concept of a distribution network. A retail chain is a collection of retailers and other trading units located in a certain territory for the purpose of selling goods and servicing customers or under common control. This is the main organizational and technical link through which goods are brought to the consumer and their needs for a variety of consumer goods are met. The retail distribution network provides the opportunity to quickly, conveniently, with the minimum expenditure of time and energy, acquire the necessary goods and services in a free choice in a convenient quantity, not far from the place of work and housing.

The prior art device for registering goods at the trading terminal, disclosed in the application for US patent US20060074772 from 06.04.2006. The device comprises a cash register terminal (POS, Fig. 3, pos. 10, 12), an integration bus (Fig. 3, pos. 58) and a central processing server (Fig. 3, paragraph [0046] of the description). This device is designed to reduce the scan time of the product barcode by switching the POS operating screen of the cash register terminal to the main operating screen using the screen selection key on the screen keyboard panel, recognizing the fulfillment of a predetermined condition.

In the well-known technical solution, the POS terminal (from the English Point Of Sale - the point of sale and the English Terminal - end) is an electronic software and hardware device for accepting payment cards, it can accept cards with a chip, a magnetic strip and contactless cards , as well as other devices having contactless pairing. Also, the POS terminal often means the entire hardware and software complex that is installed at the cashier’s workplace, including for receiving cash. In addition to accounting for sales, the POS terminal can also accumulate other data for subsequent analysis.

A POS terminal can also be a so-called mobile cash desk with all the necessary equipment for sales - see, for example, https://www.pilot.ru/catalog/programmnoe-obespechenie/profi-t/mobilnye-kassy/. This device has a limitation in the impossibility of analyzing the identification of the causes of delays in technical operations on POS terminals.

A known method of operational analysis of the queue according to patent application US20090249342 of 01.10.2009, based on the determination of the total transaction time of purchases and the transaction time of each item of purchase. This method uses queue state video analytics and radio frequency transaction identification.

The specified known method for determining the timeout for the operational queue includes receiving video data associated with the first operational queue; data processing to determine the set of elements represented by the first object for the transaction in the first operational queue; estimating the total transaction time for the first object based on the number of elements represented by the first object and the transaction time for each number of elements; and determining a timeout for the first operational queue based on the estimated total transaction time for the first entity.

In addition, this method includes determining a timeout for the first operational queue and estimating the total transaction time for the second object in the first operational queue. If the waiting time for the first operational queue is longer than the first threshold, an alarm is generated.

The transaction time for each number of elements includes a predetermined period of time and depends on the characteristics of each element.

Determining the timeout for the first operational queue further includes identifying many objects in the first operational queue.

If the waiting time for the first operational queue is greater than the first threshold, then indicate the availability of the second operational queue to the third object. In this case, the first threshold includes a predetermined time interval, a plurality of elements, or a waiting time for the second operational queue.

The disadvantages of this method are that it does not allow to evaluate the speed of the staff, manual operations and what actions lead to delays in service, if any; it does not allow to determine the abandoned items of purchases at the POS-terminal (and / or at the point of sale); it does not allow to evaluate the coverage in cash if it is not possible to pay for the purchase by non-cash payment method; It does not provide the ability to determine which events lead to an increase in the purchase time (full transaction time) with the possibility of financial assessment of the cost of downtime; it does not allow to determine the estimate of the cost of shortfalls in the turnover of retail outlets; It does not provide the possibility of correlation of technical operations events at POS-terminals, leading to loss of consumer traffic and the turnover of retail outlets.

The problem solved by the invention is the collection, analysis and notification of a retail network about events occurring at POS terminals in at least one retail outlet.

