Technique for implementing item substitution for unavailable items relating to a customer order
DCFirst Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the method comprising:
- receiving, via the computer network at least one customer order placed by a customer through a computing device, the at least one customer order including more than one ordered item, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one, the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order;
analyzing a selected portion of the received customer order taking into consideration at least another customer order to determine whether at least one item of inventory has been oversold, said analyzing being performed prior to the delivery of at least one ordered item of the received customer order and at least one ordered item of the at least another customer order;
identifying an ordered item in the received customer order relating to an oversold item; and
upon identifying the ordered item relating to the oversold item, automatically substituting, based upon information regarding at least one substitution preference stored in a storage medium, at least one substitute item for the identified ordered item in the received customer order, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer,wherein the substituting depends on a ratio rule for substituting the substitute item for the identified ordered item,wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item,wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, andwherein the customer is allowed to view the image of at least one item through the computing device to support the customer in placing the current order.
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Abstract
A technique is disclosed for automatically implementing item substitutions for unavailable items in a customer order. According to one embodiment, line item orders from selected customer orders may be aggregated and processed for substitution analysis. Substitutions for unavailable items of selected customer orders may then be automatically implemented based upon substitution instructions, business rules, and/or other predefined criteria.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the method comprising:
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receiving, via the computer network at least one customer order placed by a customer through a computing device, the at least one customer order including more than one ordered item, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one, the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order; analyzing a selected portion of the received customer order taking into consideration at least another customer order to determine whether at least one item of inventory has been oversold, said analyzing being performed prior to the delivery of at least one ordered item of the received customer order and at least one ordered item of the at least another customer order; identifying an ordered item in the received customer order relating to an oversold item; and upon identifying the ordered item relating to the oversold item, automatically substituting, based upon information regarding at least one substitution preference stored in a storage medium, at least one substitute item for the identified ordered item in the received customer order, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer, wherein the substituting depends on a ratio rule for substituting the substitute item for the identified ordered item, wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item, wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, and wherein the customer is allowed to view the image of at least one item through the computing device to support the customer in placing the current order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer program product for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising; computer code for receiving, via the computer network, at least one customer order placed by a customer through a computing device, the at least one customer order including more than one ordered item, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order; computer code for analyzing at least a portion of the received customer order taking into consideration at least another customer order to determine whether at least one item of inventory has been oversold, said analyzing being performed prior to the delivery of at least one ordered item of the received customer order and at least one ordered item of the at least another customer order; computer code for identifying an ordered item in the received customer order relating to an oversold item; and computer code for automatically substituting, based upon information regarding at least one substitution preference stored in a storage medium, at least one substitute item for the identified ordered item in the received customer order upon identifying the ordered item relating to the oversold item, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer, wherein the substituting depends on a ratio rule for substituting the substitute item for the identified ordered item, wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item, wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, and wherein the customer is allowed to view the image of at least one item through the computing device to support the customer in placing the current order. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the system comprising:
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at least one central processing unit; at least one interface configured or designed to receive at least one customer order placed by a customer through a computing device, via the computer network, the at least one customer order including more than one ordered item, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one, the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order; and memory; wherein the processing unit is configured or designed to store in the memory customer order information and information regarding at least one substitution preference relating to at least one item substitution rule; said system being configured or designed to analyze at least a portion of the received customer order taking into consideration at least another customer order to determine whether at least one item of inventory has been oversold, said analyzing being performed prior to the delivery of at least one ordered item of the received customer order and at least one ordered item of the at least another customer order; said system being further configured or designed to identify an ordered item in the received customer order relating to an oversold item; and said system being further configured or designed to automatically substitute, based upon information regarding said at least one substitution preference stored in the memory, at least one substitute item for the identified ordered item in the received customer order upon identifying the ordered item relating to the oversold item, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer, wherein the automatic substitution depends on a ratio rule for substituting the substitute item for the identified ordered item, wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item, wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, and wherein the at least one interface is further configured or designed to show the image of at least one item to support the customer in placing the current order. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A computer-implemented method for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the method comprising:
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receiving, via the computer network, at least one customer order placed by a customer through a computing device, the at least one customer order including more than one ordered item, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one, the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order; analyzing at least a portion of the received customer order with at least another customer order to determine whether at least one item of inventory has been oversold, said analyzing being performed prior to the delivery of at least one ordered item of the received customer order and at least one ordered item of the at least another customer order; identifying an ordered item in the received customer order relating to an oversold item; and upon identifying the ordered item relating to the oversold item, automatically substituting, based upon information regarding at least one substitution preference stored in a storage medium, at least one substitute item for the identified ordered item in the received customer order, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer; wherein said substituting includes; accessing said at least one substitution preference to determine a first preferred substitution item for the identified item; and determining whether a sufficient quantity of the first preferred substitution item is available to be substituted for the identified item, wherein said substituting depends on a ratio rule for substituting the first preferred substitute item for the identified item, wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item, wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, and wherein the customer is allowed to view the image of at least one item through the computing device to support the customer in placing the current order. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer implemented method for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order for on-line shopping, the method comprising:
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receiving, via the computer network, a plurality of customer orders, with at least one customer order including more than one ordered item placed by a customer through a computing device, with at least one ordered item having an ordered quantity larger than one for a particular item of merchandise, the customer order being a current order of the customer, including delivery time information regarding the order; aggregating a selected portion of the plurality of customer orders, wherein the aggregated customer orders include a plurality of ordered items; analyzing the plurality of ordered items, which include the at least one ordered item, to determine whether at least one item of merchandise has been oversold; upon determining that at least one item has been oversold, automatically modifying at least a portion of the received customer orders by substituting alternate merchandise for ordered merchandise which has been identified as being oversold, where the substitution of merchandise items is implemented using information regarding at least one substitution preference stored in a storage medium, the at least one substitution preference being provided by the customer; and fulfilling the modified customer orders, wherein the modifying depends on a ratio rule for substituting the alternate merchandise for the ordered merchandise that has been identified as being oversold, wherein a quantity of the substitute item to be substituted for a quantity of the identified ordered item is not one for one, and is dependent on applying the ratio rule to the quantity of the identified ordered item, wherein the customer is allowed to modify the at least one substitution preference during the current order, and wherein the customer is allowed to view the image of at least one item through the computing device to support the customer in placing the current order. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification