JP5079263B2 - Electronic shelf label system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic shelf label system including an electronic shelf label that is arranged corresponding to a product and displays product data relating to the corresponding product.

  In general, in retail stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores, the selling prices of products in the store are centrally managed by a product master stored in a POS system or the like. On the other hand, the selling price is often transmitted to customers (consumers) using paper medium shelf labels placed at the positions of the products. When such a paper medium shelf label is adopted, the management of the shelf label must be relied upon manually, and thus human error such as a mistake in selling price tends to occur. For this reason, there is a possibility that an incorrect selling price different from the selling price at the time of settlement by the register of the POS system is transmitted to the customer.

  In order to solve such a problem, an electronic shelf label system (ESL system / Electronic Shelf Label System) has been put into practical use in recent years. In the electronic shelf label system, portable electronic shelf labels that display product data such as selling prices are arranged corresponding to each product. Then, product data including the selling price based on the product master is transmitted from the distribution side device to each electronic shelf label, and the selling price is displayed on each electronic shelf label. Thus, the correct selling price that matches the selling price at the time of settlement is displayed on the electronic shelf label, and the correct selling price is transmitted to the customer.

  In such an electronic shelf label system, since a common electronic shelf label is used for all products, it is difficult to make only specific products stand out. For this reason, for products that should be promoted, a POP display material in which character strings such as “sale items” and “recommended items” are attached to the corresponding electronic shelf labels so as to attract customers' attention. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In this case, a plurality of types of POP display materials are used. For this reason, it is necessary for the store staff to be able to recognize which POP display material should be attached to which electronic shelf label. In the disclosed technique of Patent Document 1, liquid crystal segments of three marks “◯”, “Δ”, and “□” are provided on an electronic shelf label, and a POP display material to be attached is designated by a combination of displayed marks. .

  As prior art documents disclosing techniques related to the present invention, there are the following documents.

JP 2004-361729 A JP 2005-301030 A

  Incidentally, in recent years, there has been a demand for attaching various kinds of POP display materials to an electronic shelf label. However, since the disclosed technology of Patent Document 1 can express only 3 bits of information, it is not possible to specify more than 8 types of POP display materials.

  Further, in the disclosed technique of Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the store staff to attach the POP display material to know the correspondence between the displayed mark combination and the type of the POP display material. However, it is very difficult for humans to specify one type of POP display material from a simple mark that has no meaning. When the number of POP display materials becomes enormous, the type of POP display material is actually specified. Impossible.

  In addition, such designation information for designating the type of POP display material is useless information for the customer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object thereof is to provide an electronic shelf label system in which the number of types of POP display materials that can be specified is not limited.

  It is a second object of the present invention to provide an electronic shelf label system that allows the user to intuitively recognize the type of the designated POP display material.

  A third object is to provide an electronic shelf label system that does not give customers unnecessary information.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is arranged corresponding to a product, and a plurality of electronic shelf labels that display product data related to the corresponding product, and the product data is stored in the plurality of electronic shelf labels. Each of the plurality of electronic shelf labels has a dot matrix type display screen, and the type of POP display material to be attached to the device itself Display means for displaying designation information consisting of a character string designating the character string , and the character string of the designation information includes at least a part of the character string contained in the POP display material designated by the designation information .

  The invention of claim 2 is the electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, wherein the meaning of the character string of the designation information is related to the meaning of the character string included in the POP display material designated by the designation information. To do.

Further, the invention of claim 3, in the electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, character string of the designated information is consistent with the character strings included in the POP display member to which the designation information specifies.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic shelf label system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the display means hides the designation information in response to a predetermined erasing signal.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is the electronic shelf label system according to claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of electronic shelf labels accepts the completion of attachment of the POP display material to its own device; Means for generating the erasure signal in response to acceptance by the acceptance means.