The technical result obtained when using the invention is to identify the causes of delays in technical operations at POS terminals, reduce the total transaction time, provide an opportunity to assess the loss of retail sales by retail outlets when paying for a purchase by non-cash payment and / or cash surcharge, as well as assess loss of retail sales and consumer traffic by retail outlets in case of errors in technical operations at POS-terminals, or in the event of Oev if necessary sending requests and receiving responses from external systems (such as loyalty). In addition, the invention allows to identify the time spent on manual operations, and to evaluate the speed of staff on the POS terminal to get an idea of what actions can potentially cause delays in service.

To solve the problem with achieving the specified technical results in the claimed method for analyzing delays at cash registers from POS-terminals of the outlet using the integration bus, data on the technical operations of POS-terminals about the beginning of opening a check, the number of elements of a check, and the total time spent are transmitted to a central server on the check and time for each item of the check, determining the waiting time for the next check, as well as data on the start of payment for the purchase, type of payment, in case of an error of non-cash payment you - to change the type of payment for cash and change the number of items to be paid in cash in the check, and data on the left on the POS-terminal elements of unpaid check. The central server processes these data and analyzes them, and based on the analysis they determine the delays in technical operations at POS terminals and calculate the economic indicator of the effect of delays on the profit of the outlet.

There are additional options for implementing the method, in which it is advisable that the economic indicator of the effect of delays on the profit of the outlet displayed graphically; For the outlet, we used the total number of its POS-terminals, as well as the total number of POS-terminals of other retail outlets of the retail network, and calculated the economic indicator of the impact of delays on profit for each retail outlet of the retail network.

To solve the problem with the achievement of the specified technical results, the device for analyzing delays on cash registers contains POS-terminals of an outlet, an integration bus and a central server. The outputs of the POS-terminals of the outlet through the integration bus are connected to the input of the central server. As the output of the POS terminals, data on the technical operations of the POS terminals are used, in particular, data on the beginning of the opening of the check, the number of elements of the check, the total time spent on the check and time for each element of the check, determining the waiting time for the next check, data on the start of payment purchases, type of payment, in case of a non-cash payment error - a change in the type of payment for cash and a change in the number of items paid in cash on the check, as well as data on the unpaid items left at the POS terminal s of check elements. The central server is capable of processing the specified data and analyzing the causes of delays in technical operations at POS terminals, as well as calculating the economic indicator of the impact of delays on the profit of the outlet.

Additional embodiments of the claimed device are possible, in which it is advisable for the central server to be able to graphically display the economic indicator of the impact of delays on profit at the outlet; the central server was configured to process data for a point of sale of the total number of its POS terminals, to process data for the total number of POS-terminals of other retail outlets, and to calculate the economic indicator of the impact of delays on profit for each retail outlet .

These advantages, as well as the features of the present invention are further explained using the detailed disclosure of an advantageous variant of its implementation with reference to the figures.

In FIG. 1 shows a functional diagram of the device.

In FIG. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of data transmission from a POS terminal to a central server.

In FIG. 3 shows a simplified block diagram of the central server operation algorithm according to FIG. 1 to pay for purchases in cash, non-cash and cash surcharges.

In FIG. Figure 4 presents a list of aggregation by dates, errors of the retail network and an estimate of the cost of shortfalls in the turnover of outlets, containing an estimate of coverage by cash payment method in case it is not possible to pay for purchases by non-cash payment method.

In FIG. Figure 5 shows a graphical display of information about the coverage of non-cash payment, the completion of a cash transaction and the disruption of a transaction.

In FIG. Figure 6 shows a heat map for assessing the shortfall of retail sales by retail outlets when paying for a purchase by non-cash payment method.

Since the claimed method is implemented during operation of the device (see Fig. 1), its detailed description is given in the operation section of this device.

A device for analyzing delays at cash registers contains POS terminals 1 of a point of sale, an integration bus 2 and a central server 3. The outputs of POS terminals 1 of a point of sale are connected via an integration bus 2 to the input of a central server 3. As the output data of POS terminals 1, use data on the technical operations of POS terminals 1, such as data on the beginning of the opening of the check, the number of elements of the check, the total elapsed time for the check and time for each element of the check, determining the waiting time for the next check, data payment payment type, in the event of a non-cash payment error - a change in the type of cash payment and a change in the number of items paid in cash on the check, data on the unpaid check items left on the POS terminal.

