POS terminals and self-checkout systems

Abstract

We provide a POS terminal and self-checkout system that can suppress fraudulent registration of bundled products. [Solution] The POS terminal includes a control device that determines whether or not fraudulent registration of bundled products has occurred for products registered by the user, and a display device that displays a confirmation screen to the user to confirm the fraudulent registration if it is determined that fraudulent registration has occurred. The control device determines whether or not a product is bundled, and if the registered product is bundled, it determines whether or not the weight change value, which is the value obtained by subtracting the weight measured by the weight sensor before the registered product was placed on the placement unit from the weight measured by the weight sensor after the registered product was placed on the placement unit, is greater than or equal to a threshold value. If the weight change value is greater than or equal to a threshold value, it determines that fraudulent registration has occurred.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a POS terminal and a self-checkout system used for shopping by users in a store.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in stores such as convenience stores or supermarkets, the introduction of self-checkout systems in which users register the products they purchase and perform settlement has been progressing. For example, in Patent Document 1, there is proposed a self-checkout system in which a mobile terminal owned by a customer reads identification information attached to a product to identify the product, stores it as purchased product data, and transmits the purchased product data to a cash register for settlement.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a self-checkout system, there may occur fraudulent accounting such as omission of product registration by inexperienced users or intentional non-registration of products by users. Also, in bundled products in which a plurality of products are bundled, there may occur incorrect registrations such as misidentifying and registering the barcode for bundled products and the barcode for individual items, or intentionally registering the barcode for individual items despite recognizing that it is a bundled product.

[0005] The present invention is for solving the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a POS terminal and a self-checkout system capable of suppressing incorrect registration of bundled products.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The POS terminal according to the present invention comprises a control device that determines whether or not fraudulent registration has occurred for a bundle product consisting of N items (where N is a natural number of 2 or more) registered by a user, and a display device that displays a confirmation screen to the user for confirmation of fraudulent registration when the control device determines that fraudulent registration has occurred. The control device determines whether or not the product registered by the user is a bundle-compatible product that is also sold as a bundle product, and if the registered product is a bundle-compatible product, it determines whether or not the weight change value, which is the value obtained by subtracting the weight measured by the weight sensor before the registered product was placed on the placement unit from the weight measured by the weight sensor after the registered product was placed on the placement unit, is greater than or equal to a threshold value, and if the weight change value is greater than or equal to a threshold value, it determines that fraudulent registration has occurred. The threshold value is twice the weight of the product, or a value of twice or more and (N-1) times or less the weight of the product.

[0007] The self-checkout system according to the present invention comprises the above-mentioned POS terminal, a weight sensor, and a POS server that stores product information, wherein the product information includes the weight or threshold of the product. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the POS terminal and self-checkout system of the present invention, if the registered product is a bundled product, if the weight change value before and after registration of the product is greater than or equal to a threshold value which is twice the weight of the product or more than twice the weight of the product and less than or equal to (N-1) times the weight of the product, it is possible to determine that fraudulent registration of bundled products has occurred and to display a confirmation screen, thereby suppressing fraudulent registration of bundled products. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the self-checkout system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2]This is a control block diagram of the self-checkout system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing an example of a bundled product. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the self-checkout system in Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the self-checkout system in Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] This is an example of a confirmation screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 7] This is an example of a guidance screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 8] This is a schematic diagram of the self-checkout system according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 9] This is a control block diagram of the self-checkout system according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 10] This is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the self-checkout system according to Embodiment 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the self-checkout system 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted or simplified as appropriate. Furthermore, the shape, size, and arrangement of the components shown in each figure can be appropriately modified within the scope of the present invention.

