A system and method is disclosed for a shopping system, the system including a
shopping cart including a plurality of wheels; a portable electronic device (e.g.,
a CST or POS terminal), coupled to the shopping cart, for displaying shopping data;
and a position mapping system, coupled to the electronic device, for developing
a shopper location relative to a start location, the mapping system including a
distance measuring system, coupled to one of the plurality of wheels; for providing
a distance signal indicating a distance of movement of the shopping cart; and a
direction measuring system for providing a direction signal concurrent with the
distance signal. Another embodiment is a shopper tracking system including a shopping
cart having a plurality of wheels; a portable electronic device, coupled to the
shopping cart, for displaying shopping data; and an energy generator, coupled to
one of the plurality of wheels, for adding energy to a power source of the portable
electronic device. The shopper tracking method includes the steps of measuring
a net distance traveled by a shopping cart and measuring direction information
concurrently with the distance information to produce a relative location that
is offset from a known location and converting the relative location to an absolute
coordinate by providing absolute coordinates for the known location.