The central server 3 is configured to process the specified data and analyze the causes of delays in technical operations at POS terminals 1 and provides the calculation of the economic indicator of the impact of delays on the profit of the outlet.

The central server 3 is also configured to graphically display an economic indicator of the impact of delays on profits at a point of sale.

In addition, the central server 3 is configured to process data for the outlet for the total number of its POS terminals 1, process data for the total number of POS terminals of other retail outlets of the retail network, and calculate the economic indicator of the impact of delays in technical operations on profit for each retail outlet retail network.

The claimed device (Fig. 2) works as follows.

In POS terminals 1 in block 10, data on technical operations is generated: about the beginning of the opening of the check, the number of elements of the check, the total elapsed time for the check and time for each element of the check, the determination of the waiting time for the next check, as well as data about the start of payment for the purchase, type of payment , in case of a non-cash payment error - a change in the type of cash payment and a change in the number of items paid in cash on the check, data on the unpaid check items left on POS terminal 1. From POS-terminals 1, all possible information about their work is collected - full technical information, that is, in essence, LOG-files of the work of all cash register systems, regardless of the type of cash terminal and the software used, including regardless of which operating system used on POS-terminals 1.

The list of main (top-level) operations is shown in Table 1, not limited to all operations of a lower level nested in them.

Table 1: Operations on the POS terminal.

No. Operation 1 Opening a trading day at the checkout 2 Adding / removing goods to / from check 3 The use of discounts and loyalty cards, coupons, gift cards 4 Acceptance of payment, cashless and cash 5 Printing a sales receipt and slip 6 Check cancellation or cancellation 7 Purchase returns 8 Sending an electronic version of the check 9 Shift closure

Next, in block 11, a data generation is selected. There are two options for transmitting data from POS-terminals 1.

In block 12, information is transmitted about the transmission of information via the UDP / TCP protocol, and in block 13, information is recorded in a logical file, from which, through block 14, the formation of a high-level programming language Python or Filebeat. Also, from block 12, information is supplied to block 15 for receiving an integration bus message 2.

Next, in block 16, data preprocessing is performed — data normalization, and normalized data is transmitted to data transmission block 17. As integration bus 2 can be used technologies Logstash, Kafka, RabbitMQ and others known to a person skilled in the art.

From block 17, the information is transmitted to block 18 for receiving data from the central server 3. The central server 3 is equipped with a module for processing, aggregating and analyzing data, working, for example, using Yandex. ClickHouse technology or otherwise. Then, in block 19 of the central server 3, they process and analyze the received data by determining the markers of the beginning and end of operations (selling goods, scanning goods, using a loyalty card, paying for goods, etc.), performing calculations of the time of operations “end minus beginning”, or by forming and testing hypotheses based on logical sequences and relationships between technical and manual operations that are part of the operations described in Table 1 above, changes in incoming cash flow ke to pay for goods at the POS-terminals 1, errors that occur when working with POS-terminal 1, a non-standard behavior and unplanned exit from the business process monitoring, and the impact of external factors.

Hypothesis testing and calculating the duration of operations is carried out using programming languages designed for statistical data processing, for example, R, Python or otherwise, including the use of data analysis modules. As a result of the analysis, at the output of block 19, an economic indicator of the influence of delays, the number of errors that occur and other factors indicated above, but not limited to, on the profit of the outlet using sales assessment methods, such as the LFL method, that is, comparing comparable indicators of the same groups, is calculated outlets.

Block 20 serves to graphically display information, for which the central server 3 is equipped with a module for displaying graphical information, in particular, a system for aggregating data and displaying graphs in real time, such as Grafana or otherwise.