[0011] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a self-checkout system 100 according to Embodiment 1. The self-checkout system 100 of this embodiment is used in retail stores such as convenience stores or supermarkets. As shown in Figure 1, the self-checkout system 100 consists of a POS terminal 1, a POS server 2, and a weight sensor 3. The POS terminal 1 and the POS server 2 are connected via a network 200 such as a LAN or the Internet, either by wired or wireless communication. The POS terminal 1 and the weight sensor 3 are connected one-to-one via a USB cable or Bluetooth®, either by wired or wireless communication. In Figure 1, one POS terminal 1 and weight sensor 3, and one POS server 2 are shown, but the number of POS terminals 1, weight sensors 3, and POS servers 2 may be multiple.

[0012] POS terminal 1 is used by customers who visit a store to register and pay for their purchases themselves, and can be, for example, a dedicated POS terminal, a PC, a tablet, or a smartphone. POS terminal 1 has the functions of a POS register that registers, checks, and settles the purchases of the items purchased by the customer. In the example shown in Figure 1, POS terminal 1 is a tablet terminal mounted on a shopping cart, and the customer registers their purchases while moving around the store using POS terminal 1. Note that POS terminal 1 is not limited to portable devices such as tablets or smartphones mounted on shopping carts, but may also be a self-checkout device fixed in the checkout area.

[0013] POS Server 2 is a server that centrally manages the POS systems for multiple stores. POS Server 2 manages product information related to products handled at multiple stores, user information related to customers using each store, and payment information related to payments made by users.

[0014] The weight sensor 3 is provided for each POS terminal 1, disposed at the placement section where the goods after registration by the POS terminal 1 are placed, and measures the weight (total weight) of all the goods placed on the placement section. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when the POS terminal 1 is mounted on a shopping cart, the weight sensor 3 is provided at the placement section where the basket B of the shopping cart is placed. When the POS terminal 1 is a self-checkout device fixed to the checkout area, the weight sensor 3 is provided on the platform (placement section) where the goods after registration of the self-checkout device are placed. The weight measured by the weight sensor 3 is transmitted to the POS terminal 1.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the self-checkout system 100 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the POS terminal 1 includes a control device 11, a display device 12, an operation device 13, a reading device 14, and a communication device 15.

[0016] The control device 11 includes a processor such as a CPU and a memory. As functional units, the control device 11 has a product registration unit 111, a settlement processing unit 112, a display control unit 113, and a fraud determination unit 114. Each functional unit of the control device 11 is realized by the processor executing a program stored in the memory. At least any one of the functional units of the control device 11 may be realized by a processing circuit such as an ASIC or an FPGA.

[0017] The product registration unit 111 registers and settles the product read by the reading device 14 as a product to be purchased. The settlement processing unit 112 performs settlement processing for the products registered and settled by the product registration unit 111. In the POS terminal 1 of the present embodiment, settlement by cash, prepaid card, credit card, electronic money, or barcode is possible. When settlement by prepaid card, credit card, electronic money, or barcode is selected by the user, the settlement processing unit 112 performs settlement processing based on the information of the prepaid card, credit card, electronic money, or barcode input.

[0018] The display control unit 113 controls the display device 12 to display information on products read by the reading device 14 and information related to the settlement and payment of the products. Further, the display control unit 113 generates a confirmation screen and a guidance screen related to unauthorized registration according to the determination result of the unauthorized determination unit 114, and causes the display device 12 to display them.

[0019] When the product registered by the product registration unit 111 is a bundled product, the unauthorized determination unit 114 determines whether unauthorized registration of the bundled product has occurred. In the present embodiment, a product that is also sold as a bundled product is referred to as a "bundled corresponding product". FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a bundled product. As shown in FIG. 3, the bundled product PB is sold in a state where a plurality of products PU are bundled together by a bundling member BT such as a box, a bag, or a tape.

[0020] The bundled product shown in FIG. 3 is a 6-pack of beverages such as beer, but the bundled product is not limited to the example of FIG. 3, and includes sale items sold in bulk or shampoo and treatment sold as a set. The product PU included in the bundled product PB may be sold in units of one or as a bundled product, and such a product PU is referred to as a "bundled corresponding product" in the present embodiment. In the following description, the product PU may be referred to as a "single item" in order to distinguish it from the bundled product PB. The bundled corresponding product shall indicate a single item that is also sold as a bundled product.

