Courier management

• US 9,443,219 B1
• Filed: 05/08/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Griffith, Charles M., Li, Jinqian, Shakes, Jonathan J., Lai, Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilder, Hunter
• Application Number:
  US13/889,606
• Time in Patent Office: 1,224 Days
• Field of Search: 705/304, 705/330, 705/336, 705/340, 705/7.32, 705/7.42
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3673 Labelling using text of road map data items, e.g. road names, POI names
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0837 Return transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/407 Cancellation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for courier management. For example, in one embodiment, a courier application is executed on a mobile computing device to retrieve a list of stops associated with a courier from a computing device over a network. The list of stops includes a plurality of orders to be delivered, wherein a customer location is associated with each order. The courier application generates user interfaces to facilitate a confirmation that items associated with orders have been delivered, to facilitate an input of a review of the performance of the courier, and to perform other functions.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a courier application executable in at least one mobile computing device, wherein, when executed, the courier application causes the at least one mobile computing device to perform a method comprising:

retrieving, by the at least one mobile computing device, a list of stops associated with a courier from a courier computing device, the list of stops identifying a plurality of orders to be delivered, individual ones among the plurality of orders being associated with a customer location and a customer, the customer location being expressed as a latitudinal value, a longitudinal value, and an elevation value, wherein at least one of the plurality of orders specifies a plurality of items;

receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, system location data from a global position system (GPS) receiver and an elevation sensor;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, on a display of the at least one mobile computing device a user interface including at least a portion of the list of stops in the at least one mobile computing device;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, a courier route to the customer location on a map in the user interface based at least in part on the system location data and the customer location;

receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, a rejection of at least one item among the plurality of items from the user interface at the customer location;

communicating, by the at least one mobile computing device over a wireless network, the rejection at the customer location to the courier computing device in response to receiving the rejection, the courier computing device executing an electronic commerce application and communicating the rejection to a merchant computing device associated with a merchant of the at least one item, wherein the merchant computing device facilitates a refund of a payment associated with the at least one item responsive the rejection at the customer location;

determining, by the at least one mobile computing device, an amount of the refund in response to communicating the rejection to the merchant computing device; and

initiating, by the at least one mobile computing device, the refund to the customer at the customer location.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the rejection of the at least one item results in an update of an inventory maintained in the merchant computing device.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises sending, by the at least one mobile computing device, a notification of a failure to deliver the at least one item at the customer location to the merchant computing device.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises facilitating, by the at least one mobile computing device, a communication between the at least one mobile computing device associated with the courier and the customer, wherein a contact information of the customer is made anonymous with respect to the courier.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, in the user interface a communication link to the merchant of one of the plurality of items, the communication link being configured to enable the courier to negotiate an adjusted price authorized by the merchant at the customer location, wherein the courier is a separate entity from the merchant.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein receiving the rejection further comprises receiving at least one rejection type, the at least one rejection type indicating a reason for the rejection.

7. A system, comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;

an elevation sensor;

at least one mobile computing device associated with a courier, wherein the at least one mobile computing device is in communication with the GPS receiver and the elevation sensor; and

a courier application executable in the at least one mobile computing device, wherein, when executed, the courier application causes the at least one mobile computing device to perform a method comprising;

retrieving, by the at least one mobile computing device, a list of stops from a courier computing device, the list of stops identifying a plurality of orders to be delivered, individual ones of the plurality of orders being associated with a customer location and a customer, the customer location being expressed as a latitudinal value, a longitudinal value, and an elevation value, wherein at least one of the plurality of orders specifies a plurality of items;

receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, system location data from the GPS receiver and the elevation sensor;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, on a display of the at least one mobile computing device a user interface including at least a portion of the list of stops;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, a courier route to the customer location on a map in the user interface based at least in part on the system location data and the customer location;

facilitating, by the at least one mobile computing device, a rejection of at least one item among the plurality of items via the user interface at the customer location;

communicating, by the at least one mobile computing device over a wireless network, the rejection at the customer location to the courier computing device in response to receiving the rejection, the courier computing device executing an electronic commerce application and communicating the rejection to a merchant computing device associated with a merchant of the at least one item to facilitate a refund of a payment associated with the at least one item responsive to the rejection at the customer location;

determining, by the at least one mobile computing device, an amount of the refund in response to communicating the rejection to the merchant computing device; and

initiating, by the at least one mobile computing device, the refund to the customer at the customer location.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein facilitating the rejection further comprises receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, at least one rejection type, the at least one rejection type indicating a reason for the rejection.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises communicating, by the at least one mobile computing device, the at least one rejection type to the merchant that is associated with the at least one order.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein facilitating the rejection further comprises receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, an audio input to specify a reason for the rejection.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a selection of a subset of items among the plurality of items to specify the rejection.

12. A method, comprising:

retrieving, by at least one mobile computing device associated with a courier, a list of stops from a courier computing device, the list of stops identifying a plurality of orders to be delivered, individual ones among the plurality of orders being associated with a customer location and a customer, the customer location being expressed as a latitudinal value, a longitudinal value, and an elevation value, wherein at least one order among the plurality of orders specifies a plurality of items;

receiving, by the at least one mobile computing device, system location data from a global position system (GPS) receiver and an elevation sensor;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, on a display of the at least one mobile computing device a user interface including at least a portion of the list of stops;

rendering, by the at least one mobile computing device, a courier route to the customer location on a map in the user interface based at least in part on the system location data and the customer location;

facilitating, by the at least one mobile computing device, a rejection of at least one item among the plurality of items via the user interface at the customer location;

communicating, by the at least one mobile computing device over a wireless network, the rejection at the customer location to the courier computing device to facilitate a refund of a payment associated with the at least one item responsive to receiving the rejection, the courier computing device executing an electronic commerce application and communicating the rejection to a merchant computing device being associated with a merchant of the at least one item, wherein the merchant computing device facilitates the refund responsive to the rejection at the customer location;

determining, by the at least one mobile computing device, an amount of the refund in response to communicating the rejection to the computing device; and

initiating, by the at least one mobile computing device, the refund to the customer at the customer location.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein facilitating the rejection comprises receiving an indication at the customer location that the at least one item is rejected.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein facilitating the rejection comprises receiving at least one rejection type, the at least one rejection type specifying a reason for the rejection.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising communicating the at least one rejection type to the merchant that is associated with the at least one order.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein facilitating the rejection comprises receiving an audio input to indicate a reason for the rejection.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a selection of a subset of items among the plurality of items to specify the rejection.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the map comprises the customer location associated with individual ones of the portion of the list of stops being rendered in the user interface.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising automatically adjusting, by the at least one mobile computing device, the map of the customer location associated with the individual ones of the portion of the list of stops in response to updating the portion of the list of stops being rendered.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the amount of the refund is based at least in part on account promotions being rescinded and paid taxes.