Endless Aisle Mobile Search System for Retail Inventory
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Solution Overview
Problem
Retail stores face revenue loss due to customers' difficulty in finding specific products, especially when items are out of stock or not available, and there is no easy way for customers to order unavailable products, leading to missed sales opportunities.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows customers to search for products on their mobile devices or through sales associates, enabling them to find and purchase products not in stock or unavailable in-store, with options for shipment to the store or home, and providing information on pharmaceutical medications for adherence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If customers browse physical aisles to find products, then they can see products in person, but they spend excessive time traversing hundreds of aisles and cannot find out-of-stock items
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile computing device as an intermediary between the customer and the physical retail environment. The device provides a digital interface that overlays information about product locations, availability, and alternatives onto the physical shopping experience, eliminating the need to manually traverse aisles while maintaining the ability to view and purchase products.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a digital dimension to the traditional physical retail experience by implementing an endless aisle system. Customers can access product information, search for items, and view alternatives through a mobile device interface, creating a hybrid physical-digital shopping environment that expands beyond the constraints of physical store layout.
2Productivity
If retail stores carry limited inventory in physical stores, then they reduce storage costs, but they lose sales when customers cannot find desired products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the retail inventory system universal by allowing the same product catalog to serve both physical and digital channels. The endless aisle system enables customers to access the retailer's full online inventory through mobile devices in the store, while the backend system manages inventory allocation across multiple fulfillment options (in-store pickup, home delivery, or transfer to another store).
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables customers to self-serve by providing them with direct access to product search, availability checking, and ordering capabilities through their mobile devices. Customers can independently find out-of-stock items, view alternatives, and place orders without requiring sales associate assistance, thereby capturing sales that would otherwise be lost.
3Adaptability or versatility
If customers use personal mobile devices to order out-of-stock items, then they can access full product assortment, but they require additional purchase processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the in-store shopping experience with online ordering capabilities into a unified process. The mobile computing device integrates product browsing, search, and ordering functions, allowing customers to complete their entire shopping journey—from discovering out-of-stock items to placing orders—through a single integrated interface without switching between separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-loading product information, availability data, and alternative product recommendations into the mobile device before the customer needs to make a purchase decision. This allows customers to immediately view and order out-of-stock items without experiencing delays or additional purchase steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media includes a computer system configured to receive a selected product to be located in a retail store of a retailer inputted by a user into a mobile computer application running on a mobile computing device, to perform a search for the selected product on a plurality of products records corresponding to a plurality of products offered by the retailer, to identify one or more of the product records relevant to the selected product, to transmit the one or more product records identified as one or more search results, to provide the one or more search results to the mobile computer application running on the mobile computing device, each of the one or more search results being associated with a product offered by the retailer, and to suggest at least one related product to the selected product, and to receive at least one product or at least one related product from the search results selected by the user using the mobile computer application running on the mobile computing device to be shipped to an address of the retail store or another address inputted by the user.