[0021] A barcode CB including the product identification information of the bundled product PB is attached to the bundling member BT of the bundled product PB. Further, a barcode CU including the product identification information of the single item PU is attached to the single item PU. Unauthorized registration of a bundled product means that when registering the bundled product PB, the barcode CU of the single item PU is erroneously or deliberately read instead of the barcode CB of the bundled product PB. The unauthorized determination unit 114 determines whether unauthorized registration of the bundled product has occurred based on the weight change of the product measured by the weight sensor 3 before and after registration and a threshold value.

[0022] Returning to Figure 2, the display device 12 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various screens including information about the registered product, information about the settlement and payment of the product, and confirmation and guidance screens according to the judgment result of the fraud detection unit 114.

[0023] The operating device 13 is, for example, a touch panel integrated with the display device 12. The operating device 13 is operated by the user for logging in when starting to use the service, manually registering products, giving payment instructions, selecting a payment method, and entering information for payment (such as a PIN). Manual product registration refers to the user registering products that do not have barcodes, such as vegetables, and products that do have barcodes, by operating the operating device 13, rather than by scanning the barcode attached to the product. Information on manually registered products is transmitted to the control device 11.

[0024] The reading device 14 is a device that reads barcodes attached to products by irradiating them with a laser scanning line. The product information read by the reading device 14 is transmitted to the control device 11. The reading device 14 may also be equipped with a card reader for reading prepaid card or credit card information, a scanner for reading electronic money or barcode information, or a camera.

[0025] The communication device 15 is a network interface that transmits and receives data with the POS server 2 and the weight sensor 3. The communication device 15 transmits information entered by the user via the POS terminal 1 to the POS server 2. The communication device 15 also receives information transmitted from the POS server 2 and the weight sensor 3 and outputs it to the control device 11.

[0026] The POS server 2 comprises a control device 21, a communication device 22, and a storage device 23. The control device 21 manages the information input to the POS terminal 1 and the information provided to the POS terminal 1. The control device 21 consists of a processor such as a CPU or DSP that executes programs stored in the storage device 23, a dedicated processing circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA, or both.

[0027] The communication device 22 is a network interface that transmits and receives data with the POS terminal 1. The communication device 22 outputs the information received from the POS terminal 1 to the control device 21. The communication device 22 also transmits the product information extracted by the control device 21 to the POS terminal 1.

[0028] The storage device 23 is, for example, a non-volatile semiconductor memory such as ROM or flash memory, a volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, or an HDD. The storage device 23 includes a user information database 231 for storing user information and a product information database 232 for storing product information. In Figure 2, "database" is abbreviated as "DB". The storage device 23 may further include a payment information database for storing payment information, etc.

[0029] The user information database 231 is a database containing user information about users who use POS terminal 1. User information includes user identification information such as the user's name, age, and gender, the user's product registration information, the user's payment information, and the user's past purchase history.

[0030] Product information database 232 is a database containing product information about products handled in stores. Product information includes product identification information such as the product name and JAN code, product price, weight, and specific information indicating whether the product is part of a bundle. The specific information is, for example, a flag that is "1" if the product is part of a bundle and "0" if it is not.

[0031] Next, the operation of the self-checkout system 100 of this embodiment will be described. Figures 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation flow of the self-checkout system 100 of Embodiment 1. The process in Figure 5 is performed immediately after the process in Figure 4. First, as shown in Figure 4, the user logs in to the POS terminal 1 (S1). Then, the information entered during login is transmitted from the POS terminal 1 to the POS server 2 as user information (S2). Here, for example, the user reads a prepaid card with the reader 14 of the POS terminal 1, and the prepaid card number is transmitted to the POS server 2 as user information.

