Application programming interfaces for courier services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9934530-B1
Application number	US-201615283092-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 30, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2016
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A system and environment to enable entities to utilize courier services provided by a service provider are described herein. In some examples, the service provider exposes the courier services to a computing device associated with a merchant, buyer, and/or others using one or more Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) provided by the service provider. The one or more APIs may enable merchants and/or others to automatically integrate the courier services into technologies used by the merchants and/or others in order to facilitate delivery of items that are offered for acquisition by the merchants.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a service computing device including a service computing device processor and a service computing device communication interface communicatively coupled to the service computing device processor, the service computing device communication interface for communicating over one or more networks with a plurality of courier devices, and further for communicating over the one or more networks via one or more Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with a merchant application executable on a merchant computing device associated with a merchant, wherein the one or more APIs are exposed by the service computing device and integrated into the merchant application, the service computing device being configured to:
receive, from the merchant application on the merchant computing device, via the one or more APIs, a request regarding delivery of an item that is specified by a customer to be acquired from the merchant, the request indicating at least one of a location of delivery, a location of pick-up, a requested time of pick-up, a number of items being acquired, a size of the item, whether or not the item is associated with a predetermined category, or a weight of the item, the request being received via the one or more APIs from the merchant application on the merchant computing device;
generate a delivery proposal for delivering the item to the location of delivery, the delivery proposal including a cost for delivery of the item by a courier service associated with the service computing device and an estimated timing for delivery of the item by the courier service;
send the delivery proposal to the merchant application on the merchant computing device;
receive, via the one or more APIs, from the merchant application on the merchant computing device, an indication of acceptance of the delivery proposal;
receive location information for individual ones of the plurality of courier devices;
identify a courier associated with a first courier device of the plurality of courier devices to transport the item based at least in part on the indication of acceptance of the delivery proposal and the location information for the individual ones of the plurality of courier devices; and
send, without using the one or more APIs, a communication to a courier application executable on the first courier device requesting that the identified courier obtain the item from the location of pick-up and transport the item to the location of delivery;
wherein the courier application is executable by one or more processors of the first courier device to:
determine a geographic location of the first courier device based at least in part on data from a location sensor of the first courier device;
provide location information to the service computing device indicating the geographic location of the first courier device; and
based at least in part on the communication from the service computing device, present a notification to the identified courier via the first courier device requesting that the item be obtained from the location of pick-up and transported to the location of delivery;

wherein the service computing device is further configured to:
receive, from the merchant application on the merchant computing device, via the one or more APIs integrated into the merchant application, a request for a delivery status of the item, wherein the request is received based on an input via a first user interface presented by the merchant application on the merchant computing device;
receive further location information for the first courier device;
determine a delivery status of the item based at least partially on the received further location information; and
send, to the merchant application, the delivery status of the item, wherein the merchant application displays, in the first user interface, the delivery status of the item.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the merchant application is further executable to configure the merchant computing device to:
provide a second interface for presentation to at least one of the customer or the merchant on a display associated with the merchant computing device;
receive, via the second interface, a selection of the item for acquisition and information regarding at least one of the location of delivery, the location of pick-up, the requested time of pick-up, the number of items being acquired, the size of the item, whether or not the item is associated with the predetermined category, or the weight of the item;
receive, via the second user interface a request for information regarding delivery of the item;
send, via the one or more APIs and to the service computing device, the request for information regarding delivery of the item;
receive the delivery proposal from the service computing device;
determine that the delivery proposal is accepted; and
send, via the one or more APIs, the indication of acceptance of the delivery proposal to facilitate delivery of the item.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the merchant application is further executable to configure the merchant computing device to:
display at least one of the cost for delivery of the item or the estimated timing for delivery of the item via the second user interface;
receive, via the second user interface, an input regarding acceptance of the delivery proposal; and
send, via the one or more APIs, an indication that the delivery proposal is accepted based at least in part on the received input regarding acceptance of the delivery proposal.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the merchant application is further executable to configure the merchant computing device to:
refrain from displaying the cost for delivery of the item or refrain from including the cost for delivery of the item as part of a total cost for acquiring the item;
compare the delivery proposal to a plurality of criteria for accepting the delivery proposal, the criteria including a merchant criterion for determining that the cost for delivery is below a cost threshold, and a second criterion for determining that the estimated timing for delivery is within a timing threshold; and
send, automatically, via the one or more APIs, an indication of acceptance of the delivery proposal based on determining that the criteria are met.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the merchant application further configures the merchant computing device to:
present the delivery status of the item in a first portion of the first user interface with a delivery status of one or more other items for one or more other delivery jobs;
receive, via the first user interface, a selection of the delivery status of the item in the first portion of the first user interface;
send, via the one or more APIs integrated into the merchant application, a request for details of the selected delivery status of the item; and
receive, from the service computing device, additional details regarding the delivery status of the item.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service computing device is further configured to:
receive, via the one or more APIs, an order from a customer application executable on a customer computing device associated with another customer;
send a request to fulfill the order to the merchant application on the merchant computing device to fulfill the order;
receive, from the merchant computing device, via the one or more APIs, an indication of acceptance of the order from the merchant application on the merchant computing device;
determine another courier to deliver the order to a location associated with the other customer;
send a communication to a second courier device that is associated with the other identified courier requesting that the other identified courier obtain the order from the locatio

Assignees

• Square Inc

Inventors

• Iacono Jeffrey F
• Hammer Derek
• Reiss Jesse L
• Soong Alexander

Classifications

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · 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

• G06Q30/0637 Primary

  requiring approval before final submission, e.g. parental approval · CPC title

• G06Q30/0641

  utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping · CPC title

• G06Q30/0611

  Request for offers or quotes · CPC title