Claims
- 1. An information system for use by customers in a retail shopping environment, comprising:
a host computer that stores and accesses product information; and a portable terminal for use by a customer that interacts with the host computer within a retail environment, the portable terminal comprising:
an input device that provides for input of a customer request; a transceiver that transmits the customer request and receives the product information from the host computer; a processor that generates a request or query related to the received product information; and a display that displays the product information and additional query information related to the generated request to the customer.
- 2. The information system of claim 1, the processor including a computer program activated by the customer.
- 3. The information system of claim 1, the input device comprising a touch panel that allows the customer to enter requests or queries for product information and additional information.
- 4. The information system of claim 1, further comprising a bar code reader coupled to the terminal that allows the customer to enter requests or queries for product information and additional information.
- 5. The information system of claim 1, the portable terminal employing a web browser that displays the product information and the additional query information via at least one web page.
- 6. The information system of claim 5, the at least one web page being a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document.
- 7. The information system of claim 1, the portable terminal further comprising a printer that prints the product information and the additional query information.
- 8. The information system of claim 1, the input device comprising a plurality of virtual buttons that transmit a link request to the host computer to launch a search program.
- 9. The information system of claim 1, the additional query information being at least one of: custom graphics related to marketing the product, associated products, manufacturers' website link data, coupons for the product, recipes for the product, and a location of the product in the retail environment.
- 10. The information system of claim 1, the host computer storing a record of the customer's activities to forecast purchasing trends and to track a purchasing behavior of the customer.
- 11. The information system of claim 10, the processor generating the additional requests or queries further in response to the forecasted purchasing trends and purchasing behavior of the customer.
- 12. A method for employing an information system for use by customers in a retail shopping environment, comprising:
transmitting a first request to a host computer from a portable terminal within the retail shopping environment; receiving product information based on the first request from a database in the host computer; receiving additional query information associated with the requested product information; and displaying the requested product information and the additional query information to a customer.
- 13. The method of claim 12, the requested product information and the additional query information being displayed in at least one Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) web page.
- 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising, generating a second request for product information in response to the information displayed in the at least one HTML web page.
- 15. The method of claim 12, the additional query information being received in response to the product information displayed to the customer.
- 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
generating a second customer request based on the requested product information displayed to the customer; receiving information based on the second customer request; and displaying the information based on the second customer request to the customer.
- 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising, in response to the requested product information displayed: adding a product to a purchase, declining to purchase the product, or requesting further information about the product.
- 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising, in response to the additional query information displayed: adding a product to a purchase, declining to purchase the product, or requesting further information about the product.
- 19. The method of claim 12, further comprising, printing the requested product information from the remote terminal.
- 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising, generating a shopping list based on the product information displayed to the customer.
- 21. The method of claim 12, further comprising, maintaining a record of the customer's activities to forecast purchasing trends and purchasing behavior of the customer.
- 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising, displaying product information to the customer based on the forecasted trends and purchasing behavior of the customer.
- 23. An information system for use by customers in a retail shopping environment, comprising:
a host computer including means for storing product information and means for retrieving the product information; and a portable terminal for use by a customer that interacts with the host computer, the portable terminal comprising:
input means for the customer to input a first customer request for the product information; display means for displaying the product information to the customer; and query means for generating a second customer request or query for additional product information from the host computer based on the product information displayed.
- 24. The system of claim 23, further comprising, means for forecasting customer trends and purchasing behavior.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/861,836 filed May 21, 2001 and entitled ELECTRONIC SHOPPING SYSTEM, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/921,235 filed Aug. 29, 1997 and entitled CUSTOMER INFORMATION NETWORK now U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,406, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/770,690 filed Dec. 19, 1996 and entitled SHOPPING CART MOUNTED PORTABLE DATA COLLECTION DEVICE WITH TETHERED DATAFORM READER now U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,935, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/752,301 filed Nov. 19, 1996, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/744,109 filed Nov. 5, 1996 and entitled SHOPPING CART MOUNTED PORTABLE DATA COLLECTION DEVICE WITH TETHERED DATAFORM READER now U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,513, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/668,343 filed Jun. 26, 1996 and entitled SHOPPING CART MOUNTED PORTABLE DATA COLLECTION DEVICE WITH TETHERED DATAFORM READER now U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,512.
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09861836 |
May 2001 |
US |
Child |
10189724 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08921235 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Child |
09861836 |
May 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08770690 |
Dec 1996 |
US |
Child |
08921235 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08752301 |
Nov 1996 |
US |
Child |
08921235 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08744109 |
Nov 1996 |
US |
Child |
08921235 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08668343 |
Jun 1996 |
US |
Child |
08921235 |
Aug 1997 |
US |