[0032] Then, the items to be purchased are registered in POS terminal 1 (S3), and the registered product information is transmitted to POS server 2 as registration information by product registration unit 111 (S4). Product registration in POS terminal 1 is performed by the user scanning the product's barcode with reader 14, or by operating operation device 13 to select the product. The registered products are placed in shopping cart basket B. As a result, the weight measured by weight sensor 3 changes according to the weight of the registered products.

[0033] The control device 21 of the POS server 2 registers the registration information received from the POS terminal 1 as the user's product registration information in the user information database 231 (S5). Then, the control device 21 extracts the product information of the registered product (S6) and sends it to the POS terminal 1 (S7). Here, the control device 21 of the POS server 2 extracts product information from the product information database 232 based on the product identification information contained in the registration information.

[0034] The fraud detection unit 114 of the POS terminal 1 determines whether the registered product is a bundled product based on the product information received from the POS server 2 (S8). As described above, bundled products are products that can be sold individually or as a bundle. The fraud detection unit 114 determines whether the registered product is a bundled product based on specific information included in the product information.

[0035] If the registered product is not a bundle-compatible product (S8:NO), the process returns to step S3 and the user continues registering the product. On the other hand, if the registered product is a bundle-compatible product (S8:YES), the fraud detection unit 114 obtains a threshold Wth based on the product information (S9). Here, the fraud detection unit 114 calculates the threshold Wth based on the following equation (1). Threshold Wth = Product weight W × α ... (1)

[0036] The weight W of a product is the weight per item and can be obtained from the product information. Typically, bundled products are assumed to contain three or more items, and the coefficient α is set to a value of 2 or greater. In other words, the fraud detection unit 114 sets the threshold Wth to a weight that is twice or more the weight W of the product.

[0037] Specifically, the coefficient α is set to any value within the range "2 ≤ α ≤ (N-1)". Here, N is the number of individual items in the bundle product. Note that the coefficient α may be the same value for all bundle products, or it may differ depending on at least one of the following: the product category, the product weight, and the number of individual items in the bundle product. If the coefficient α is set to a different value for each bundle product, for example, coefficient α = (N-1). Alternatively, if it is set to a different value for each bundle product, the coefficient α may be set to 2 for products with heavy individual weights (e.g., beverages) and to (N-1) for products with light individual weights (e.g., sweets). By setting the coefficient α according to the weight of the individual items in this way, it is possible to suppress the misidentification of a product as fraudulent registration due to measurement errors of the weight sensor 3 caused by the movement of the cart, etc., even when the weight of the individual items is light.

[0038] Next, the fraud detection unit 114 obtains the weight change value ΔW before and after product registration from the measurement results of the weight sensor 3 (S10), and determines whether the weight change value ΔW is greater than or equal to the threshold Wth (S11). The weight change value ΔW is the value obtained by subtracting the weight measured by the weight sensor 3 before the product was registered from the weight measured by the weight sensor 3 after the product was registered, and corresponds to the weight of the registered product. If the weight change value ΔW is less than the threshold Wth (S11: NO), the process returns to step S3 and product registration continues. In other words, if the weight change value ΔW is less than the threshold Wth, it is determined that the product placed in basket B is a single item of a bundle product, and no fraudulent registration of a bundle product has occurred.

[0039] On the other hand, if the weight change value ΔW is greater than or equal to the threshold Wth (S11: YES), a confirmation screen is displayed on the display device 12 (S12). If the weight change value ΔW is greater than or equal to the threshold Wth, it is considered that the product placed in basket B is a bundle product, not a single bundle product. It is then determined that the user mistakenly or intentionally scanned the barcode of a single item instead of the barcode of the bundle product. Therefore, if the weight change value ΔW is greater than or equal to the threshold Wth, the fraud detection unit 114 determines that fraudulent registration of a bundle product has occurred and transmits the determination result to the display control unit 113. When the display control unit 113 receives the determination result from the fraud detection unit 114 that fraudulent registration of a bundle product has occurred, it causes the display device 12 to display a confirmation screen (S12).

