Mobile Checkout System Using Virtual Cart for Brick-and-Mortar Stores
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional brick-and-mortar shopping experiences face challenges during high-traffic periods, leading to long wait times and abandoned carts, especially with perishable items, resulting in lost sales and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a mobile computing device-based system that allows customers to select and purchase items without waiting in line by using a virtual shopping cart, with options for 'carry with me,' 'ship/deliver,' or 'pick-up' fulfillment, enabling quick and efficient checkout processes through e-commerce integration and WiFi connectivity within the store.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If customers use conventional checkout lanes in brick-and-mortar stores, then items can be purchased through manual scanning and processing, but wait times become excessively long during high-traffic periods causing cart abandonment
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables customers to perform checkout operations independently using mobile devices. Customers scan items themselves, manage virtual shopping carts, and complete purchases without requiring sales associates to manually process each item, thereby eliminating long wait times while maintaining checkout functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual scanning and processing system with an electronic mobile computing system. Instead of sales associates physically scanning items at checkout counters, customers use mobile devices with scanning capabilities to automatically identify and add items to virtual carts, substituting mechanical operations with electronic processing
2Ease of operation
If sales associates manually gather and process items at checkout counters, then traditional checkout procedures can be completed, but operational costs increase due to time consumption during peak periods
Solution Approach 1:
The system transfers the checkout operation from sales associates to customers. Instead of associates manually gathering items and processing payments, customers independently manage their own checkout using mobile devices, eliminating the time consumption that previously required associate intervention
Solution Approach 2:
Customers perform item selection and cart management actions before reaching the checkout point. By using mobile devices to scan items and add them to virtual carts during the shopping process, customers complete the checkout preparation work in advance, eliminating the need for associates to spend time on these tasks
3Ease of operation
If customers fill physical shopping baskets or carts with items, then they can carry selected merchandise to checkout, but abandoned carts result in lost sales and require employees to return items to their places
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the physical shopping cart as a digital record. Instead of customers physically filling baskets that may be abandoned, the mobile device maintains a virtual cart that tracks selected items electronically, allowing the system to monitor and manage purchases without physical cart abandonment
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback to customers about their virtual cart contents and purchase status. Mobile devices display item selections, prices, and checkout options continuously, allowing customers to review and adjust their selections before completion, reducing the likelihood of abandonment and enabling timely discovery of any issues with selected items
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are disclosed provide various enhancements and/or improvements to the conventional shopping process used by brick-and-mortar stores. In some embodiments, a customer may use a mobile computing device, such as a smart phone, to select and pay for items in a brick-and-mortar store. Such shopping process may permit the customer to purchase numerous items without the using of shopping basket or a wheeled shopping cart. The shopping process may further permit the customer to pay for items and leave the store with such items without waiting in a checkout line.