Online ordering for in-shop service

• US 10,147,130 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Scholl, Nathaniel Blake, Crawford, Jason, Puckett, Joshua
• Primary Examiner(s): Danneman, Paul
• Application Number:
  US13/839,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20150046271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,090 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

Systems and related methods providing for online ordering of menu items from a merchant are discussed herein. Circuitry may be configured to generate an online menu based on menu information stored in a menu database. The menu information may be also configured to facilitate point-of-sale functionality at the merchant, such as by a point-of-sale device. The online menu may be provided to a consumer device. An online order may be received from the consumer device. The circuitry may be configured to process the online order, such as by facilitating a reservation, order preparation, and payment.

Claims

1. A method for integrating online and offline ordering of menu items from a restaurant by a networked processor connected with a merchant device and a consumer device via a network, comprising, by the networked processor:

receiving menu items offered for sale by the restaurant;

generating menu information based on the menu items, wherein the menu information indicates the amount of menu items that are in stock;

storing the menu information in a menu database;

generating, based on the menu information in the menu database, a point-of-sale menu including a first configuration of menu items, wherein the point-of-sale menu is configured to facilitate point-of-sale functionality at the restaurant;

providing the point-of-sale menu to the merchant device via the network;

generating, based on the menu information in the menu database and further based on online order tracking data stored in the menu database, an online menu including a second configuration of menu items, wherein the second configuration of menu items is different than the first configuration of menu items and wherein the second configuration of menu items is configured to cause a display screen of the consumer device to render the menu items according to a display ranking based on an automated optimization, wherein the automated optimization ranks menu items to generate the display ranking such that the menu items that are most likely to be ordered online are arranged at the top of the display ranking based on merchant order data and consumer profile data associated with the consumer device;

providing the online menu to the consumer device via the network;

receiving, from the consumer device, online order data associated with an online order indicating at least one item from the online menu;

in response to receiving the online order data, providing the online order data to the merchant device via the network to facilitate processing of a purchase of the at least one item of the online order by the merchant device;

determining that a trigger condition has been satisfied, wherein the trigger condition comprises a predetermined proximity of the consumer device to the merchant device;

in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, transmitting ticket data to one or more ticket output devices, wherein the ticket data comprises one or more indications of one or more items included in the online order data;

receiving, from the merchant device, in-restaurant order data associated with the online order indicating purchase of at least a second item selected from the point-of-sale menu for addition to the online order in combination with the at least one item;

determining updated menu information including an updated amount of menu items that are in stock based on the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item;

updating the menu database based on the updated menu information; and

in response to updating the menu database, updating the point-of-sale menu and the online menu based on the updated menu information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to receiving the online order data, associating the consumer with a payment account; and

subsequent to an occurrence of the trigger condition, facilitating a financial transaction associated with the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item, using the payment account.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving an additional order of an additional item subsequent to receiving the online order data; and

associating the additional item with the payment account before facilitating the financial transaction.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the additional order of the additional item is received from the consumer device via a network connection.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the additional order of the additional item is received from a device located in the restaurant.

6. The method of claim 2 further comprising associating an unpaid amount with the payment account.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication to cancel the online order; and

responsive to receiving the indication to cancel the online order, canceling preparation of the online order.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing a waitlist indicating table wait times;

adding an entry to the waitlist for a table based on a request received from the consumer device;

sending an estimated seating time for the table to the consumer device;

associating the online order data with the entry to the waitlist; and

sending an indication that the table is available to the consumer device.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating the online order with a plurality of payment accounts;

receiving payment data indicating how to allocate payment amounts among the plurality of payment accounts; and

facilitating financial transactions using the plurality of payment accounts according to the payment data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the payment data indicates a ratio for allocating the payment amounts among the plurality of payment accounts.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the online order tracking data comprises a history of a quantity of online orders received for each of the menu items offered for sale by the restaurant;

determining, by the networked processor, a plurality of probability factors, wherein each of the probability factors is associated with one of the menu items offered for sale by the restaurant, wherein each of the plurality of probability factors comprises information indicating the likelihood that the networked processor will receive an order for the menu item, and wherein the automated optimization ranks the menu items based on a comparison of the plurality of probability factors.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the ranking data comprises information associated with only a subset of the menu items offered for sale by the restaurant such that only the subset of menu items is eligible to be rendered by the consumer device at the top of the menu items rendered on the display screen of the consumer device.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from a social network server that is configured to facilitate social connections of a plurality of users, social media data associated with the consumer device, wherein the social media data comprises at least one of (a) preference data indicating preferences associated with a user of the consumer device and (b) social contact preference data indicating preferences associated with one or more social connections associated with the user of the consumer device;