[0040] Figure 6 shows an example of a confirmation screen in Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 6, the confirmation screen includes a message asking whether or not it is a bundled product, and "Yes" and "No" buttons. In this way, if the weight change value ΔW is greater than or equal to the threshold Wth, a confirmation screen asking whether or not it is a bundled product can be displayed to the user, thereby notifying and warning the user of the occurrence of fraudulent registration.

[0041] Next, as shown in Figure 5, the display control unit 113 determines whether the user has selected "Yes" on the confirmation screen (S13). If the user has selected "Yes" on the confirmation screen (S13: YES), the display control unit 113 displays a guidance screen on the display device 12 (S14). Figure 7 is an example of the guidance screen in Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 7, the guidance screen includes a message instructing the user to read the barcode on the bundle product pack (binding member) and a "Back" button. By displaying the guidance screen in this way, it is possible to guide users who have mistakenly read the barcode of an individual item to the correct operation.

[0042] Next, the product registration unit 111 determines whether or not a bundle product has been registered after the guidance screen is displayed (S15). If a bundle product has been registered (S15: YES), the product registration unit 111 instructs the POS server 2 to cancel the previously registered individual product registration (S16). When the control device 21 of the POS server 2 receives the cancellation instruction from the POS terminal 1, it cancels the individual product registration from the user's product registration information (S17). The POS terminal 1 then returns to step S3 and continues product registration, and the registration of product information in the POS server 2 (S5) and extraction of product information (S6) continue.

[0043] Furthermore, if the user does not select "Yes" on the confirmation screen (S13:NO), or if there are no bundle products registered (S15:NO), the process returns to step S3 without canceling the individual product registration and product registration continues. Although not shown in Figures 4 and 5, once the user has finished registering all the products to be purchased, the payment processing unit 112 performs the payment processing and the accounting is completed.

[0044] As described above, in the self-checkout system 100 of this embodiment, if the registered product is a bundled product, the system can determine whether or not fraudulent registration of the bundled product has occurred based on the measurement result of the weight sensor 3, and if fraudulent registration has occurred, it can warn the user on the confirmation screen. This makes it possible to suppress fraudulent registration of bundled products.

[0045] Furthermore, conventional technology has proposed a method to suppress fraudulent accounting by users by comparing the weight of a product measured by a weight sensor with the weight of a registered product based on product information, and displaying an error screen if the comparison result is inappropriate. However, the weight of a product may temporarily increase due to the season or campaign. In this case, the weight of the product measured by the weight sensor and the weight of the registered product based on product information will no longer match, resulting in an error even if the weight is correct. Moreover, changing product information every time there is a season or campaign is not practical due to the burden of the change processing. In contrast, the self-checkout system 100 of this embodiment sets the threshold Wth to more than twice the weight of the product in order to detect fraudulent registration of bundled products. This prevents the system from mistakenly determining fraudulent registration even when the weight of a product increases by less than twice due to the season or campaign, without changing the product information, and allows for the appropriate detection of fraudulent registration of bundled products.

[0046] Furthermore, if the POS terminal 1 is installed on a shopping cart, the impact of the shopping cart's movement puts a load on the weight sensor 3, making it difficult to measure the weight accurately. In this case, the accuracy of measuring the weight of individual items decreases, and misjudgments may occur. Also, if the system waits until the measured weight stabilizes before determining whether an item is fraudulently registered, time may have passed since the fraud occurred, potentially resulting in an ineffective notification. In contrast, the self-checkout system 100 of this embodiment sets a threshold Wth (more than twice the weight of the items) for bundled products to determine whether an item is fraudulently registered. This suppresses the misjudgment of fraudulent registration even if an error of less than twice the weight occurs during movement, and allows for the appropriate detection of fraudulent registration of bundled products.

[0047] Embodiment 2. Next, the self-checkout system 100A according to Embodiment 2 will be described. The self-checkout system 100A of this embodiment differs from Embodiment 1 in that it includes an in-store management device 4 and in the processing after the confirmation screen is displayed. The other configurations and functions of the self-checkout system 100A are the same as those of Embodiment 1.

