Real-time internet capable device information interchange for coordinated queuing at locations

• US 9,836,772 B1
• Filed: 11/03/2016
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jane Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Jane Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Rosenfeld, Socrates Munaf, Rosenfeld, Abraham Munaf, Green, Benjamin Aaron, Tracy-Inglis, Scott Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Gills, Kurtis
• Application Number:
  US15/342,557
• Publication Number:
  US 20170352078A1
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0607 Regulated
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders

Abstract

Among other things, a central server maintains information representative of requests communicated through the Internet from devices at request locations. Each of the requests represents a proposed reservation for services to be managed by devices at delivery locations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented point-of-sale apparatus comprising,

an in-store point-of-sale system of a physical retail store, the in-store point-of-sale system including at least one hardware device and configured to record and track customer orders, process cash, credit and debit card transactions, and manage inventory, and

a technology system including at least one hardware device, the technology system being coupled to and configured to enhance operations of the in-store point-of-sale system including by (a) interacting with the in-store point-of-sale system to obtain information about retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store, (b) presenting, through mobile devices of customers of the physical retail store, a virtual storefront of retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store, (c) providing phases of a purchase experience for the customers through the mobile devices, the phases including searching, ordering or reserving, purchasing, and receiving delivery at the physical retail store of the retail products currently in inventory, and (d) during each of the phases of the purchase experience, hosting direct real-time electronic interaction between the customers and employees or managers of the physical retail store through mobile devices with respect to each of the phases of the purchase experience including searching, ordering or reserving, purchasing, and receiving delivery at the physical retail store of the retail products currently in inventory, the technology system comprising

a work station at the physical retail store, the work station configured to run the in-store point-of sale-system,

a point-of-sale integration service configured to

(a) run on the work station or on another device at the physical retail store,

(b) transmit and receive retail data, including data identifying retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store, to and from the in-store point-of-sale system,

(c) transmit and receive retail data through the Internet to and from a cloud server for storage and retrieval in a cloud database, the retail data including information about customer reservations and orders, transactions, and retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store, and

(d) improve the in-store point-of-sale system to enhance the phases of the purchase experience for the customer, and

the cloud server, the cloud server being configured to

(a) use the retail data in the cloud database to serve the virtual store front to the mobile devices of the consumers, the virtual store front presenting information about retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store,

(b) engage in communications with mobile devices of the customers, employees, and managers of the physical retail store during the phases of the purchase experience, the communications involving the use and updating in real time of the retail data about customer reservations and orders, transactions, and retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store and stored in the cloud database, the communications of the cloud server including information representative of requests communicated through the Internet from mobile devices of customers at request locations, the requests representing proposed reservations for delivery at the physical retail store of retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store,

(c) during each of the phases of the purchase experience, host direct real-time electronic interaction through mobile devices between the customers and the employees and managers of the physical retail store with respect to each of the phases of the purchase experience including searching, ordering or reserving, purchasing, and receiving delivery at the physical retail store of the retail products currently in inventory to enable the employees and managers of the physical retail store to enhance the phases of the purchase experience;

and update the cloud database and the in-store point-of-sale system in response to the hosted interactions,

(d) communicate information through the point-of-sale integration service to and from the in-store point-of-sale system to keep the in-store point-of-sale system synchronized with the cloud database including with respect to retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store, during the phases of the retail experience,

(e) receive information through the Internet from the in-store point-of-sale system through the point-of-sale integration service and update at the cloud database information that identifies retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store,

(f) generate, based on the information about the retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store and on the requests, data that represents queues of reservations for delivery of the retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store,

(g) send the queue data through the Internet to the physical retail store,

(h) receive through the Internet from the physical retail store, information indicating acceptance or rejection of reservations in the queues,

(i) update the data that represents the queues based on the acceptances or rejections,

(j) send through the Internet to the-physical retail store, updated information about the queues,

(k) receive from the physical retail store through the Internet, data confirming the servicing of reservations in the queues, and

(l) update in the cloud database the information that identifies retail products currently in inventory at the physical retail store and the data that represents the queues, based on the data confirming the servicing of the reservations.

2. The system of claim 1 in which the retail products comprise cannabis.

3. The system of claim 1 in which access to the retail products is controlled in accordance with governmental regulations.

4. The system of claim 1 in which the central server sends control data through the Internet to the physical retail store to control the servicing of reservations to comply with governmental regulations.

5. The system of claim 1 in which the central server sends management data through the Internet to the to manage allocation of reservations among employees at the physical retail store.