Purchase support device and store system including the same

Abstract

A purchase support device includes a communication section configured to communicate with an information terminal to receive purchaser identification information, data related to commodities to be purchased, and a settlement declaration that indicates whether or not settlement of the commodities to be purchased has initiated, a first memory region in which the purchaser identification information is stored in association with terminal identification information, a second memory region in which data related to the commodities to be purchased is stored in association with the purchaser identification information, and a processor. The processor is configured to issue, upon determining that the settlement declaration indicates that the settlement of commodities to be purchased has initiated, a disabling command through the communication section to another information terminal, wherein the disabling command causes said another information terminal to disable acceptance of additional data related to commodities to be purchased.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A point-of-sale (POS) system comprising:
 first and second mobile POS terminals, each of the first and second mobile POS terminals comprising:
 a POS communication interface; 
 an operation panel; and 
 a POS processor configured to:
 receive a customer ID from a user interface; 
 control the POS communication interface to transmit a login command including the customer ID and a terminal ID of the mobile terminal; 
 receive a product code read by a code reader; 
 control the POS communication interface to transmit a product registration command including the product code and the terminal ID; and 
 control the POS communication interface to transmit a settlement command upon a user operation to settle on the operation panel; and 
 
   a server comprising:
 a storage device; and 
 a processor configured to:
 generate, in the storage device, group-shopping data for a customer identified with a first customer ID when a first login command from the first mobile POS terminal and a second login command from the second mobile POS terminal both includes the first customer ID; 
 generate, in the storage device, group-shopping product registration data based on a first product code included in a first product registration command from the first mobile POS terminal and a second product code included in a second product registration command from the second mobile POS terminal; and 
 disable product code addition on the group-shopping product registration data upon receiving the settlement command from either one of the first and second mobile POS terminals. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each of the first and second mobile POS terminals further comprises a display,   the server further comprises a communication interface, and   the processor of the server is further configured to control the communication interface to transmit registration screen data to the first and second mobile POS terminals to cause the display of each of the first and second mobile POS terminals to display a group-shopping registration screen.   
     
     
         3 . The POS system according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the processor of the server is further configured to control the communication interface to transmit updated registration screen data to the first mobile POS terminal to cause the display of the first mobile POS terminal to display an updated group-shopping registration screen when receiving the second product registration command from the second mobile POS terminal.   
     
     
         4 . The POS system according to  claim 2 , wherein the group-shopping registration screen indicates one or more products registered with the first mobile POS terminal using an assigned identifier of the first mobile POS terminal and one or more products registered with the second mobile POS terminal using an assigned identifier of the second mobile POS terminal. 
     
     
         5 . The POS system according to  claim 2 , wherein the group-shopping registration screen indicates a total number of mobile POS terminals involved in group shopping. 
     
     
         6 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 in at least one of the first and second mobile POS terminals, the POS processor is further configured to control the POS communication interface to transmit a settlement cancelation command, and   the processor of the server is further configured to enable the product code addition on the group-shopping product registration data upon receiving the settlement cancelation command.   
     
     
         7 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the group-shopping data includes a settlement flag, and   the processor of the server is configured to disable the product code addition by changing a value of the settlement flag.   
     
     
         8 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a settlement terminal provided in a shopping floor and comprising a scanner, wherein   the first mobile POS terminal includes a display, and   the processor is further configured to, upon receiving the settlement command from the first mobile POS terminal, generate a code symbol scannable by the scanner for a settlement operation and cause the display of the first POS terminal to display the code symbol.   
     
     
         9 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second mobile POS terminals is mounted on a shopping cart. 
     
     
         10 . The POS system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second mobile POS terminals is a smartphone.