[0048] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the self-checkout system 100A according to Embodiment 2. As shown in Figure 8, the self-checkout system 100A of this embodiment includes a POS terminal 1, a POS server 2, a weight sensor 3, and an in-store management device 4. The in-store management device 4 is wirelessly connected to the POS terminal 1 and the POS server 2 via a network 200 such as a LAN or the Internet.

[0049] The in-store management device 4 is an information terminal, such as a tablet or smartphone, installed within the store and operated by store employees. Employees use the in-store management device 4 to monitor and manage the POS terminals 1 within the store, as well as to manage the merchandise within the store.

[0050] Figure 9 is a control block diagram of the self-checkout system 100A according to Embodiment 2. The configuration of the POS terminal 1, POS server 2, and weight sensor 3 in this embodiment is the same as in Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 9, the in-store management device 4 comprises a control device 41, a display device 42, an operating device 43, and a communication device 44. The control device 41 comprises, for example, a processor such as a CPU and memory. Based on notifications from the POS terminal 1, the control device 41 implements measures against fraudulent registration of bundled products.

[0051] The display device 42 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, which displays notifications from the POS terminal 1. The operating device 43 is, for example, a touch panel integrated with the display device 42. Employees operate the operating device 43 to take measures against fraudulent registration of bundled products, etc.

[0052] The communication device 44 is a network interface that transmits and receives data with the POS terminal 1 and the POS server 2. The communication device 44 receives notifications from the POS terminal 1 and transmits them to the control device 41.

[0053] Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the self-checkout system 100A according to Embodiment 2. The operation of the POS server 2 in this embodiment is the same as in Embodiment 1. Also, the processing of steps S1 to S16 of the POS terminal 1 in this embodiment is the same as in Embodiment 1.

[0054] In this embodiment, the fraud detection unit 114 of the POS terminal 1 notifies the in-store management device 4 that fraudulent registration of bundled products has occurred (S21) if the user does not select "Yes" on the confirmation screen (S13: NO) and if there is no registration of bundled products (S15: NO). This notification includes the identification information of the POS terminal 1 where the fraudulent registration occurred, the user's identification information, and the identification information of the fraudulently registered products.

[0055] When the control device 41 of the in-store management device 4 receives a notification from the POS terminal 1 that a bundled product has been fraudulently registered, it implements countermeasures against the fraudulent registration (S22). As a countermeasure in this case, for example, the control device 21 displays the identification information of the POS terminal 1, the user's identification information, and the identification information of the fraudulently registered product included in the notification from the POS terminal 1 on the display device 42 as a warning screen. This allows store employees to monitor the POS terminal 1. Alternatively, when the control device 21 checks for missing product registrations at the POS terminal 1, it may display the fraudulently registered product as a product requiring attention on the display device 42. This makes it possible to efficiently check for missing product registrations by users.

[0056] As described above, in addition to the effects of Embodiment 1, the self-checkout system 100A of this embodiment can further suppress the fraudulent registration of bundled products by notifying the in-store management device 4 if the fraudulent registration of bundled products is not corrected even after displaying a confirmation screen to the user, and by implementing countermeasures in the in-store management device 4.

[0057] The above describes the embodiments, but these embodiments can be modified and combined. For example, all or part of the functions of the POS terminal 1, POS server 2, and in-store management device 4 may be provided by other devices or servers. As a specific example, in the above embodiment, the control device 11 of the POS terminal 1 has a fraud detection unit 114 that determines whether or not bundled products have been fraudulently registered, but the control device 21 of the POS server 2 may have the fraud detection unit 114. In this case, the POS server 2 notifies the POS terminal 1 of the determination result, and a confirmation screen and a guidance screen are displayed on the POS terminal 1. In addition, each database stored in the storage device 23 may be provided on separate servers.

