Description:

The present disclosure relates in general to an electronic shelf label or ESL for short. More in particular relates the present disclosure to an ESL having communication means which are arranged for communication with a mobile user equipment to communication information relating to a product corresponding to the ESL on the mobile user equipment. The present disclosure in particular relates to a ESL which has an improved presence sensor for detecting the presence of the mobile user equipment.

Commercial environments such as shops or shop like environments, which may also include gas station shops and the like, are used by retailers to display and offer products to be purchased by consumers in the shop or in general the commercial environment. The products are typically displayed on product shelves or on retail product support structures. The retail product support structures, or shelf for short, may be used for displaying, storing and offering the products for sale and is typically comprised of a flat horizontal shelf which is used in a business, a store/shop or other commercial environment. With a shelf the products are raised from the ground and usually anchored or supported on the shorter lengths of the shelf by brackets, columns or pillars.

To indicate product information to the consumer, the shelves are provided with shelf labels which allow the retailers to display for example the price, and a name or type of the product. Conventional shelf labels have to be replaced in case any of these information changes. Dynamic pricing is therefore cumbersome. ESLs solve at least some of these drawbacks since they allow the retailer to provide dynamic pricing and to change all or part of the information displayed on the label without replacing. Updated pricing is very convenient with a system of ESLs. Typically, such an ESL system thus comprises a plurality of ESLs, one per type of product, and a control or backend server which controls the content or information on the label. Such a backend server is typically referred to as a label management backend server. All updating of the content or information may be employed though a user interface offered by the server.

ESLs are particularly suitable for a fully or semi self-service checkout or in a commercial environment in which the customer is provided with product information through the ESLs which info is displayed upon initiation of the merchant, for example when the customer is near the ESL. ESLs may even allow shopping experiences in which typical cashier-staffed point-of-sale terminals are obsolete an in which the products may be bought through tapping of the ESL by the customer, for example with a dedicated electronic device or a general mobile user equipment such as a mobile phone. Tapping the ESL allows the device or mobile phone to detect and identify the ESL and thus the corresponding product and add the product into a virtual shopping cart. Upon initiation of the customer or upon initiation of the merchant, the transaction of the products in the virtual shopping cart can be completed by a financial transaction between the customer and the merchant or a third party processing the financial transaction on behalf of the merchant.

Popularity of these self-services has rapidly emerged over the last few years since the total cost of ownership of such services is typically lower than the costs for the additional personal, and traditional cashier checkouts etc. Moreover, and maybe even more important, the user experience is also increased and the time needed for the customer to actually buy products is decreased, which is also advantageously.

Over the last few years, variety of products in shops has rapidly increased. Offering a larger variety results in more frequent stocking of the shelves and smaller shelf spaces per type of product. With the increase in variety of products, the number of ESLs also increases, and thus also the spacing between ESLs to such an extent that there is an increased risk of that tapping an ESL with for example a mobile user equipment, results in incorrect detection of a neighbouring ESL.

The present disclosure has for its object to provide an improved ESL for shopping products or services in a shop or other commercial environment, wherein the ESL is arranged to communicate with a mobile user equipment to obtain or exchange information on the product corresponding to the ESL on the mobile user equipment when the mobile user equipment is positioned in the proximity of the ESL, wherein such proximity is determined with improved accuracy.

The object is achieved, in a first aspect of the present disclosure, by an electronic shelf label arranged for positioning on a retail product support structure in a commercial environment such as a retail store, comprising: a display for displaying product information of a product in said retail product support structure; a control unit, arranged for control of said display and arranged for communication with a label management backend server; a battery for powering said display and said control unit; wherein said control unit is provided with wireless communication means for communication with a mobile user equipment and/or peripheral device of said mobile user equipment of a customer in said commercial environment, and wherein said electronic shelf label is further comprised of an electromagnetic unit for detecting presence of a magnet in said mobile user equipment in the proximity of said electronic shelf label.

What is proposed is an electronic shelf label, or ESL for short, which is arranged to be positioned on a retail product support structure such as a conventional shop shelf system in any type of commercial environment such as a retail store, grocery store but for example also in a shop of a gas station.

The ESL comprises a display for displaying product information of a particular product on the shelf and also has a control unit and a battery to power and to control the display and content thereon.

