WO2017054458A1

WO2017054458A1 - Interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag and content management system

Info

Publication number: WO2017054458A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/081639
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Ho Yeung LAM
Original assignee: Lam Jeffrey Ho Yeung
Priority date: 2015-09-30
Filing date: 2016-05-11
Publication date: 2017-04-06
Also published as: HK1223241A2

Abstract

One or more electronic hang tags and shelf tags, a content management system, and one or more users'mobile communication devices are provided in a retail store electronic tag environment a wireless local area wireless network (WLAN). Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag comprises an electronic display that can be based on LCD or EPD technology. The information displayed in the electronic display includes the product name, product identification such as stock keeping unit (SKU), product description such as size, color, and other product attributes, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information. This information can be displayed as human-readable text, graphical images, and/or machine-readable one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode (e.g. Quick Response (QR) code).

Description

INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC HANG TAG OR SHELF TAG AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Claim for Foreign Priority:

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/235,118, filed on 30 September 2015, and its disclosure is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates generally to information technology methods and systems in retail and commercial applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems of using electronic tags and content management systems in retail and commercial applications.

Background:

In traditional retail shops, product information, such as price and place of origin, is printed on paper or plastic hang tags attached to the products or shelf tags placed near the products’shelf placements. Often, these hang tabs and shelf tags are prepared and updated manually in the shops. Such manual process involve at least identifying and locating the tags and the matching products, retrieving the up-to-date information, entering the up-to-date information in a backend computer system that is linked to an inventory management system and a point-of-sale (POS) system, and replacing outdated tags with new ones. The process is laborious and prone to human errors.

There are a number of commercially available solutions to the abovementioned problems. One such solution is the electronic shelf label (ESL) system. In a typical ESL system, electronic display modules are used in place of product tabs and shelf tags to display product information in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or electronic paper displays (EPDs) . The electronic display modules connect to wireless communication network to allow data communications with a central processing server, which in turn allow the automatic product information updates, product tracking, and/or other functions.

One shortcoming of existing ESL systems is that their electronic display modules are necessary compact in size in order to be attached to products or placed near the products without obstructing their accessibility. This limits the amount of information that can be displayed by these electronic display modules. Another shortcoming is that existing ESL systems have only one-way communications without the means of interacting with the viewers or store customers.

Summary:

It is an objective of the present invention to provide interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags, and a content management system for managing these hang tags and shelf tags in a retail store electronic tag environment.

In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, one or more electronic hang tags and shelf tags are provided in the retail store electronic tag environment. Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag comprises an electronic display that can be based on LCD or EPD technology. The information displayed in the electronic display includes, but not limited to, the product name, product identification such as stock keeping unit (SKU) , product description such as size, color, and other product attributes, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information. This information can be displayed as human-readable text, graphical images, and/or machine-readable one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode (e.g. Quick Response (QR) code) . The electronic display also features optional wake and sleep modes in which the display is turned on only when the content to be displayed is up-to-date and/or when a user input is sensed.

Optionally, the electronic display can be a touch display that allows users’ input via touch sensing. Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag further comprises a wireless communication receiver-transceiver for wireless communication with a content management system. In one embodiment, the wireless communication is based on the Bluetooth standard. In another wireless communication, the wireless communication is based on the Wifi standard. In various embodiments, the wireless communication protocol also conforms with the RFID standards.

Coupling with the wireless communication receiver-transceiver is a wireless security module, which provides external-machine-readable identification data of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag. In one embodiment, the wireless security module provides the data communication protocol handling that conforms to the Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) security standard. Optionally, each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag further comprises a near field communication (NFC) tag that contains the external-machine-readable identification data of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag.

Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag further comprises a microcontroller (MCU) for controlling the various modules and components including the electronic touch display and wireless communication module. Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag further comprises a rechargeable battery or a replaceable battery cell connector for sourcing direct current (DC) electricity to power its various modules and components. Lastly, each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag also includes an attachment means, which can be a mechanical clip or adhesive mechanism for attaching to a product item or a shelf surface.

In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, the content management system is provided. The content management system can be implemented on one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers. The central processing servers can be Cloud-based and accessible through the Internet, or locally resided within the coverage area of the WLAN. The content management system comprises at least a communication module that includes software and hardware components, which can be implemented in the one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers or separately in a standalone module (e.g. a wireless access point, wireless hub or gateway) , for communicating with the one or more electronic hang tags and shelf tags via the WLAN； and a user interface to allow system users of the content management system to enter, update, and view product information, interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag information, store information, and product inventory information, and control the various functions of the content management system.

