Imagine walking into an unfamiliar grocery store looking for that
first time ever used ingredient for a recipe. How can you find it
without wandering about searching for the item, and then searching for
someone to help you... only to find out that the item is not in stock!

I am seeking a UPC code connected product currently on the market that
allows consumers to locate items in a retail environment. The product
would probably be linked to the 'back of house' inventory systems.
This product would allow a customer to walk into a store and key in a
question for a product and the answer would be the availability of the
product, its precise location, quantities, similar products etc. There
are many possibilities for such a product but the above requirements
would be sufficient for the answer.A detailed text answer followed by
URLs etc. would be appreciated.

For a TIP: If the product is not on the market then the name and
contact numbers of companies that could assist in designing and
producing one would be very helpful.

<Klever Kart manufactures a product locator/personal shopping
assistant which is a small electronic unit that attaches to a trolley.

It includes a Store Directory which  is an alphabetical,
shopper-friendly feature product location list. The directory gives
the location of the product. As the shopper nears the location a
trigger unit on the shelf identifies the product’s location with a
blinking light.  The unit can be programmed to advertise and promote
particular products. In a test 86% of consumers who used the
Klever-Kart liked the in-store directory.

The personal shopping assistant (PSA) can be customized with the
retailer’s banner. It greets the customer and has a simple to use
menu. Further developments include a card that can be swiped. The card
has information about the customer’s previous shopping trips and can
be used to prompt customers to buy products that they may have
forgotten to buy and also to promote products that the customers may
have an interest in.

The psa can also be programmed to advertise products at point of sale.
Tests have shown an increase in sales for supermarkets.

The Klever Marketing website features an interactive demonstration
where you can try out the device.

Contact details for Klever Marketing are as follows:
Address:
Klever Marketing, Inc. 
350 West 300 South, #201 
Salt Lake City, UT 84101 

Correspondence:
Klever Marketing, Inc. 
P.O. BOX 2935 
Salt Lake City, UT 84110 
PHONE (801) 322-1221 
FAX  (801) 322-1230 

Email contacts:
SALES  sales@kleverkart.com 
GENERAL INFORMATION  info@kleverkart.com>

<Additional links:>
<Klever Marketing Inc.>
<http://www.kleverkart.com/index.html>

<Interactive demo>
http://www.kleverkart.com/interactive.html

<Klever Kart>
<http://faculty.erau.edu/pratta/Archive/k/kleverkart.html>

<Klever-Kard>
<http://www.kleverkart.com/ad_kleverkard.html>

<Display unit and Trigger unit.>
<http://www.kleverkart.com/retailer_system.html>

<Ecoupon>
<http://www.kleverkart.com/retailer_ecoupon.html>

<Shopper’s assistant.>
<http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_fall/projects/abowd_team/part2b.html>

<Klever marketing.>
<http://www.prweb.com/releases/2001/3/prweb23353.php>


<Search strategy:>

<supermarket design "product locator">
<://www.google.com/search?q=supermarket+design+%22product+locator%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N>

<supermarket "product locator">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=supermarket+%22product+locator%22>

<klever kart>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=klever+kart>


<Hope this helps.>

---

Request for Answer Clarification by brudenell-ga on 11 Nov 2002 13:45 PST

Hello Belindalevez-ga

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I have taken awhile to respond as I do not have high speed access to
be able to easily read the URLs posted. Most took a fair amount of
time to load.

The Klever Kart is along the line of what I am seeking however it
doesn't "allow a customer to walk into a store and key in a
question for a product and the answer would be the availability of the
product, its precise location, quantities, similar products etc"

The Shoppers Assistant follows a slightly different approach but
requires the use of a PDA. Few shoppers have PDAs.

Basically I am seeking a universal tool/ kiosk/ user friendly screen
that is interfaced with the stores inventory data base. Most, if not
all medium to larger stores use the UPC identification system which is
linked to their inventory ordering system. The larger stores also know
exactly where the item is positioned on the shelf and at what height.
I want a system that will allow a techno dummy to find any grocery
item in a store (provided that the store carries it!) Also when the
customer activates a request this information can tell the store that
an item not stocked is being asked for- prompting the store to stock
it. Naturally information could be taken from the potential customer
at the time of request to give the store the ability to call the
potential customer back when they do bring the item in. In todays
environment how is a store to know that an unstocked item is being
sought?

Sorry for the long answer clarrification request. We are close with
the leads given but haven't quite hit the mark just yet.

I appreciate the time that you have taken to answer my question.

Regards

Brudenell

---

Clarification of Answer by belindalevez-ga on 12 Nov 2002 05:28 PST

<IBM produces a kiosk that can be programmed with off the shelf
software or alternatively software created by IBM or an independent
team. You would therefore be all to incorporate all of the features
that you specify in your question.
The kiosks are used by companies like Virgin, Hudson Bay and Air
Canada. Each retailer has software installed on the machines that best
serve their customers’ needs.
The kiosk that is illustrated can be wall mounted, pedestal mounted or
placed on a counter top.

To contact IBM telephone 1 800 426 2255>


<Additional links:>

<IBM kiosk overview.>
<http://www.pc.ibm.com/store/products/kiosk/>

<Kiosk features.>
<http://www.pc.ibm.com/store/products/kiosk/features.html>

<Kiosk brochure>
<ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/retail/marketing/brochures/kiosk/kiosk_sb_uke_3562.pdf>

<Contact IBM>
<http://www2.clearlake.ibm.com/store/support/html/feedback.html>


<Search strategy:>

<supermarket "point of sale">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=supermarket+%22point+of+sale%22>


<Hope this helps.>

Thank you.

Symbol Technologies of NY (www.symbol.com) are probably the world
leaders in the type of technology you would need for this.

Brudenell,

This sounds really interesting! I have seen a kiosk product similar to
this in Borders bookstores. It only sort of works. There are also the
systems used by public libraries, but I have never seen a UPC code
driven product. Systems like this are used all over the place in
warehousing applications, but are not ususally made available to a
consumer. To be honest, one of the reasons for this is that it is so
very difficult to keep the information in the system in line with
reality. People pick things up and move them without notfying a
computer, and it's very difficult to stop them!