Method and system to support order collection using a geo-fence

• US 10,592,847 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2016
• Issued: 03/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Scholey, Abby, Sutton, Joseph, Rastogi, Neha, Oriani, Andre, De Souza Gois, Alexandre, Wright, Brendan, Albright, Robb
• Primary Examiner(s): Obaid, Fateh M
• Application Number:
  US15/364,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20170161678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0836 Recipient pick-ups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

A customer electronic device places a goods order via a computer network including indicating an intended collection location, and in response installs a geo-fence function. The device triggers the geo-fence when proximate to the intended collection location. The computer network receives the trigger message and generates a pre-alert message sent to at least one in-store device, thereby prompting the ordered goods to be made ready for collection by the customer.

Claims

1. A system to support order collection using a geo-fence, comprising:

an electronic device configured to place an order for goods, identify and store an intended collection location, form a geo-fence having a relationship with the intended collection location in response to placing the order, monitor the geo-fence and trigger the geo-fence in response to the electronic device becoming proximate to a geographic location of the intended collection location, and generate a trigger message responsive to triggering of the geo-fence, wherein the electronic device is configured to output a notification locally at the electronic device that the geo-fence has been triggered and is further configured to receive an input as a deferral duration indicating a time period in the future for collection of the order;

a computer network configured to receive the order for goods from the electronic device and to store order details in an order database including the intended collection location, and further configured to receive the trigger message from the electronic device responsive to the geo-fence being triggered on the electronic device, and configured to generate and output to an order collection application a pre-alert message that includes the trigger message and that indicates the electronic device is in a vicinity of the intended collection location and further indicating an imminent arrival of a user of the electronic device in view of the deferral duration; and

at least one in-store device in communication with the computer network and configured to receive the order details of the order database from the computer network, configured to receive the pre-alert message from the computer network, and configured to display the order details responsive to receiving the pre-alert message.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to place the order for goods using the order collection application originated from the computer network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to install the geo-fence initially in a dormant state and to wake the geo-fence at a later time.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the order is associated with an intended pick-up time and the electronic device is configured to activate monitoring of the geo-fence at a predetermined interval in advance of the intended pick-up time.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the electronic device is configured to wake the geo-fence by generating a wake-up alarm.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to perform an order revalidation process in response to triggering the geo-fence, to confirm that order information held by the electronic device is consistent with the order details stored in the order database.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the electronic device is configured to retain the order information responsive to placing the order, the order information including at least order identity information and the intended collection location, configured to compare the order information retained in the electronic device against corresponding information in the order details received from the computer network, and configured to send the trigger message to the computer network only in response to a positive completion of the order revalidation process.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to operate in a silent mode without outputting a notification locally at the electronic device that the geo-fence has been triggered.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer network is configured to wait for the deferral duration before transmitting the pre-alert message to the at least one in-store device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer network is coupled to a plurality of the in-store devices, and wherein the computer network is configured to select one or more in-store devices amongst the plurality of in-store devices and to send the order information only to the selected one or more in-store devices, based on the order details.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

a communication unit arranged to communicate over a communication network with a computer network;

a memory arranged to store an order collection application;

a processor configured to execute the order collection application;

wherein responsive to executing the order collection application the electronic device is configured to place an order for goods, identify and store an intended collection location, form a geo-fence having a relationship with the intended collection location in response to placing the order, monitor the geo-fence and trigger the geo-fence in response to the electronic device becoming proximate to a geographic location of the intended collection location, and generate a pre-alert message that includes a trigger message which is generated by the electronic device and output to an order collection application and that indicates the electronic device is in a vicinity of the intended collection location and further indicating an imminent arrival of a user of the electronic device in view of a deferral duration, wherein the electronic device is configured to receive an input as the deferral duration indicating a time period in the future for collection of the order.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the electronic device is further configured to install the geo-fence initially in a dormant state and to wake the geo-fence at a later time using a wake-up alarm.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the order is associated with an intended pick-up time and the electronic device is configured to activate monitoring of the geo-fence at a predetermined period in advance of the intended pick-up time.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the electronic device is configured to perform an order revalidation process in response to triggering the geo-fence, to confirm that order information held by the electronic device is consistent with the order details stored in the order database, wherein the electronic device is configured to retain the order information responsive to placing the order, the order information including at least order identity information and the intended collection location, configured to compare the order information retained in the electronic device against corresponding information in the order details received from the computer network, and configured to send the trigger message to the computer network only in response to a positive completion of the order revalidation process.

15. A method to support order collection using a geo-fence, comprising:

providing an order collection application to be installed on an electronic device, wherein responsive to executing the order collection application the electronic device is configured to place an order for goods, identify and store an intended collection location, form a geo-fence having a relationship with the intended collection location in response to placing the order, monitor the geo-fence and trigger the geo-fence in response to the electronic device becoming proximate to a geographic location of the intended collection location, and generate a trigger message responsive to triggering of the geo-fence;

outputting, by the electronic device, a notification locally at the electronic device that the geo-fence has been triggered and receiving an input as a deferral duration indicating a time period in the future for collection of the order;

receiving, by the computer network, the order for goods from the electronic device and storing order details in an order database;

receiving, by the computer network, the trigger message from the electronic device responsive to the geo-fence being triggered on the electronic device, generating and outputting to an order collection application a pre-alert message that includes the trigger message, and that indicates the electronic device is in a vicinity of the intended collection location and further indicating an imminent arrival of a user of the electronic device in view of the deferral duration;

receiving, by the at least one in-store device, the pre-alert message from the computer network; and

outputting, by the at least one in-store device, a pre-alert notification responsive to receiving the pre-alert message from the computer network.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

installing the geo-fence at the electronic device initially in a dormant state;

setting a wake-up alarm on the electronic device consistent with an intended pickup-time associated with the order; and

activating the geo-fence on the electronic device in response to the wake-up alarm.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

performing an order revalidation process in response to triggering the geo-fence, to confirm that order information held by the electronic device is consistent with the order details stored in the order database; and

sending the trigger message to the computer network only in response to a positive completion of the order revalidation process.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving at least one of a modification of a collection location or an intended pickup time in the order details held on the order database from a device other than the electronic device;

performing an order revalidation process by confirming that at least one of the intended collection location and an intended pick-up time of the order retained by the electronic device are consistent with the collection location or the intended pick-up time held in the order database; and

suppressing the trigger message in response to a negative completion of the order revalidation process.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising operating the electronic device in a silent mode without outputting a notification locally at the electronic device that the geo-fence has been triggered.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending the order details from the computer network to the at least one in-store device; and

displaying the order details by the at least one in-store device in response to receiving the pre-alert message.