Beacon-Linked Self-Checkout Payments for Theft Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retail self-checkout systems face issues of insecurity and slowness due to manual authentication steps, leading to theft risks and long queues, especially when using large shopping carts or baskets that can be easily mistaken or stolen.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing beacons to determine customer proximity to checkout terminals and a server computer to associate payment requests with terminal-check-in requests within a threshold time, eliminating the need for manual authentication by ensuring secure and fast payment processing through portable telecommunication devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual authentication steps are used in self-checkout systems, then security can be maintained, but the process becomes slow and queues form
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing customer identification and payment source association before the actual checkout process. The server computer pre-associates payment sources with customers and pre-configures the checkout terminal to recognize authorized payment methods, eliminating the need for manual authentication during checkout and enabling fast, secure transactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service by allowing customers to automatically authenticate themselves through their portable telecommunication devices. The checkout terminal automatically detects the customer's presence, identifies them through the pre-established association, and initiates payment without requiring manual intervention, thereby maintaining security while significantly improving checkout speed.
2Reliability
If manual authentication is required at checkout terminals, then payment security is maintained, but store space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the authentication function from the physical checkout terminal and relocates it to the customer's portable telecommunication device. The terminal only performs detection and automatic initiation, while the actual authentication occurs remotely through the server computer, eliminating the need for manual authentication hardware and reducing store space requirements while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable telecommunication device serves as an intermediary between the customer and the checkout terminal. It carries the authentication credentials and communicates with the server computer to verify payment authorization, allowing the terminal to remain simple and space-efficient while maintaining robust payment security through remote verification.
3Productivity
If beacons and server-based association are used to eliminate manual authentication, then checkout speed increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies universality by using the customer's existing portable telecommunication device for multiple functions: location detection via beacons, customer identification, payment source verification, and authentication. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate dedicated authentication hardware, reducing overall system complexity while achieving fast, secure checkout.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical/manual authentication process with an automated electronic system using beacons for location detection and server-based data association. This substitution eliminates physical manual steps while the distributed architecture across portable devices and servers keeps the overall system complexity manageable through cloud-based processing.
4Ease of operation
If shopping carts or baskets are used for checkout, then customer convenience is improved, but theft risk increases due to mistaken identity
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the customer's location via beacons and providing real-time verification through the portable telecommunication device. The server computer receives location data, associates it with the correct customer and payment source, and provides confirmation feedback, ensuring that the shopping cart or basket is correctly identified and linked to the intended customer, thereby preventing theft while maintaining convenience.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides a secure and efficient self-checkout process that prevents theft by associating payment with the correct customer without manual authentication, reducing queue times and minimizing store space requirements.
Implementation Method 1
The scanning unit is configured to read information from product tags attached to goods
Implementation Method 2
a beacon is a hardware transmitter configured to broadcast a signal to nearby portable telecommunication devices for enabling the portable telecommunication devices to determine their position based on the signals
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method executed by an electronic retail self-checkout system, the method comprising:receiving (102), by a server computer (612), a terminal-check-in request from the portable telecommunication device of a customer, the terminal-check-in request comprising a customer-ID of the customer and comprising beacon signal information indicative of the one of the one or more checkout-terminals where the customer tries to perform the terminal-check-in;reading (104), by a scanning unit of a checkout-terminal, information from product tags attached to goods positioned in and/or within a predefined distance to a cavity of the scanning unit;upon determining (106), by the checkout-terminal via a person-presence-sensor, that a person is present in and/or moves within an area (210, 212) within a predefined spatial proximity of the checkout-terminal, sending (108) a payment request to the server computer, the payment request comprising the read tag information and the terminal-ID of the one checkout-terminal;receiving (110), by the server computer, the payment request from the checkout-terminal;verifying (112), by the server computer, whether a time interval between receiving the terminal-check-in request and the payment request for the same one of the one or more checkout-terminals is below a threshold value; andonly if the time interval is below the threshold, initializing (114) a payment transaction.