Further, the invention of claim 6 is the electronic shelf label system according to claim 5 , wherein the receiving means is a switch, and the switch is in a state in which the POP display material is attached to the electronic shelf label. Operates in contact with a part of the POP display material.

The invention according to claim 7 is the electronic shelf label system according to claim 4 , wherein the server device accepts completion of attachment of the POP display material to the electronic shelf label; and the acceptance means Means for transmitting the erasure signal to the electronic shelf label in response to the reception of the electronic shelf label.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic shelf label system according to the seventh aspect , the server device is a work information indicating whether or not the attachment of the POP display material is completed based on reception of the reception unit. Is further stored for each electronic shelf label.

According to the invention of claims 1 to 8, in order to specify the type of POP display material in a string including at least part of the character string included in the POP display material, the number of types of restrictions POP display material that can be specified It can be lost. Furthermore, the user can intuitively recognize the type of POP display material.

  In particular, according to the invention of claim 2, since the type of the POP display material is designated by the character string having the meaning related to the meaning of the character string included in the POP display material, the user intuitively selects the type of the POP display material. Can be recognized.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 3 , since the type of the POP display material is designated by the character string that matches the character string included in the POP display material, the user can intuitively recognize the type of the POP display material.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 4 , it is possible to eliminate useless information from being provided to the customer.

In particular, according to the inventions of claims 5 to 7 , the designation information is hidden in response to the completion of the attachment of the POP display material, so that the designation information can be hidden when it becomes unnecessary.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 6 , it is possible to easily accept the completion of the attachment of the POP display material.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 8 , it can be easily confirmed from the work information whether the electronic shelf label has not been attached with the POP display material.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, an electronic shelf label system applied to a retail store such as a supermarket or a convenience store will be described as an example.

<1. Overview of using electronic shelf labels>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an electronic shelf label 5 provided in the electronic shelf label system according to the present embodiment is arranged on a product shelf 60 in a store. A large number of product shelves 60 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged in the sales space of the store along the customer's passage.

  As shown in the figure, the product shelf 60 is divided into spaces called faces 61, and the same type of products 6 are collected and placed on each face 61. A bar code indicating a product code for identifying the type of product is attached to each product 6 by printing or labeling.

  An electronic shelf label 5, which is a portable small communication device, is attached to the product shelf 60 corresponding to each face 61. Each of these electronic shelf labels 5 is associated with one product 6 (more precisely, one product type), and is disposed on a frame 62 below the face 61 of the corresponding product 6. Each electronic shelf label 5 is provided with a display unit, on which product data such as a selling price related to the corresponding product 6 is displayed. The customer (consumer) of the store recognizes the selling price of the product 6 by such display of the electronic shelf label 5.

  Further, the electronic shelf label 5 can be attached with a POP display material 7 serving as an eye catch describing a character string such as “sale item” or “recommended item” so as to attract the eyes of the customer. . Such a POP display material 7 is attached to an electronic shelf label 5 corresponding to a product to be promoted (a product to be sold) by a store staff before opening the store. In this specification, the “character string” refers to an array of characters that can constitute a language such as kana, kanji, and alphabet, and is a concept that includes not only a plurality of characters but also a single character.

<2. Configuration>
<2-1. Configuration of store information system>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a store information system including the electronic shelf label system 1 applied to a store. As shown in the figure, the store information system 100 includes a store controller 2 and a POS system 3 along with the electronic shelf label system 1. The POS server 31 included in the POS system 3 and the ESL server 10 included in the electronic shelf label system 1 are connected to the store controller 2 via the LAN 21. Thereby, data communication is enabled among the store controller 2, the POS system 3, and the electronic shelf label system 1.

  The store controller 2 is composed of a general computer and functions as a device that manages the store information system 100 in an integrated manner. The store controller 2 is connected to an external network such as the Internet, and can communicate with a computer or the like disposed in a headquarter center that manages the store via the external network.

