Title: SEAMLESS RETAIL COUNTERS IN THE ABSENCE OF CLIENT/SERVER
ARCHITECTURE AND INTERNET
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to wireless methods for carrying out consumer transactions.
More particularly, the present invention relates to conducting transactions between devices
without having a need for dedicated client/server architecture even at the time of internet
failure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Local networks and their applicability for data communication between computers and other
devices has increased, and in particular, there is a real need for a method or system for
exchanging of a large amount of information'such as image data or any other data efficiently,
free of error, and rapidly in a seamless way.
A retail store in its typical transaction, include several component-transactions, such as
receiving one or more orders for goods and/or services, each particular order referred to as an
order component, receiving payment for those goods and/or services, delivering the ordered
goods and/or services or otherwise fulfilling the order, or a combination thereof. The point at
which these transactions, take place is known as the point of sale ("POS") location. This
point of sale also serves as a point of order taking, the point of payment and/or the point of
order fulfilment or estimation of total price.
Retail stores often integrate order entry points, i.e. POS terminals, such as integrated order
input/cash registers, with a restaurant POS system ("RPOS" system), e.g. a system, typically
including a network and server, which interconnects the POS terminals with displays or
terminals in the production area to convey and track orders, etc. under the management of
appropriate software. POS terminal (often referred to as "point-of-sale registers", or "POS
registers") often include custom hardware and/or software and, in a typical implementation,
include simplified buttons or keys representing each of the various items offered for sale, i.e.
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. a POS terminal interface. This simplified order entry interface streamlines, accelerates, as
well as minimizes errors in order processing.
Typically, an RPOS system includes a POS server coupled with one or more POS terminals
located at various POS locations throughout the restaurant and one or more kitchen video
displays ("KVD") and/or a kitchen video system ("KVS") located in the production area. The
POS server, POS terminals and KVD's are typically interconnected over a network, such as a
local area network. The POS terminal typically relays the order, via the network and POS
server, t e a production display system, such as a KVD, so that kitchen staff may fill the order
in a production area.
These conventional methods, often leads to errors in taking orders, which results on customer
irritation and annoyance and other errors resulting in unacceptable delays in servicing
customers and, potentially, lost customers, lost goodwill and lost revenue.
In some implementations, custom based hardware is used for the RPOS systems which does
not allow for feasible hardware-upgrades. For example, adding or improving the functionality
of the custom based hardware often requires custom modification and custom upgrades to the
hardware and/or software. Also, the custom based hardware'is relatively expensive to procure
and maintain compared to general purpose hardware such as readily available personal
computers and components.
In prior art doquments, U.S. Publication No. 2005/0049940, discloses remotely and centrally
located order takers connected with drive-thru POS's using a conventional telephone network
g* to initiate and implement the communications with the drivers while using a dedicated
computer network to pass the completed orders back to the restaurant for fulfilment.
oT However, the disclosed system's reliance on a conventional telephone interconnection to
S initiate order processing limits the system's effectiveness in large scale operations resulting in
inefficiencies at scale. In addition, the disclosed system fails to adequately handle errors in a
seamless fashion, requiring manual recognition of a problem and manual intervention to deal
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with it, resulting in inefficient order handling and customer dissatisfaction. Moreover, there
are chances of loss of internet connectivity, which adds to the error in performance.
Ultimately, these and other disadvantages lead to, among other things, delays and
inefficiencies in order intake and fulfilment. As a result, the ordering and fulfilment process,
rather than the production process, becomes the critical bottle neck in the overall workflow.
Delays in order intake then lead to reduced production, long customer queues and ultimately
customer dissatisfaction.
Another major issue associated with the restaurant industry is related to the process of
transferring responsibility for a guest check between employees, of the restaurant.
Specifically, transferring a restaurant guest check from one waiter's responsibility to another
waiter's responsibility is often required in modern restaurants in order for restaurant staff to
care for guestsas best as possible while retaining proper financial controls.
Guest check transfers, however, have traditionally been multi-step processes requiring that
each of at least two waiters log into a Point Of Sale (POS) system in a specific sequence;
each then conducting actions related to the initiation and receipt of the check being
transferred prior to the receiving waiter being able to take any actions on the transferred
check. In a busy restaurant that uses only fixed-position POS terminals, this can be a
cumbersome and time-consuming process requiring both waiters to engage in the process
together, first finding an available POS terminal on which to conduct their respective
activities in sequence.