The ESL is arranged for communication with a label management backend server to receive the product information shown on the display of the ESL, which may comprise info on the ingredients, manufacturer, and typically, the price. The ESL is arranged to communicate with a mobile user equipment such as a mobile phone which allows adding a product corresponding to the ESL into a virtual shopping card on the mobile of the customer, but may also be arranged to push advertising info onto the mobile of the customer.

In order to prevent disturbance of the communication between the ESL and the mobile, the ESL should be accurate in detecting the tapping with the mobile.

The invention relies on alternative types of communication as compared to conventional wireless communication for determining the proximity of the mobile user equipment or a peripheral devices connected therewith with the ESL at an improved accuracy, as wireless communication technology may not be sufficiently accurate due to for example reflections, crosstalk, etc.

The invention is based on the fact that every mobile user equipment, such as a mobile phone or a tablet, is equipped with a loudspeaker and that this loudspeaker is always in the same place for almost all different types of telephone, being in the middle at the top of the telephone. That is exactly the location on the phone that a user is naturally inclined to tap on the ESL. Since this loudspeaker comprises a magnet, and the ESL is equipped with an electromagnetic unit to detect distortion of a magnetic field induced by the magnet of the loudspeaker, it allows very accurate determination of the proximity of that particular telephone to the ESL and as such determined that the correct ESL detects a tap action, which corresponds to the user's intent regarding the ESL that was actually tapped.

In an example, the electromagnetic unit comprises a magnetometer.

In an example, the magnetometer is one of a reed switch, vector magnetometer, scalar magnetometer, coil magnetometer, hall effect sensor, magnetoresistive sensor, magneto-strictive magnetometer, fluxgate magnetometer, proton precession magnetometer, overhauser magnetometer, optically pumped magnetometer, squid magnetometer, chip-based magnetometer and a MEMS magnetometer. In an example, the magnetometer is a two-axis magneto meter.

In an example, the magnetometer is a three-axis magneto meter.

In an example, the electromagnetic unit comprises a reed switch.

In an example, the control unit is arranged for operating the electronic shelf label is a first operational modus and in a second sleep modus, wherein the control unit is arranged to switch from the second sleep modus to the first operational modus upon the reed switch to switch between open and closed state.

In an example, the reed switch comprises a normal open contact.

In an example, the reed switch comprises a normal closed contact.

In a further aspect, the electronic shelf label comprises a temperature sensor arranged to measure an instantaneous temperature, wherein the control unit is arranged to compare the instantaneous temperature with a threshold temperature and wherein the control unit is further arranged to generate a warning signal if the instantaneous temperature exceeds the threshold temperature. Alternatively, there is presented an electronic shelf label arranged for positioning on a retail product support structure in a commercial environment such as a retail store, comprising a display for displaying product information of a product in said retail product support structure; a control unit, arranged for control of said display and arranged for communication with a label management backend server; a battery for powering said display and said control unit; and a temperature sensor arranged to measure an instantaneous temperature, wherein the control unit is arranged to compare the instantaneous temperature with a threshold temperature and wherein the control unit is further arranged to generate a warning signal if the instantaneous temperature exceeds the threshold temperature. A manual way of controlling the temperature of products is too timeconsuming to accurately monitor and act accordingly. That is, it is desirable that checks are carried out frequently, so that, for example, a defective freezer or refrigerator is detected early and products are placed in another refrigerator or freezer before they exceed the critical temperature. On the other hand, the fate of many products is linked to a single measurement, which can result in the most critical temperature determining all products in the refrigerator or freezer. It often turns out that some products may well be exposed to a limited temperature exceedance for a longer period of time, while with current manual or automatic measurements they still have to be removed from the sale. In addition, a local temperature problem affects all products in the refrigerator, while many products may not have reached and certainly not exceeded the critical limit.

The ESL according to the second aspect is provided with a temperature sensor. Because there is a separate ESL for all the different products in the refrigerator or freezer, the temperature can be monitored per product or product group. As a result, on the basis of the determined value, in accordance with the guidelines, only those products can be removed from the refrigerator or freezer for which the temperature has actually been exceeded. Because each ESL is designed to signal a warning signal, it is easy to determine whether one, an entire group of products or all products must be removed from the refrigerator or freezer. In this way, unnecessary withdrawals from the sale are significantly reduced.