  The POS system 3 is a system that collects and analyzes information related to the sale of products at the time of sale, and a plurality of registers that perform settlement of merchandise sales transactions together with a POS server 31 that manages the POS system 3 in an integrated manner. 32. The POS server 31 and the register 32 are connected by a dedicated communication cable.

  The POS server 31 is composed of a general computer, and a product master 301 indicating product data such as the sale price of the product is stored in the hard disk. In each of the plurality of registers 32, the sale transaction of the product is settled based on the selling price described in the product master 301.

  Product data relating to all products in the store is centrally managed by the product master 301. The product data described in the product master 301 includes a “product code” indicating product identification information, a “product name” indicating the name of the product, a “normal price” indicating the normal selling price of the product, and actual sales Data items such as “transaction price” indicating the selling price used for the transaction are included. The product data described in the product master 301 is changed by an instruction from the computer at the headquarters center (information received by the store controller 2) or a direct operation of the POS server 31.

<2-2. Configuration of electronic shelf label system>
The electronic shelf label system 1 is broadly divided into a plurality of electronic shelf labels 5 described above and a distribution side device 40 that distributes product data to be displayed on the electronic shelf labels 5. The distribution side device 40 includes the ESL server 10, a base station 41, and a plurality of transceivers 42.

  The ESL server 10 is a server device that manages the electronic shelf label system 1 in an integrated manner, and is arranged in a backyard or the like separate from the sales space in the store. The base station 41 is connected to the ESL server 10 and each transceiver 42, and functions as a signal relay between the ESL server 10 and each transceiver 42.

  The transceiver 42 transmits and receives signals to and from the electronic shelf label 5 in the store using wireless communication such as infrared communication. More specifically, the transceiver 42 has a function of transmitting to the electronic shelf label 5 a data signal that is a wireless signal indicating product data or the like to be displayed by the electronic shelf label 5. The transceiver 42 is fixedly arranged at substantially constant distances on the ceiling of the sales space so that it can communicate with all the electronic shelf labels 5 arranged in the sales space.

  The configuration of the ESL server 10 as hardware is the same as that of a general computer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of the ESL server 10. As shown in the figure, the ESL server 10 includes a CPU 11 that performs various arithmetic processes, a ROM 12 that stores basic programs, a RAM 13 that serves as a work area for arithmetic processes, a hard disk 14 that stores programs and various data files, and various displays. A display 15 to be performed, an input unit 16 including a keyboard and a mouse, and a data communication unit 17 having a data communication function via the LAN 21 are provided.

  Further, the ESL server 10 includes an interface 18 for communicating with the base station 41. A control signal for controlling the electronic shelf label 5 and a data signal including product data to be displayed on the electronic shelf label 5 are transmitted to the base station 41 via the interface 18, and further from the base station 41 via the transceiver 42. To the electronic shelf label 5.

  A dedicated program is stored in advance in the hard disk 14 of the ESL server 10, and various functions as the ESL server 10 are realized by the CPU 11 performing arithmetic processing according to this program. Further, the hard disk 14 also stores a product file 101 which is a data file used for distributing product data to the electronic shelf label 5 (details will be described later).

<2-3. Structure of electronic shelf label>
Next, the electronic shelf label 5 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the external configuration of the front side of the electronic shelf label 5 (the side facing the customer), and FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the electronic shelf label 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the front side of the electronic shelf label 5 can receive a display 51 for displaying product data such as the selling price of the corresponding product and a data signal transmitted from the transceiver 42 of the distribution side device 40. A communication unit 52 is provided. In addition, a button-type switch 53 that moves downward when pressed down is provided on the top of the electronic shelf label 5.

