DELIVERY PREDICTION AUTOMATION AND RISK MITIGATION

• US 20180121875A1
• Filed: 01/05/2015
• Published: 05/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Satyanarayana Rao, Raghuram, Kipust, Alan
• Application Number:
  US14/589,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20180121875A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods

Abstract

In some examples, a delivery service may receive a delivery assistance request associated with the delivery of a package to a customer address by a delivery associate. In response, the delivery service may send a delivery assistance response to a delivery associate device of the delivery associate. The delivery assistance response may include one or more instructions for the delivery associate to perform at the customer address. For instance, the instructions may include leaving the package unattended at the customer address, attempting a redelivery at a later date and/or time, or waiting a specified amount of time at the customer address. Further, the delivery service may determine the instructions based upon one or more factors, such as information associated with the customer address, the delivery package, and the delivery associate. For example, the delivery service may determine the instructions based on the probability of theft at the customer address and/or a replacement cost of the delivery package.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a locale database configured to store locale theft information for a geographic region associated with a customer address, wherein the locale theft information comprises incidents of theft within the geographic region;

an item database comprising item information identifying a replacement cost of an item within a delivery system;

a customer address profile database configured to store wait time information and customer address theft information for the customer address, wherein the wait time information includes a history of time spent waiting for access to the customer address during previous delivery attempts and the customer address theft information includes incidents of theft associated with the customer address;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions program the one or more processors to implement a service to;

assign a delivery order to a delivery associate, wherein the delivery order is associated with an item identifier that identifies the item, a customer identifier that identifies a customer receiving the item, a customer address identifier that identifies a delivery destination of the item, and a delivery package identifier that identifies a delivery package containing the item;

receive, from a delivery associate device associated with the delivery associate, a delivery assistance request comprising the delivery package identifier;

determine, based at least in part on route information, a cost of a redelivery attempt by the delivery associate, wherein the route information comprises a day of delivery and a plurality of additional delivery orders assigned to the delivery associate;

determine, based at least in part on the locale database and customer address profile database, a probability of theft of the delivery package if left unattended at the customer address;

determine an expected wait time based at least in part on the customer address profile, wherein the expected wait time estimates a length of time until the delivery associate gains access to the customer address;

determine, based at least in part on the route information, a cost of waiting at the customer address for the expected wait time;

generate one or more tasks for the delivery associate to perform at the customer address based at least in part on the cost of the redelivery attempt on the day of delivery, the probability of theft, the cost of waiting at the customer address, and the replacement cost of the item, wherein the one or more tasks comprise performing the redelivery attempt at the customer address at a later time on the day of delivery; and

send a delivery assistance response to the delivery associate device, wherein the delivery assistance response includes the one or more tasks at the later time.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tasks further include at least one of:

leaving the delivery package unattended at the customer address;

waiting the expected wait time for an occupant of the customer address to arrive;

obtaining signature confirmation of a delivery of the delivery package;

or

delivering the delivery package to a storage facility.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tasks include leaving the delivery package unattended at the customer address, and the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

receive a delivery feedback message from a customer device associated with the customer address, wherein the delivery feedback message includes information indicating whether the delivery package was received by the customer; and

update the customer address theft information based at least in part on the delivery feedback message.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to update the route information to include the redelivery attempt of the delivery package at the later time.

5. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device from a delivery associate device associated with a delivery associate, a delivery assistance request that includes a delivery package identifier;

determining, by the computing device, based at least in part on the delivery package identifier, a customer address associated with the delivery assistance request;

determining, by the computing device, based at least in part on the delivery package identifier, an item associated with the delivery assistance request;

receiving, from a locale database, locale theft information for a geographic region associated with the customer address, wherein the locale theft information comprises incidents of theft within the geographic region;

generating, by the computing device, based on a plurality of factors, an action for the delivery associate to perform at the customer address, wherein the factors comprise a probability of theft associated with the customer address based on the locale theft information, route information associated with the delivery associate and a replacement value associated with the item, wherein the action comprises performing the redelivery attempt at the customer address at a later time on a day of delivery; and

sending, by the computing device, a delivery assistance response to the delivery associate device comprising an instruction to perform the action at the later time.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining, by the computing device, a geographic region associated with customer address;

