INVENTORY AND QUEUE MANAGEMENT
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- calculating an estimated wait time for customers in a queue with a group of customers;
receiving customer information from the customer, the customer information specifying a product for sale in a retail store;
sending the customer information to an inventory and queue management (IQM) system of the retail store;
creating, in the IQM system, a reservation for the specified product for the customer;
assigning, in the IQM system, a spot for the customer in the queue;
sending a link to the customer for accessing a queue management interface containing a code for accessing the reservation at a point of sale and checkout expediting tools;
receiving checkout expediting information from the customer; and
updating the estimated wait times for the group of customers to reflect an effect of the checkout expediting information received from the customer.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for providing customers in a queue with assurance that the product that they queued up to purchase will be reserved for them and for providing customer with a digital queue card that provides information relating to the customers'"'"' spot in line, a dynamic estimated wait time, and tools for expediting their checkout process and the overall wait time for all the customers in the queue.
12 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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calculating an estimated wait time for customers in a queue with a group of customers; receiving customer information from the customer, the customer information specifying a product for sale in a retail store; sending the customer information to an inventory and queue management (IQM) system of the retail store; creating, in the IQM system, a reservation for the specified product for the customer; assigning, in the IQM system, a spot for the customer in the queue; sending a link to the customer for accessing a queue management interface containing a code for accessing the reservation at a point of sale and checkout expediting tools; receiving checkout expediting information from the customer; and updating the estimated wait times for the group of customers to reflect an effect of the checkout expediting information received from the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system comprising:
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a queue management device configured to gather customer information from a customer in a queue of customers and transmit the customer information, the customer information specifying a product for sale in a retail store; an inventory and queue management (IQM) system configured to receive the customer information, create a reservation for the specified product for the customer, assign a spot for the customer in the queue, send a link to the customer for accessing a queue management interface containing a code for accessing the reservation at a point of sale and checkout expediting tools, and receive checkout expediting information from the customer. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:
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a medium configured to store computer-readable instructions thereon; and the computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a processing device cause the processing device to perform a method, comprising; calculating an estimated wait time for customers in a queue with a group of customers; receiving customer information from the customer, the customer information specifying a product for sale in a retail store; sending the customer information to an inventory and queue management (IQM) system of the retail store; creating, in the IQM system, a reservation for the specified product for the customer; assigning, in the IQM system, a spot for the customer in the queue; sending a link to the customer for accessing a queue management interface containing a code for accessing the reservation at a point of sale and checkout expediting tools; receiving checkout expediting information from the customer; and updating the estimated wait times for the group of customers to reflect an effect of the checkout expediting information received from the customer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving customer information from a customer in a queue, the customer information specifying the customer'"'"'s invention to replace an existing electronic device with a new electronic device for sale in a retail store; sending the customer information to an inventory and queue management (IQM) system of the retail store; creating, in the IQM system, a reservation for the specified product for the customer; and sending to the customer a code for accessing the reservation and a link to a network storage platform for backing up data on the existing electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification