Multi-system distributed processing of delivery and/or referral information for orders

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9805536-B2
Application number	US-201113022885-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 8, 2011
Priority date	Jan 20, 2011
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

Various systems and methods that may relate to referral and/or delivery services are described. Some embodiments may include syndicating service providers for orders to a plurality of providers, in store delivery options, mobile device ordering, price arbitrage and/or other elements. Various other embodiments are described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a computing device; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that when executed by the computing device, causes the computing device to:
receive an order for a restaurant from a user of a delivery service, in which the order includes an order to deliver a set of food items from the restaurant to the user;
transmit an indication of the order to the restaurant;
determine that a plurality of delivery agents should be used to perform delivery of the set of food items from the restaurant to the user;
select a first delivery agent to transfer the set of food items from the restaurant to a first location;
select a second delivery agent to transfer the set of food items from the first location to the user; and
facilitate delivery of the set of food items from the restaurant to the user using the first and second delivery agents, in which facilitating delivery includes arranging an intermediary at the first location to receive the set of food items from the first delivery agent, hold the set of food items for an amount of time, and provide the set of food items to the second delivery agent and in which the order includes an order for a food item from a second restaurant, in which the intermediary includes the second restaurant, and in which arranging includes arranging for the intermediary to add the food item to the set of food items provided to the second delivery agent in response to receiving the order.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which facilitating delivery includes notifying the first and second delivery agents of the first location and a time to meet at the first location to transfer the set of food items from the first delivery agent to the second delivery agent.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which determining that the plurality of delivery agents should be used includes initiating an auction for delivery of the set of food items and comparing costs submitted to the auction for complete deliveries to prices submitted to the auction for partial deliveries.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , in which selecting the first and second delivery agents includes selecting based on combined prices for the first and second delivery agents being a most affordable total price for complete delivery submitted to the auction.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the plurality of delivery agents includes a cab driver.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which selecting the first and second delivery agents includes selecting based on a comparison of a route of travel of the first and second delivery agents and the locations of the user, the first location, and the restaurant.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , in which selecting the first delivery agent includes selecting based on a first route of expected travel passing proximate to each of the restaurant and the first location.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to:
receive an indication of first GPS coordinates of the first delivery agent and an indication of a intended first destination of the first delivery agent, and determining the first route of expected travel based on the first GPS coordinates and the indication of the intended first destination.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , in which selecting the second delivery agent includes selecting based on a second route of expected travel of the second delivery agent passing proximate to each of the first location and the user.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to:
receive an indication of second GPS coordinates of the second delivery agent and an indication of an intended second destination of the second delivery agent, and determining the second route of expected travel based on the second GPS coordinates and the indication of the intended second destination.

11. The apparatus of claim 3 , in which the auction is initiated in response to receiving the order.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to determine first desired route of the first delivery agent and a second desired route of the second delivery agent and determine the first location based on a proximity of the first location to the first and second expected routes.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising:
a point of sale terminal configured to:
receive information about the set of food items,
receive payment information for the order,
receive information about a destination for delivery of the set of food items, and
transmit information about the order and the destination to the computing device to arrange for the one or more items to be delivered from the restaurant to the user; and

the computing device configured to execute the plurality of instructions.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , in which receiving the order for the restaurant includes receiving the order from the point of sale terminal.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , in which the pint of sale terminal includes a cash register.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , in which the information about the destination includes a time for delivery to the destination, and in which facilitating delivery includes identifying the time to the second delivery agent.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which receiving the order includes receiving a plurality of respective indications of food items of the set of food items by a camera of a cellular telephone, receiving an indication of a payment for the set of food items from the cellular telephone, and receiving an indication of a destination for delivery of the set of food items from the cellular telephone.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the plurality of indications include barcodes.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the plurality of indications include pictures.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to determine the restaurant based on a database of restaurants proximate to the destination that sell the set of food items.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , in which determining the restaurant includes determining the restaurant based on the lowest prices for which the set of food items are offered.

22. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to receive respective indications of respective locations corresponding to the captures of the indications of each of the set of food items, and determining the restaurant based on the locations.

23. The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the instructions cause the computing device to:
initiate an auction to determine which of a plurality of pickers should pick the set of food items and from the restaurant and prepare them for delivery by the plurality of delivery agents;
selecting the picker based on the auction; and
facilitating picking of the items using the selected picker.

24. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, an order for a restaurant from a user of a delivery service, in which the order includes an order to deliver a set of food items from the restaurant to the user;
transmitting, by the computing device, an indication of the order to the restaurant;
determining, by the computing device, that a plurality of delivery agents should be used to perform delivery of the set of food items from the restaurant to the user;
selecting, by the computing device, a first delivery agent to

Assignees

• Lutnick Howard W
• Sims Colin
• Friedman Ari
• Miller Mark A
• Cfph Llc

Inventors

• Lutnick Howard W
• Sims Colin
• Friedman Ari
• Miller Mark A

Classifications

• G06Q20/20

  Point-of-sale [POS] network systems · CPC title

• G07F7/0886 Primary

  the card reader being portable for interacting with a POS or ECR in realizing a payment transaction · CPC title

• G06Q50/12

  Hotels or restaurants · CPC title