Systems and methods for customized navigation
In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to providing customized in-store navigation. In some embodiments, there is provided a system for providing customized in-store navigation including shelving units; shelf electronic shelf labels; product electronic shelf labels; a navigation services control circuit configured to transmit location information associated with the product ESLs at a retail store to an in-store navigation interface operable on a portable electronic device when the portable electronic device is inside the retail store; and the in-store navigation interface configured to: identify a target retail product; receive location information; determine a location of the target retail product; and display directions to the location of the target retail product on a display device.
1 . A system for providing customized in-store navigation to a user inside a retail store comprising:
a plurality of product electronic shelf labels (product ESLs) each associated with a set of product items belonging to a particular retail product of a plurality of retail products;
a plurality of shelf electronic shelf labels (shelf ESLs) each configured to determine a signal strength for each product ESL wirelessly coupled with the shelf ESL;
a plurality of Bluetooth wireless access points (WAPs) disposed throughout the retail store and used to estimate locations for the plurality of shelf ESLs, the plurality of product ESLs, and customer portable electronic devices disposed at the retail store using Bluetooth-based localization techniques;
an ESL services control circuit configured to, for each product ESL of the plurality of product ESLs, determine location information for the product ESL using (i) the signal strength between the product ESL and the shelf ESL wirelessly coupled with the product ESL, and (ii) signal strengths between the shelf ESL wirelessly coupled with the product ESL and the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs; and
a navigation services control circuit configured to transmit the location information associated with each of the plurality of product ESLs at the retail store to an in-store navigation interface operable on a portable electronic device, wherein the in-store navigation interface is configured to:
identify a target retail product of the plurality of retail products from a user input via the portable electronic device;
based on the portable electronic device coupling or communicating with one of the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs, receive the location information associated with the plurality of product ESLs from the navigation services control circuit via a transceiver of the portable electronic device;
determine a location of the target retail product identified from the user input based on a corresponding product ESL of the plurality of product ESLs associated with the location information;
determine a location of the portable electronic device based signal strengths between the Bluetooth WAPs and the portable electronic device; and
display directions from the location of the portable electronic device to the location of the target retail product and a pictorial identification of the target retail product on a display device of the portable electronic device.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the shelf ESLs is mounted to each one of at least two support members coupled to each end of a shelving unit.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the shelf ESLs is associated with a particular shelving unit of a plurality of shelving units.
4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of wireless beacons located proximate to a plurality of shelving units associated with the plurality of shelf ESLs and configured to transmit wireless beacon signals usable in determining a location of the portable electronic device, wherein each wireless beacon signal of the plurality of wireless beacons comprises a beacon identifier.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable electronic device automatically communicatively couples with at least one of the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs in the retail store when the user enters the retail store.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the user input comprises an electronic shopping cart associated with the user, and
the in-store navigation interface automatically accesses the electronic shopping cart associated with the user to identify the target retail product.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the in-store navigation interface is further configured to:
update the displayed directions to the location of the target retail product based on a relative location of the portable electronic device in the retail store; and
based on the relative location of the portable electronic device, update the displayed directions to include a pop-up indicator on a map of the displayed directions at a location on the map corresponding to a location of a pop-up product within the retail store, wherein the pop-up product is associated with buying patterns of the user.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the location of the portable electronic device in the retail store is determined based on a communicative coupling of the portable electronic device with at least one of the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs in the retail store.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the displayed directions to the location of the target retail product corresponds to an optimal path relative to alternative paths to the location of the target retail product based on all target retail products identified from the user input and the location of the portable electronic device in the retail store.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the ESL services control circuit is further configured to transmit particular pricing information to each of the plurality of product ESLs;
the system further comprises:
a plurality of databases configured to store one or more of a plurality of pricing data, a plurality of product items data, a plurality of product items sales descriptions, and a plurality of promotional data; and
a core services control circuit coupled to the ESL services control circuit, the plurality of databases, and the navigation services control circuit, the core services control circuit configured to:
receive the location information of the plurality of product ESLs from the ESL services control circuit; and
transmit the location information of the plurality of product ESLs to the navigation services control circuit; and
the navigation services control circuit is further configured to:
associate each of the location information of the plurality of product ESLs with one or more floor areas in the retail store; and
transmit a map of the retail store with directions to the location of the target retail product to the in-store navigation interface.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs are configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one of the plurality of shelf ESLs, the plurality of product ESLs, and the ESL services control circuit, wherein the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs comprise WIFI-based access points.
12 . A method for providing customized in-store navigation to a user inside a retail store comprising:
identifying, by an in-store navigation interface operable on a portable electronic device, a target retail product of a plurality of retail products from a user input via the portable electronic device;
based on the portable electronic device coupling or communicating with one of a plurality of Bluetooth wireless access points (WAPs) of the retail store, receiving, by the in-store navigation interface from a navigation services control circuit, location information associated with each of a plurality of product electronic shelf labels (product ESLs) via a transceiver of the portable electronic device,
wherein:
each of the plurality of product ESLs is associated with a set of product items belonging to a particular retail product of the plurality of retail products,
for each product ESL of the plurality of product ESLs, the location information associated with the product ESL is determined by an ESL services control circuit using (i) a signal strength between the product ESL and a shelf electronic shelf label (shelf ESL) wirelessly coupled with the product ESL, and (ii) signal strengths between the shelf ESL wirelessly coupled with the product ESL and the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs, and
the plurality Bluetooth WAPs are used to estimate locations for the plurality of shelf ESLs, the plurality of product ESLs, and customer portable electronic devices disposed at the retail store using Bluetooth-based localization techniques;
determining, by the in-store navigation interface, a location of the target retail product identified from the user input based on the location information associated with each of the plurality of product ESLs;
determining, by the in-store navigation interface, a location of the portable electronic device based signal strengths between the Bluetooth WAPs and the portable electronic device; and
displaying, by the in-store navigation interface, a direction to the location of the target retail product and a pictorial identification of the target retail product to a display device of the portable electronic device.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the shelf ESLs is mounted to each one of at least two support members coupled to each end of a shelving unit.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the shelf ESLs is associated with a particular shelving unit of a plurality of shelving units.
15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting, by a plurality of wireless beacons located proximate to a plurality of shelving units associated with the plurality of shelf ESLs, wireless beacon signals usable in determining a location of the portable electronic device, wherein each wireless beacon signal of the plurality of wireless beacons coupled to the in-store navigation interface comprises a beacon identifier.
16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically communicatively coupling the portable electronic device with at least one of the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs in the retail store when the user enters the retail store.
17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically accessing, by the in-store navigation interface, an electronic shopping cart associated with the user to identify the target retail product, wherein the user input comprises the electronic shopping cart associated with the user.
18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising updating, by the in-store navigation interface, the displayed directions to the location of the target retail product based on a relative location of the portable electronic device in the retail store.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the location of the portable electronic device in the retail store is determined based on a communicative coupling of the portable electronic device with at least one of the plurality of Bluetooth WAPs in the retail store.
20 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the displayed directions to the location of the target retail product corresponds to an optimal path relative to alternative paths to the location of the target retail product based on all target retail products identified from the user input and the location of the portable electronic device in the retail store.