Terminal Cooperation IDs for Real-Time Group Purchase Consolidation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-checkout systems do not efficiently manage purchases when multiple customers, such as a parent and child, use separate shopping baskets, requiring the parent to pay for the child's items separately and handle money transfers.
Innovation Solution
A terminal device and method that allows sharing of item identification information among multiple customers using a cooperation ID, enabling real-time information exchange and consolidation of purchases across connected devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If each customer uses a separate shopping basket for shopping, then shopping convenience for each individual is improved, but payment management becomes complex and requires manual money transfers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple shopping baskets into a unified payment system by introducing a management terminal that consolidates item information from multiple baskets. Each basket maintains its independence for shopping, but the management terminal combines their data for unified payment processing, eliminating the need for manual money transfers while preserving individual shopping convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The management terminal acts as an intermediary between multiple shopping baskets and the payment system. It receives item information from various baskets, manages the consolidated data, and coordinates payment processing, thereby simplifying payment management without affecting individual basket usage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple shopping baskets are used simultaneously, then group shopping flexibility is improved, but information management across baskets becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The management terminal merges information from multiple shopping baskets into a unified data structure. It consolidates item lists, quantities, and pricing information from all connected baskets, ensuring no information is lost while maintaining the flexibility of using multiple baskets simultaneously for group shopping.
3Reliability
If separate payment processing is required for each shopping basket, then individual accountability is improved, but transaction time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The management terminal performs preliminary consolidation of item information from multiple baskets before the actual payment process. By pre-aggregating data and calculating totals in advance, it enables faster transaction processing while maintaining individual accountability through the ability to review and approve specific basket contents before unified payment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the payment process into information consolidation (performed preliminarily by the management terminal) and payment execution. This segmentation allows individual basket contents to be accounted for separately in the consolidation phase, while the actual payment transaction occurs as a single streamlined operation, reducing overall transaction time.
Data Source
AI summary
In a purchase management system using a self-checkout register, pieces of information, which are respectively registered by individual terminal devices, are shared among a plurality of customers. A terminal device capable of acquiring item identification information of each item to be purchased first acquires a cooperation ID. Next, the terminal device shares the information in real time with a cooperative terminal device that is another terminal device and includes the same cooperation ID.