In accordance with the flowchart of the central server 3 operation algorithm (see Fig. 3), data is inputted in order to analyze the purchase in cash, non-cash using cards, as well as the surcharge of the cash purchase in block 31. Block 32 records the operation (time) of the start of a new check. In block 33, the elements of the check are fixed and the last element (customer’s product) is added to the check. Block 34 records the beginning of payment for the purchase. Block 35 fixes the type of payment (cash or non-cash) and the total purchase price. Block 36 records the end (time) of payment.

Block 37 decision making determines the success of the payment: if "Yes", the data is fed to the input of block 38, which records the success of the purchase and its value. This data is displayed in block 39.

Upon the “No” output of decision block 37, the data from blocks 32–36 are sent to the input of block 40, which fixes the payment error and clarifies the purchase price, taking into account the elements paid for by non-cash funds. Block 41 records the change in the type of payment after a payment error by non-cash means. From the output of block 41, data on the unpaid elements of the check are sent to the input of decision block 42: has the payment type been changed? If “No”, block 43 fixes the error, purchase price, value of unpaid elements of the check, and this data is displayed in block 44.

If the payment type is changed, then the data from the “Yes” output of the decision block 42 is sent to the input of the block 45, which records the type of payment - cash and clarification of the purchase price, taking into account the surcharge of previously unpaid elements of the check. These data go to the input of decision block 37, which records the success of the purchase and its cost. If “Yes”, then data on payment of check items paid by cashless and cash through block 38 goes to block 39. If “No”, then data through blocks 40–43 goes to block 44.

The calculation of the economic indicator of the impact of delays, the number of errors and other factors on the profit of the outlet can be carried out in various ways, for example, calculating the cost of one second of the buyer’s delay at POS terminal 1, calculating the cost of downtime and the inability to pay for goods by bank transfer, calculating the quantity and cost the impossibility of scanning and selling bottles with alcoholic brands, the calculation of the value of reversed goods due to any error that has a potential impact on this.

The data display by the device unit 21 (Fig. 2), depending on the technical conditions, can be carried out both for a separate outlet and for a retail outlet.

For example, information on economic indicators can be reflected in the form of a list (Fig. 4). The list contains information on the amount of shortfalls in non-cash payments by day. The rows show the indicators for the day indicated in the first column, the following columns contain information about the total number of errors for that day, about the amount of shortfall that was not ultimately paid in cash, and about the percentage of how much was paid in cash of the total .

The diagram (Fig. 5) provides information on the shortage of non-cash payment in a convenient graphical form. The abscissa axis represents the day by hours, the ordinate axis represents the total retail store turnover. The indicators are presented in the form of columns with a color breakdown of successful and failed purchases: light indicates the amounts with successfully completed purchases, dark indicates the sums with unsuccessful purchases, i.e. shortage.

The diagram (Fig. 6) shows the heat map of shortfalls per day with a breakdown by stores and hours. On the abscissa axis, stores are presented indicating the amount of the shortfall, along the ordinate axis, the time interval for which information is displayed. The more saturated the color (darker) at the indicator at the intersection of the abscissa and ordinates, the greater the shortfall at the store over the time period.

Examples of the claimed method.

The general algorithm for analyzing the log received from POS-terminals 1, with subsequent evaluation using the example of scanning a product barcode (except for tobacco and / or alcohol), is presented in the form of steps below.

1. The markers of the beginning and end of operations (manually) are determined.

2. The correctness of the found markers is checked, for which the first test operation is carried out on a real physical POS terminal 1 (for example, one product - one scan).

3. A line is searched in the log by means of a regular expression (see https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular expressions ) with a marker, and a metric is generated at the output of central server 3, for example, the end time of an operation minus the start time of an operation .

4. Based on the identified metric, information is collected from the retail outlet and / or retail outlets of the retail network and graphing is performed.

5. The analysis of the metric zone with a deviation from the mathematical expectation plus three standard deviations is carried out.

