Electronic device communications for item handoffs

• US 10,181,111 B1
• Filed: 01/12/2016
• Issued: 01/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Square Inc (Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.))
• Inventors: Kohli, Avlok, Manik, Amandeep
• Primary Examiner(s): Masud, Rokib
• Application Number:
  US14/993,149
• Time in Patent Office: 1,099 Days
• Field of Search: 705 15, 705 16, 705 716
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0838 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

In some examples, a service provider may determine a courier placement location for a service area and a courier inventory for the service area. Based on the inventory, the service provider may order first items from a first merchant and second items from a second merchant. The service provider may dispatch a first courier to pick up the first items and a second courier to pick up the second items. Further, a third courier may go to a handoff location to receive the courier inventory made up of first items picked up by the first courier and second items picked up by the second courier. In some examples, the handoff location is determined dynamically based on the current locations of the first, second, and third couriers and predicted courier travel times. Additionally, or alternatively, the handoff location may be determined based in part on the courier placement location.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a computing device, from stored past order information for a plurality of past orders for delivery of items to buyers, a group of past delivery locations that are within a threshold distance of each other;

determining, by the computing device, based on the group of past delivery locations and the past orders associated with respective past delivery locations of the group, a courier placement location in proximity to the group and a composition of an associated courier inventory including one or more first items from a first merchant and one or more second items from a second merchant;

receiving, by the computing device, based on information from respective GPS receivers of a plurality of courier devices, location information indicating geographic locations of the courier devices, wherein the courier devices include a first courier device associated with a first courier having picked up the one or more first items, a second courier device associated with a second courier having picked up the one or more second items, and a third courier device associated with a third courier to receive the courier inventory;

determining, by the computing device, a handoff location based at least in part on the indicated geographic location and a predicted travel time to the handoff location determined for at least one of the first courier device, the second courier device, or the third courier device; and

sending, by the computing device, to the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device, an indication of the handoff location to cause, at least in part, respective applications executing on the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device to present the handoff location in respective user interfaces on respective displays of the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining the handoff location based at least in part on:

a first geographic location indicated for the first courier device, a second geographic location indicated for the second courier device, and a third geographic location indicated for the third courier device; and

further based at least in part on a first predicted courier travel time associated with the first courier device, a second predicted travel time associated with the second courier device, and a third predicted travel time associated with the third courier device.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

determining, from a plurality of courier geographic locations received in association with a plurality of past orders, a plurality of past courier travel times; and

predicting at least one of the first predicted courier travel time, the second predicted courier travel time, or the third predicted courier travel time based at least in part on the plurality of past courier travel times.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining the handoff location based at least in part on the courier placement location; and

sending, to the third courier device, courier placement location information that causes, at least in part, the application executing on the third courier device to present the courier placement location in the user interface on the third courier device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a plurality of courier placement locations, each courier placement location associated with a respective service area;

determining a centroid location corresponding to the plurality of courier placement locations; and

determining the handoff location based at least in part on the centroid location.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining the handoff location based at least in part on the geographic location indicted for a fourth courier device associated with a fourth courier, wherein the fourth courier is positioned at least temporarily at the handoff location; and

sending, to the fourth courier device, information about the first items and the second items to be delivered to the handoff location, information about the inventory, and an indicated timing for the third courier to pick up the inventory from the handoff location.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining the courier placement location further comprises:

determining, by the computing device,

a plurality of indicated buyer locations corresponding to accesses on respective buyer devices to respective applications for placing orders, wherein the plurality of indicated buyer locations are within another threshold distance of each other;

and

determining the courier placement location or another courier placement location based on the indicated buyer locations.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining, from the plurality of past orders, a number of sales of the first item and a number of sales of the second item over a period of time; and

determining the courier inventory based at least in part on comparing the number of sales of the first item to the number of sales of the second item over the period of time.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the third courier device, the indicated location of the third courier device;

determining, from inventory information, that the third courier possesses a quantity of the first item and a quantity of the second item;

receiving, from a buyer device, an indication of a delivery location for placing an order;

determining, based at least in part on the received indicated location of the third courier device, that the third courier device is within a threshold delivery travel time to the delivery location; and

sending an indication to the buyer device that at least one first item and at least one second item are available to be ordered to cause, at least in part, the buyer device to present item information related to the first item and the second item.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media maintaining instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, program the one or more processors to:

determine, from stored past order information for a plurality of past orders for delivery of items to buyers, a group of past delivery locations that are within a threshold distance of each other;

determine, based on the group of past delivery locations and the past orders associated with respective past delivery locations of the group, a courier placement location in proximity to the group and a composition of an associated courier inventory including one or more first items from a first merchant and one or more second items from a second merchant;

determine a handoff location based at least in part on the courier placement location and location information received from a plurality of courier devices determined based at least in part on information from location sensors of the plurality of courier devices; and

send, to the plurality of courier devices, location information indicating the handoff location, wherein the courier devices include a first courier device associated with a first courier having picked up the one or more first items, a second courier device associated with a second courier having picked up the one or more second items, and a third courier device associated with a third courier to receive the courier inventory, wherein sending the location information causes, at least in part, an application executing on at least one of the first courier device, the second courier device, or the third courier device to present the handoff location in a user interface on a display of the at least one of the first courier device, the second courier device, or the third courier device.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

determine a plurality of the courier placement locations, each courier placement location associated with a respective service area;

determine a centroid location corresponding to the plurality of courier placement locations; and

determine the handoff location based at least in part on the centroid location.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

send, to a fourth courier device associated with a fourth courier, the location information indicating the handoff location, wherein the fourth courier is positioned at least temporarily at the handoff location;

send, to the fourth courier device, information about the first items and the second items to be delivered to the handoff location, information about the inventory, and an indicated timing for the third courier to pick up the inventory from the handoff location; and

receive, from the fourth courier device, an indication that the first items and the second items have been received at the handoff location.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to determine the courier placement location by:

determining

a plurality of indicated buyer locations corresponding to accesses on respective buyer devices to respective applications for placing orders, wherein the plurality of indicated buyer locations are within another threshold distance of each other;

and

determining the courier placement location or another courier placement location based on the indicated buyer locations.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

determine the courier placement location by determining at least one centroid location for the at least one of the indicated buyer locations or the past delivery locations; and

send, to the third courier device, courier placement location information that causes, at least in part, the application executing on the third courier device to present the courier placement location in the user interface on the third courier device.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

determine, from the plurality of past orders, a number of sales of the first item and a number of sales of the second item over a period of time; and

determine the courier inventory based at least in part on comparing the number of sales of the first item to the number of sales of the second item over the period of time.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

receive, from the third courier device, the indicated location of the third courier device;

determine, from inventory information, that the third courier possesses a quantity of the first item and a quantity of the second item;

receive, from a buyer device, an indication of a delivery location for placing an order;

determine, based at least in part on the received indicated location of the third courier device, that the third courier device is within a threshold delivery travel time to the delivery location; and

send an indication to the buyer device that at least one first item and at least one second item are available to be ordered to cause, at least in part, the buyer device to present item information related to the first item and the second item.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

receive, from a buyer device, an indication of a delivery location for placing an order;

determine, based on received indication of geographic locations for each of a plurality of courier devices, that a predicted delivery travel time to the indicated delivery location is greater than a threshold delivery travel time; and

send an indication to the buyer device that the item is unavailable to be ordered.

18. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media programmed by executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

determining, from stored past order information for a plurality of past orders for delivery of items to buyers, a group of past delivery locations that are within a threshold distance of each other;

determining, based on the group of past delivery locations and the past orders associated with respective past delivery locations of the group, a courier placement location in proximity to the group and a composition of an associated courier inventory including one or more first items from a first merchant and one or more second items from a second merchant;

receiving, based on information from respective location sensors of a plurality of courier devices, location information indicating geographic locations of the courier devices, wherein the courier devices include a first courier device associated with a first courier having picked up the one or more first items, a second courier device associated with a second courier having picked up the one or more second items, and a third courier device associated with a third courier to receive the courier inventory;

determining, a handoff location based at least in part on the indicated geographic location determined for at least one of the first courier device, the second courier device, or the third courier device; and

sending, to the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device, an indication of the handoff location to cause, at least in part, respective applications executing on the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device to present the handoff location in respective user interfaces on respective displays of the first courier device, the second courier device, and the third courier device.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, the operations further comprising determining the handoff location based at least in part on:

a first geographic location indicated for the first courier device, a second geographic location indicated for the second courier device, and a third geographic location indicated for the third courier device; and

further based at least in part on a first predicted courier travel time to the handoff location associated with the first courier device, a second predicted travel time to the handoff location associated with the second courier device, and a third predicted travel time to the handoff location associated with the third courier device.

20. The system as recited in claim 18, the operations further comprising sending, to the third courier device, courier placement location information that causes, at least in part, the application executing on the third courier device to present the courier placement location in the user interface on the third courier device.

21. The system as recited in claim 18, the operations further comprising

determining the handoff location based at least in part on the geographic location indicted for a fourth courier device associated with a fourth courier, wherein the fourth courier is positioned at least temporarily at the handoff location;

and

sending, to the fourth courier device, information about the first items and the second items to be delivered to the handoff location, information about the inventory, and an indicated timing for the third courier to pick up the inventory from the handoff location.