Abstract: A method and system for providing shopping assistance to a customer. The system provides a shopping cart attachment device attached to a shopping cart operated by the customer, and RFID-tagged items. The shopping cart attachment device is configured to automatically detect items as they are placed in (or removed from) the shopping cart, to automatically scan the RFID-tagged item information, and to communicate the scanned item information to a central processing system. The central processing system identifies recommended additional purchase items associated with the items placed in the shopping cart based on the RFID-tagged item information, and displays this recommended information on the display device of the customer's wireless communication device such as a PDA, a two-way pager, a mobile phone, etc.

Abstract: A method and system for providing personalized coupons at the beginning of a customers shopping process, i.e., before the customer starts to shop. The method includes the steps of obtaining a current shopping list from a wireless communication device (e.g., a PDA, a mobile phone) of the customer, correlating the current shopping list with an available coupon list to identify personalized coupons for the customer, and providing the personalized coupons to the customer at the beginning of the customer's shopping process, so that the coupons can be used effectively during the customer's current store visit.