Methods and apparatus for managing tote orders

• US 8,266,018 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2010
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dearlove, Janice Vivienne, Vuillemot, Ward W., Wilke, Jeffrey A., Herrington, Douglas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg, Yogesh C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Civan, Ethan D
• Application Number:
  US12/825,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20110320308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 705 26- 27
• US Class Current: 705/27.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for managing tote deliveries by a tote delivery service. The tote delivery service directs delivery of items ordered by customers via a network site to delivery addresses corresponding to the customers in reusable totes on upcoming tote delivery days. A user interface to the network site may provide a tote management user interface that includes one or more user interface elements via which a customer may view the customer'"'"'s upcoming tote orders and modify the content, destination, or scheduling of upcoming totes. For example, the customer may move an item from one tote into another tote, remove or delete an item from a tote, and replicate an item or an entire tote order to another tote. A customer may have multiple tote delivery days and multiple delivery addresses; the tote management user interface enables the customer to manage tote deliveries across time and across location.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

a network site, implemented on one or more computer devices, providing a tote management interface for managing tote orders to be delivered via a tote delivery service to customers of the network site, wherein the tote delivery service directs tote deliveries to the customers on scheduled tote delivery days, wherein each tote delivery includes one or more totes that include a tote order of one or more items, and wherein each tote order corresponds to a tote delivery to a particular delivery address on a scheduled tote delivery day;

the network site providing to a customer, on the tote management interface, a plurality of virtual totes each representing one of a plurality of tote orders, wherein each of the plurality of tote orders corresponds to one of one or more delivery addresses of the customer and to a particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address;

the network site receiving, via the tote management interface, input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the plurality of virtual totes on the tote management interface;

in response to said input modifying the content of the at least one of the virtual totes, the tote delivery service modifying content of at least one of the plurality of tote orders corresponding to the at least one virtual tote prior to delivery of the at least one tote order to at least one delivery address of the customer on at least one tote delivery day; and

the tote delivery service directing the delivery of the modified at least one tote order to the at least one delivery address of the customer on the at least one tote delivery day.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface removes one or more items from the at least one virtual tote.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface removes one or more items from one of the virtual totes and adds the one or more items to a different one of the virtual totes.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the virtual tote from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular tote delivery day for a particular delivery address, and wherein the virtual tote to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different tote delivery day for the same delivery address.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the virtual tote from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular delivery address, and wherein the virtual tote to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different delivery address.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface replicates one or more items from one of the virtual totes to a different one of the virtual totes.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface increases or decreases a quantity of an item in one of the virtual totes.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the network site providing to the customer, on the tote management interface, a representation of a staging tote, wherein the staging tote is a virtual location provided by the network site that stores items that the customer is considering for purchase but has not added to a tote order, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface moves one or more items from the staging tote to the at least one of the virtual totes or moves one or more items from the at least one of the virtual totes to the staging tote.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the network site providing to the customer, on the tote management interface, a representation of a shopping cart, wherein the shopping cart is a virtual location provided by the network site that stores items that the customer has selected to be shipped according to a different delivery method than the tote delivery service, wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface moves one or more items from the shopping cart to the at least one of the virtual totes or moves one or more items from the at least one of the virtual totes to the shopping cart.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the network site providing to the customer, on the tote management interface, a representation of one or more return totes, wherein a return tote is a virtual location provided by the network site to which the customer can add items to be delivered from the customer to a network enterprise corresponding to the network site via the tote delivery service, the method further comprising the network site receiving, via the tote management interface, input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the one or more return totes.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the totes delivered to the customers in the tote deliveries on scheduled tote delivery days are reusable containers, and wherein at least some previously delivered totes are picked up from at least some of the customers on subsequent tote delivery days.

12. A system, comprising:

one or more data storage devices that store data for an enterprise; and

one or more servers that implement enterprise logic executable on the one or more servers to;

direct delivery of tote orders via a tote delivery service to customers of the enterprise, wherein the tote delivery service delivers tote orders to the customers on scheduled tote delivery days, wherein each tote delivery includes one or more totes that include a tote order of one or more items, and wherein each tote order corresponds to a tote delivery to a particular delivery address on a scheduled tote delivery day;

display a tote management interface for managing tote orders to be delivered via the tote delivery service to the customers of the enterprise, wherein the tote management interface includes a plurality of virtual totes each representing one of a plurality of tote orders, wherein each of the plurality of tote orders corresponds to one of one or more delivery addresses of a customer and to a particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address; and

receive input modifying content of at least one of the plurality of virtual totes on the tote management interface; and

in response to said input modifying the content of the at least one of the virtual totes, the tote delivery service modifying content of at least one of the plurality of tote orders corresponding to the at least one virtual tote prior to delivery of the at least one tote order to at least one delivery address of the customer on at least one tote delivery day.

13. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to direct the delivery of the modified at least one tote order to the customer.

14. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to remove one or more items from the at least one tote order in response to said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface.

15. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to remove one or more items from one of the plurality of tote orders and add the one or more items to a different one of the plurality of tote orders in response to said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface.

16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the tote order from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular tote delivery day for a particular delivery address, and wherein the tote order to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different tote delivery day for the same delivery address.

17. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the tote order from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular delivery address, and wherein the tote order to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different delivery address.

18. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to replicate one or more items from one of the plurality of tote orders to a different one of the plurality of tote orders in response to said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface.

19. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to increase or decrease a quantity of an item in one of the plurality of tote orders in response to said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface.

20. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to:

display a representation of a staging tote on the tote management interface, wherein the staging tote is a virtual location that stores items that the customer is considering for purchase but has not added to a tote order; and

wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface moves one or more items from the staging tote to the at least one of the virtual totes or moves one or more items from the at least one of the virtual totes to the staging tote.

21. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to:

display a representation of a shopping cart on the tote management interface, wherein the shopping cart is a virtual location that stores items that the customer has selected to be shipped according to a different delivery method than the tote delivery service; and

wherein said input from the customer modifying content of at least one of the virtual totes on the tote management interface moves one or more items from the shopping cart to the at least one of the virtual totes or moves one or more items from the at least one of the virtual totes to the shopping cart.

22. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to:

display a representation of one or more return totes on the tote management interface, wherein a return tote is a virtual location provided by the network site to which the customer can add items to be delivered from the customer to a network enterprise corresponding to the network site via the tote delivery service; and

receive input to the tote management interface modifying content of at least one of the one or more return totes.

23. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein each of the one or more return totes corresponds to one of the one or more delivery addresses of the customer and to a particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address.

24. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to display each virtual tote as a graphical representation of a physical tote and graphical representations of content of the respective tote order.

25. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the totes delivered to the customers in the tote deliveries on scheduled tote delivery days are reusable containers, wherein the enterprise logic is executable on the one or more servers to direct delivery of the totes on a scheduled tote delivery day and direct retrieval of at least some previously delivered totes on the scheduled tote delivery day.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

directing delivery of tote orders via a tote delivery service, wherein the tote delivery service delivers tote orders to delivery addresses on scheduled tote delivery days, wherein each tote delivery includes one or more totes that include a tote order of one or more items, and wherein each tote order corresponds to a tote delivery to a particular delivery address on a scheduled tote delivery day;

displaying a tote management interface for managing tote orders to be delivered via the tote delivery service to the delivery addresses, wherein the tote management interface includes plurality of virtual totes each representing one of a plurality of tote orders, wherein each of the plurality of tote orders corresponds to one of one or more delivery addresses of a customer and to a particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address;

receiving input from the customer modifying content of one of the plurality of virtual totes; and

in response to said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote, modifying the tote order corresponding to the virtual tote prior to delivery of the tote order to the respective delivery addresses of the customer on the particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement directing the delivery of the modified tote order to the customer.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement removing one or more items from the tote order in response to said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement removing one or more items from the tote order corresponding to the virtual tote and adding the one or more items to a different tote order in response to said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 29, wherein the tote order from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular tote delivery day for a particular delivery address, and wherein the tote order to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different tote delivery day for the same delivery address.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 29, wherein the tote order from which the one or more items are removed corresponds to a particular delivery address, and wherein the tote order to which the one or more items are added corresponds to a different delivery address.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement replicating one or more items from a different tote order to the tote order corresponding to the virtual tote in response to said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement increasing or decreasing a quantity of an item in the tote order in response to said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

displaying a representation of a staging tote on the tote management interface, wherein the staging tote is a virtual location provided by the network site that stores items that the customer is considering for purchase but has not added to a tote order;

wherein said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote moves one or more items from the staging tote to the virtual tote or moves one or more items from the virtual tote to the staging tote.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

displaying a representation of a shopping cart on the tote management interface, wherein the shopping cart is a virtual location provided by the network site that stores items that the customer has selected to be shipped according to a different delivery method than the tote delivery service; and

wherein said input from the customer modifying the content of the virtual tote moves one or more items from the shopping cart to the virtual tote or moves one or more items from the virtual tote to the shopping.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

displaying a representation of one or more return totes on the tote management interface, wherein a return tote is a virtual location provided by the network site to which the customer can add items to be delivered from the customer to a network enterprise corresponding to the network site via the tote delivery service; and

receiving input to the tote management interface from the customer modifying content of at least one of the one or more return totes.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 36, wherein each of the one or more return totes corresponds to one of the one or more delivery addresses of the customer and to a particular tote delivery day for the respective delivery address.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement displaying each virtual tote as a graphical representation of a physical tote and graphical representations of content of the respective tote order.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the totes delivered to the customers in the tote deliveries on scheduled tote delivery days are reusable containers, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement directing delivery of the totes on a tote delivery day and directing retrieval of at least some previously delivered totes on the tote delivery day.