In addition, a much more accurate measurement can be provided with an ESL. The ESL can be equipped with an accurate digital temperature sensor. This sensor or the control unit can also be set to carry out a measurement at short intervals so that the time between exceeding the critical temperature and signalling is minimized. In addition, the control unit can observe a trend and determine that as the temperature increases (or decreases), the temperature of the product will exceed the critical temperature at any point in time. Even before this moment takes place, the ESL can signal this, so that the products can be saved if they are placed in another refrigerator or freezer in time. In an example, the electrical shelf label further includes a memory unit, which is arranged for storing one or more instantaneous temperature measurements.

In a further aspect, electronic shelf tag is provided according to one or more of the foregoing descriptions, and comprising: a housing with a front and a back; a display unit, which is accommodated in the front of the housing and is adapted to display the product information; a control unit, which is arranged for controlling the screen; a temperature sensor, which is arranged to measure an instantaneous temperature, wherein the control unit is adapted to compare the instantaneous temperature with a threshold temperature and wherein the control unit is further arranged to signal a warning signal if the current temperature exceeds the threshold temperature exceeds.

In a further aspect, there is provided a refrigerated shelf system for a store such as a supermarket or drugstore, comprising one or more shelves for displaying a plurality of refrigerated products, wherein an electronic shelf label is provided for each of the plurality of products according to one or more of the foregoing descriptions.

In a further aspect, there is provided a freezer shelf system for a store such as a supermarket or drugstore comprising one or more shelves for displaying a plurality of frozen products, wherein an electronic shelf label is provided for each of the plurality of products according to one or more of the foregoing descriptions.

The invention will be further elucidated on the basis of the non-limiting example shown in the figure, wherein:

Figure 1 shows an electronic shelf label according to the present disclosure.

Figure 1 shows an electronic shelf label, ESL, 1 arranged for positioning on a retail product support structure 10 in a commercial environment such as a retail store. The electronic shelf label 1 comprises a display 3, a control unit 5, a battery 7, an electromagnetic unit 9, and a temperature sensor 11. The components of the electronic shelf label 1 are connected by wire, indicated by the dashed line, for powering and/or communication to and/or from the respective component.

The display 3 is arranged for displaying product information of a product in the retail product support structure 10. The display 3 can further display a bar code, that can be scanned by a mobile user equipment 30, in this example embodied as a mobile phone 30, for viewing the product information on the display of the mobile phone 30.

The control unit 5 is arranged for control of the display 3 and arranged for communication with a label management backend server 20, wherein the battery 7 is arranged for powering the display 3, the control unit 5, and the temperature sensor 11. The control unit 5 is furthermore provided with wireless communication means for communication with the mobile phone 30 and/or peripheral devices of the mobile phone 30, of a customer in the commercial environment.

The electromagnetic unit 9 of the electronic shelf label 1 is arranged for detecting presence of a magnet 31 in the mobile phone 30, for example a magnet 31 of a speaker present in the mobile phone 30, in the proximity of the electronic shelf label 1. When the magnet 31 of the speaker is in the close proximity of the electromagnetic unit 9, for example at a distance of several centimetres, the electromagnetic unit 9 detects the presence of the magnet 31 in the proximity of the electronic shelf label 1 , and an action can be initiated accordingly. A possible action is adding the respective product to a virtual shopping list, comprised at the mobile phone 30, after establishing a communication link between the control unit 5 and the mobile phone 30 and/or peripheral devices of mobile phone 30.

The electromagnetic unit 9 comprises a magnetometer, wherein the magnetometer is one of a reed switch, vector magnetometer, scalar magnetometer, coil magnetometer, hall effect sensor, magneto-resistive sensor, magneto-strictive magnetometer, fluxgate magnetometer, proton precession magnetometer, overhauser magnetometer, optically pumped magnetometer, squid magnetometer, chip-based magnetometer and a MEMS magnetometer. Furthermore, the magnetometer is a two- axis magneto meter or a three-axis magneto meter.

Preferably, the electromagnetic unit 9 comprises a normal open reed switch, wherein the control unit 5 is arranged for operating the electronic shelf label 1 in a first operational modus and in a second sleep modus. The control unit 5 switches from the second sleep modus to the first operational modus, when the reed switch switches between open and closed state, upon detecting the presence of the magnet 31 in the proximity of the electronic shelf label 1 .

The temperature sensor 11 is arranged to measure an instantaneous temperature, wherein said control unit 5 is arranged to compare the instantaneous temperature with a threshold temperature and wherein the control unit 5 is further arranged to generate a warning signal if the instantaneous temperature exceeds the threshold temperature.