wherein the probability of theft at the customer address is based at least in part on a probability of theft within the geographic region.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device from a customer device associated with the customer address, delivery feedback information comprising theft information associated with delivery attempts performed at the customer address; and

storing, by the computing device, a customer address profile associated with the customer address, wherein the customer address profile comprises a history of theft at the customer address based at least in part on the delivery feedback information;

wherein the probability of theft associated with the customer address is based at least in part on the customer address profile.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the action includes leaving a delivery package corresponding to the delivery package identifier unattended at a location of the customer address based at least in part on the probability of theft at the location being less than a predetermined threshold probability.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the action includes leaving a delivery package corresponding to the delivery package identifier unattended at the customer address based at least in part on the replacement value associated with the item being less than a predetermined threshold value.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the action includes leaving a delivery package corresponding to the delivery package identifier unattended at a location of the customer address based at least in part on the replacement value associated with the item being less than a predetermined threshold value and the probability of theft at the location being less than a predetermined threshold probability.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

assigning, by the computing device, a plurality of delivery orders to the delivery associate, wherein the plurality of delivery orders correspond to respective delivery packages;

generating, by the computing device, the route information associated with the delivery associate, wherein the route information includes a delivery route for delivering the delivery packages; and

determining, by the computing device, based at least in part on the route information, a cost of the redelivery attempt at the later time by the delivery associate;

wherein the factors further comprise the cost of the redelivery attempt.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the action includes performing the redelivery attempt at the later time is based at least in part on the cost of the redelivery attempt being less than a predetermined threshold cost.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

updating, by the computing device, the route information to add the redelivery attempt to the delivery route; and

sending, by the computing device, the updated route information to the delivery associate device.

14. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device from a plurality of additional delivery associate devices, wait time information comprising a history of time spent waiting for access to the customer address during previous delivery attempts to the customer address; and

storing, by the computing device, a customer address profile associated with the customer address, wherein the customer address profile comprises the wait time information for the customer address;

wherein the factors further comprise an estimate of a wait time at the customer address based at least in part on the customer address profile.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the action includes at least one of:

leaving a delivery package unattended at the customer address;

waiting at the customer address for a duration of the wait time;

or

delivering the delivery package to a storage facility.

16. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device from a customer device associated with a customer, device activity information comprising a history of device usage and locations of the device during the usage; and

storing, by the computing device, a customer profile associated with the customer, wherein the customer profile comprises the device activity information;

wherein the factors further comprise an estimate of a wait time at the customer address based at least in part on the customer profile.

17. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating, by the computing device, a weather model to predict a weather forecast in a geographic region including the customer address;

wherein the factors further comprise a weather prediction based at least in part on the weather model.

18. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media maintaining instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, program the one or more processors to:

receive, from a delivery associate device associated with a delivery associate, a delivery assistance request that includes a delivery package identifier;

determine a customer address associated with the delivery assistance request based at least in part on the delivery package identifier;

determine an item associated with the delivery assistance request based at least in part on the delivery package identifier;

receive, from a locale database, locale theft information for a geographic region associated with the customer address, wherein the locale theft information comprises incidents of theft within the geographic region;

generate an action for the delivery associate to perform at the customer address based on a plurality of factors, wherein the factors comprise locale and customer information associated with the customer address, a probability of theft associated with the customer address based on the locale theft information, route information associated with the delivery associate and a replacement value associated with the item, wherein the action comprises performing the redelivery attempt at the customer address at a later time on a day of delivery; and

send a delivery assistance response to the delivery associate device comprising an instruction to perform the action at the later time.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

receive, from a plurality of additional delivery associate devices, wait time information comprising a history of time spent waiting for access to the customer address during previous delivery attempts to the customer address; and

store a customer address profile associated with the customer address, wherein the customer address profile comprises the wait time information for the customer address;

wherein the factors further comprise an expected wait time at the customer address based at least in part on the customer address profile.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein the instructions further program the one or more processors to:

determine a threshold wait time based at least in part on the route information, and wherein the action includes waiting the expected wait time for an occupant of the customer address to arrive based at least in part on the expected wait time being less than the determined threshold wait time.