S? Handheld computers can simplify this process somewhat, often eliminating the need to find
an available POS" terminal since either one or both of the initiating and receiving waiters is in
oT " possession of his/her own handheld computer at the outset of the transfer process. Even in
o these cases, however, existing solutions still require that both waiters engage in multiple,
explicit, and manual steps in the user interfaces of the available computer or computers to
complete the transfer process.
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Thus in view of the above discussed numerous shortcomings of the existing methods of order
processing, fulfilment and management of financial transactions, it is desired to develop a
method that is capable to provide seamless transactions in a simple way even in the absence
of expensive, specific hardware and dedicated client/server architecture. Moreover, the
transactions should continue even at the time of internet failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a method and system of seamless
order processing and the concepts are further described below in the detailed description.
This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor
is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is the main object of the present invention to provide a system and method for order
processing and fulfillment in a seamless manner at the retail counters even without having a
dedicated client/server architecture.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for order
processing and fulfillment in a seamless manner at retail counters even where there are high
interruptions in power and network.
It is another object of the'present invention to provide a system and method for order
processing and fulfillment in a seamless manner even at the time of internet failure.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system of wireless devices that
are capable to communicate even in the event of internet failure. '
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method which requires minimum
hardware.
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Accordingly, in an implementation a processor implemented method for seamless processing
of orders at retail counters is disclosed. The said method comprising: generating a customer
arrival alert indicating the presence of the customer at the order taking point; receiving, a
session request generated based on the customer arrival alert, the session request being
received from a selected order taking point selected from a plurality of order taking points
and initiating a session therewith; implementing, in response to the receiving, a session with
the selected order taking point for receiving communication of an indication of the order
. component from the selected order taking point; facilitating fulfillment of the order in
response to the transmission; and ending the generated session upon having completed the
financial transaction; and wherein the communication between the plurality of order taking
point is via a network service delivery so as to facilitate seamless processing even in the
event of internet interruptions.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those
skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the
annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist
in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes
various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely
exemplary.
Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and
c? modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the
scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions
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The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the
bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and
consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled
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in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention
are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as
defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents
unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. '
By the term "substantially" it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need
not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances,
measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of
skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was
intended to provide.
Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in
the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination
with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.
It should be emphasized that the term "comprises/comprising" when used in this specification
is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not
preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components
or groups thereof.
The present invention relates to conducting transactions including financial transactions
between electronic devices without having a need for dedicated client/server architecture
even at the time of internet failure.
The present invention provides a design of an architecture which is capable to reduce the cost
of the infrastructure as well as to work seamlessly in the event of internet failures. This
method allows the retailers to perform their day to day operations/activities like Order
Management, Inventory Management, Purchase Management, Customer Management,
Employee Management etc. The retail counters are designed to work in an environment
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where there are high interruptions in power and network. The present solution is designed to
provide that the multiple hand held devices including mobile devices may act as counters
from where order may be taken. These are operating under the same network and
communicate with each other without requiring to have internet connection or local server.
This reduces the operations cost tremendously to the retailers as they do not have to spend, a
lot on the internet data consumption, server infrastructure & maintenance (server backup;
hardware maintenance, personnel expenses).
In one implementation, the present invention provides an architecture based on a mobile
retailer efficiency and productivity solution using Android Operating system. A Retailer
Android application is developed and may be deployed on any of the devices/counters that
support Android 4.2 and above. Data that is collected from these activities are stored in the
device using SQLite database. Counters/Devices transmit their individual transaction details
as messages using Android's Network Service Discovery (NSD). These messages are then
received and processed by the mobile devices that are listening to those messages. As these
message transmissions between the devices are done using the local network there is no
single point of failure in the event of internet interruptions. When these counters are
connected to the internet, they may synch up the data with,the cloud servers. Cloud servers
are used only for storing the historical information/transactions for reporting and analysis
purposes. . s
Financial transactions are very sensitive and crucial for any business to operate. Any
interruption or loss of data may impact the business as a whole, At the same time, not all the
businesses may have investment/infrastructure to support all the scenarios to handle the
interruptions or failures. This invention will benefit the retailer in improving their ROI and
may work seamlessly even at the time of hardware, power and internet failures.
