Providing item bagging advisements to baggers

Abstract

The present invention discloses a solution for providing item bagging advisements to individuals bagging purchased items during a check-out situation. The solution can include a self-checkout system and / or a human assisted checkout system capable of providing bagging assistance. A bagged item can be detected based on information such as weight, barcode data, and the like. Based on a set of rules for preferred item grouping, items can be determined to be appropriately bagged or to be in conflict with another item. Item bagging assistance can include, but is not limited to, item conflict warning, item compatibility confirmation, and assistance based on item categorization. Visual and aural confirmation and / or warning notifications can be presented to a user based on item compatibility or incompatibility.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to the field of retail commerce and, more particularly, to providing item bagging advisements to baggers.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Many retail stores, such as supermarkets and groceries, have established self-checkout lanes. A majority of these checkout lanes are self-checkout stations, which allow customers to scan, bag, and pay for items themselves via an automated kiosk. A growing problem associated with self-checkout stations is that customers often bag conflicting items together. For example, when customers place raw meat next to toxic items, such as bleach, a potential health hazard can occur. Other problems, such as bagging glass jars adjacent to each other, can cause breakage, which can lead to dangerous situations for customers.[0005]Additionally, certain heavy items, such as canned products, when bagged with fragile items, such as light bulbs or eggs, can crush the fragile items...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a solution for providing item bagging advice to customers in a self-checkout environment based on preferred grouping characteristics. This can include a self-checkout system capable of allowing a user to obtain bagging assistance for bagging purchased items. The system can detect bagged items based on information such as weight, barcode data, and the like. The invention can provide visual and aural confirmation and / or warning notifications to a user based on item compatibility or incompatibility. The invention can be implemented as a program for controlling computing equipment or as a digitally encoded signal conveyed via a carrier wave. The technical effects of the invention include improving the efficiency and accuracy of item bagging in a self-checkout environment.

Problems solved by technology

A growing problem associated with self-checkout stations is that customers often bag conflicting items together.

For example, when customers place raw meat next to toxic items, such as bleach, a potential health hazard can occur.

Other problems, such as bagging glass jars adjacent to each other, can cause breakage, which can lead to dangerous situations for customers.

Additionally, certain heavy items, such as canned products, when bagged with fragile items, such as light bulbs or eggs, can crush the fragile items.

Additionally, wet or frozen items placed in bags with paper products, such as greeting cards or paper plates, can lead to disastrous results, ruining the paper products.

Another consequence of improper item bagging can result in bruised or damaged fresh fruits and / or vegetables.

Improper bagging instances also occur during human assisted check-out situations, where either a customer “helping” by bagging items will make bagging mistakes or bagging agents of a store will, through oversight or a lack of training, make bagging mistakes.

Situations involving improper bagging can lead to safety risks, unwanted problems, and a diminished shopping experience.

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