GB2596330A - Detection of under-scanning at a point of sale - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method of detecting under-scanning at a point of sale 10 in a retail outlet, the point of sale having a conveyor 12 controlled by a sensor arrangement which activates the conveyor when goods 14 are not present in an end region and deactivates the conveyor when goods are present in the end region; and a reader 26 for reading product identifiers from presented goods. Conveyer activation data, relating to times at which the conveyer is activated, and product read data, relating to times at which product identifiers are read from the goods, is collected and analysed in order to identify actual or suspected under-scanning. The analysis may detect conveyor activations which are not followed by a product read and determine a frequency of such activations. The sensor arrangement may include a light source 18 which emits a beam 20 onto a detector 22, such that items in the end region break the beam. A second sensor arrangement 32, 34 and 36 may detect items being passed from the conveyor to a collection zone 28. The analysis may apply artificial intelligence or machine learning techniques to the collected data.

Description

DETECTION OF UNDER-SCANNING AT A POINT OF SALE

The present invention concerns measures for detection of under-scanning at the point of sale in a retail outlet.

The term "retail outlet" refers here to any premises where retail sale of goods is carried out and includes any form of shop (or in US English, store) including supermarkets and department stores.

In a retail outlet, the customer selects goods for purchase and takes them to a point of sale terminal where the charge is calculated and payment is made. In a modern retail outlet each item for sale typically carries a machine-readable identifier to be read by a reader at the point of sale to identify the product, and in this way the point of sale device is able to retrieve the cost of the item from a database and add it to the charge to be made to the customer, and to facilitate other functions such as obtaining product information for the customer receipt, enabling updating of the store's stock inventory, and so on. The machine-readable identifier typically comprises a visible marking to be optically read at the point of sale. Universal Product Codes ("UPCs") based on bar codes have been very widely used in this respect but OR ("Quick Response") codes are also used, and there have over the years been many proposals for use of other types of machine-readable codes or tags.

At the point of sale, each item for purchase typically needs to be scanned -that is, it needs to be individually presented to a reader so that its identifier can be read. Where the identifier takes the form of a barcode or OR code, the items needs to be moved through the field of view of a suitable optical scanner with the code presented to the scanner. This scanning process may be carried out by a till operative or (in the case of "self-checkout") by the customer themselves. The reader may take the form of a laser scanner, or it may use an imaging device such as a digital camera.

Supermarkets and many other retail outlets often provide a conveyor at the point of sale for conveying the goods to a till operative. The goods are placed on the conveyor, typically by the customer. A simple automatic control system is provided to control movement of the conveyor, using a "magic eye" arrangement arranged close to the till operative. This may comprise a light emitter directed across the conveyor onto a light detector, with associated electronics which provide that while the light detector is exposed to the light from the emitter, the conveyor runs, but when an item on the conveyor blocks the light from the emitter the resultant change in the output of the light detector leads to the conveyor being stopped. In this way the conveyor is arranged to deliver an item to the till operative, and then to stop until that item is removed from the conveyor.

The till operative takes the items one-by-one from the conveyor and passes them through a scanning area (the field of view of the reader) to enable the identifier to be read. Known identifiers in the form of UPCs include a check digit to enable misreads to be detected. After the identifier has been read, a lookup is made in a database to identify the product and retrieve its cost. If the check digit matches the remainder of the identifier and the code read from the product matches an item in the database then a signal is given to the till operative, typically in the form of an audible "beep", that the product has been scanned and recognised and can be passed to a downstream area which will be referred to herein as the "collection zone", from which the customer can collect the item.

The system can be defrauded by the till operative, in a manner that enables items to be received into the possession of the customer without being paid for. In under-scanning, the till operative passes an item from the conveyor to the collection zone without scanning it. Hence the cost of the un-scanned item is not added to the customer's bill. Deliberate under-scanning is sometimes referred to as "sweethearting" because typically the perpetrator is the till operative but the direct beneficiary is the customer. Under-scanning can also happen accidentally, e.g. due to a simple lack of care on the part of the till operative.

To move the item from the conveyor to the collection zone without it being scanned, the till operative may for example orient the item such that the identifier is not presented to the reader, or may move the item along a path that does not include the field of view of the reader, or may wholly or partly cover the identifier. For example, a fingertip may be placed over part of a barcode or OR code, making a full read impossible.

Some measures are known for detection of under-scanning. Refer in this regard to W02012/170551, Stoplift, Inc. The section of this document referring to prior art explains one known technique based on analysis of "scan gaps" -the intervals of time between one scan and the next. This is explained to be an unreliable method of detection, given the natural variability in scan gaps. Other approaches to the problem rely on digital cameras whose footage may be analysed by human operatives or by computerised image analysis techniques, but the former is labour intensive and so expensive, and the latter is reliant on processing of very large quantities of image data, and so is expensive in terms of processing capacity.

