System for tracking a portable terminal

A system tracks a customer having a portable terminal (10) in a retail shopping venue which includes a plurality of communications zones. The customer terminal (10) is in communication through a wireless local area network (78) with a host computer (58) on the network. The local area network (78) has a plurality of access points (54, 56) disposed at spaced apart intervals throughout the shopping venue. The portable terminal (10) has a transceiver (164) for enabling wireless communication between the portable terminal (10) and at least one proximate access point. The host computer (58) includes means for determining the zone in which the portable terminal (10) is located based on communications signals received over the network (78) from the portable terminal (10).