Dynamically determining actual delivery information for orders based on actual order fulfillment plans
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- receiving from a customer of an item ordering service an indication of one or more items without receiving a request from the customer to initiate an ordering process to order the one or more items; and
before receiving the request from the customer to initiate the ordering process for the one or more items,automatically determining multiple geographically distributed item distribution centers that are maintained by the item ordering service and that are each available as an alternative to supply the items to the customer if an order is received from the customer for the items, each of the determined item distribution centers having distinct current inventory that includes the items, the automatic determining of the multiple geographically distributed item distribution centers being performed by one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service;
in response to the received indication from the customer of the one or more items, automatically determining multiple distinct alternative fulfillment plans for supplying the items to the customer that are each associated with one of the determined item distribution centers such that each of the determined item distribution centers has at least one associated fulfillment plan, each fulfillment plan indicating that the items are to be shipped from the item distribution center associated with the fulfillment plan and indicating a manner of shipping the items from the associated item distribution center to the customer and indicating information about processing that would take place at the associated item distribution center as part of the fulfillment plan to prepare the items for the shipping to the customer, the automatic determining of the multiple distinct alternative fulfillment plans being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service;
for each of multiple of the determined distinct fulfillment plans, determining a cost of use for that fulfillment plan if the items are supplied using that fulfillment plan, and determining an actual delivery date for that fulfillment plan on which the customer will receive the items if the items are supplied using that fulfillment plan, the determined actual delivery date being based at least in part on the indicated manner of shipping the items for that fulfillment plan and being based at least in part on the indicated information about the processing that would take place at the associated item distribution center for that fulfillment plan, the determining of the cost of use and the determining of the actual delivery date being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service; and
providing to the customer an indication of each of multiple of the determined fulfillment plans as options for supplying the items to the customer, each indication of a determined fulfillment plan option including the determined cost of use and the determined actual delivery date for that determined fulfillment plan option; and
after an indication from the customer to use a selected one of the indicated determined fulfillment plan options as part of an order for the items, initiating fulfillment of the order for the items using the selected fulfillment plan,so that the customer will receive options for how an order is to be fulfilled and will receive accurate delivery date information for the order prior to order placement.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system, and computer-readable medium for dynamically generating actual fulfillment plans for a current order or a potential order so as to enhance the future fulfillment process for expected future orders is described. In some situations, actual delivery information based on one or more such actual fulfillment plans will then be provided to a customer, such as by displaying actual delivery date and/or time before or during the ordering process based on one or more actual fulfillment plans that can be or will be used to fulfill the order. A variety of types of criteria can be used to evaluate the effects of using a fulfillment plan to fulfill a current order, including criteria that consider the modeled future cost of fulfilling expected future orders, such as an overall cost of fulfilling all orders during a specified time period that is at least partially in the future.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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receiving from a customer of an item ordering service an indication of one or more items without receiving a request from the customer to initiate an ordering process to order the one or more items; and before receiving the request from the customer to initiate the ordering process for the one or more items, automatically determining multiple geographically distributed item distribution centers that are maintained by the item ordering service and that are each available as an alternative to supply the items to the customer if an order is received from the customer for the items, each of the determined item distribution centers having distinct current inventory that includes the items, the automatic determining of the multiple geographically distributed item distribution centers being performed by one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service; in response to the received indication from the customer of the one or more items, automatically determining multiple distinct alternative fulfillment plans for supplying the items to the customer that are each associated with one of the determined item distribution centers such that each of the determined item distribution centers has at least one associated fulfillment plan, each fulfillment plan indicating that the items are to be shipped from the item distribution center associated with the fulfillment plan and indicating a manner of shipping the items from the associated item distribution center to the customer and indicating information about processing that would take place at the associated item distribution center as part of the fulfillment plan to prepare the items for the shipping to the customer, the automatic determining of the multiple distinct alternative fulfillment plans being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service; for each of multiple of the determined distinct fulfillment plans, determining a cost of use for that fulfillment plan if the items are supplied using that fulfillment plan, and determining an actual delivery date for that fulfillment plan on which the customer will receive the items if the items are supplied using that fulfillment plan, the determined actual delivery date being based at least in part on the indicated manner of shipping the items for that fulfillment plan and being based at least in part on the indicated information about the processing that would take place at the associated item distribution center for that fulfillment plan, the determining of the cost of use and the determining of the actual delivery date being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the item ordering service; and providing to the customer an indication of each of multiple of the determined fulfillment plans as options for supplying the items to the customer, each indication of a determined fulfillment plan option including the determined cost of use and the determined actual delivery date for that determined fulfillment plan option; and after an indication from the customer to use a selected one of the indicated determined fulfillment plan options as part of an order for the items, initiating fulfillment of the order for the items using the selected fulfillment plan, so that the customer will receive options for how an order is to be fulfilled and will receive accurate delivery date information for the order prior to order placement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer-implemented method for providing to a customer information about actual fulfillment of an order before completion of an ordering process for the order, the method comprising:
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receiving from a customer of a merchant an indication of one or more items without receiving a request to initiate an ordering process to order the one or more items; and in response to receiving the indication from the customer and before receiving the request to initiate the ordering process to order the items, automatically determining multiple fulfillment plans that are options for fulfilling an order for the items, each fulfillment plan indicating one or more distribution centers from which the items of the order are to be transported to a recipient, the one or more distribution centers for each fulfillment plan being a selected subset of multiple alternative distribution centers of the merchant that each are available to supply at least one of the indicated items, the automatic determining of the multiple fulfillment plans being performed by one or more programmed computer systems of the merchant; for each of at least some of the determined fulfillment plans, automatically determining a time of actual delivery of the items if that fulfillment plan is used to fulfill the order and determining a cost for fulfilling the order if that fulfillment plan is used to fulfill the order, the determining of actual delivery time based at least in part on information determined about processing that would take place at the distribution centers indicated by the fulfillment plan and on information about transporting of the items from those indicated distribution centers to the recipient, the processing that would take place at those indicated distribution centers for that fulfillment plan including preparing the items for the transporting of the items from those indicated distribution centers, the automatic determining of the time of actual delivery and of the cost for fulfilling the order being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the merchant; automatically selecting one of the at least some determined fulfillment plans to be used for fulfilling the order based at least in part on the determined actual delivery time for the selected fulfillment plan and based at least in part on the determined cost for the selected fulfillment plan, the automatic selecting of the one fulfillment plan being performed by the one or more programmed computer systems of the merchant; and providing information to the customer about ordering the items that includes the determined actual delivery time for the selected fulfillment plan, so as to enable the customer to order the item from the merchant using the selected fulfillment plan. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computer-readable storage medium whose contents include instructions that when executed configure a computing device to provide to a customer information about actual fulfillment of an order before completion of an ordering process for the order, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving from a customer an indication of one or more items; and in response to receiving the indication and before an ordering process for the one or more items is initiated by the customer, for each of multiple fulfillment plans that are options for fulfilling an order for the items and that each indicate one or more of multiple alternative distribution centers of a merchant available to supply items to recipients, the one or more distribution centers for each fulfillment plan being selected from the multiple alternative distribution centers and being for use in providing the items of the order for transport to a recipient of the order, automatically determining an actual delivery date of the items if that fulfillment plan is used to fulfill the order and determining a cost for using that fulfillment plan to fulfill the order, the determining of the actual delivery date based at least in part on information about processing that would take place at the distribution centers indicated by the fulfillment plan and on information about transporting of the items from those indicated distribution centers to the recipient; selecting one of the multiple fulfillment plans to be used for fulfilling the order based at least in part on the determined cost for that one fulfillment plan; and providing information to the customer about ordering the items that includes the determined actual delivery date for the selected fulfillment plan. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A computing device for providing to a customer information about actual fulfillment of an order at a time of placing the order, comprising:
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one or more processors; a plan determiner component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors and in response to an indication of one or more items, determine multiple fulfillment plans that are options for fulfilling an order received by a merchant for the one or more indicated items, each fulfillment plan indicating one or more of multiple alternative distribution centers of the merchant that each are available to supply items to recipients, the one or more distribution centers for each fulfillment plan being selected from the multiple alternative distribution centers and being for use in providing the items of the order for transport to a recipient of the order; an actual delivery time determiner component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, and for each of at least some of the determined fulfillment options, determine a time of actual delivery of the items if that fulfillment plan is used to fulfill the order, the determining of the actual delivery time being based at least in part on information about processing that would take place at the distribution centers indicated by the fulfillment plan to prepare the items for transporting to the recipient; and an information provider component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, provide information to the customer about ordering the items that includes the determined actual delivery time for one of the at least some determined fulfillment plans that is selected to be used for fulfilling the order. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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Specification