Electronic Retailing Systems, Inc.

Electronic Retailing Systems International

Ers Associates Limited Partnership

Bruce F Failing, Jr

Anthony P Fernandez

George T Briechle

Edward J Fenwick

Robert J Venable

J Robert Venable

Jeffrey T Sandgren

An improved system for space management in retail stores is described. The space management system includes price display labels mounted on rails along the edges of shelves in a store. A communications link between the computer and the labels permits the computer to address each label by a logical address and to determine the physical location of each label to within a resolution of typically four feet. The system prepares price audit lists and adjacency audit lists that permit economical use of the time of store personnel during the audit. The lists are generated in such a way that the items on a particular list are physically contiguous; thus once the correct general area has been located by the auditor little additional time need be spent locating the individual items. In performing an audit of product facings, the user is able to use the display hardware, including the pushbutton on each label, as a data collection system for product facing information. In product location mode, the user starts at the first label at one end of a shelf and presses the button on the first label. The user moves to the second label, presses its button, moves to the third label, and the process is repeated for each label along the shelf, and for the rest of the shelves in the area being audited. This permits the system to collect information as to the sequence of labels along a rail.

Space management system

A system has a central store computer and a multiplicity of electronic shelf labels (ESLs). Each label has a means to detect the presence of an ESL-mounted shelf talker. The system automatically audits the store for the proper set of installed shelf talkers. The detection means is an optical port, a pressure sensor such as a button, or a capacitive sensor. The sensor will detect the presence of the shelf talker as well as the absence of the shelf talker. The talker may snap into a recessed optical port, the recessed port serving as a mounting mechanism as well, thus ensuring a more reliable indication that the shelf talker is installed. The sensor may be a capacitive sensor, detecting the presence of a metallized region on the shelf talker. An audit is performed by the connected host computer, which maintains a database of all products with ESLs, and specifically includes data as to which ESLs (products) are on which promotional event, the starting and end dates, and the actual (current) status of whether a shelf talker is installed.

Shelf talker management system

Growing community of inventors

Greenwich, CT, United States of America

Bruce F Failing, Jr