Apparatus and method for operating a checkout system having a display monitor which displays both transaction information and customer-specific messages during a checkout transaction

Abstract

A method of operating a retail terminal having a display monitor includes the step of generating an item-entered control signal when an item for purchase of a customer is entered into the retail terminal by retail personnel. The method also includes the step of retrieving retail history information associated with the customer from a customer profile database. The method further includes the step of displaying item information associated with the item for purchase on a first portion of the display monitor in response to generation of the item-entered control signal. Moreover, the method includes the step of displaying a customer-specific retail message based on the retail history information on a second portion of the display monitor. The step of displaying the customer-specific retail message is performed contemporaneously with the step of displaying the item information associated with the item for purchase. A retail terminal is also disclosed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE[0001]Cross reference is made to copending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09 / 432,638, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Operating a Checkout System Having a Security Scale for Providing Security During an Assisted Checkout Transaction” by Wilfried E. Y. Dejaeger; Ser. No. 09 / 432,641, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Operating a Checkout System Having a Scanner Which is Rotatable Between an Assisted Scanner Position and a Self-Service Scanner Position” by Wilfried E. Y. Dejaeger, Mark S. Hoffman, Terry M. Glogovsky, and Alfred J. Hutcheon; Ser. No. 09 / 432,636, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Operating Convertible Checkout System Which Has a Customer Side and a Personnel Side” by Wilfried E. Y. Dejaeger, Alfred J. Hutcheon, John C. Addy, and James Morrison; Ser. No. 09 / 432,636, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Operating a Checkout System Having a Movable Takeaway Belt Mechanism and Associated System Construction” by Charles K. Wike, Jr., Kurt J. Lippert, and ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful checkout system.

[0013]It is moreover an object of the present invention to provide an improved checkout system.

[0014]It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and useful method of operating a checkout system.

[0015]It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of operating a checkout system.

[0016]It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a low-cost, easy-to-operate checkout system that may be operated as either an assisted checkout system or a self-service checkout system.

[0017]It is moreover an object of the present invention to provide a checkout system that may be operated as either an assisted checkout system or a self-service checkout system that can be quickly and easily converted between the two types of systems.

Problems solved by technology

In the retail industry, the largest expenditures are typically the cost of the goods sold followed closely by the cost of labor expended.

For example, certain self-service checkout systems which have heretofore been designed are more expensive relative to assisted checkout systems (i.e. retail checkout systems which are operated by an employee of the retailer such as a checkout clerk).

The higher cost associated with a self-service checkout system is typically due to the fact that the system itself must perform functions that would normally be performed by the checkout clerk operating the checkout system thereby increasing the number of components associated with the self-service checkout system.

It is the cost of the hardware and software necessary to provide such functions to the self-service checkout system which in certain cases cause the cost of the system to typically exceed the cost of an assisted checkout system.

Moreover, a number of retailers fear that the retailers customers may not embrace the idea of using self-service checkout systems to checkout their items for purchase thereby potentially causing the systems to go unused in the retailers store.

In such a situation, the retailer would have expended a relatively substantial sum of money for a checkout system which is not being utilized thereby increasing costs associated with the retailer's operation.

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