Patent attributes
A system for alerting an employee or agent of a retailer regarding an unfavorable condition may include the use of computer-aided visual recognition of products to aid in identifying the location of the unfavorable condition. A user can direct a mobile computing device camera at one or more targeted products displayed on store shelves. Image recognition operations can be carried out to compare the targeted product image(s) against images from a prepopulated product image store of known products. Upon a positive match, shelf location information of the identified targeted product(s) may be used to determine the current location of the user. The employee or agent may be alerted with respect to the unfavorable condition and the location thereof.