Systems and methods for providing personalized delivery services

• US 10,078,810 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2013
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Klingenberg, Robert Lee, Rizzo, Joe, Shroff, Sumeet Pradeep
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel, Vanel
• Application Number:
  US13/913,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20130275328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 705330, 705 28, 705 29, 705 727, 705 37, 705 2681
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0838 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing personalized delivery services by a carrier providing a package delivery service. For example, a consignee may indicate a delivery preference to be applied to delivery of a package, such as indicating a specific location where the package is to be left upon delivery, if the consignee is not present to accept the package. In one embodiment, the consignee may be notified by the carrier of the scheduled delivery of the package prior to a first delivery attempt, and may be linked to the carrier'"'"'s web site to indicate a delivery preference. Alternatively, the delivery preference may be indicated by the consignee proactively accessing the web site. After conveying a delivery preference, the carrier'"'"'s systems communicate the delivery preference at the appropriate time to a portable computing device which informs the delivery personnel of the consignee'"'"'s delivery preference. Other embodiments allow the consignor to indicate delivery preferences.

Claims

1. A method for linking electronic shipping information stored in an item database to an electronic consignee profile record stored in a consignee profile database to enable transmission of an electronic message using notification preferences for the provision of information regarding an item to be delivered to a consignee, the method comprising:

storing, by a computing system, an electronic consignee profile record corresponding to a consignee in a consignee profile database that comprises a plurality of electronic consignee profile records, wherein each of the plurality of electronic consignee profile records (1) is identifiable by address matching, (2) comprises a collection of consignee information comprising an address to which items can be delivered, (3) provides the consignee with access to electronic shipping information for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee via a web-based interface in electronic communication with the computing system using access credentials, (4) comprises notification preferences for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee, and (5) comprises a unique consignee profile identifier;

receiving, by the computing system, electronic shipping information for an item to be delivered to the consignee, wherein (1) the electronic shipping information comprises an address on a label to which the item is to be delivered, the label affixed to the exterior of the item by a consignor, (2) at least a portion of the electronic shipping information is electronically captured from a scan of the item by scanning equipment, and (3) the electronic shipping information for the item is stored in an item database;

responsive to receiving the electronic shipping information for the item, querying, by the computing system, the consignee profile database to identify the electronic consignee profile record for the consignee of the item from the plurality of electronic consignee profile records stored in the consignee profile database by matching the address of the electronic shipping information stored in the item database to the address of the electronic consignee profile record for the consignee stored in the consignee profile database;

responsive to identifying the electronic consignee profile record in the consignee profile database by matching the address, linking, by the computing system, the electronic shipping information for the item with the electronic consignee profile record by storing the electronic shipping information for the item stored in the item database in association with the electronic consignee profile record stored in the consignee profile database;

after linking the electronic shipping information for the item in association with the electronic consignee profile record in the consignee profile database, accessing, by the computing system, the notification preferences of the electronic consignee profile record for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee, wherein (1) the consignee is the intended recipient of the item, and (2) the notification preferences (a) comprise at least one electronic communication format and at least one corresponding electronic destination address to be used in providing the information to the consignee, (b) comprise a time period prior to a first delivery attempt of the item in which an electronic message providing the information is to be transmitted to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address, and (c) are stored in association with the electronic consignee profile record corresponding to the consignee; and

automatically generating and transmitting, by the computing system, an electronic message to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address for display via a mobile device, wherein the electronic message is selected from the group consisting of an email message, a short message service message, an automated voice message, a facsimile message, a hosted web site message, a message for an application executing on the mobile device, and an instant message.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the notification preferences as input from the consignee.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising automatically generating the message providing the information regarding the package to be delivered to the consignee.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic message comprises a link to a carrier'"'"'s website through which the consignee provides instructions regarding the delivery of the item.

5. A computing system for linking electronic shipping information stored in an item database to an electronic consignee profile record stored in a consignee profile database to enable transmission of an electronic message using notification preferences for the provision of information regarding an item to be delivered to a consignee, the computing system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the computing system configured to:

store an electronic consignee profile record corresponding to a consignee in a consignee profile database that comprises a plurality of electronic consignee profile records, wherein each of the plurality of electronic consignee profile records (1) is identifiable by address matching, (2) comprises a collection of consignee information comprising an address to which items can be delivered, (3) provides the consignee with access to electronic shipping information for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee via a web-based interface in electronic communication with the computing system using access credentials, (4) comprises notification preferences for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee, and (5) comprises a unique consignee profile identifier;

receive electronic shipping information for an item to be delivered to the consignee, wherein (1) the electronic shipping information comprises an address on a label to which the item is to be delivered, the label affixed to the exterior of the item by a consignor, (2) at least a portion of the electronic shipping information is electronically captured from a scan of the item by scanning equipment, and (3) the electronic shipping information for the item is stored in an item database;

responsive to receiving the electronic shipping information for the item, query the consignee profile database to identify the electronic consignee profile record for the consignee of the item from the plurality of electronic consignee profile records stored in the consignee profile database by matching the address of the electronic shipping information stored in the item database to the address of the electronic consignee profile record for the consignee stored in the consignee profile database;

responsive to identifying the electronic consignee profile record in the consignee profile database by matching the address, link the electronic shipping information for the item with the electronic consignee profile record by storing the electronic shipping information for the item stored in the item database in association with the electronic consignee profile record stored in the consignee profile database;

after linking the electronic shipping information for the item in association with the electronic consignee profile record in the consignee profile database, access the notification preferences of the electronic consignee profile record for items to be delivered by the carrier to the consignee, wherein (1) the consignee is the intended recipient of the item, and (2) the notification preferences (a) comprise at least one electronic communication format and at least one corresponding electronic destination address to be used in providing the information to the consignee, (b) comprise a time period prior to a first delivery attempt of the item in which an electronic message providing the information is to be transmitted to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address, and (c) are stored in association with the electronic consignee profile record corresponding to the consignee; and

automatically generate and transmit an electronic message to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address for display via a mobile device, wherein the electronic message is selected from the group consisting of an email message, a short message service message, an automated voice message, a facsimile message, a hosted web site message, a message for an application executing on the mobile device, and an instant message.

6. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the computing system is further configured to receive the notification preferences as input from the consignee.

7. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the computing system is further configured to automatically generate the message providing the information regarding the package to be delivered to the consignee.

8. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the electronic message comprises a link to a carrier'"'"'s website through which the consignee provides instructions regarding the delivery of the item.