A different, simpler and/or superior means of detection of under-scanning is therefore desirable.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is a point of sale arrangement comprising a scanner for reading Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an overhead view of a point of sale installation operable in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 2 is a view of part of the same point of sale installation The illustrated point of sale installation 10 comprises a conveyor 12 onto which goods 14 to be purchased are typically loaded by a customer 16. The conveyor 12 is controllable by a sensor arrangement having a light source 18 arranged to project a light beam, whose path is not normally visible but is represented by a line 20 in the drawings, across the conveyor 12 onto a light sensor 22. The conveyor 12 is controlled in dependence upon the output of the light sensor 22. While no object breaks the beam 20 it impinges on the light sensor 22, which is thus subject to a high light level, and the conveyor 12 is permitted to run. When goods 14 have been conveyed to an end region of the conveyor, close to the till operative 24, the goods break the beam 20. The light level suffered by the light sensor 22 is thereby reduced and the change in its output is detected, causing the conveyor 12 to be stopped. In this way the conveyor 12 is controlled to deliver goods to its end, without then continuing to run and so causing a pile up of goods by the till operative 24. The till operative may also be provided with a control for the conveyor, to switch it off whilst its operation is not required.

The till operative 24 takes the goods 14 one item after another from the conveyor 12 and offers them to a reader 26. In the present example the reader 26 is an optical device for reading bar codes and/or OR codes, although as explained above other forms of reader technology may be used for reading product identifiers and these may be adopted in other embodiments of the present invention. The reader is arranged between the conveyor 12 and a collection zone 28 (also referred to commonly as the "bagging area") to which the till operative passed the goods 14 after they have been read, and from which the customer can collect the goods for bagging and removal.

In the normal course of events each item of goods removed from the conveyor 12 is presented to the reader 20 and, as described above with reference to the prior art, its product identifier is read and validated (e.g. based on a checksum in the product identifier, and on a comparison of the product identifier against a product database to ensure that the identifier read by the reader 26 is valid). A signal (usually an audible signal) is provided to the till operative that a valid read has been carried out and the item of goods is placed in the collection zone. If there is an invalid code read for some reason then a different signal is given to the till operative to direct him/her to present the item once more to the reader 26. In the event of repeated failure to read the product identifier, the till operative 24 may manually input the product identifier using a keypad, or may seek assistance. Certain goods (e.g. loose fruit and vegetables) may carry no product identifier, but for those the point of sale device provides some other means of identification, e.g. using symbols on a bank of switches, often in conjunction with a scale for weighing the goods and so enabling them to be priced.

Each instance of valid reading of a product identifier, or of input of a product identification by another means, will be referred to herein as a "product read". Product reads are of course routinely timed and logged, and are used in compiling the total billed to the customer, in stock control and so on. Data relating to product reads will be referred to as "product read data", and this data is routinely collected by the point of sale system.

Removal of an item of goods 14 from the conveyor 12 often causes the conveyor 12 to advance. If only a single item lies in the path of the light beam 20 then removing that item will advance the conveyor. If two or more items lie in the path of the light beam 20 then the conveyor will advance when both or all of those items are removed from the conveyor 12.

Automatic activation of the conveyor (that is, a transition from the conveyor being static to the conveyor advancing) 12 is normally followed by a product read, as an item of goods is first removed from the conveyor 12 (causing its activation) and is then read and moved to the collection zone 28.

An automatic activation of the conveyor which is not followed by a product read may be considered anomalous, and may be indicative of under-scanning.

That is not to say of course that all such events result from under-scanning. The conveyor may for example advance for other reasons. For instance, the goods 14 on the conveyor 12 may be rearranged as, say, a round bottle rolls on the conveyor, or an upright item topples, unblocking the light beam 20.

In embodiments of the invention, data relating to activation of the conveyor 12 (to be referred to below as "conveyor activation data") is collected and is compared against the product read data in order to identify possible instances of under-scanning.

In a simple embodiment of the invention, instances of conveyor activation not followed by a valid product read (referred to in what follows as "anomalous activations") are counted and are interpreted as being potential examples of under-scanning. The more such instances, the greater the likelihood that under-scanning is going on. A threshold may be defined (e.g. a total number of anomalous activations for a single customer, or a certain proportion of anomalous activations to normal activations, or to product reads). If this threshold is exceeded then a signal may be given that action is needed.

In other embodiments more sophisticated processing of the product read data and the activation data may be carried out. In particular, artificial intelligence techniques and/or machine learning may be applied to identify patterns in these two streams of data indicative of possible under-scanning. Such systems may be trained on data obtained from real instances of under-scanning (as well as data from instances where under-scanning does not take place). Additionally, or alternatively, statistical analysis techniques may be applied.

The output of the system may take the form of a score, attributed to a particular customer interaction or two a particular till operative 24, representing a perceived risk that under-scanning is taking place.

The response to a high score may for example be to initiate other measures to detect under-scanning, such as a human review of video footage of the relevant point of sale installation at the relevant time, from which it is likely to be apparent whether under-scanning is taking place.

The system as described above can be implemented very straightforwardly in exiting retail outlets since it largely utilises existing hardware, commonly found in point of sale installations.

