Facilitating returns of merchandise purchased from other sources

• US 6,536,659 B1
• Filed: 11/15/2000
• Issued: 03/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2000
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Newgistics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Returns Online, Inc.
• Inventors: Snipes, Billy H., Sugiyama, Stephen S., Hauser, O. Shannon, Adkinson, Christine O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TAYLOR, APRIL ALICIA
• Application Number:
  US09/713,421
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375,383,385 705/21,24,26,28,74,76,408
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method for handling goods returned by customers of a plurality of different merchants. Merchants who have authorized return of merchandise transmit data identifying the customer and the merchandise to be returned to a central return facility for inclusion in a database. Customers of these merchants package the merchandise to be returned and are provided with a return authorization shipping label by the central return facility. This label includes a scannable bar code identifying the merchant and the customer. After the merchandise is received at the central returns facility, the scannable bar code is scanned so that the merchandise can be sorted by merchant, and the merchandise is then inspected to determine if the merchandise authorized for return has been received. If so, the appropriate merchant is advised, and the customer is electronically credited for the return of the merchandise. A bar code tag is attached to the returned merchandise that has been received to facilitate automated sorting on a conveyer system. The merchandise is thus directed to a storage bin for temporary storage along with other merchandise designated for the same disposition. When a bin is full, the merchandise contained therein is disposed of as designated.

Claims

1. A method for handling returned merchandise on behalf of a plurality of different merchants, comprising the steps of:

(a) enabling a merchant to transmit data to a central database identifying merchandise that might be returned by a customer, said data identifying the merchant and the merchandise, and including contact information for the customer;

(b) providing a return shipping label to the customer for use in returning the merchandise, said return label including information referencing at least a portion of the data stored in the central database;

(c) entering at least part of the information included on the return shipping label into the central database upon receipt of merchandise returned by the customer, to indicate that the merchandise being returned has been received;

(d) assessing a condition of the merchandise that was received and associating a tag with said merchandise indicating a disposition thereof;

(e) automatically routing the merchandise to a station for implementing the disposition of the merchandise, as indicated by the tag; and

(f) disposing of the merchandise, as indicated by the tag.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the return shipping label comprises a scannable code, and wherein the step of entering at least part of the information comprises the step of scanning the return shipping label.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag associated with the merchandise comprises a scannable code, and wherein the step of automatically routing the merchandise comprises the step of scanning the tag to determine the disposition of the merchandise and thereby controlling the automatic routing of the merchandise.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the station comprises a storage repository designated to hold returned merchandise that have all been allocated for a common disposition.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of electronically reporting receipt of the merchandise that was returned, to the merchant that transmitted the data identifying the merchandise, and indicating a condition and a disposition of the merchandise to said merchant.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling the customer to selectively return the merchandise by one of a postal shipment and a shipping service.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a notice to the merchant indicating a status of the merchandise that has been returned at any step in the handling of the returned merchandise requested by the merchant.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of electronically posting a status report on a network accessible by the merchant, indicating the status of the merchandise that has been returned.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the disposition of the merchandise includes at least one of:

(a) salvaging at least one useful component from the merchandise and discarding a remainder of the merchandise that was returned;

(b) refurbishing and repackaging the merchandise that was returned for resale;

(c) donating the merchandise that was returned to benefit a selected charity;

(d) discarding the merchandise in an appropriate waste disposal facility;

(e) returning the merchandise to inventory for resale; and

(f) returning the merchandise to a manufacturer of the merchandise.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step enabling a refund to the customer returning merchandise at any point during the return and the handling of the returned merchandise, as specified by the merchant.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the return shipping label comprises the step of sending the return shipping label to the customer only after return of the merchandise has been authorized.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the return shipping label comprises the step of including the return shipping label with the merchandise when the merchandise was purchased by the customer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the return shipping label comprises the step of sending an email to the customer to which is attached a printable return shipping label.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the return shipping label comprises the step of automatically providing the return shipping label to the customer, but only if predetermined conditions set by the merchant are met.