The user interface can be implemented as web pages hosted by the one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers, locally executed application software, or distributed application software with graphical user interface layer remotely executed in client terminal and/or mobile computing devices such as personal computers or kiosks.

The content management system may further comprise a camera or barcode scanner for capturing the one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes displayed on the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags. The content management system may also further comprise a NFC interrogator for interrogating and reading the NFC tags of the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags. The camera or barcode scanner and NFC interrogator can be implemented as peripherals of the central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers, or as peripherals of the client terminal and/or mobile computing devices.

The content management system further comprises backend network connections and machine-to-machine integration mechanisms, such as application program interfaces (APIs) , enabling specially-developed applications running in computing devices and mobile communication devices to exchange data with the content management system and facilitate all or portion of the functionality of its user interface.

In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, customer users in the retail store electronic tag environment can use their mobile communication devices, e.g. Smartphones and Tablet computers, that are specially configured and/or running specially-developed mobile applications to interact with the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags and the content management system.

For mobile communication devices that are equipped with cameras, which maybe used to capture the one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes displayed on the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags, the product name, product identification, product description, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information can be retrieved from the content management system by the mobile communication devices using the captured and decoded one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes, wherein the decoded one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes contain referencing data for identifying the products and/or the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags in the database maintained by the content management system.

For mobile communication devices that are equipped with a NFC interrogators, which maybe used to read the NFC tag identification data from the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags, the product name, product identification, product description, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information can be retrieved from the content management system by the mobile communication devices using the read and decoded NFC tag identification data, wherein the decoded NFC tag identification data contain referencing data for identifying the products and/or the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags in the database maintained by the content management system.

Similarly, the interactions between the mobile communication devices and the interactive electronic hang or shelf tags can be based on the identity data (e.g. RFID) discovered and acquired from the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags through the WLAN. Furthermore, the interactions between the mobile communication devices and the content management system enables geo-fencing functions such as allowing the mobile communication devices to receive sales alerts and marketing/promotion data sent by the content management system when the mobile communication devices come into the WLAN coverage area.

Brief Description of the Drawings:

Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the presently claimed retail store electronic tag environment； and

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of logical components of an interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description:

In the following description, methods and systems of conducting retail operations in a retail store electronic tag environment and the like are set forth as preferred examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications, including additions and/or substitutions may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Specific details may be omitted so as not to obscure the invention； however, the disclosure is written to enable one skilled in the art to practice the teachings herein without undue experimentation.

Retail Store Electronic Tag Environment:

Referring to FIG. 1. In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, provided in a retail store electronic tag environment comprises a wireless local area wireless network (WLAN) 100, one or more electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101, a content management system 102, and one or more users’ mobile communication devices 103. In one embodiment, the wireless communication supported by the WLAN 100 is based on the Bluetooth standard. In another wireless communication, the wireless communication is based on the Wifi standard.

In various embodiments, the content management system 102 can be implemented as software and/or hardware configurations with computer instructions executed by one or more computer processors in one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers 105. The central processing servers 105 can be Cloud-based and accessible through the Internet, or locally resided within the coverage area of the WLAN 100. An ordinarily skilled person in the art can appreciate that the computer instructions can be implemented using high level computer instruction language including, but not limited to, Javascript, VBScript, . NET, Java, C, C++, Objective-C, Ruby, Python, and Swift.

In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, customer users in the retail store electronic tag environment can use their mobile communication devices 103, e.g. Smartphones and Tablet computers, having one or more computer processors that are specially configured and/or running specially-developed mobile applications to interact with the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tags 101 and the content management system 102. An ordinarily skilled person in the art can appreciate that the specially-developed mobile applications can be implemented using high level computer instruction language including, but not limited to, Javascript, VBScript, . NET, Java, C, C++, Objective-C, Ruby, Python, and Swift.

Referring also to FIG. 2. Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101 comprises an electronic display 204 that can be based on LCD or EPD technology, and a tag user interface 205. The information displayed in the electronic display includes, but not limited to, the product name, product identification such as stock keeping unit (SKU) , product description such as size, color, and other product attributes, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information. This information can be displayed as human-readable text, graphical images, and/or machine-readable one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode (e.g. QR code) . The electronic display also features optional wake and sleep modes in which the display is turned on only when the content to be displayed is up-to-date and/or when a user input is sensed. Optionally, the electronic display can be a touch display that allows users’input via touch sensing. The tag user interface 205 can be one or more electro-mechanical or touch-sensitive press buttons for receiving user input.

Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101 further comprises a wireless communication receiver-transceiver 203 for wireless communication via the WLAN 100. In various embodiments, the wireless communication receiver-transceiver supports the RFID and Bluetooth standards. Coupling with the wireless communication receiver-transceiver is a wireless security module, which provides external-machine-readable identification data of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101. In one embodiment, the wireless security module provides the data communication protocol handling that conforms to the Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) security standard. Optionally, each interactive electronic hang or shelf tag further comprises a near field communication (NFC) tag that contains the external-machine-readable identification data of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101.

Each interactive electronic hang or shelf tag 101 further comprises a microcontroller (MCU) 201 for controlling the various modules and components including the electronic touch display 204 and wireless communication module 203. Each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101 further comprises a power module 202, which comprises a rechargeable battery or a replaceable battery cell connector 202a for sourcing direct current (DC) electricity to power the various modules and components, a power on-off switch 202b, and a power management circuitry 202c. Lastly, each interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag 101 also includes an attachment means, which can be a mechanical clip or adhesive mechanism for attaching to a product item or a shelf surface.

The content management system 102 comprises at least a communication module 104 that includes software and hardware components, which can be implemented in the one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers or separately in a standalone module (e.g. a wireless access point, wireless hub or gateway) , for communicating with the one or more interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101 via the WLAN 100； and a user interface 106 to allow users of the content management system 102 to enter, update, and view product information, interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag information, store information, and product inventory information, and control the various functions of the content management system 102.

The user interface 106 can be implemented as web pages hosted by the one or more central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers 105, locally executed application software, or distributed application software with graphical user interface layer remotely executed in client terminal and/or mobile computing devices such as personal computers or kiosks. The user interface 106 It can controls the content being pushed to the tag and related information about the products.

The content management system 102 may further comprise a camera or barcode scanner for capturing the one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes displayed on the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags. The content management system 102 may also further comprise a NFC interrogator for interrogating and reading the NFC tags of the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags. The camera or barcode scanner and NFC interrogator can be implemented as peripherals of the central processing servers or one or more clusters of central processing servers, of the client terminal and/or mobile computing devices.

The content management system 102 further comprises backend network connections and machine-to-machine integration mechanisms, such as application program interfaces (APIs) , enabling specially-developed applications running in computing devices or mobile communication devices to exchange data with the content management system and facilitate all or portion of the functionality of its user interface.

For mobile communication devices 103 that are equipped with cameras, which maybe used to capture the one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes displayed on the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101, the product name, product identification, product description, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information can be retrieved from the content management system 102 by the mobile communication devices 103 using the captured and decoded one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes, wherein the decoded one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes contain referencing data for identifying the products and/or the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101 in the database maintained by the content management system 102.

For mobile communication devices 103 that are equipped with a NFC interrogators, which maybe used to read the NFC tag identification data from the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101, the product name, product identification, product description, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information can be retrieved from the content management system 102 by the mobile communication devices 103 using the read and decoded NFC tag identification data, wherein the decoded NFC tag identification data contain referencing data for identifying the products and/or the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags 101 in the database maintained by the content management system 102.

The interactions between the mobile communication devices 103 and the content management system 102 through the WLAN 100, also enables geo-fencing functions such as the mobile communication devices 103 receiving sales alerts and promotion materials as the mobile communication devices 103 enter the WLAN 100 coverage area.

Retail Logistic Process In The Retail Store Electronic Tag Environment:

In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, provided in the retail store electronic tag environment includes a retail logistic process using the wireless local area wireless network (WLAN) , the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags, the content management system, and the users’ mobile communication devices.

The retail logistic process comprises the following steps:

1. An unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag is to be first registered with content management system before deployment. The registration process comprises:

a. The content management system identifying the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag by:

i. a system user’s manual input of the identification number of the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag using the content management system’s user interface； a discovery and system user’s selection (using the content management system’s user interface) of the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag’s RFID via the WLAN by the communication module of the content management system；

ii. an image-capture and decode of the one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode displayed by the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag using the camera or scanner of the content management system； or

iii. an NFC interrogation and acquisition of the NFC tag ID of the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag being placed near the NFC interrogator of the content management system.

b. Once the identity (identification number, RFID, barcode, or NFC tag ID) of the unassigned interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag is acquired, the system user selecting and commanding the content management system to associate the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag with the record of the selected product using the content management system’s user interface to complete the registration of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag； wherein the record is pre-defined and includes product name, product identification such as SKU, product description such as size, color, and other product attributes, marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information.

c. The system user, using the user interface, can then command the content management system to upload the associated product’s record data to the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag via the WLAN.