[0058] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the fraud detection unit 114 is configured to determine whether or not a registered product is a bundle-compatible product based on specific information included in the product information, but the method for determining whether or not a product is a bundle-compatible product is not limited to this. For example, the fraud detection unit 114 may determine whether or not a product is a bundle-compatible product based on the category of the registered product. Specifically, the fraud detection unit 114 may determine that a product is a bundle-compatible product if the category of the registered product is such that it is a beverage, detergent, processed meat such as ham or bacon, or bath additive, which tend to be bundle-compatible products. Alternatively, the storage device 23 of the POS server 2 may store a database containing a list of bundle-compatible products, and the fraud detection unit 114 may determine that a registered product is a bundle-compatible product if it is included in the database.

[0059] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the threshold Wth used for determining fraudulent bundle products is determined from the weight W of the product and a coefficient α, but it is not limited to this. For example, the threshold Wth for each bundle product may be stored in advance as product information in the product information database 232. Alternatively, a threshold database that stores the threshold Wth for each bundle product or for each product category may be stored in the storage device 23 of the POS server 2. The fraud determination unit 114 then determines fraudulent registration of bundle products by referring to the product information or the threshold database. In this case as well, a threshold Wth of at least twice the weight of the product is set and stored in advance. For example, if bundle products are bundle products made up of a combination of different types of products (e.g., shampoo and conditioner), by setting the threshold Wth to twice the weight of the lightest product in advance, it is possible to appropriately determine the occurrence of fraudulent registration of bundle products that combine two different types of products. Also, if the threshold Wth is set in advance, it is not necessary to store the weight of the product as product information in the product information database 232. That is, it is possible to determine whether or not a bundle product has been fraudulently registered even without individually storing the weight of the product. This eliminates the need to update stored product information even if the product's weight changes due to a product renewal or a limited-time event. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 1 POS terminal, 2 POS server, 3 weight sensor, 4 in-store management device, 11 control device, 12 display device, 13 operating device, 14 reader, 15 communication device, 21 control device, 22 communication device, 23 storage device, 41 control device, 42 display device, 43 operating device, 44 communication device, 100, 100A self-checkout system, 111 product registration unit, 112 payment processing unit, 113 display control unit, 114 fraud detection unit, 200 network, 231 user information database, 232 product information database.

Claims

1. A control device that determines whether or not fraudulent registration has occurred for bundle products consisting of N items (where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 2) registered by a user, The control device includes a display device that, when it determines that the fraudulent registration has occurred, displays a confirmation screen to the user for confirmation of the fraudulent registration. The control device is The system determines whether the product registered by the user is a bundle-compatible product that is also sold as a bundle product. If the registered product is a bundle-compatible product, based on the measurement results of the weight sensor provided on the placement section on which the registered product is placed, it is determined whether the weight change value, which is the value obtained by subtracting the weight measured by the weight sensor before the registered product was placed on the placement section from the weight measured by the weight sensor after the registered product was placed on the placement section, is greater than or equal to a threshold. If the weight change value is greater than or equal to the threshold, it is determined that the fraudulent registration has occurred. A POS terminal in which the threshold is twice the weight of the product, or more than twice the weight of the product and less than or equal to (N-1) times the weight of the product.

2. The POS terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control device determines whether the product is a bundled product based on the category of the registered product.

3. The POS terminal according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value varies depending on at least one of the category of the product, the weight of the product, and N, which is the number of products in a bundle product.

4. The POS terminal according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays a guidance screen instructing the user to scan the barcode of the bundled product after the confirmation screen has been displayed.

5. A POS terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The aforementioned weight sensor, The system includes a POS server that stores product information for the aforementioned products, The aforementioned product information includes the weight of the product or the threshold value of the self-checkout system.

6. The store further includes an in-store management device for managing the aforementioned POS terminals, When the control device of the POS terminal determines that the fraudulent registration has occurred, it notifies the in-store management device. The self-checkout system according to claim 5, wherein the in-store management device implements measures against fraudulent registration when it receives the notification from the POS terminal.

Images