In-Store Guidance for Minimum-Movement Item Collection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems fail to efficiently guide store clerks in collecting items requested by customers from different locations within a store, leading to prolonged waiting times for customers.
Innovation Solution
An in-store guidance system comprising a customer terminal, server, and store clerk terminal that determines item locations, generates a collection order based on distance, and provides guidance information to minimize movement, allowing store clerks to efficiently collect and deliver items to a trial location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If items are displayed or stored at different locations in the store, then customers can access a variety of items, but store clerks require more time to collect and deliver items to the trial location
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores optimal collection routes for store clerks based on item locations and trial locations. When a customer requests trial use of multiple items, the system retrieves the pre-computed route information and provides guidance to the clerk, eliminating the need for real-time route calculation and reducing customer waiting time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an information intermediary (the guidance system) that mediates between the customer's request and the clerk's action. The system receives the customer's request, determines the optimal collection order, and provides guidance information to the clerk, thereby coordinating the collection process efficiently without requiring direct communication between customer and clerk.
2Ease of operation
If store clerks manually determine collection routes for items, then flexibility in handling requests is maintained, but time efficiency and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically generating and providing collection route guidance to store clerks. The clerk simply inputs the customer's request, and the system autonomously determines the optimal collection order and provides step-by-step guidance, eliminating the need for manual route planning while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical process of manual route determination with an automated information processing system. The server calculates optimal routes using algorithms that consider item locations and trial locations, substituting human cognitive effort with computational efficiency while providing structured guidance to the clerk.
Data Source
AI summary
An in-store guidance system for guiding a store clerk in collecting items for a customer in a store includes a customer terminal configured to receive an input of a request for items, a server configured to, in response to the request: determine item locations at which the requested items are displayed or stored, determine a collection order of the items such that movement of a store clerk for collecting the items is a minimum, based on a distance between each of the item locations and a destination where the customer receives the items, generate guidance information in which names of the items and the item locations are listed in the collection order, and output the guidance information, and a store clerk terminal configured to receive and display the guidance information.