2. The registered interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag is deployed by attaching to the associated product item or the shelf space of the associated products.

3. A user with a mobile communication device specially configured and/or running specially-developed mobile applications to interact with the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags and the content management system enters the WLAN coverage area and receives one or more geo-fencing data messages on the mobile communication device sent by the content management system. The geo-fencing data messages can include marketing/promotional information such as sales and discount coupons. These geo-fencing data messages are then processed and displayed by the mobile communication device to the user.

4. The user uses her/his mobile communication device that is specially configured and/or running specially-developed mobile applications to interact with the interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags and the content management system engages in an mobile communication device-interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag interaction process comprising:

a. The mobile communication device identifying the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag of a product of interest by:

i. image-capturing and decoding its one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode；

ii. conducting a NFC interrogation and NFC tag ID acquisition of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag；

iii. conducting a discovery and selection by the user of the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag’s RFID via the WLAN connection of the mobile communication device.

b. The mobile communication device sending the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag’s identity, which can be the decoded data from the captured barcode, the decoded data from the acquired NFC tag ID, or the decoded data from the discovered and selected RFID, to the content management system for retrieval of the product information.

c. The content management system receiving the interactive electronic hang tag or shelf tag’s identity and retrieve from its database the associated product record and sending the product record data to the mobile communication device.

5. The system user, using the user interface of the content management system, updates one or more records of product. The content management system automatically upload the updated record data to the associated interactive electronic hang tags and shelf tags via the WLAN.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented using general purpose or specialized computing devices, computer processors, or electronic circuitries including but not limited to digital signal processors (DSP) , application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) , field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) , and other programmable logic devices configured or programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure. Computer instructions or software codes running in the general purpose or specialized computing devices, computer processors, or programmable logic devices can readily be prepared by practitioners skilled in the software or electronic art based on the teachings of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the present invention includes computer storage media having computer instructions or software codes stored therein which can be used to program computers or microprocessors to perform any of the processes of the present invention. The storage media can include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical discs, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, flash memory devices, or any type of media or devices suitable for storing instructions, codes, and/or data.

The foregoing description of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalence.

Claims

A system for conducting retail logistics, comprising:

one or more interactive electronic tags, wherein each of the interactive electronic tags comprises an electronic display, a wireless communication receiver-transceiver, a microcontroller, and an attachment means； and

a content management system, wherein the content management system comprises one or more computer processors, a communication module, and a user interface；

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags communicates with the content management system via a wireless local area network (WLAN) for receiving product information data comprising product name, identification, and description of one or more product items associating with the interactive electronic tag； and

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags displays the product name, identification, or description of the one or more product items associating with the interactive electronic tag.
The system of claim 1,

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags interacts with a user’s mobile communication device coming within the WLAN coverage area to allow discovery and selection of the interactive electronic tag and sending of the interactive electronic tag’s tag identification (ID) to the content management system to retrieve the product information data of the one or more product items associating with the interactive electronic tag.
The system of claim 1,

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags is configured to provide a barcode displayed on its electronic display；

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags interacts with a user’s mobile communication device image-capturing and decoding the barcode of the interactive electronic tag and sending of the decoded barcode to the content management system to retrieve the product information data of the one or more product items associating with the interactive electronic tag.
The system of claim 1,

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags is configured to provide a NFC tag ID；

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags interacts with a user’s mobile communication device conducting NFC interrogation and acquisition of the NFC tag ID of the interactive electronic tag and sending of the acquired NFC tag ID to the content management system to retrieve the product information data of the one or more product items associating with the interactive electronic tag.
The system of claim 1,

wherein each of the interactive electronic tags further comprises a wireless security module providing data communication protocol handling that conforms to Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) security standard.
The system of claim 1,

wherein the one or more computer processors of he content management system are Cloud-based accessible through the Internet.
The system of claim 1,

wherein the product information data further comprising marketing/promotional information, price, and inventory information.
The system of claim 1,

wherein wireless communication supported by the WLAN is based on the Bluetooth standard.
The system of claim 1,

wherein wireless communication supported by the WLAN is based on the Wifi standard.
The system of claim 3,

wherein the barcode is a Quick Response (QR) code.