6. The effect on the retail trade turnover of the zone is calculated.

7. A way is chosen to eliminate the problem of delayed sales (by revision, bypass, monitoring).

8. Based on the method selected in step 7, a solution is formed (change request, set of instructions, script).

9. After the implementation of the selected solution, retail retail turnover growth is estimated using sales valuation methods, such as the LFL method (https://www.retail.ru/glossary/lfl/).

Example 1 Shortage of retail turnover due to the inability to pay for goods by non-cash method at the POS terminal 1.

1. A line is searched in the log by means of a regular expression indicating the type of error “No connection with the bank”.

2. Information is recorded that the check was not paid by bank transfer.

3. Information is searched in the LOG-file about the further possible payment for goods in cash.

4. If the check has been paid, the algorithm is exited with the decision on the correct payment.

5. If the check was not paid in cash, the amount of the check is recorded.

6. Summarize all received checks in the aggregate function of the total shortfall in trade.

Example 2. Evaluation of the cost of the error of signing alcoholic beverages when selling at the POS terminal 1.

In order to sell alcohol at POS-terminal 1, in accordance with the current rules, it is required to sign the check through an external system.

1. A line is searched in the log by means of a regular expression indicating the type of error.

2. Information is recorded about which product is not possible to sell.

3. The value of the goods, which was not possible to sell, is fixed.

4. All the obtained values of the goods are summarized in the aggregate function of the general shortfall in trade in the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Example 3 Algorithm for calculating the effect of errors on retail sales when selling goods at a point of sale.

1. The log received from the POS-terminal 1 at the time of sale is analyzed.

2. A list of errors that occurred during the sale process is compiled.

3. Errors are classified, for example: there is no price, it is impossible to receive payment, etc.

4. The cost of the error is determined (if possible each separately).

Examples of assessing the economic impact of a failure in communication channels for cashless payments, failures in the sale of alcoholic beverages, and failures in self-contained cash nodes are given below.

Example 4 Assessment of failures in communication channels with retail outlets (cashless payment).

Type of accident: lack of a communication channel and access to the network from a point of sale, as a result of which it is not possible to pay by card, as bank confirmation is required.

Communication channels with shops provide non-cash payment and loyalty services. Interruption of communication with retail outlets immediately leads to a halt of these services and a decrease in the retail retail turnover of the store by S.

Based on the experimental data obtained from the business monitoring system, the following coefficients were established:

non-cash payment coefficient K _BNO - the share of purchases paid by non-cash means; equal to, for example, 0.2;

cash conversion ratio K _BUT - the share of purchases that are paid in cash when cashless payments are unavailable; equal to, for example, 0.49.

The following quantities are used for calculation:

the duration of the store per year T _P equal to 365 days × 24 hours × 60 minutes = 525600;

RTO - retail sales turnover of the store for 12 months preceding the month of failure;

failure duration T _A in minutes;

VM - gross margin.

The formula for calculating the impact of a failure:

S = PTO / T _P × T _A × K _NLS × K _BUT × VM.

Example 5 Assessment of sales failures of alcoholic beverages.

Type of accident: the inability to sell licensed alcohol products due to the inability to scan or sign a bottle with the EGAIS system.

Interruption of this service leads to a decrease in the retail trade turnover of the store by S.

The following quantities are used for calculation:

the duration of the store per year T _P equal to 365 days × 24 hours × 60 minutes = 525600;

RTO _A - retail sales of alcohol products in the store for 12 months preceding the month of failure;

failure duration T _A in minutes;

VM _A - gross margin of alcoholic beverages.

The formula for calculating the impact of a failure:

S = PTO _A / T _P × T _A × BM _A.

Example 6 Assessment of failures of retail outlets - autonomous cash nodes (the store is closed).

If the store has completely stopped servicing customers due to technical problems, interruption of this service leads to a decrease in the store’s retail turnover by S.

