The present disclosure provides improved packaging detection at self-checkout kiosks by identifying a given bag type for a bag selected at a self-checkout kiosk out of a plurality of bag types available from a bag dispenser associated with the self-checkout kiosk; identifying a weight range for the given bag type; in response to determining that the bag has been moved to a packing area of the self-checkout kiosk, comparing a first weight in the packing area from before the bag was moved to the packing area with a second weight in the packing area that includes the bag; and in response to a difference between the first weight and the second weight falling outside of the weight range, generating a loss prevention alert and pausing a transaction at the self-checkout kiosk.

Dispensing and live inventory management system and methods are disclosed. A shelf for items has bins each with an associated sensor. A processor receives a detection signal from the sensor which indicates placement or removal an item(s) from an associated bin. An entry device sends an entered request for placement or removal of items to the processor, and an indicator strip has lights which uniquely identify each one of the bins when lit. The processor has information relating to which bin each subset of lights is associated, and causes activation of a subset of lights associated with a bin of the item(s) in the request and records in memory a type of action, a timestamp and a quantity of the item(s) placed or removed from the bin having the subset of lights lit and indicated in the detection signal subsequently received from the sensor of the associated bin.

Images are captured of a customer during a transaction at a transaction terminal along with images associated with items of the transaction and any bags or cart used to hold the items. The images are processed to track any movement and locations of the customer, items, bags, and cart relative to a known location of the transaction terminal. When a transaction payment is required for the transaction and movement is detected in a direction that is moving away from the transaction terminal before a payment notification is received for the transaction, one or more alerts are raised as an indication to staff and/or security systems of a potential in-progress walk-away theft.

A system and method for contextually aware customer item entry for autonomous shopping applications that includes an environmental sensing system distributed through a shopping environment that is configured to collect contextual data of customer activity in the environment; the environmental sensing system comprising at least a computer vision monitoring system, the computer vision monitoring system comprising a set of imaging devices distributed through the environment; a customer-managed item entry system that is movable through the environment by the customer and that is configured to collect item selection input; a virtual cart management module configured to manage a virtual cart with the item selection input and augmented at least in part by the contextual data, wherein the virtual cart is used in execution of an autonomous checkout process.

Systems and methods for detecting potential shrink events via RFID technology are provided. The systems include a point of sale (POS) system that includes an optical scanner, an RFID transceiver arrangement, a user interface and a controller. The controller is configured to perform example methods disclosed herein. For example, the controller may detect that the optical scanner has decoded a barcode, trigger the RFID transceiver arrangement to write a data string to an RFID tag located within the object scanning area, conduct a detection operation to detect the RFID tag with the data string in the bagging area. Responsive to detecting the RFID tag with the data string, the method involves the user interface performing a first operation. Responsive to not detecting the RFID tag with the data string, the method involves the user interface performing a second operation.

Systems and methods for privacy-preserving inventory matching are disclosed. In one embodiment, in an information processing apparatus comprising at least one computer processor, a method for inventory matching may include: (1) receiving, from each of a plurality of clients, a masked submission comprising an identification of at least one security to buy or sell and a desired quantity to buy or sell; (2) aggregating the masked submissions resulting in a sum of the desired quantities to buy or sell; (3) matching at least two of the clients to conduct a transaction based on aggregation and their respective masked submissions; and (4) conducing the transaction between the matched clients.

An article management system includes one or more first antennas provided on a side of a first prescribed region and one or more second antennas provided on a side of a second prescribed region such that the first antennas and the second antennas have respective reading target areas which at least partially do not overlap with each other; a reader/writer configured to read article information stored in an RFID tag attached to an article by using the first antennas and the second antennas, respectively; and a management device configured to manage the article information read by the reader/writer from the RFID tag.

A machine-learning algorithm is trained with features relevant to basket data for items of transactions. The trained algorithm is trained to predict whether a given transaction is more or less likely to be associated with theft being engaged in by a transaction operator for the transaction. The trained algorithm is then provided basket data for a given transaction and produces as output a theft prediction value. When the theft prediction value exceeds a configured threshold value, the transaction is flagged for manual intervention or the transaction is flagged for subsequent manual verification.

An open self-service sales system based on positioning of customers includes an open partitioned weight-sensing rack including multiple storage subareas. The open self-service sales system further includes a positioning module and an automatic weighing unit which are connected to the central control module. The position information of the customer is bound with the subareas to accurately identify customers and the purchasing behaviors. The data flow is simple and reliable, and a large number of computing is avoided, which is suitable for large customer flows.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided for enhancing users' overall experiences with physical items by supplementing their physical experiences with digital experiences. According to an embodiment, a user uses an electronic device to scan a smart tag associated with an item to obtain an item identifier of the item. The electronic device sends the item identifier to a server, which selects digital content related to the item and sends the selected digital content to the user's electronic device for display.