  The display unit 51 is configured by a display device having a dot matrix type display screen composed of a plurality of orthogonally arranged two-dimensional pixels, such as a liquid crystal display or electronic paper, and not only numerical values indicating the selling price of products but also characters Various information such as columns, symbols and figures can be displayed. Here, the “electronic paper” is a non-volatile display device that can electrically rewrite the display content and can maintain the display content even when the drive power is not supplied. Such “electronic paper” is disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic shelf label 5 includes therein a control unit 54 that controls each part of the apparatus and a battery 57 that supplies driving power to each part. The control unit 54 is composed of an IC chip having various functions, and controls the operation of each unit of the electronic shelf label 5. The display unit 51, the communication unit 52, and the switch 53 described above are electrically connected to the control unit 54. Accordingly, each unit operates under the control of the control unit 54, and the operation of the switch 53 is input to the control unit 54 as a signal.

  The control unit 54 is provided with a non-volatile memory 55 that stores various types of information. In the memory 55, the device code of the device itself is stored in advance. Further, the product data included in the data signal received from the transceiver 42 is received by the communication unit 52, temporarily stored in the memory 55, and then displayed on the display unit 51 under the control of the control unit 54.

  As described above, the POP display material 7 can be attached to such an electronic shelf label 5. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state of the back side of the POP display material 7 (side facing the product shelf 60).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the POP display material 7 is mainly composed of a plate-like member 71 made of plastic or the like, and an opening 72 is formed at the center thereof. Further, two gripping members 73 are provided on the back side of the plate-like member 71 with the opening 72 sandwiched in the horizontal direction. These gripping members 73 grip the side surface of the electronic shelf label 5, so that the POP display material 7 is fixedly attached to the electronic shelf label 5.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5. As shown in the figure, even when the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, the display unit 51 and the communication unit 52 of the electronic shelf label 5 are located on the front side through the opening 72 of the POP display material 7. Exposed. For this reason, the functions of the display unit 51 and the communication unit 52 are not impaired.

  Even when the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, the switch 53 of the electronic shelf label 5 can be operated from the back side of the POP display material 7. The switch 53 is pressed by the store staff when the POP display material 7 is attached, thereby functioning as means for accepting the completion of the attachment of the POP display material 7 to the electronic shelf label 5.

<3. Product file>
Next, the product file 101 (see FIG. 3) stored in the hard disk 14 of the ESL server 10 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the product file 101.

  As shown in the drawing, the product file 101 has a table format, and one record R corresponds to one product, and shows product data related to the product. Specifically, for each record R, product data relating to data items such as “product code”, “product name”, “normal price”, and “transaction price” is registered. These product data are registered based on the product data of the product master 301 of the POS system 3 described above by communication between the ESL server 10 and the POS system 3. As a result, the product data 101 and the product master 301 always have the same product data. By distributing the product data to the electronic shelf label 5, the selling price displayed on the electronic shelf label 5 and the selling price (transaction price) at the time of settlement of the actual transaction by the register 32 are matched. .

  Each record R of the product file 101 includes a device code (hardware ID) that is unique identification information for each of the plurality of electronic shelf labels 5 included in the electronic shelf label system 1 in the data item “device code”. Is registered. By registering the device code in each record R in this way, the product and the electronic shelf label 5 are associated with each other in a one-to-one relationship. Thereby, the product data related to a certain product is transmitted to the electronic shelf label 5 corresponding to the product.

  Further, in each record R of the product file 101, information specifying the type of POP display material 7 to be attached to the electronic shelf label 5 indicated by “device code” in the data item “POP” (hereinafter referred to as “POP designation”). Information ”) is registered.

  In the electronic shelf label system 1 of the present embodiment, many types of POP display materials 7 to be attached to the electronic shelf label 5 are used. More specifically, “sale items” “discount items” “service items” “advertising items” “recommended items” “today ’s” “time service” “new products” “spring sales” “summer sales” “autumn” "Sale" "Winter Sale" "New Year Sale" "Valentine Sale" "Hinamatsuri Sale" "Children's Day Sale" "Mother's Day Sale" "Father's Day Sale" "Tanabata Sale" A wide variety of POP display materials 7 are used in which character strings such as “Autumn Harvest Festival”, “Christmas Sale”, “Year-end sale” are written on the front side. In the data item “POP” of the product file 101, POP designation information for designating one kind of such a variety of POP display materials 7 is registered by the store staff. In the record R relating to the product that does not require the POP display material 7 to be attached, the data item “POP” is blank.

