Lost and damaged items in a fulfillment network

• US 8,533,074 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2011
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nicholson, A. Lorraine, Ehrhardt, John, Fish, Madeleine J., Goelzer, Chad G., Nerurkar, Mahendra, Williams, Cynthia W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel, Vanel
• Application Number:
  US13/076,181
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 705/8, 705/330, 370/310, 379/88.12, 455/518, 455/3.2
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for identifying damaged and/or missing items in a fulfillment center. Embodiments of the disclosure can also evaluate loss claims made by a seller for items the seller believes are missing from an inbound shipment to the fulfillment center. Embodiments of the disclosure can also generate a resolution in the form of compensation to the seller if a claim is valid. Shipment data that can include carrier data from a carrier system can also be analyzed to determine the validity of loss claims submitted by a seller.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a computing device, the program comprising:

code that obtains shipment data associated with an inbound shipment to a fulfillment network, the shipment data comprising a carrier identifier associated with the inbound shipment and the inbound shipment comprising at least one parcel;

code that obtains a claim associated with a missing quantity of the at least one item associated with the inbound shipment, the claim associated with a seller account;

code that determines whether the inbound shipment is received in the fulfillment network;

code that determines whether a carrier associated with the inbound shipment is associated with an approved carrier list;

code that obtains carrier data from a carrier system;

code that determines whether the carrier data reflects that at least one parcel associated with the inbound shipment is at least one of damaged or lost by the carrier; and

code that initiates compensation to the seller account of a replacement value of the missing quantity of the at least one item when the carrier data reflects that at least one parcel associated with the inbound shipment is at least one of damaged or lost by the carrier when the carrier is associated with the approved carrier list, wherein the replacement value is based at least upon an average price associated with a plurality of sales listings of the at least one item in an electronic marketplace.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the program further comprises:

code that identifies a listing associated with at least one like item corresponding to the at least one item in the electronic marketplace;

code that initiates a purchase of the missing quantity of at least one like item in the electronic marketplace; and

code that transfers ownership of the missing quantity at least one like item to the seller account.

3. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

an inventory management application executable in the at least one computing device, the inventory management application comprising;

logic that receives an inventory event from at least one computing device in a fulfillment network, the inventory event corresponding to a damaged item;

logic that identifies a seller account that is associated with the inventory event; and

logic that generates a resolution associated with the inventory event by removing the damaged item from a seller inventory in a data store in communication with the at least one computing device, the seller inventory being associated with the seller account, the logic that generates the resolution further transferring ownership of the damaged item to a holding account associated with the fulfillment network.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the logic that generates the resolution associated with the inventory event further comprises:

logic that determines a replacement value associated with the damaged item; and

logic that initiates compensation to the seller account of the replacement value.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the replacement value is based at least upon an average listing price associated with a plurality of listings for the damaged item in an electronic marketplace.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the logic that generates the resolution associated with the inventory event further comprises:

logic that identifies a listing associated with a like item in an electronic marketplace;

logic that initiates a purchase of the like item in the electronic marketplace; and

logic that transfers ownership of the like item to the seller account.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the inventory management application further comprises:

logic that receives a condition of the damaged item from the at least one computing device in the fulfillment network; and

logic that generates a sales listing associated with the damaged item in an electronic marketplace.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein the inventory management application further comprises:

logic that receives another inventory event from the at least one computing device in a fulfillment network, the other inventory event corresponding to another item that is;

another damaged item;

logic that identifies another seller account that is associated with the other inventory event;

logic that updates another seller inventory associated with the other seller account to reflect a deficit corresponding to the other inventory event;

logic that determines whether the damaged item and the other item are like items; and

logic that assigns ownership of the damaged item from the holding account to the other seller account.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein the inventory event is an inventory addition event, and the inventory management application further comprises:

logic that receives another inventory event from the at least one computing device in the fulfillment network, the other inventory event corresponding to another item that is another damaged item;

logic that identifies another seller account that is associated with the other inventory event;

logic that determines whether the inventory addition event is associated with the other seller account; and

logic that assigns ownership of the damaged item from the seller account to the other seller account.

10. A method, comprising:

detecting, in at least one computing device, a quantity of at least one item associated with an inbound shipment;

associating, in the at least one computing device, the quantity of the at least one item with a seller account;

determining, in the at least one computing device, whether there is a missing quantity of the at least one item associated with the inbound shipment;

receiving, in the at least one computing device, a claim associated with the missing quantity of the at least one item;

validating, in the at least one computing device, the claim based at least upon shipment data associated with the inbound shipment; and

generating, in the at least one computing device, a resolution for the seller account when the claim is validated.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the resolution for the seller account when the claim is validated further comprises:

determining, in the at least one computing device, a replacement value associated with the missing quantity of the at least one item; and

initiating, in the at least one computing device, compensation to the seller account of the replacement value.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the replacement value is based at least upon an average listing price associated with a plurality of listings for the at least one item in an electronic marketplace.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

updating, in the at least one computing device, a seller inventory associated with the seller account to reflect a deficit corresponding to the missing quantity of the at least one item;

designating, in the at least one computing device and upon expiration of a waiting period, the missing quantity of the at least one item as missing;

determining, in the at least one computing device, a replacement value associated with the missing quantity of the at least one item; and

initiating, in the at least one computing device, compensation to the seller account of the replacement value.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the resolution further comprises:

identifying, in the at least one computing device, a listing associated with a like item in an electronic marketplace;

initiating, in the at least one computing device, a purchase of the like item in the electronic marketplace; and

transferring, in the at least one computing device, ownership of the like item to the seller account.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the resolution further comprises:

receiving, in the at least one computing device, at least one found item inventory event associated with the missing quantity of the at least one item;

removing, in the at least one computing device, the missing quantity of the at least one item from the seller account; and

transferring ownership of the missing quantity of the at least one found item, in the at least one computing device, to a holding account associated with a fulfillment network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the missing quantity of the at least one item is found in the fulfillment network, and the method further comprises:

receiving, in the at least one computing device, a condition of the missing quantity of the at least one item from the at least one computing device in the fulfillment network; and

generating, in the at least one computing device, a sales listing associated with the at least one item in an electronic marketplace.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

detecting, in the at least one computing device, another quantity of the at least one item associated with another inbound shipment that is associated with another seller account;

associating, in the at least one computing device, the other quantity of the at least one item with the other seller account;

determining, in the at least one computing device, whether the other quantity was erroneously associated with the other seller account; and

transferring, in the at least one computing device, ownership of the other quantity of the at least one item to the seller account when the other quantity was erroneously associated with the other seller account.