A retailing system for providing interaction between a customer and a retailer to assist in the completion of a sale, comprising, a customer interface arranged to display to a customer information about at least one item, an input module arranged to receive input regarding a potential sale of the at least one item from the customer for provision to a database via a communications system, wherein the database is arranged to provide the input from the customer to at least one other user associated with the retailer on a retailer interface viewable by the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other user utilizes the interface to review the input and interact with the customer to assist in the completion of the sale.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, sharing sensitive information with authorized individuals while reducing the likelihood that the sensitive information will be shared with unauthorized individuals. One of the methods includes receiving from a user an indication that a particular piece of information is sensitive information; automatically individually encrypting the sensitive information; automatically logging each access of the sensitive information; and reporting to the user that the sensitive information has been accessed, wherein the information management system to which the user indicates that a particular piece of information is sensitive information is the same information management system that reports to the user that the encrypted sensitive information has been accessed.

A central computer system directs a motorized transport unit through a retail shopping facility to a particular mobile item container having at least one item disposed therein, that item being designated for return to a particular department within the retail shopping facility such that this item can then again be presented for sale. After causing that motorized transport unit to physically attach to this mobile item container, the central computer system then directs that motorized transport unit through the retail shopping facility with the attached particular mobile item container to the one or more departments to which the item or items are to be so returned.

Systems and methods for controlling shelf display units and for graphically presenting information on shelf display units are disclosed. A system includes one or more display units configured to be coupled to shelves of a modular shelving system, one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more display units, one or more memory components communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory components. When executed by the one or more processors, the machine readable instructions cause the system to determine a product identifier corresponding to a product, identify one or more display units to update in response to determining the product identifier corresponding to the product, and update a graphical output of the one or more display units identified to be updated in response to identifying the one or more display units to update.

In a method and system for automated real estate information and offers, a prospective buyer of real property points a camera of a mobile device at the property. An application on the mobile device retrieves information pertinent to the property from a remote database, based on a geographic location of the property and automatic image recognition of one or more written characters displayed on or near the property. A form in the application takes terms for a prospective offer to purchase the property. The application transmits the offer to be displayed as an advertisement on one or more of the property owner's devices. The application permits prospective buyer and prospective seller to identify, negotiate with, and select real estate service providers including agents, brokers, title companies, escrow companies, and inspectors, each of whom may upload and download documents and information through the application.

A system and method are described that facilitate bilateral private interaction between participants who wish to initiate personal or business arrangements anonymously or without exposure except to identified trusted parties and the system and method act as an intermediary allowing the participants, typically buyers and sellers, to be matched based upon requests for and offers of goods and services, without revealing the identity or other identifying information about either the items or the participants until the participants choose to reveal that information.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for determining item availability are provided. A computer implemented method for determining item availability in a shopping space comprising: receiving a request for an item for purchase from a customer, querying an inventory database to determine whether the item for purchase is in stock, in an event that the item for purchase is not in stock according to the inventory database: determining an out of stock response to present to the customer, in an event that the item for purchase is in stock according the inventory database: instructing a motorized transport unit to travel to a display space in the shopping space corresponding to the item for the purchase, determining whether the item is available in the display space based on information captured by one or more sensors of the motorized transport unit, and in an event that the item for purchase is not available in the display space: determining an item unavailable response to present to the customer.

A system for executing actions based on user input is provided. The system comprises a virtual agent for a software application, wherein the virtual agent is configured to store a correlation between actions available in the software application. Further, the system associates one or more of the actions with one or more tags. The system receives at least an audio input from a user of the software application and uses the input to identify an action desired by the user to be performed among the actions. Further, the system executes one or more actions based on the desired action and the correlation between the actions available in the software application.

An information processing apparatus includes: a processor configured to: acquire a position of a terminal that includes a sound collector and that is connected online to the own apparatus; acquire first information related to the acquired position; and present the acquired first information to a user who operates the own apparatus, as second information for supporting a conversation with a person who exists in front of the terminal.

An automated guided vehicle control system includes a commodity database, a historical shopping information acquisition module, a purchase-item prediction module, an automated guided vehicle database, an automated guided vehicle dispatch demand assessment module and an automated guided vehicle dispatch module. The historical shopping information acquisition module is utilized to retrieve the historical shopping information related to the customer, further to locate the instant predicted commodity to be purchased, and thereby to dispatch the suitable automated guided vehicle to the waiting area of the customer. Further, the historical shopping information is evaluated to provide the commodity type options for the customer to select, to locate the commodity type to be purchased, and thereby to organize the automated navigation path for the automated guided vehicle to travel along to reach the assigned commodity display area.