A variant of the system, also embodying the present invention, makes use of a second sensor arrangement to monitor the path taken by the goods to the collection zone 28. In the example represented in Figure 2, the second sensor arrangement comprises a light source 32 whose output beam is represented by a line 34 in the drawing (although the path of the beam would not normally be visible). Whilst the beam 34 is unbroken, it impinges on a light sensor 36. The light beam 34 crosses the path taken by the goods from the conveyor 12 to the collection zone 28. In the illustrated example it is seen to lie downstream of the reader 26. Breaking of the beam 34 is detectable by means of the light sensor 36. Passage of an item of goods to the collection zone 28 by the normal route transiently breaks the beam 34. Hence the second sensor arrangement serves to detect passage of goods from the conveyor 26 to the collection zone 28, at least when the goods are moved along the normal route.

Each occasion when the beam is transiently broken can be taken to be indicative of an item of goods being moved to the collection zone (although of course it is possible that breakage of the beam may result from some other circumstance, such as a hand being moved for some reason through the beam 34).

The output from the second sensor arrangement is processed to detect transient changes of sensor output (to be referred to as "sensor events") indicative of the likely passage of an item of goods to the collection zone 28. The resultant data will be referred to as "second sensor data", and includes -in the present embodiment -the times of the sensor events.

Whilst goods are being properly scanned, each item is the subject of a product read before it is passed to the collection zone. Any sensor event is thus expected to be preceded by a product read. Any sensor event not preceded by a product read may be regarded as anomalous, and suggestive of under-scanning. Thus, analysis of the product read data in conjunction with the second sensor data may be used to detect possible under-scanning.

But in the preferred embodiments all three data feeds -the conveyor activation data, product read data and second sensor data -are analysed in conjunction with one another to detect possible under-scanning. In the normal course of events, for example, a conveyor activation will be followed by a product read and then by a sensor event. Deviations from this sequence may be detected and analysed.

The analysis of the product read data, the conveyor activation data and (where present) of the second sensor data may be carried out in any suitable processing device, system of processing device or network of processing devices. It may in principle be carried out wholly or partially by a device sited at the point of sale. But typically, such devices are networked, exporting their data to a back-office computer system which is itself part of a local or wide area network. The necessary processing may be carried out at any point in such a network.

Claims (11)

1. CLAIMS1. A method of detecting under-scanning at a retail outlet, implemented at a point of sale installation that comprises: a conveyor which is arranged to convey goods to an operative and which is controlled by a sensor arrangement which serves to activate the conveyor when goods are not present on an end region of the conveyor and to deactivate the conveyor when goods are present in the end region, and a reader for reading product identifiers from goods presented to the reader, the method comprising collecting conveyor activation data relating to times at which the conveyor is automatically activated, collecting product read data relating to times at which product identifiers are read from the goods, analysing the conveyor activation data in conjunction with the product read data, and identifying actual or suspected under-scanning based on the said analysis.
2. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the said analysis comprises detecting conveyor activations which are not followed by a product read.
3. 3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the said analysis comprises determining a frequency of conveyor activations which are not followed by a product read.
4. 4. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the analysis comprises application of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning techniques to the product read data and the conveyor activation data.
5. 5. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 implemented in a point of sale installation further comprising a second sensor arrangement configured to detect items being passed from the conveyor to a collection zone, the method comprising detecting events indicative of passage of an item by processing of an output from the second sensor arrangement to provide second sensor data, and analysing the sensor data in conjunction with the product read data to identify actual or suspected under-scanning.
6. 6. A system for detection of under-scanning at a point of sale installation in a retail outlet comprising a conveyor which is arranged to convey goods to an operative, a sensor arrangement which serves to activate the conveyor when goods are not present on an end region of the conveyor and to deactivate the conveyor when goods are present in the end region, and a reader for reading product identifiers from goods presented to the reader, the system being configured to collect conveyor activation data relating to times at which the conveyor is automatically activated, to collect product read data relating to times at which product identifiers are read from the goods, and to analyse the conveyor activation data in conjunction with the product read data, to identify actual or suspected under-scanning based on the said analysis.
7. 7. A system as claimed in claim 6 in which the sensor arrangement comprises a light source emitting a light beam directed onto a light detector, so that items on the conveyor in its end region break the light beam.
8. 8. A system as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 configured to carry out analysis comprising detecting conveyor activations which are not followed by a product read.
9. 9. A system as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 configured to carry out analysis comprising determining a frequency of conveyor activations which are not followed by a product read.
10. 10. A system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 9 configured to carry out analysis comprising application of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning techniques to the product read data and the conveyor activation data.
11. 11. A system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 10 in which the point of sale installation further comprising a second sensor arrangement configured to detect items being passed from the conveyor to a collection zone and the system is configured to detect events indicative of passage of an item by processing of an output from the second sensor arrangement to provide second sensor data, and analysing the sensor data in conjunction with the product read data to identify actual or suspected under-scanning.