Method and system for anticipatory package shipping

• US 20060136237A1
• Filed: 12/17/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nordstrom, Paul G., Spiegel, Joel R., Lakshman, Girish S., McKenna, Michael T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,086,546 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers

Abstract

A method and system for anticipatory package shipping are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method may include packaging one or more items as a package for eventual shipment to a delivery address, selecting a destination geographical area to which to ship the package, shipping the package to the destination geographical area without completely specifying the delivery address at time of shipment, and while the package is in transit, completely specifying the delivery address for the package.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

packaging one or more items as a package for eventual shipment to a delivery address;

selecting a destination geographical area to which to ship said package;

shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment; and

while said package is in transit, completely specifying said delivery address for said package.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein completely specifying said delivery address for said package comprises applying a label to said package indicating said delivery address, and wherein said applying occurs at a location in between an origin of said package and said delivery address.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area comprises tendering said package to a common carrier from a fulfillment center.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area comprises transporting said package from a fulfillment center to a shipping hub of a common carrier and tendering said package to said common carrier at said shipping hub.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said delivery address for said package is completely specified prior to tendering said package to said common carrier at said shipping hub.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein selecting said destination geographical area comprises specifying at least a portion of a postal code, wherein said at least a portion of said postal code corresponds to said destination geographical area.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least a portion of said postal code comprises three most significant digits of a United States Postal Service ZIP code.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising redirecting said package to a different destination geographical area while said package is in transit.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein shipping said package occurs before a customer places an order for said one or more items to be delivered to said delivery address.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising predicting overall customer demand for said one or more items within said destination geographical area, wherein selecting said destination geographical area is dependent upon said predicting.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein predicting overall customer demand comprises analyzing historical customer shopping patterns.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said selecting of said geographical area to which to ship said package is dependent upon analyzing one or more business variables related to said one or more items.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

14. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

15. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

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

gathering historical shipment tracking data from a common carrier for a plurality of packages in transit;

generating a predictive shipping model for said common carrier using said historical shipment tracking data, wherein said predictive shipping model is configured to predict a latency to a delivery address for a given package; and

using said predictive shipping model, identifying proximity of said shipped package to a particular delivery address.

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

selecting a respective destination geographical area to which to ship each of a plurality of packages;

shipping each of said plurality of packages to a respective destination geographical area without completely specifying a corresponding delivery address at time of shipment; and

while a given one of said plurality of packages is in transit, completely specifying said corresponding delivery address for said given package.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package without specifying an addressee of said package.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising specifying at least a portion of a physical address corresponding to said package at time of shipment.

20. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package to an addressee without completely specifying a physical address of said package.

21. A system, comprising:

a first computer system configured to identify a destination geographical area to which to ship a package comprising one or more items destined for eventual shipment to a delivery address; and

a second computer system configured to communicate with said first computer system via a network;

wherein, subsequent to said package being shipped to said destination geographical area without said delivery address being completely specified at time of shipment, said first computer system is further configured to convey a complete specification of said delivery address to said second computer system; and

wherein, in response to receiving said complete specification of said delivery address, said second computer system is further configured to assign said delivery address to said package.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system is further configured to assign a unique identifier to said package prior to said package being shipped and to convey said unique identifier along with said complete specification of said delivery address to said second computer system, and wherein said second computer system is further configured to assign said delivery address to said package using said unique identifier.

23. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein assigning said delivery address to said package using said unique identifier comprises associating said delivery address with said unique identifier without applying an indication of said delivery address to said package.

24. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein said unique identifier comprises a unique machine-readable identifier applied to said package prior to said package being shipped.

25. The system as recited in claim 21, further comprising an addressing system coupled to said second computer system, and wherein in response to said second computer system assigning said delivery address to said package, said addressing system is configured to apply an indication of said delivery address to said package.

26. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system is located at a fulfillment center and wherein said second computer system is located at a shipping hub of a common carrier.

27. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area comprises transporting said package from said fulfillment center to said shipping hub of said common carrier and tendering said package to said common carrier at said shipping hub.

28. The system as recited in claim 27, wherein said delivery address for said package is completely specified prior to tendering said package to said common carrier at said shipping hub.

29. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system is further configured to redirect said package to a different destination geographical area while said package is in transit.

30. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein shipping said package occurs before a customer places an order for said one or more items to be delivered to said delivery address.

31. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system is further configured to predict overall customer demand for said one or more items within said destination geographical area, wherein selecting said destination geographical area is dependent upon said predicting.

32. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system identifying said geographical area to which to ship said package is dependent upon said first computer system analyzing one or more business variables related to said one or more items.

33. The system as recited in claim 32, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

34. The system as recited in claim 32, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

35. The system as recited in claim 32, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

36. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein said first computer system is further configured to gather historical shipment tracking data from a common carrier for a plurality of packages in transit, to generate a predictive shipping model for said common carrier using said historical shipment tracking data, wherein said predictive shipping model is configured to predict a latency to a delivery address for a given package, and using said predictive shipping model, to identify proximity of said shipped package to a particular delivery address.

37. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package without specifying an addressee of said package.

38. The system as recited in claim 37, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area further comprises specifying at least a portion of a physical address corresponding to said package at time of shipment.

39. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package to an addressee without completely specifying a physical address of said package.

40. A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to:

identify a destination geographical area to which to ship a package comprising one or more items destined for eventual shipment to a delivery address;

subsequent to said package being shipped to said destination geographical area without said delivery address being completely specified at time of shipment, convey a complete specification of said delivery address to a common carrier; and

direct said common carrier to assign said delivery address to said package.

41. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 40, wherein said program instructions are further computer-executable to assign a unique identifier to said package prior to said package being shipped, to convey said unique identifier along with said complete specification of said delivery address to said common carrier, and to direct said common carrier to assign said delivery address to said package dependent upon said unique identifier.

42. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 41, wherein said unique identifier comprises a unique machine-readable identifier applied to said package prior to said package being shipped.

43. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 40, wherein said program instructions are further computer-executable to direct said common carrier to apply an indication of said delivery address to said package.

44. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 40, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package without specifying an addressee of said package.

45. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 44, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area further comprises specifying at least a portion of a physical address corresponding to said package at time of shipment.

46. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 40, wherein shipping said package to said destination geographical area without completely specifying said delivery address at time of shipment further comprises shipping said package to an addressee without completely specifying a physical address of said package.

47. A method, comprising:

determining status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein each shipped package comprises one or more items, and wherein each shipped package was shipped without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment;

for a given one of said shipped packages, analyzing one or more business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing said one or more business variables, determining a disposition of said given shipped package.

48. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein determining status of said one or more shipped packages comprises determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

49. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

50. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

51. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

52. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

53. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

54. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included said given shipped package to a potential customer.

55. A system, comprising:

a data warehouse configured to store business variables related to shipped packages; and

a computer system configured to access said business variables stored on said data warehouse, wherein said computer system is further configured to;

determine status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein each shipped package comprises one or more items, and wherein each shipped package was shipped without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment;

for a given one of said shipped packages, analyze one or more of said business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing said one or more business variables, determine a disposition of said given shipped package.

56. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system determining status of said one or more shipped packages comprises said computer system determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

57. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining the status of previously shipped packages.

58. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

59. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

60. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

61. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

62. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included said given shipped package to a potential customer.

63. A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to:

determine status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein each shipped package comprises one or more items, and wherein each shipped package was shipped without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment;

for a given one of said shipped packages, analyze one or more business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing said one or more business variables, determine a disposition of said given shipped package.

64. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein determining status of said one or more shipped packages comprises determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

65. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

66. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

67. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

68. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

69. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

70. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 63, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included said given shipped package to a potential customer.