In an implementation, the mREAP is an application and service designed in the present
invention to manage Sales orders, invoices, products and .inventories, customers etc. Data is
stored in the cloud and is shared between multiple devices. No network connection is needed
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to access most of the method features. Hence syncing in mREAP may be classified as
asynchronous and client-server.
Data syncing between the devices is using the Network Service Discovery (NSD) technology
from Android. NSD gives the ability to discover and connect to other services/devices
running on a local network.
NSD implements the DNS-based Service Discovery (DNS-SD) mechanism, which allows
mREAP to request services by specifying a type of service and the name of a device instance
that provides the mREAP data synching service.
When mREAP is intialized, it registers it's service with the local network by providing a
unique service name and service type. Once it registers it's service on to the network, it
listens to other mREAP services in the local network using service discovery. It collects
information on other devices that are available in the network and stores them locally for
future broadcast.
Below are the implementations for syncing data between devices:
In an implementation of the method for synchronize changes, devices broadcasts their deltas
and distributes the deltas to other devices that are discovered already.
In an implementation of the method for device that has lost synchronization, when a device
gets disconnected from the local network, the device needs to get the current state from the
server without going through the deltas.
The present invention implements syncing independently rather than use.an off-the-shelf
?T solution. The data model and the database structure requires special approach from the app's
5 logic viewpoint: relationships between objects should be properly preserved. Data syncing
between the devises is run in a separate Core Data context running in the background thread.
To reduce the time spent, the present invention updates the device database only with such
objects that have changed since the latest syncing, which may be easily identified by the last
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change timestamp available for every object. Also, the update of changes has been optimized
by querying from modified objects at once within a single broadcast.
The update of data received in each broadcast is performed like from within a single
transaction, which saves all the changes completely or rolls them back in case of an error. All
transactions are run sequentially. Each change is added to the queue which uses the FIFO
mode. Changes are added to the queue to ensure a valid sequence of updates to the database
in case changes are interdependent. No data is deleted to avoid data inconsistency created
because of the deletion.
Apart from what is disclosed above, the present invention also includes some addition
benefits and advantages. Few of the additional benefits are mentioned below:
1. One of the main reasons for the small and medium scale retailers slow in adopting
technology is because of the capital and operating expenses. This invention will
tremendously reduce their cost of operations and have a full control on their business.
2. Cost and uninterrupted operations are the major advantages of this invention
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We Claim:
1. A processor implemented method for seamless processing of orders at retail counters,
said method comprising;
a. generating a customer arrival alert indicating the presence of the customer at
the order taking point;
b. receiving, a session request generated based on the customer arrival alert, the
session request being received from a selected order taking point selected from
a plurality of order taking points and initiating a session therewith;
c. implementing, in response to the receiving, a session with the selected order
taking point for receiving communication of an indication of the order
component from the selected order taking point;
d. facilitating fulfillment of the order in response to the transmission; and
e. ending the generated session upon having completed the financial transaction;
and
wherein the communication between the plurality of order taking point is via a
network service delivery so as to facilitate seamless processing even in the event
of internet interruptions.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, is in the absence of server architecture or internet.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the generation of session involves .
identifying each order with a unique identification code,
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the order taking points are a plurality of
hand held electronic devices.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of order taking points are
further connected^ to a central location with a database.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprises: receiving the order component
from the order taking point; wherein the indication received from the selected order
taking point comprises an acknowledgement from the order taking point in response
to the communicating of the order component thereto; and wherein the facilitating
further comprises processing the received acknowledgement to facilitate fulfilment of
the order.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the order taking point comprises dynamic
data and static data.
8. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the dynamic data includes queue
information and the static data includes store information, menu information, product
availability, kitchen queue information, promotion information, drive-through
information, or combinations thereof.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data connection is initiated from the
order taking point.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein retail counters may be selected from
kitchen, restaurants, bars or the like.
11. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electronic devices communicate via
android network service delivery.
12. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprises syncing of data to the database
on the availability of internet.
13. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprises analyzing at the plurality of
order taking point, the plurality of messages related to an order session for estimating
the financial transaction.
14. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprises modifying including
automatically recalling the session order or the like at a subsequent time via the
handheld device.