System and method for generating shipping labels

• US 20040212833A1
• Filed: 02/11/2003
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quadient Technologies France
• Original Assignee: Neopost Technologies S.A. (Quadient SA)
• Inventors: Taskett, John, Suez, Eitan
• Granted Patent: US 7,660,006 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.18
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

A system and method for generating a carrier-compliant shipping label for a supplier to transport a product to a consumer includes determine a shipping rate for a shipping method of a carrier to transport the product to the consumer and determining a time period for transporting the product. The consumer may select the carrier based upon the shipping rate and the time period. Some embodiments generate a carrier-compliant shipping label for the product and deliver the carrier-compliant shipping label to the supplier to transport the product from the supplier to the consumer. In such embodiments, determining a shipping rate may include retrieving the weight and location of the product from the data received from the supplier to determine the rates of a carrier from a rate table or via a carrier interface.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining a shipping rate for a shipping method associated with transport of a product to a consumer from a supplier by a carrier, based upon data received from the supplier;

determining a time period for the transport of the product associated with the shipping rate, based upon data received from the carrier;

communicating with the consumer to select the carrier based upon the shipping rate and the time period;

generating a carrier-compliant shipping label for the product; and

delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label to the supplier to transport the product from the supplier to the consumer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a shipping rate comprises retrieving the weight and location of the product from the data received from the supplier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a shipping rate comprises selecting a rate from a rate table associated with the carrier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining a shipping rate comprises adding a fee to the rate.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the rate table is associated with a carrier account provided by a consumer.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the rate table is associated with a carrier account provided by the supplier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a time period comprises comparing a pickup time associated with the carrier at a pickup location against a delivery time associated with delivery of the product to the pickup location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating with the consumer comprises delivering the shipping rate and the time period to the consumer;

and

receiving a selection associated with the carrier in response to said delivering.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a carrier-compliant shipping label comprises communicating with an application program interface associated with the carrier to obtain data to generate the carrier-compliant shipping label.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a carrier-compliant shipping label comprises generating a carrier-compliant shipping label via an application program interface associated with the carrier.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label comprises providing a link to the carrier compliant shipping label on a wide area network.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label comprises faxing the carrier-compliant shipping label.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label comprises delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label in a manner indicated by the data received from the supplier.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a shipping rate determiner to determine a rate to transport a product from a pickup location associated with a supplier to a drop-off location selected by a consumer based upon data received from the supplier;

a time period determiner to determine the time period to transport the product from the pickup location to the drop-off location based upon the shipping rate in accordance with data received from a carrier; and

a label generator configured to communicate with the carrier to generate a carrier-compliant shipping label, wherein the carrier-compliant shipping label is to be delivered to the supplier to transport the product from the pickup location to the drop-off location.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a consumer interface to receive data to identify the product and the drop-off location from the consumer.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the consumer interface comprises a payment retriever to receive a payment for the shipping rate and the product from the consumer.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a payment processor to process billing information of the consumer to pay the carrier and the supplier.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a rate comparator to compare the shipping rate with other shipping rates associated with the time period.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the shipping rate determiner comprises a fee adder to increase the rate supplied by the carrier by a fee.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the shipping rate determiner is configured to obtain a rate associated with an account number, wherein the account number identifies an agreement with the carrier.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the label generator is configured to communicate with an application program interface of the carrier to create an image of the carrier-compliant shipping label.

22. A system, comprising:

a consumer interface to communicate with a consumer to receive a selection of a product associated with a supplier and receive a selection of a carrier from the consumer based upon the shipping rate and the time period, wherein the shipping rate and the time period are associated with transport of the product to the consumer by the carrier;

a transaction processor coupled with the consumer interface to determine the shipping rate based upon a rate supplied by the carrier, determine the time period based upon data associated with the product; and

generate a carrier-compliant shipping label based upon the selection of the carrier via a carrier interface; and

a supplier interface coupled with the transaction processor to receive the data associated with the product and to deliver the carrier-compliant shipping label to the supplier to transport the product from the supplier to the consumer.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the consumer interface comprises a shipping preference retriever to adjust a content of a list of shipping rates based upon a preference of the consumer.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the label generator is configured to communicate with an application program interface of the carrier to create an image of the carrier-compliant shipping label.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the supplier interface comprises a label deliverer to deliver the carrier-compliant shipping label to the supplier.

26. A machine-readable medium containing instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations, comprising:

determining a shipping rate for a shipping method associated with transport of a product to a consumer from a supplier by a carrier, based upon data received from the supplier;

determining a time period for the transport of the product associated with the shipping rate, based upon data received from the carrier;

communicating with the consumer to select the carrier based upon the shipping rate and the time period;

generating a carrier-compliant shipping label for the product; and

delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label to the supplier to transport the product from the supplier to the consumer.

27. The machine-accessible medium of claim 26, wherein determining a shipping rate comprises selecting a rate from a rate table associated with the carrier based upon a drop-off location received from the consumer and a pickup location received from the supplier.

28. The machine-accessible medium of claim 27, wherein determining a shipping rate further comprises adding a fee to the rate.

29. The machine-accessible medium of claim 26, wherein determining a time period comprises comparing a pickup time associated with the carrier at a pickup location against a delivery time associated with delivery of the product to the pickup location.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a carrier-compliant shipping label comprises communicating with an application program interface associated with the carrier to obtain data to generate the carrier-compliant shipping label.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a carrier-compliant shipping label comprises generating a carrier-compliant shipping label via an application program interface associated with the carrier.

32. The machine-accessible medium of claim 26, wherein delivering the carrier-compliant shipping label comprises facilitating access by the supplier to the carrier-compliant shipping label via a wide area network.