15. A method for facilitating return of merchandise by customers of a plurality of different merchants, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving electronically transmitted data regarding return authorizations from each merchant that were provided to customers of the merchants, said data for each return authorization identifying a customer, the merchandise authorized to be returned, and a merchant authorizing return of the merchandise;

(b) producing shipping labels, each shipping label including a scannable code referencing the data regarding a return authorization for return of merchandise authorized by a merchant and which includes an address to which the merchandise is to be shipped when being returned;

(c) providing the shipping labels to the customers for application to shipping containers in which the merchandise is to be returned;

(d) receiving the merchandise that was returned by the customers;

(e) scanning the shipping labels of the merchandise that has been received and sorting said merchandise based upon the merchant that is identified on each shipping label as having authorized the return of the merchandise;

(f) assessing contents of the shipping containers to determine a condition of the merchandise in each shipping container, and to assign a disposition for the merchandise;

(g) producing scannable tags that are associated with the merchandise, said scannable tags indicating the disposition of the merchandise that was received;

(h) automatically sorting and routing the merchandise to temporary storage, by scanning the tags associated with the merchandise to determine the disposition assigned, a different temporary storage being provided for each different type of disposition assigned to the merchandise; and

(i) disposing of the merchandise temporarily stored in accord with the disposition assigned to the merchandise.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein each different temporary storage comprises a bin, further comprising the step of transferring the bin and merchandise temporarily stored therein to a site that implements the disposition of the merchandise in accord with the disposition that was assigned to the merchandise temporarily stored in the bin.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of assessing is implemented at a plurality of processor stations;

and wherein the step of assigning a disposition comprises the step of acting in accord with instructions provided by the merchant who originally sold the merchandise to which the disposition is being assigned.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of disposing of the merchandise comprises at least one of the steps of:

(a) salvaging any usable components from the merchandise;

(b) repackaging the merchandise;

(c) transferring the merchandise to a charitable organization;

(d) depositing the merchandise at an appropriate waste disposal site;

(e) restocking the merchandise for resale; and

(f) returning the merchandise to a manufacturer of the merchandise.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of verifying the merchandise against the data to ensure that the merchandise returned is complete and is merchandise for which return was authorized by the merchant.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of notifying the merchant who authorized return of the merchandise, of results of the step of verifying.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of automatically sorting and routing is implemented with automatically controlled conveyors.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of providing the shipping labels comprises one of the steps of:

(a) including a shipping label with the merchandise at the time of sale of the merchandise, authorization for the customer to return the merchandise if dissatisfied for any reason being then provided by the merchant;

(b) including a shipping label with the merchandise at the time of sale of the merchandise, but requiring the customer to obtain authorization to return the merchandise before using the shipping label to return the merchandise; and

(c) sending a shipping label to a customer only after authorization to return the merchandise has been requested by the customer and has been granted.

23. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of providing to a merchant an online status of merchandise being returned by a customer.

24. A method for expediting handling of merchandise purchased from a plurality of different merchants that is being returned by customers, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a receiving facility for accepting returned merchandise at a defined address;

(b) receiving electronically transmitted data from each merchant who has authorized return of merchandise, said data identifying the merchandise authorized to be returned and the merchant that authorized return of the merchandise;

(c) providing bar-coded shipping labels to customers for use when the customers have been authorized to return merchandise, said bar-coded shipping labels including the defined address and indicating the merchandise and the merchant authorizing the return;

(d) receiving returned merchandise from customers and scanning the bar-coded labels to identify the merchandise and the merchants authorizing return of the merchandise;

(e) sorting returned merchandise received based on the merchant who authorized return of said merchandise;

(f) assessing a condition of the merchandise received and comparing the merchandise received to the data received from the merchants;

(g) automatically assigning a disposition of the merchandise received based upon the condition of the merchandise; and

(h) disposing of the merchandise received in accord with the disposition assigned.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of advising the merchant whether the merchandise received from a customer corresponds to the merchandise authorized to be returned.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of issuing a credit to the customer for return of the merchandise.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of automatically assigning the disposition of the merchandise is carried out in accord with instructions provided by the merchants.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of providing the bar-coded shipping labels comprises one of the following steps:

(a) providing a bar-coded shipping label when the customer purchases merchandise, said customer being then authorized to return the merchandise at that time if dissatisfied with the merchandise;

(b) providing a bar-coded shipping label when the customer purchases merchandise, said customer being required to request and receive authorization to return the merchandise before using the bar-coded shipping label to return the merchandise; and

(c) providing a bar-coded shipping label to a customer after the customer has requested and been granted authorization to return the merchandise.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of providing the bar-coded shipping labels comprises the steps of electronically sending a bar-coded shipping label to a customer and enabling the customer to print the bar-coded shipping label.

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of authorizing a customer to return merchandise only if a condition established by the merchant from whom the merchandise was purchased has been met.

31. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of crediting an account of a customer who is returning merchandise for a value of the merchandise being returned, when specified by the merchant from whom the customer purchased the merchandise.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of debiting the account of the customer previously credited for the value of the merchandise being returned, if a condition established by the merchant for the return is subsequently found not to have been met after the step of assessing the condition of the returned merchandise.