Integrated online and offline inventory management

• US 10,192,220 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2014
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Varma, Ajit Kalidindi, Robinson, Joseph Loree, Reiss, Jesse, Lin, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayles, Ashford S
• Application Number:
  US14/312,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20140379536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,681 Days
• Field of Search: 705 28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• 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 20/384 using social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/386 using messaging services or messaging apps using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS G06Q20/3255
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/409 Device specific authentication in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Method, systems, and apparatus for integrated online and offline sales management. A system manages both offline and online transactions and inventory in an integrated environment. An offline transaction is a sale at a point of sale (POS) system, e.g., at a typical “brick and mortar shop” physical store. An online transaction is a sale using an online store, e.g., an online shopping cart and checkout system accessed by a web browser or other application. An online store can be converted to offline store, and vice versa. An inventory management system can receive an input from a merchant device of merchant designating an item carried by the merchant as an item to be sold at the physical store, at the online store, or both. The inventory management system can modify a record of the item to respond to the input.

Claims

1. A method for managing unified inventory between online stores and physical stores, comprising:

storing, at an inventory management system, an inventory of items for sale, the inventory of items including;

(i) an offline inventory of items associated with a merchant, the offline inventory of items including a first item that is associated with a first flag in a database indicating that the first item is designated for sale at a physical store where a buyer can visit personally, and

(ii) an online inventory of items associated with the merchant, the online inventory of items including a second item that is associated with a second flag in the database indicating that the second item is designated for sale via an online store accessible by online buyers using a buyer application program or a web browser;

providing, by the inventory management system via a network, a first list of items in the inventory of items to a merchant device located at the physical store for display to the merchant at the physical store, wherein the first list of items includes a record of the first item but either excludes a record of the second item or includes the record of the second item and an indicator that the second item is not for sale at the physical store;

providing, by the inventory management system via the network, a second list of items in the inventory of items to a server of the online store for serving to the buyer application program or the web browser, wherein the second list of items includes a record of the second item but either excludes a record of the first item or includes a record of the first item and an indicator that the first item is not for sale via the online store;

providing, by the inventory management system, and to the merchant device via the network, a graphical user interface (GUI) for designating items for sale at one or more of the online store or the physical store, the GUI including at least;

a first representation of the first item designated for sale at the physical store where the buyer can visit personally;

a second representation of the second item designated for sale at the online store;

a first graphical element, selection of which, causes the first item to be listed for sale at the online store; and

a second graphical element, selection of which, causes the first item to be listed for view at the online store, wherein the first item can be viewed through the online store and purchased at the physical store of the merchant;

receiving, by the inventory management system, and from the merchant device, an indication of a first input associated with a selection of the first representation of the first item;

receiving, by the inventory management system, and from the merchant device, a notification of a second input associated with a selection of the first graphical element or the second graphical element;

based at least in part on receiving the indication and the notification, synchronizing, by the inventory management system, the online inventory of items and the offline inventory of items based at least in part on;

associating the second flag with the first item indicating that the first item is designated for sale via the online store; and

generating, based at least in part on associating the second flag with the first item, an updated second list of items including at least the record of the first item and the record of the second item;

providing, by the inventory management system via the network, the updated second list of items to the server of the online store; and

causing the first item to be listed for sale via the online store.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the notification further indicates that the second input specifies that an in-store discount at the physical store is applicable to the first item to the online buyers; and

the record of the first item in the updated second list of items is associated with an indicator of the in-store discount.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the notification further indicates that the second input specifies a quantity of the first item that is available to the online buyers; and

the record of the first item in the updated second list of items is associated with the quantity.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the GUI comprises providing, by the inventory management system, and to the merchant device via the network, the GUI for display in a merchant web browser executable on the merchant device.

4. A method, performed by one or more servers of an inventory management service, the method comprising:

storing, in at least one database associated with the one or more servers, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first flag indicating that the one or more first items are associated with an online inventory of items associated with the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second flag indicating that the one or more second items are associated with an offline inventory of items associated with the merchant;

causing, by the one or more servers, a first graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a merchant device operated by the merchant at a physical store of the merchant, the first GUI including;

a first GUI element associated with a representation of a specific item of the inventory of items, the specific item associated with the second flag indicating an association with the offline inventory of items;

a second GUI element associated with a first selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be an online item, the online item being (i) for view via an online store of the merchant and for purchase at the physical store or (ii) for sale via the online store; and

a third GUI element associated with a second selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be an offline item, the offline item being for sale at the physical store;

receiving, from the merchant device and at the one or more servers, an indication of an input associated with an interaction with at least the second GUI element;

changing, in response to receiving the indication of the input and by the one or more servers, a status associated with the specific item based at least in part on associating the first flag with the specific item to indicate that the specific item is associated with the online inventory of items;

sending, from the one or more servers and to the merchant device, and responsive to changing the status associated with the specific item, a list of at least the one or more second items associated with the second flag, the list including the specific item and indicating that the specific item is available online or at the physical store; and

causing, by the one or more servers, the list of at least the one or more second items to be presented via a second GUI displayed via the merchant device operated by the merchant at the physical store.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the input further indicates an interaction with the first GUI element.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, from the merchant device located at the physical store, information on an offline transaction of purchasing the specific item at the physical store;

generating an online receipt based at least in part on the information on the offline transaction, the online receipt comprising an electronic document specifying a time, a location, a price, and an item name of the offline transaction; and

providing the online receipt to a user device upon request.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving an additional input for sharing an attribute of the specific item between the online inventory of items and the offline inventory of items; and

in response, adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the online inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the offline inventory of items or adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the offline inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the online inventory of items.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising sending, from the one or more servers to another server associated with the online store, another list of at least the one or more first items associated with the first flag, the other list also including the specific item.

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory storage device storing computer instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

storing, in at least one database associated with the system, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first flag indicating that the one or more first items are associated with an online inventory of items associated with the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second flag indicating that the one or more second items are associated with an offline inventory of items associated with the merchant;

generating a graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a merchant device operated by the merchant at a physical store of the merchant, the GUI including;

a first GUI element associated with a representation of a specific item of the inventory of items;

a second GUI element associated with a first selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be associated with the first flag as an online item, the online item being an item for sale through an online store; and

a third GUI element associated with a second selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be associated with the second flag as an offline item, the offline item being for sale at the physical store;

providing the GUI to the merchant device via a network;

receiving, from the merchant device, an indication of an input associated with an interaction with at least the second GUI element or the third GUI element;

determining, in response to receiving the indication of the input, a status associated with the specific item based at least in part on associating one or more of the first flag or the second flag with the specific item to indicate whether the specific item is associated with at least one of the online inventory of items or the offline inventory of items;

sending, to the merchant device, a list of at least the one or more second items associated with the second flag; and

causing the list of at least the one or more second items to be presented via a second GUI displayed via the merchant device operated by the merchant at the physical store.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the input further indicates an interaction with the first GUI element.

11. The system of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the merchant device, information on an offline transaction of purchasing the specific item at the physical store;

generating an online receipt based at least in part on the information on the offline transaction, the online receipt comprising an electronic document specifying a time, a location, a price, and an item name of the offline transaction; and

providing the online receipt to a device user upon request.

12. The system of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving an additional input for sharing an attribute of the specific item between the online inventory of items and the offline inventory of items; and

in response, adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the online inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the offline inventory of items or adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the offline inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the online inventory of items.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the attribute is a discount status, discount amount, or quantity.

14. The system of claim 9, the operations further comprising sending, to one or more servers associated with the online store, another list of at least the one or more first items associated with the first flag.

15. A non-transitory storage device storing computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

storing, in at least one database, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first flag indicating that the one or more first items are associated with an online inventory of items associated with the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second flag indicating that the one or more second items are associated with an offline inventory of items associated with the merchant;

causing a graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a merchant device operated by the merchant at a physical store of the merchant, the GUI including;

a first GUI element associated with a representation of a specific item of the inventory of items;

a second GUI element associated with a first selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be associated with the first flag as an online item, the online item being (i) for view via an online store of the merchant and for purchase at the physical store or (ii) for sale via the online store; and

a third GUI element associated with a second selection, interaction with which causes the specific item to be associated with the second flag as an offline item, the offline item being for sale at the physical store;

receiving, from the merchant device, an indication of an input associated with an interaction with at least the second GUI element or the third GUI element;

determining, in response to receiving the indication of the input, a status associated with the specific item based at least in part on associating one or more of the first flag or the second flag with the specific item to indicate whether the specific item is associated with at least one of the online inventory of items or the offline inventory of items;

sending, to the merchant device, a list of at least the one or more second items associated with the second flag; and

causing the list of at least the one or more second items to be presented via a second GUI displayed via the merchant device operated by the merchant at the physical store of the merchant.

16. The non-transitory storage device of claim 15, wherein the input further indicates an interaction with the first GUI element.

17. The non-transitory storage device of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the merchant device, information on an offline transaction of purchasing the specific item at the physical store;

generating an online receipt based at least in part on the information on the offline transaction, the online receipt comprising an electronic document specifying a time, a location, a price, and an item name of the offline transaction; and

providing the online receipt to a device user upon request.

18. The non-transitory storage device of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving an additional input for sharing an attribute of the specific item between the online inventory of items and the offline inventory of items; and

in response, adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the online inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the offline inventory of items or adding the attribute to a record of the specific item in the offline inventory of items according to the attribute of the specific item in the online inventory of items.

19. The non-transitory storage device of claim 18, wherein the attribute is a discount status, discount amount, or quantity.

20. The non-transitory storage device of claim 15, the operations further comprising sending, to one or more servers associated with the online store, another list of at least the one or more first items associated with the first flag.