  The POP designation information is a character string that allows humans to recognize its meaning. The character string of the POP designation information completely matches the character string included in the POP display material 7 designated by the POP designation information. That is, if the character string of the POP display material 7 is “sale product”, the character string included in the POP designation information for designating it is also “sale product”, and the character string of the POP display material 7 is “summer sale”. For example, the character string included in the POP designation information for designating it is also “summer sale”.

<4. Operation>
Next, the operation of the electronic shelf label system 1 will be described. The basic operation of the electronic shelf label system 1 is to distribute product data from the distribution side device 40 to the electronic shelf label 5 and display the product data on the display unit 51. Distribution of such product data is mainly performed before the opening of the store.

  The electronic shelf label 5 to which product data is distributed before the opening of the store is the electronic shelf label 5 in which the product data to be displayed is changed from the previous day, or the electronic shelf label 5 to which the POP display material 7 is to be attached. Here, the electronic shelf label 5 to which the POP display material 7 is to be attached is one in which POP designation information is registered in the data item “POP” in the record R of the corresponding product file 101.

  When distributing product data, first, the product file 101 is referred to by the CPU 11 of the ESL server 10, and the record R relating to the electronic shelf label 5 to be distributed is searched. Then, product data such as “product code”, “product name”, “normal price”, and “transaction price” is acquired from the record R. Further, from the “device code” and “POP” of the record R, POP designation information for designating the device code of the electronic shelf label 5 to be distributed and the type of the POP display material 7 to be attached to the electronic shelf label 5 Is acquired. Then, a data signal including the acquired product data, device code, and POP designation information is transmitted from the transceiver 42. When “POP” in the record R is blank, the POP designation information is a NUL code indicating a blank.

  The data signal transmitted from the transceiver 42 is received by the communication unit 52 of the electronic shelf label 5. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the electronic shelf label 5 performed in response to reception of the data signal.

  First, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the device code included in the received data signal matches the device code stored in the memory 55 (step S11). At this time, if the device code included in the data signal does not match that of the own device, the data signal is not a data signal for the own device, so the processing is ended as it is (No in step S11).

  On the other hand, if the device code included in the data signal matches that of the own device (Yes in step S11), the product data (“product code”, “product name”, “normal price”) included in the data signal. And "POP designation information" and the POP designation information are stored in the memory 55 (step S12). At the same time, the product data and POP designation information are displayed on the display unit (step S13).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the display contents of the electronic shelf label 5 immediately after receiving the data signal. As shown in the figure, POP designation information 51d is displayed on the display unit 51 of the electronic shelf label 5 together with product data of a product name 51a, a normal price 51b, and a transaction price 51c. However, when the POP designation information included in the data signal is a NUL code, the POP designation information 51d is not displayed on the display unit 51.

  The store staff determines the electronic shelf label 5 to which the POP display material 7 needs to be attached based on whether or not the POP designation information 51d is displayed before the store is opened. For the electronic shelf label 5 on which the POP designation information 51d is displayed, an operation for attaching the POP display material 7 is performed based on the POP designation information 51d.

  As described above, the POP designation information 51d designates the type of the POP display material 7 to be attached to the electronic shelf label 5. Since the POP designation information 51d is a character string, it can be expressed innumerably, and the number of types of POP display materials 7 that can be designated by the POP designation information 51d is not limited. Therefore, the electronic shelf label system 1 can handle a wide variety of types of POP display materials 7. Further, even when the number of types of POP display materials 7 is increased, it can be easily handled.