updating the consumer profile based on the received social media data;

generating, based on the received social media data, one or more display recommendations of menu items;

providing, to the consumer device, the one or more display recommendations for rendering on the display screen of the consumer device so as to enable user selection of the one or more display recommendations.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from a social network server that is configured to facilitate social connections of a plurality of users, social media data associated with the consumer device, wherein the social media data comprises at least one of (a) preference data indicating preferences associated with a user of the consumer device and (b) social contact preference data indicating preferences associated with one or more social connections associated with the user of the consumer device;

receiving, from a promotional server, promotion data indicating (i) available deal vouchers associated with the restaurant and (ii) one or more unused deal vouchers associated with the consumer profile associated with the consumer device;

updating the consumer profile based on the received social media data and the received promotion data;

generating, based on at least one of the received social media data and the received promotion data, one or more display recommendations of menu items;

generating, based on the received promotion data, one or more display promotions;

providing, to the consumer device, the one or more display recommendations for rendering on the display screen of the consumer device so as to enable user selection of the one or more display recommendations; and

providing, to the consumer device, the one or more display promotions so as to enable (i) user redemption of the one or more unused deal vouchers associated with the consumer profile associated with the consumer device, or (ii) user purchase of at least one of the available deal vouchers associated with the restaurant.

15. A method for integrating online and offline ordering of menu items based on managing a menu database by a networked processor, comprising, by the networked processor:

accessing menu information from the menu database, the menu information indicating amounts of menu items that are in stock, wherein the menu database is also configured to support displays of a first configuration of menu items presented by a point-of-sale device in a restaurant and of a second configuration of menu items presented by an online menu accessible by a consumer device located remote from the restaurant, wherein the second configuration of menu items is different than the first configuration of menu items and wherein the second configuration of menu items is configured to cause a display screen of the consumer device to render the menu items according to a display ranking based on an automated optimization, wherein the automated optimization ranks menu items to generate the display ranking such that the menu items that are most likely to be ordered online are arranged at the top of the display ranking based on merchant order data and consumer profile data associated with the consumer device;

updating the menu information based on tracking an amount of menu items that are in stock, wherein the tracking includes;

receiving, from the consumer device, online order data associated with an online order indicating at least one item selected from the online menu;

in response to receiving the online order data, providing the online order data to the merchant device via the network to facilitate processing of purchase of the at least one item of the online order by the merchant device;

determining that a trigger condition has been satisfied, wherein the trigger condition comprises a predetermined proximity of the consumer device to the merchant device;

in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, transmitting ticket data to one or more ticket output devices, wherein the ticket data comprises one or more indications of one or more items included in the online order data;

receiving, from the merchant device, in-restaurant order data associated with the online order indicating purchase of at least a second item selected from the point-of-sale menu for addition to the online order in combination with the at least one item; and

updating the menu information including an updated amount of menu items that are in stock based the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item;

in response to the menu information being updated, updating menu items included in the online menu and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device based on the updated menu information, wherein the online menu is further updated based on online order tracking data stored in the menu database; and

subsequent to updating the menu items included in the online menu and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device, providing, via the network, the updated online menu to the consumer device and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device to the point-of-sale device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the updating of the menu information is based on the online order.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising removing at least one out-of-stock menu item from the online menu.

18. A system for integrating online and offline ordering of menu items from a restaurant by circuitry connected with a merchant device and a consumer device via a network, comprising:

the circuitry configured to;

receive menu items offered for sale from a merchant device;

generate menu information based on the menu items, wherein the menu information indicates the amount of menu items that are in stock;

storing the menu information in a menu database;

generate, based on the menu information in the menu database, a point-of-sale menu including a first configuration of menu items, wherein the point-of-sale menu is configured to facilitate point-of-sale functionality at the restaurant;

provide the point-of-sale menu to the merchant device via the network;

generate, based on the menu information in the menu database and further based on online order tracking data stored in the menu database, an online menu including a second configuration of menu items, wherein the second configuration of menu items is different than the first configuration of menu items;

provide the online menu to the consumer device via the network;

receive, from the consumer device, online order data associated with an online order indicating at least one item from the online menu;

