Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-26
2004-03-09
Tweel, Jr., John A (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C235S383000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06703934
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Retail businesses are facing increased competition from the new internet and other “on-line” businesses. Although conventional “walk-in” retail shops provide the customer with clear advantages over “on-line” shopping, such as the ability to view merchandise before buying and “over the counter” delivery, the “on-line” businesses can be much more competitive in price since an on-line business merely has to change the selling price of a good or service offered on its web site.
The typical retail shop displays hundreds of items. The selling price of each item is indicated, in most cases, on a price tag attached to the item or a sign placed near to the item. Price is indicated in customer readable form, e.g. as a written or printed price tag. The price is often indicated in machine readable form as well, for example as a bar code.
The bar code price indication is machine read at the check-out counter and cross referenced to a computer record indicates its current price. Although the bar code indication of price can be quickly changed by altering the item's computer record, the customer readable price indication cannot be easily altered since it is typically printed on each individual price tag and must be altered one at a time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,133, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes an electronic price tag for indicating the price of an item in customer readable form, which can be altered from a central computer to which it is electronically coupled. This patent provides a way to quickly change the price of an item without having to remove old price tags and replace them with new ones each time a price change is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention teaches an application which can utilize an electronic tag similar to the one described in '133, as part of a method of doing business and system which can provide a retail shop with the pricing flexibility necessary to effectively compete with on-line businesses and other “e-commerce” innovations. The invention provides a method and apparatus for measuring various types of environmental conditions relevant to the business and the prices charges, for example the number of customers entering the shop in a given time interval, the time of day, the date, special sales events and the prices charged by competing businesses.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4002886 (1977-01-01), Sundelin
patent: 4888709 (1989-12-01), Revesz et al.
patent: 5151684 (1992-09-01), Johnsen
patent: 5172314 (1992-12-01), Poland et al.
patent: 5797131 (1998-08-01), Goodwin, III et al.
patent: 5870714 (1999-02-01), Shetty et al.
patent: 5873069 (1999-02-01), Reuhl et al.
patent: 5963133 (1999-10-01), Monjo
patent: 5988498 (1999-11-01), Hoell
Catan Carolyn Ramsey
Marion Michael E.
Nijman Loek
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Tweel, Jr. John A
LandOfFree
Method for dynamic pricing of goods and services does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for dynamic pricing of goods and services, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for dynamic pricing of goods and services will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3248055