Merchandise reservation system, apparatus, and media

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9443262-B1
Application number	US-201514663805-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 20, 2015
Priority date	Mar 20, 2015
Publication date	Sep 13, 2016
Grant date	Sep 13, 2016

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed for reserving items of merchandise for in store pickup and/or inspection. In some embodiments, a reservation method for a store includes receiving, from a first computing device associated with a customer, a request to reserve a requested item for the customer. The reservation method may further include identifying, based on the requested item, an additional item to reserve for the customer. The reservation method may also include sending, to a second computing device associated with an employee of the store, a notification that instructs the employee to gather the requested item and the additional item and place the gathered items in a reserved merchandise area of the store.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reservation method for a store, comprising:
receiving, from a first computing device associated with a customer, a request to reserve a requested item for the customer;
identifying, based on the requested item, an additional item that was not requested by the customer;
reserving the requested item and the non-requested, additional item for the customer; and
sending, to a second computing device associated with an employee of the store, a notification that instructs the employee to gather the requested item and the non-requested, additional item and place the gathered items in a reserved merchandise area of the store.

2. The reservation method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, to the first computing device, a confirmation that informs the customer that the request to reserve the requested item has been received.

3. The reservation method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, to the first computing device, a confirmation that informs the customer that the requested item has been reserved after verifying the requested item is in stock.

4. The reservation method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting restocking of the requested item based on received requests to reserve the requested item.

5. The reservation method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting restocking of an item associated with the requested item based on received requests to reserve the requested item.

6. The reservation method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, to the first computing device, a confirmation that informs the customer that the requested item has been reserved and instructs the customer to pickup the requested item from the reserved merchandise area.

7. The reservation method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying comprises selecting the additional item based on items other customers have purchased with the requested item.

8. The reservation method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying comprises:
determining a first product category for the requested item;
identifying, based on past purchases, a second product category associated with the first product category; and
selecting the additional item from a plurality of items in the second product category.

9. The reservation method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying comprises selecting, for the additional item, the requested item but of a different size than requested.

10. The reservation method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying comprises selecting, for the additional item, the requested item but of a different color than requested.

11. The reservation method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying comprises:
determining a product category for the requested item; and
selecting, for the additional item, an item from the product category at a different price point and feature set.

12. A system, comprising:
a first computing device associated with an employee of a store; and
a reservation management system configured to:
receive, from a second computing device associated with a customer, a request to reserve a requested item for the customer;
identify, based on the requested item, an additional item not requested by the customer;
reserve the requested item and the non-requested, additional item for the customer; and
send, to the employee of the store via the first computing device, a notification that instructs the employee to gather the requested item and the non-requested, additional item and place the gathered items in a reserved merchandise area of the store.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein reservation management system is further configured to send to customer a confirmation that informs the customer that the request for the requested item has been received.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured send, to the customer after verifying the requested item is in stock, a confirmation that informs the customer that the request has been received.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to provide a restocking recommendation of the requested item based on received requests to reserve the requested item.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to provide a restocking recommendation of an item associated with the requested item based on received requests to reserve the requested item.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to send a confirmation that informs the customer that the requested item has been reserved and instructs the customer to pickup the requested item from the reserved merchandise area of the store.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to select the additional item based on items other customers have purchased with the requested item.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to:
determine a first product category for the requested item;
identify, based on past purchases, a second product category associated with the first product category; and
select the additional item from a plurality of items in the second product category.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reservation management system is further configured to select, for the additional item, the requested item but of a different size than requested.

Assignees

• Sears Brands Llc

Inventors

• Mamgain Prerna
• Swamy Kartik
• Vanukuri Srinivasa
• Sharma Amar

Classifications

• G06Q30/0631 Primary

  Recommending goods or services · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06Q30/0635

  replenishment orders; recurring orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/08741

  by picking of items from inventory for fulfillment · CPC title