Automated Checkout for Customizable Retail Item Pickup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retail environments face challenges in implementing automated checkout (AC) technologies for customizable items, as sensor-generated information is limited and difficult to utilize effectively, particularly in scenarios involving high-touch use cases like made-to-order food and beverages.
Innovation Solution
A system is developed that uses sensors and user input devices to generate high-confidence product interaction data, enabling automated charging of customizable items without manual checkout, by associating user accounts with virtual carts and processing transactions upon exit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated checkout technology is implemented for customizable items, then checkout efficiency and customer experience are improved, but measurement precision and reliability of product interaction detection deteriorate due to the complex and variable nature of customizable items
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the customizable item ordering process into distinct phases: item selection, customization parameter input, preparation, and pickup. Each phase is monitored by specific sensors (weight sensors at pickup locations, user input devices for customization details) that track specific aspects of the interaction, enabling automated checkout despite the complexity of customizable items
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computing system that acts as a mediator between sensors and the automated checkout process. This system receives data from multiple sources (weight sensors, user input devices, item databases), processes the information to determine user interactions with customizable items, and generates charging instructions. The intermediary resolves the measurement precision problem by integrating multiple data sources and applying logic to interpret sensor data in the context of customizable item characteristics
2Loss of information
If sensors are used to generate information about events in the facility, then information availability is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring user interactions with customizable items increases due to the variable and high-touch nature of these items
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional sensors and detection mechanisms that can handle both standardized and customizable items. Weight sensors serve dual purposes: detecting pickup of pre-packaged items and verifying receipt of prepared customizable items. User input devices serve multiple functions: recording customization parameters, tracking item selection, and providing user identification. This universality allows the system to maintain information availability across different item types while managing the detection complexity through integrated multi-purpose components
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service tracking where user interactions with customizable items are automatically recorded through the customization interface itself. When users input their customization preferences and select options, the system automatically captures this interaction data, eliminating the need for separate detection mechanisms. This self-service approach to data collection improves information availability while reducing the complexity of detecting and measuring interactions
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes, in part, systems for enabling physical retail stores and other facilities to implement automated-checkout techniques for the purchase of customizable and/or made-to-items items by customers of the stores and/or facilities. For example, the described systems may enable a retail store to implement technology where users are able to order customizable items from an ordering location, an inventory location, or an associate of the facility, and exit the store without performing manual checkout of the items. The systems described herein thus enable customized retail facilities, as opposed to a retail facility that allows automated-checkout only for prepackaged-type or otherwise non-customizable merchandise.