Systems to fulfill a picked sales order and related methods therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11494829-B2
Application number	US-202017063650-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2020
Priority date	Apr 17, 2017
Publication date	Nov 8, 2022
Grant date	Nov 8, 2022

Abstract

A number of embodiments can include a system. The system can include one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices storing computing instructions. The computing instructions can be configured to run on the one or more processors and perform: receiving, from a customer electronic device of a customer, a request for an order comprising one or more goods; determining an estimated fulfillment time for the order; promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at a receivable clock time based on the estimated fulfillment time; after promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at the receivable clock time, detecting a delay condition associated with making ready at least a portion of the one or more goods of the order; in response to detecting the delay condition, waiting a predetermined amount of time comprising a percentage of a previous time for performing a delayed activity associated with the delay condition; and after waiting the predetermined amount of time, communicating a notification of the delay condition to a receiving party. Other embodiments are described herein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computing instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors perform functions comprising:
receiving, from a customer electronic device of a customer, a request for an order comprising one or more goods;
determining an estimated fulfillment time for the order;
promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at a receivable clock time based on the estimated fulfillment time;
after promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at the receivable clock time, detecting a delay condition associated with making ready at least a portion of the one or more goods of the order;
in response to detecting the delay condition, waiting a predetermined amount of time comprising a percentage of a previous time for performing a delayed activity associated with the delay condition; and
after waiting the predetermined amount of time, communicating a notification of the delay condition to a receiving party.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform a function comprising:
when the delayed activity is resolved before the predetermined amount of time has elapsed, not communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay in assigning the order to a picker; and
the receiving party comprises a manager of the picker.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a picker in beginning to pick the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the picker.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the notification of the delay condition comprises a first notification of the delay condition from a picker;
the receiving party comprises a first receiving party; and
the computing instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform a function comprising:
communicating a second notification of the delay condition to a second receiving party, wherein the second receiving party comprises a manager of the picker.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a packer in beginning to pack the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the packer.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a packer in packing the one or more goods of the order after the packer begins to pack the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the packer.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein:
the notification of the delay condition comprises a first notification of the delay condition from a packer;
the receiving party comprises a first receiving party; and
the computing instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform a function comprising:
communicating a second notification of the delay condition to a second receiving party, wherein the second receiving party comprises a manager of the packer.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a deliverer in delivering the one or more goods of the order to the customer; and
the receiving party comprises the deliverer.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party comprises at least one of:
communicating by text message the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party; or
communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party via a mobile application on an electronic device of the receiving party.

11. A method being implemented via execution of computing instructions configured to run at one or more processors and stored at non-transitory computer-readable media, the method comprising:
receiving, from a customer electronic device of a customer, a request for an order comprising one or more goods;
determining an estimated fulfillment time for the order;
promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at a receivable clock time based on the estimated fulfillment time;
after promising the one or more goods of the order for receipt by the customer at the receivable clock time, detecting a delay condition associated with making ready at least a portion of the one or more goods of the order;
in response to detecting the delay condition, waiting a predetermined amount of time comprising a percentage of a previous time for performing a delayed activity associated with the delay condition; and
after waiting the predetermined amount of time, communicating a notification of the delay condition to a receiving party.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
when the delayed activity is resolved before the predetermined amount of time has elapsed, not communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay in assigning the order to a picker; and
the receiving party comprises a manager of the picker.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a picker in beginning to pick the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the picker.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the notification of the delay condition comprises a first notification of the delay condition from a picker;
the receiving party comprises a first receiving party; and
further comprising:
communicating a second notification of the delay condition to a second receiving party, wherein the second receiving party comprises a manager of the picker.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a packer in beginning to pack the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the packer.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a packer in packing the one or more goods of the order after the packer begins to pack the one or more goods of the order; and
the receiving party comprises the packer.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein:
the notification of the delay condition comprises a first notification of the delay condition from a packer;
the receiving party comprises a first receiving party; and
further comprising:
communicating a second notification of the delay condition to a second receiving party, wherein the second receiving party comprises a manager of the packer.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein:
the delay condition comprises a delay by a deliverer in delivering the one or more goods of the order to the customer; and
the receiving party comprises the deliverer.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party comprises at least one of:
communicating by text message the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party; or
communicating the notification of the delay condition to the receiving party via a mobile application on an electronic device of the receiving party.

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Rajkhowa Pratosh Deepak
• Shendre Ameya Ajay
• Gupta Shekhar
• Raichur Rajoli Pavan Kumar
• Smith Austin Lee
• Ebener Jr Michael Gilbert
• Krishnan Vidyanand

Classifications

• G06Q30/0635 Primary

  replenishment orders; recurring orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title