  Further, as described above, the character string of the POP designation information 51d is completely coincident with the character string included in the POP display material 7 designated by the POP designation information. Therefore, the store staff can easily recognize the type of the POP display material 7 designated by the POP designation information 51d by visually recognizing the character string of the POP designation information 51d.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 10, since the character string of the POP designation information 51d is “sale product”, if the POP display material 7 including the character string “sale product” is attached to the electronic shelf label 5 as shown in FIG. It will be good. Similarly, in the example of FIG. 12, for example, since the character string of the POP designation information 51d is “summer sale”, the POP display material 7 including the character string “summer sale” may be attached to the electronic shelf label 5. . Thus, since the character string that completely matches the character string included in the POP display material 7 is used as the POP designation information 51d, the store staff who is the user can recognize the type of the POP display material 7 intuitively and reliably. Become.

  By the way, after the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, it is not necessary to display the POP designation information 51d, and there is a possibility of giving unnecessary information to the customer. Therefore, in the electronic shelf label 5 of the present embodiment, the POP designation information 51d can be hidden by pressing the switch 53 after the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5. It has become.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of the electronic shelf label 5 performed in response to pressing of the switch 53. First, when the switch 53 is pressed (Yes in step S21), information indicating that the attachment of the POP display material 7 to the own device is completed is received, and a predetermined signal is input from the switch 53 to the control unit 54.

  In response to this, an erasure signal instructing erasure of the POP designation information 51d is generated in the control unit 54 and input to the display unit 51 (step S22). Further, in response to the erase signal, the POP designation information 51d is not displayed on the display unit 51 (step S23). For example, when the switch 53 of the electronic shelf label 5 in the state shown in FIG. 11 is pressed, the state shifts to the state shown in FIG.

  As described above, since the POP designation information 51d is not displayed by pressing the switch 53 after the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, it is possible to avoid giving unnecessary information to the customer.

<5. Other embodiments>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments (hereinafter referred to as “representative embodiments”), and various modifications are possible. Hereinafter, such other embodiments will be described. Of course, you may combine the form demonstrated below suitably.

<5-1. Other examples of POP designation information>
In the representative form, the character string of the POP designation information and the character string included in the POP display material 7 designated by the POP designation information are completely matched. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As long as the correspondence between the character string and the character string of the POP display material 7 can be intuitively recognized by humans, it is sufficient.

  For example, the meaning of the character string of the POP designation information may be associated with the meaning of the character string included in the POP display material 7. Specifically, if the character string of the POP display material 7 is “summer sale”, the character string of the POP designation information that designates it is “summer sale”, “summer”, or the like.

  Further, the character string of the POP designation information may include a part of the character string included in the POP display material 7 designated by the POP designation information. Specifically, if the character string of the POP display material 7 is “sale product”, the character string of the POP designation information for designating the character string is “special sale”, “special” or the like. If the character string of the POP display material 7 is “summer sale”, the character string of the POP designation information for designating the character string is “summer”.

<5-2. Switch operation with POP display material>
In the representative form, the switch 53 of the electronic shelf label 5 is operated by the operation of the store staff. However, when the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, a part of the POP display material 7 is used. The switch 53 may be operated by contact.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state of the back side of the POP display material 7 in this case. As can be seen from comparison with FIG. 6, in the POP display material 7 in this case, a protruding piece 74 protruding downward is provided on the upper portion of the opening 72. The position where the protruding piece 74 is formed corresponds to the position of the switch 53 in the electronic shelf label 5 to be attached.

  Therefore, when the POP display material 7 of FIG. 14 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, as shown in FIG. 15, the protruding piece 74 of the POP display material 7 contacts the switch 53 of the electronic shelf label 5, and the switch 53 is pressed. I will let you.

  According to this, since the switch 53 can be operated reliably only by attaching the POP display material 7 to the electronic shelf label 5, the work amount of the store staff can be reduced, and the pressing of the switch 53 can be reliably prevented. can do.