The following quantities are used for calculation:

the duration of the store per year T _P equal to 365 days × 24 hours × 60 minutes = 525600;

RTO - retail sales turnover of the store for 12 months preceding the month of failure;

failure duration T _A in minutes;

VM - gross margin.

The formula for calculating the impact of a failure:

S = PTO / T _P × T _A × VM.

Thus, by performing the above technological operations, it is possible to identify the causes of delays in technical operations at POS-terminals 1, reduce the total transaction time, estimate the loss of retail sales by retail outlets when paying for a purchase by non-cash payment method and / or cash surcharge, assess the loss of retail trade turnover and consumer traffic by retail outlets in case of errors in technical operations at POS terminals 1. The method also allows you to determine the time spent on manual e operations, and evaluate the speed of service personnel at the POS-terminal 1, to get an idea of what actions can potentially cause delays in service.

The most successfully declared method for analyzing delays at cash registers and a device for its implementation are industrially applicable for evaluating the performance of retail outlets and the effect of delays on cash registers on loss of turnover or profit.

Claims (20)

1. The method of analysis of delays on cash registers, which consists in the fact that using POS-terminals of the outlet using the integration bus to the central server transmit data on the technical operations of POS-terminals, including data on the beginning of the opening of the check, the number of elements of the check, the total time spent on the check and time for each element of the check, the determination of the waiting time for the next check, as well as the data on the start of payment for the purchase, type of payment, in the event of a cashless payment error - change in the type of cash payment funds and change in the number of items paid in cash on the check, data on the unpaid check items left on the POS terminal, in the central server, the processing of the indicated data is carried out and its analysis by determining markers of the beginning and end of operations, performing calculations of the time of operations “end minus beginning”, or by generating and testing hypotheses based on logical sequences and the relationships between technical and manual operations included in the composition of operations, changes in the incoming cash flow when paying for goods at POS-terminals, errors that occur when working with POS-terminals, non-standard behavior and unplanned Annuity exit from the business process, observation and influence of external factors, based on the analysis, the delays in technical operations at the POS terminals are determined, and calculate the economic indicator of the impact of delays on the profit of the outlet. 2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that the economic indicator of the impact of delays on the profit of the outlet is displayed graphically. 3. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that for the outlet use the total number of its POS terminals, as well as the total number of POS terminals of other retail outlets of the retail network, calculate the economic indicator of the impact of delays on profit for each retail outlet network. 4. A device for analyzing delays in cash registers, containing POS-terminals of an outlet integration bus and central server moreover, the outputs of the POS terminals of the outlet through the integration bus are connected to the input of the central server, as the output data of POS terminals use data on the technical operations of POS terminals, including data on the beginning of the opening of the check, the number of elements of the check, the total time spent on the check and time for each element of the check, determining the waiting time for the next check, data on the start of payment for the purchase, type of payment, in the event of an error of non-cash payment, a change in the type of payment for cash and a change in the number of items paid in cash in the check, data on the unpaid item left on the POS terminal x check, and the central server is configured to processing the specified data, analysis of the causes of delays in technical operations on POS terminals by determining markers of the beginning and end of operations, calculating the time of operations “end minus beginning”, or by generating and testing hypotheses based on logical sequences and the relationships between technical and manual operations included in the composition of operations, changes in the incoming cash flow when paying for goods on POS-terminals, errors that occur when working with POS-terminals, non-standard behavior and unplanned Rowan output of a business process monitoring and the impact of external factors, and calculating the economic indicator of the impact of delays on profit at the outlet. 5. The device according to p. 4, characterized in that the central server is configured to graphically display an economic indicator of the impact of delays on profits at a point of sale. 6. The device according to p. 4, characterized in that the central server is configured to process data for a retail outlet of the total number of its POS terminals, process data for the total number of POS terminals of other retail outlets of the retail network and calculate the economic indicator of the impact of delays in technical operations for profit for each retail outlet.

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