in response to receiving the online order data, provide the online order data to the merchant device via the network to facilitate processing of a purchase of the at least one item of the online order by the merchant device;

determine that a trigger condition has been satisfied, wherein the trigger condition comprises a predetermined proximity of the consumer device to the merchant device;

in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, generate, based on the menu information from the menu database and based on customization selections received from a merchant device, a presence-based menu including a third configuration of menu items, wherein the third configuration of menu items is different than the first and the second configuration of menu items, and wherein the menu database is further configured to support display of the third configuration of menu items;

provide, in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, a menu selection option to the consumer device, wherein the menu selection option enables a user of the consumer device to render on a display screen of the consumer device one of (i) the online menu or (ii) the presence-based menu;

receive, from the merchant device, in-restaurant order data associated with the online order indicating purchase of at least a second item selected from the point-of-sale menu for addition to the online order in combination with the least one item;

determine updated menu information including an updated amount of menu items that are in stock based the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item;

update the menu database based on the updated menu information; and

in response to updating the menu database, update the point-of-sale menu and the online menu based on the updated menu information.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

prior to receiving the online order data, associate the consumer with a payment account; and

subsequent to an occurrence of the trigger condition, facilitate a financial transaction associated with the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item, using the payment account.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

receive an additional order of an additional item subsequent to receiving the online order data; and

associate the additional item with the payment account before facilitating the financial transaction.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the additional order of the additional item is received from the consumer device via a network connection.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the additional order of the additional item is ordered at the restaurant.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the circuitry is further configured to associate an unpaid amount with the payment account.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

receive an indication to cancel the online order; and

responsive to receiving the indication to cancel the online order, canceling preparation of the online order.

25. The system of claim 18, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

access a waitlist indicating table wait times;

add an entry to the waitlist for a table based on a request received from the consumer device;

send an estimated seating time for the table to the consumer device;

associate the online order data with the entry to the waitlist; and

send an indication that the table is available to the consumer device.

26. The system of claim 18, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

associate the online order with a plurality of payment accounts;

receive payment data indicating how to allocate payment amounts among the plurality of payment accounts; and

facilitate financial transactions using the plurality of payment accounts according to the payment data.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the payment data indicates a ratio for allocating the payment amounts among the plurality of payment accounts.

28. A system for integrating online and offline ordering of menu items based on managing a menu database, comprising:

circuitry configured to;

access menu information from the menu database indicating amounts of menu items that are in stock, wherein the menu database is also configured to support displays of a first configuration of menu items presented by a point-of-sale device in a restaurant and of a second configuration of menu items presented by an online menu accessible by a consumer device located remote from the restaurant, wherein the second configuration of menu items is different than the first configuration of menu items;

determine that a trigger condition has been satisfied, wherein the trigger condition comprises a predetermined proximity of the consumer device to the merchant device;

in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, generate, based on the menu information from the menu database and based on customization selections received from a merchant device, a presence-based menu including a third configuration of menu items, wherein the third configuration of menu items is different than the first and the second configuration of menu items, and wherein the menu database is further configured to support display of the third configuration of menu items;

provide, in response to determining the trigger condition has been satisfied, a menu selection option to the consumer device, wherein the menu selection option enables a user of the consumer device to render on a display screen of the consumer device one of (i) the online menu or (ii) the presence-based menu;

update the menu information based on tracking an amount of menu items that are in stock, wherein the circuitry configured to track the amount of menu items includes the circuitry being configured to;

receive, from the consumer device, online order data associated with an online order indicating at least one item selected from the online menu;

in response to receiving the online order data, provide the online order data to the merchant device via the network to facilitate processing of purchase of the at least one item of the online order by the merchant device;

receive, from the merchant device, in-restaurant order data associated with the online order indicating purchase of the at least a second menu item selected from the point-of-sale menu for addition to the online order in combination with the at least one item; and

updating the menu information including an updated amount of menu items that are in stock based the online order, which includes the second item combined with the at least one item;

in response to the menu information being updated, update menu items included in the online menu and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device based on the updated menu information, wherein the online menu is further updated based on online order tracking data stored in the menu database; and

subsequent to updating the menu items included in the online menu and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device, provide, via the network, the updated online menu to the consumer device and the displays presented by the point-of-sale device to the point-of-sale device.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the circuitry is further configured to update the menu information based on an online order.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the circuitry is further configured to remove at least one out of stock menu item from the online menu.