<5-3. Transmission of erase signal from server device>
In the representative form, an erasure signal is generated inside the electronic shelf label 5 by the operation of the switch 53. However, the ESL server 10 receives information indicating that the POP display material 7 is completely attached from the electronic shelf label 5, and then the ESL server 10 An erasure signal may be transmitted from the server 10 to the electronic shelf label 5.

  In this case, the communication unit 52 of the electronic shelf label 5 can transmit a radio signal including the device code of the device itself to the ESL server 10. This radio signal is transmitted in response to the operation of the switch 53. For this reason, this wireless signal indicates that the POP display material 7 has been attached to its own device, and is hereinafter referred to as a “completion signal”.

  As shown in FIG. 16, each record R of the product file 101 stored in the ESL server 10 includes a data item of “attachment completed”. In the “attachment complete”, work information indicating whether or not the attachment of the POP display material 7 to the electronic shelf label 5 indicated by the “device code” is completed is registered. Specifically, “not yet” is registered as work information until the completion of the attachment of the POP display material 7 is received by receiving the completion signal, and “completed” is registered as the work information after receiving the completion of attachment.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of the electronic shelf label 5 and the ESL server 10 performed in response to pressing of the switch 53 in this case. The left side of the figure shows the operation of the electronic shelf label 5 and the operation of the ESL server 10.

  First, when the switch 53 is pressed (Yes in step S31), a predetermined signal is input from the switch 53 to the control unit. The switch 53 may be pressed by an operation of a store staff or may be pressed when a part of the POP display material 7 comes into contact. In response to pressing of the switch 53, a control unit 54 controls the communication unit 52 to send a completion signal including the device code of the device itself (step S32).

  The completion signal transmitted from the electronic shelf label 5 is received by the transceiver 42 of the distribution side device 40 and input to the ESL server 10 via the base station 41 (step S41). As a result, the ESL server 10 receives information indicating that the POP display material 7 has been attached to the electronic shelf label 5.

  Next, the device code included in the completion signal is referred to, and the record R including the device code is searched from the product file 101. Then, “completed” is registered as work information by the CPU 11 in the data item “attachment completed” of the record R, and the contents of the product file 101 are updated (step S42).

  Next, under the control of the CPU 11, an erasure signal, which is a control signal for instructing erasure of the POP designation information 51d, is transmitted from the ESL server 10 toward the electronic shelf label 5 (step S43). Since the erasure signal includes the device code of the electronic shelf label 5 that has transmitted the completion signal, the erasure signal is received by the electronic shelf label 5 (step S33). In response to the reception of the erasure signal, the POP designation information 51d is not displayed on the display unit 51 of the electronic shelf label 5 under the control of the control unit 54 (step S34).

  Thus, also in this example, since the POP designation information 51d is not displayed after the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, it is possible to eliminate giving unnecessary information to the customer. Further, in the product file 101, work information indicating whether or not the attachment of the POP display material 7 is completed is recorded for each electronic shelf label 5, so that the attachment of the POP display material 7 in any electronic shelf label 5 is performed. It can be easily confirmed whether it is not completed.

  In this embodiment, the information indicating the completion of the attachment of the POP display material 7 is directly transmitted from the individual electronic shelf label 5 to the ESL server 10, but other information such as a handy terminal is temporarily transmitted from the electronic shelf label 5. It may be delivered to the portable device and further delivered from the handy terminal to the ESL server 10.

  Further, in this embodiment, the erasure signal is transmitted from the distribution side device 40 to the individual electronic shelf labels 5, but when all the POP display materials 7 are attached, On the other hand, the erase signal may be transmitted collectively. Further, when the store staff operates the input unit 16 of the ESL server 10, the ESL server 10 may receive information indicating that the attachment of the POP display material 7 to the electronic shelf label 5 is completed.

