System and method for determining shopping facilities available for customer pick up of orders

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10943289-B2
Application number	US-201715705413-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2017
Priority date	Sep 21, 2016
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to facilitating the vehicle pick up of orders at shopping facilities. In some embodiments, there is provided a system including: an electronic interface for receiving an order corresponding to a customer and for receiving a time period during which the customer requests to pick up the order; a control circuit configured to: determine the location of the customer; determine a plurality of shopping facilities near the customer's location; determine when the order would be available for pick up; determine the subset of shopping facilities where the order would be available within the time period requested by the customer; transmit the location to the customer; and at least one shopping facility where the order is made available for pick up by the customer during the requested time period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for arranging pick up of requested products at shopping facilities, the system comprising:
a plurality of shopping facilities corresponding to a single retailer with a plurality of types of products, each shopping facility within a predetermined distance of a customer location and each shopping facility having an order pick up area configured for pick up of customer orders of products, the customer order pick up areas of the plurality of shopping facilities being configured for transfer of customer orders to customers in their vehicles;
a customer order including a plurality of products and including a time period during which a customer requests pick up of the customer order, as assembled;
an electronic interface configured to receive the customer order and to receive permission to access global positioning system (GPS) tracking software from a computing device of the customer; and
a control circuit configured to:
determine the location of the customer;
determine the plurality of shopping facilities within the predetermined distance of the customer's location;
access an inventory database for each of the plurality of shopping facilities to determine a first subset of the plurality of shopping facilities that has each of the plurality of products requested in the order at the shopping facility;
determine when the assembled order would be available for pick up at each shopping facility of the first subset of the plurality of shopping facilities;
determine a second subset of shopping facilities where the assembled order would be available at the shopping facility within the time period requested by the customer;
transmit the location of at least one of the second subset of shopping facilities to the customer;
in response to selection of a shopping facility from the second subset of shopping facilities, transmit a first signal to the selected shopping facility instructing the order be assembled and made available for transfer to the customer at the customer's vehicle during the requested time period at the order pick up area of the selected shopping facility; and
in response to GPS tracking software on the customer's computing device indicating arrival at a predetermined distance from the selected shopping facility, transmit a second signal to the selected shopping facility to transfer the assembled order to the customer's vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer inputs and transmits the customer's location to the control circuit.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer's location is determined by accessing the GPS tracking software on the customer computing device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic interface comprises a shopping server configured to serve as a platform for the input of the order information and time period information to the electronic interface.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to request that the customer select and transmit to the electronic interface the shopping facility where the customer intends to pick up the order.

6. The system of claim 5 ,
wherein the control circuit is configured to determine and transmit to the customer a route from the customer's location to the selected shopping facility.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine the route using vehicle traffic and mapping software that selects the route based on real time traffic conditions and route information.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit confirmatory instructions to the selected shopping facility to make the order available during the requested time period.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to instruct that each shopping facility of the second subset of shopping facilities make the order available during the customer time period without requesting customer confirmation.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured:
to calculate a driving time from the customer's location to each of the second subset of shopping facilities;
to compare an order availability time at each of the second subset of shopping facilities;
to determine the single shopping facility from the second subset of shopping facilities that will allow the earliest pick up by the customer of the assembled order in view of driving time and order availability time corresponding to each shopping facility; and
to transmit the location of the shopping facility with the earliest pick up time to the customer.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuit recalculates the driving time to the second subset of shopping facilities at predetermined time intervals and transmits the location of the shopping facility with the earliest pick up time to the customer.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured:
to calculate a driving time from the customer's location to the plurality of shopping facilities;
to determine an order availability time at each of the plurality of shopping facilities; and
to transmit a request for delivery to the customer's residence if the order will not be available during the time period requested by the customer at any of the plurality of shopping facilities in view of driving time and order availability time corresponding to each shopping facility.

13. A method for arranging pick up of requested products at shopping facilities, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of shopping facilities corresponding to a single retailer with a plurality of types of products, each shopping facility within a predetermined distance of a customer location and each shopping facility having an order pick up area configured for pick up of customer orders of products, the customer order pick up areas of the plurality of shopping facilities being configured for transfer of customer orders to customers in their vehicles;
by an electronic interface, receiving a customer order including a plurality of products and including a time period during which a customer requests pick up of the customer order, as assembled, and receiving permission to access global positioning system (GPS) tracking software from a computing device of the customer; and
by a control circuit:
determining the location of the customer;
determining the plurality of shopping facilities within the predetermined distance of the customer's location;
accessing an inventory database for each of the plurality of shopping facilities to determine a first subset of the plurality of shopping facilities that has each of the plurality of products requested in the order at the shopping facility;
determining when the assembled order would be available for pick up at each shopping facility of the first subset of the plurality of shopping facilities;
determining a second subset of shopping facilities where the assembled order would be available at the shopping facility within the time period requested by the customer; and
transmitting the location of at least one of the second subset of shopping facilities to the customer;
in response to selection of a shopping facility from the second subset of shopping facilities, transmitting a first signal to the selected shopping facility instructing the order be assembled and made available for transfer to the customer at the customer's vehicle during the requested time period at the order pick up area of the selected shopping facility; and
in response to GPS tracking software on the customer's computing device indicating arrival at a predetermined distance from the selected shopping facility, transmitt

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Mattingly Todd D
• Wilkinson Bruce W

Classifications

• G06Q30/0635 Primary

  replenishment orders; recurring orders · CPC title

• G06Q30/0639

  Locating goods or services, e.g. based on physical position of the goods or services within a shopping facility · CPC title

• G01C21/3407

  specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title