Method and system for anticipatory package shipping

• US 8,615,473 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2012
• Issued: 12/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Spiegel, Joel R., McKenna, Michael T., Lakshman, Girish S., Nordstrom, Paul G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Allen, Akiba
• Application Number:
  US13/594,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20120323645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 705/332, 705/330, 705/333, 705/336, 705/337
• US Class Current: 705/332
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers

Abstract

A method and system for anticipatory package shipping are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method may include packaging one or more items as a package for eventual shipment to a delivery address, selecting a destination geographical area to which to ship the package, shipping the package to the destination geographical area without completely specifying the delivery address at time of shipment, and while the package is in transit, completely specifying the delivery address for the package.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computing devices;

determining a status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein said respective destination geographical areas include multiple delivery addresses to which said package is deliverable, wherein at least one of the one or more shipped packages comprises one or more items that have been shipped before an order has occurred for the one or more items in the at least one shipped package, and wherein the one or more shipped packages were shipped to a respective destination geographical area without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment, such that at the time of shipment, each shipped package is deliverable to said respective destination geographical area but is not deliverable to any delivery address;

for a given one of said one or more shipped packages, analyzing one or more business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing both said one or more business variables and said determined status, determining a disposition of said given shipped package.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining the status of said one or more shipped packages comprises determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included in said given shipped package to a potential customer.

9. A system, comprising:

a data warehouse configured to store business variables related to shipped packages; and

a computer system configured to access said business variables stored on said data warehouse, wherein said computer system is further configured to;

determine a status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein said respective destination geographical areas include multiple delivery addresses to which said package is deliverable, wherein at least one of the one or more shipped packages comprises one or more items that have been shipped before an order has occurred for the one or more items in said at least one shipped package, and wherein the one or more shipped packages were shipped to a respective destination geographical area without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment, such that at the time of shipment, each shipped package is deliverable to said respective destination geographical area but is not deliverable to any delivery address;

for a given one of said one or more shipped packages, analyze one or more of said business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing both said one or more business variables and said determined status, determine a disposition of said given shipped package.

10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system determining the status of said one or more shipped packages comprises said computer system determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

11. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining the status of previously shipped packages.

12. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

13. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system analyzing said one or more business variables comprises said computer system determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

14. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

15. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

16. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer system determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises said computer system determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included in said given shipped package to a potential customer.

17. A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to:

determine a status of one or more shipped packages currently in transit to respective destination geographical areas, wherein said respective destination geographical areas include multiple delivery addresses to which said package is deliverable, wherein at least one of the one or more shipped packages comprises one or more items that have been shipped before an order has occurred for the one or more items in the at least one shipped package, and wherein the one or more shipped packages were shipped to a respective destination geographical area without completely specifying a delivery address at time of shipment, such that at the time of shipment, each shipped package is deliverable to said respective destination geographical area but is not deliverable to any delivery address;

for a given one of said one or more shipped packages, analyze one or more business variables related to said one or more items included in said given shipped package;

dependent upon analyzing both said one or more business variables and the determined status, determine a disposition of said given shipped package.

18. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein determining the status of said one or more shipped packages comprises determining a current location and a current destination geographical area for each of said one or more shipped packages.

19. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining the status of previously shipped packages.

20. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a cost associated with said one or more items.

21. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein analyzing said one or more business variables comprises determining a risk of a shipped package incurring return or redirection costs.

22. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to return said given shipped package to a fulfillment center.

23. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17 further comprising, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to redirect said given shipped package to a different destination geographical area.

24. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 17, wherein determining said disposition of said given shipped package comprises determining to offer an incentive to purchase said one or more items included in said given shipped package to a potential customer.