<5-4. Other variations>
In the above embodiment, the electronic shelf label 5 accepts the completion of the installation of the POP display material 7 by the operation of the switch 53. However, a predetermined control signal is electronically transmitted using a portable device such as a remote control or a handy terminal. The electronic shelf label 5 may accept the completion of the attachment of the POP display material 7 by transmitting it to the communication unit 52 of the shelf label 5. In this case, the communication unit 52 functions as a means for accepting the completion of the attachment of the POP display material 7 to the own device.

  In the above embodiment, the POP designation information 51d is hidden after the POP display material 7 is attached to the electronic shelf label 5, but the display state of the POP designation information 51d is maintained as it is and used as eye catch information. May be.

  In the above embodiment, the POP designation information is a character string. However, if the POP designation information includes a character string that designates the type of the POP display material, information other than the character string such as a symbol or a graphic is included. May be.

It is a figure which shows a mode that the electronic shelf label was arrange | positioned on the goods shelf of a store. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a shop information system. It is a figure which shows the basic composition of an ESL server. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of an electronic shelf label. It is a block diagram which shows typically the internal structure of an electronic shelf label. It is a figure which shows an example of the mode of the back side of a POP display material. It is a figure which shows an example of a mode that the POP display material was attached to the electronic shelf label. It is a figure which shows an example of a goods file. It is a figure which shows the flow of operation | movement of the electronic shelf label in response to reception of a data signal. It is a figure which shows the display content of the electronic shelf label immediately after receiving a data signal. It is a figure which shows an example of a mode that the POP display material was attached to the electronic shelf label. It is a figure which shows an example of a mode that the POP display material was attached to the electronic shelf label. It is a figure which shows the flow of operation | movement of the electronic shelf label in response to pressing of a switch. It is a figure which shows an example of the mode of the back side of a POP display material. It is a figure which shows an example of a mode that the POP display material was attached to the electronic shelf label. It is a figure which shows an example of a goods file. It is a figure which shows the flow of operation | movement of the electronic shelf label and ESL server which responded to pressing of a switch.

Explanation of symbols

5 Electronic shelf label 7 POP display material 10 ESL server 51 Display unit 51d POP designation information 53 Switch 74 Projection piece

Claims (8)

An electronic shelf label system comprising a plurality of electronic shelf labels arranged corresponding to products and displaying product data relating to the corresponding products, and a server device that distributes the product data to the plurality of electronic shelf labels. And
Each of the plurality of electronic shelf labels is
A display screen of the dot matrix type on the display screen, comprising a display means for displaying the designation information of strings that specifies the type of POP display member to be attached to the own device,
The electronic shelf label system , wherein the character string of the designation information includes at least a part of the character string contained in the POP display material designated by the designation information . The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1,
The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, wherein the meaning of the character string of the designation information is related to the meaning of the character string included in the POP display material designated by the designation information. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1,
The character string of the designation information includes a character string included in the POP display material designated by the designation information and
Electronic shelf label system characterized by matching . The electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The electronic shelf label system , wherein the display means hides the designation information in response to a predetermined erasing signal . The electronic shelf label system according to claim 4 ,
Each of the plurality of electronic shelf labels is
Accepting means for accepting the completion of attachment of the POP display material to its own device;
Means for generating the erasure signal in response to acceptance of the acceptance means;
Electronic shelf label system according to claim Rukoto equipped with. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 5,
The receiving means is a switch;
The switch is in a state where the POP display material is attached to the electronic shelf label.
Electronic shelf label system characterized that you operate in contact with a portion of the P display material. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 4,
The server device
Accepting means for accepting completion of attachment of the POP display material to the electronic shelf label;
Means for transmitting the erasure signal to the electronic shelf label in response to acceptance of the acceptance means;
An electronic shelf label system comprising:
The electronic shelf label system according to claim 7,
The server device
Storage means for storing work information indicating whether or not the attachment of the POP display material is completed based on reception of the reception means for each electronic shelf label;
Further comprising an electronic shelf label system according to claim Rukoto a.

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