System for integrating courier service with customer applications

• US 9,928,540 B1
• Filed: 12/27/2016
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gerard, Ryan, Lam, Fion, Chu, Keith, Reiss, Jesse L., Iacono, Jeffrey F., Hammer, Derek, Thole, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Airapetian, Mila
• Application Number:
  US15/390,958
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 705330
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

Techniques to enable the integration of a courier service with a customer application. To integrate a courier service with a customer application, a system may receive a plurality of orders that are to be fulfilled by delivery along with a plurality of locations associated with a plurality of courier devices. The system can then generate a proposal for an order that is based on the plurality of orders and the plurality of locations. In some instances, the system generates the proposal to include one or more options for fulfilling the order, such as delivery by a courier, pickup by a customer, or dine-in by the customer. In some instances, the system further determines a cost associated with each of the options and generates the proposal to include the respective costs.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a service computing device including a service computing device processor and a service computing device communication interface communicatively coupled to the service computing device processor, the service computing device communication interface for communicating over one or more networks with a plurality of courier devices, a plurality of merchant devices, and a plurality of customer devices, the service computing device being configured to;

receive, by the service computing device, from a plurality of first customer devices of the plurality of customer devices, a plurality of orders, respectively, each respective order of the plurality of orders being for a respective menu item to be prepared by a respective merchant for a respective first customer associated with a respective first customer device of the plurality of customer devices;

receive, by the service computing device, from each respective first customer device of the plurality of customer devices, first information indicating a geographic location of the respective first customer device;

receive, by the service computing device, from each respective courier device of the plurality of courier devices, second information indicating a geographic location of the respective courier device, wherein a courier application executable on each respective courier device determines and sends the second information to the service computing device;

determine, by the service computing device, a courier shortage state based at least in part on the received plurality of orders, the received geographic locations of the plurality of first customer devices, and the received geographic locations of the plurality of courier devices;

receive, by the service computing device, from a customer application executing on a second customer device of the plurality of customer devices, an indication that a second customer has accessed the customer application on the second customer device, the customer application including functionality for ordering the respective menu items from the respective merchants;

generate, by the service computing device, based at least in part on the courier shortage state and the indication that the second customer has accessed the customer application on the second customer device, fulfillment information for presentation on the second customer device;

send, by the service computing device, the fulfillment information to the second customer device, wherein the customer application is executable by one or more processors of the second customer device to;

send the first information to the service computing device indicating the geographic location of the second customer device;

present an interface on a display associated with the second customer device;

receive, from the service computing device, the fulfillment information, the fulfillment information causing the customer application to present, in the interface, one or more acquisition options for acquiring a menu item, by at least one of;

restricting from presentation in the interface a first acquisition option for acquiring the menu item by delivery;

or

displaying in the interface an incentive for acquiring the menu item using a second acquisition option that is different from the first acquisition option;

receive, via the interface, a customer selection of a presented acquisition option for the menu item; and

send order information to the service computing device based on the customer selection.

2. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein:

the service computing device is further configured to;

receive, from an additional plurality of customer devices, an indication of a plurality of potential orders, wherein a respective potential order of the plurality of potential orders is for a respective menu item to be prepared by the merchant for a respective potential customer, wherein determining the courier shortage state is further based at least in part on the indication of the plurality of potential orders; and

each respective additional customer device of the additional plurality of customer devices comprises a respective customer application executable by one or more processors of the respective additional customer device associated with the respective potential customer to;

provide an interface to the respective potential customer via a display associated with the respective additional customer device;

receive, via the interface, a selection of the respective menu item as the respective potential order; and

send the respective potential order to the service computing device.

3. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein the service computing device is further configured to:

generate with the fulfillment information a proposal based, at least in part, on the courier shortage state, the proposal including the first acquisition option associated with a first cost for fulfilling the order by delivery by a courier, and the second acquisition option associated with a second cost for fulfilling the order by pickup or dine-in by the second customer, wherein the second cost is different from the first cost.

4. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein the service computing device is further configured to:

generate the fulfillment information to include the second acquisition option for acquiring the menu item by pickup or dine-in by the second customer without including the first acquisition option for acquiring the menu item by delivery by a courier.

5. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, a plurality of first orders from a plurality of first electronic devices;

assigning, by the one or more processors, individual ones of the plurality of first orders for fulfillment by delivery to respective couriers of a plurality of first couriers;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from each of a plurality of first courier devices associated with the plurality of first couriers, first information indicating a first geographic location of the respective first courier device;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from a customer application executing on a second electronic device, an indication that a customer has accessed the customer application on the second customer device, the customer application including functionality enabling ordering an item from a merchant;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from a second courier device associated with a second courier, second information indicating a second geographic location of the second courier device;

determining, by the one or more processors, a courier shortage state based at least in part on the first geographic locations of the plurality of first courier devices and the second geographic location of the second courier device;

generating, by the one or more processors, based at least partially on the courier shortage state and the indication that the customer application has been accessed on the second electronic device, fulfillment information for presentation on the second electronic device;

sending, by the one or more processors, to the second electronic device, the fulfillment information, the fulfillment information causing the customer application on the second electronic device to at least one of;

restrict, from display in a user interface presented on the second electronic device, a first acquisition option for acquiring the item by delivery;

or

display, in the user interface, an incentive for acquiring the item using a second acquisition option that is different from the first acquisition option;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the second electronic device, an indication of a selected acquisition option for a second order for acquiring the item; and

sending, by the one or more processors, a communication for fulfilling the second order according to the selected acquisition option.

6. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

receiving, from the second electronic device, third information indicating a third geographic location of the second electronic device,

and wherein determining the courier shortage state is further based, at least in part, on the third geographic location.

7. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of first orders, a number of delivery orders that are in process of being fulfilled by delivery;

determining, based at least in part on the first information, a number of couriers that are available to fulfill delivery of the plurality of first orders; and

determining the courier shortage state, based at least in part, on the number of delivery orders and the number of couriers.

8. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of first orders, a threshold distance from respective merchants in which orders can be fulfilled by delivery;

receiving, from the second electronic device, third information indicating a third geographic location of the second electronic device; and

determining that the third geographic location is within the threshold distance from the merchant,

and wherein, based at least in part on the third geographic location being within the threshold distance, the second acquisition option includes pickup or dine-in by the customer and the first acquisition option includes delivery by the second courier.

9. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of first orders, a threshold distance from respective merchants in which orders can be fulfilled by delivery;

receiving, from the second electronic device, third information indicating a third geographic location of the second electronic device; and

determining that the third geographic location is outside the threshold distance from the merchant,

and wherein, based at least in part on the third geographic location being outside of the threshold distance, the second acquisition option includes pickup or dine-in by the customer and the first acquisition option is restricted from being presented.

10. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

receiving from a third electronic device, an indication that a customer application on the third electronic device has been accessed, the indication including a request regarding a third order of an item;

generating, based at least in part on the first geographic locations of the plurality of first courier devices and the second geographic location of the second courier device, additional fulfillment information to send to the third electronic device, the additional fulfillment information including the second acquisition option including at least one of pickup or dine-in by a customer associated with the third electronic device, without including the first acquisition option associated with fulfilling the third order by delivery; and

sending, to the third electronic device, the additional fulfillment information for fulfilling the third order.

11. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of first orders, a first cost associated with fulfilling the second order by delivery by courier; and

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of first orders, a second cost associated with fulfilling the second order by at least one of customer pick up or dine-in,

and wherein generating the fulfillment information comprises generating the fulfillment information to further cause the customer application on the second electronic device to present an indication of the first cost and an indication of the second cost.

12. The method as claim 5 recites, further comprising:

receiving, at a first period of time, a first indication that the item has been added to an electronic cart associated with the second order; and

receiving, at a second period of time, a second indication that a checkout process associated with the electronic cart is complete,

and wherein generating the fulfillment information further comprises at least one of;

generating the fulfillment information between the first period of time and the second period of time;

or

generating the fulfillment information after the second period of time.

13. The method as claim 5 recites, wherein fulfilling the second order comprises fulfilling the second order by delivery by the second courier, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending, to the second courier device associated with the second courier, first instructions for fulfilling the second order;

receiving, from a third electronic device, a third order for an additional item from an additional merchant;

determining that the second courier should fulfill the third order by delivery;

sending, to the second courier device, second instructions for fulfilling the third order;

identifying a third courier to fulfill the second order; and

sending, to a third courier device associated with the third courier, the first instructions for fulfilling the second order.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a plurality of orders to be fulfilled by delivery by a plurality of couriers associated with a plurality of respective courier devices;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the respective courier devices, location information indicating respective geographic locations associated with the respective courier devices;

determining, by the one or more processors, a courier shortage state based, at least in part, on the plurality of orders and the respective geographic locations associated with the respective courier devices;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from a customer application executing on an electronic device, an indication that a customer has accessed the customer application on the electronic device, the customer application including functionality for ordering an item from a merchant;

generating, by the one or more processors, based at least in part on the courier shortage state and the indication that the customer application has been accessed on the second customer device, fulfillment information for presentation on the electronic device; and

sending, by the one or more processors, the fulfillment information to the electronic device to cause the customer application on the electronic device to at least one of;

restrict, from display in a user interface presented on the electronic device, a first acquisition option for acquiring the item by delivery;

or

display, in the user interface, an incentive for acquiring the item by a second acquisition option that is different from the first acquisition option.

15. The system as claim 14 recites, the operations further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the plurality of orders, a number of orders that are in process of being fulfilled by delivery; and

determining, based at least in part on the respective geographic locations associated with the respective courier devices, a number of couriers that are available for fulfilling the number of orders,

and wherein determining the courier shortage state comprises determining the courier shortage state based, at least in part, on the number of orders and the number of couriers.

16. The system as claim 14 recites, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the electronic device, additional location information indicating a geographic location associated with the electronic device,

and wherein generating the fulfillment information is further based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the electronic device.

17. The system as claim 14 recites, wherein the location information includes first location information and the respective geographic location includes a first respective geographic location, and wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, based at least in part on the courier shortage state, a threshold distance from respective merchants in which orders can be fulfilled by delivery;

receiving, from the electronic device, second information indicating a second geographic location associated with the electronic device; and

determining that the second geographic location is outside of the threshold distance from the merchant,

and wherein, based at least in part on the second geographic location being outside of the threshold distance from the merchant, the fulfillment information causes the customer application on the electronic device to restrict, from display in the user interface, the first acquisition option for acquiring the item by delivery.

18. The system as claim 17 recites, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from an additional electronic device, an indication that a customer application on the additional electronic device has been accessed, the indication including an additional request regarding an additional order of an item from the merchant;

receiving, from the additional electronic device, third information indicating a third geographic location associated with the additional electronic device;

determining that the third geographic location is within the threshold distance from the merchant; and

generating, based at least in part on the third geographic location being within the threshold distance from the merchant, additional fulfillment information that includes the first acquisition option for fulfilling the additional order by delivery and the second acquisition option for fulfilling the additional order by at least one of customer pickup or dine-in.

19. The system as claim 14 recites, the operations further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the courier shortage state, a first cost associated with fulfilling the order by delivery; and

determining, based at least in part on the state, a second cost associated with fulfilling the order by customer pickup,

and wherein generating the fulfillment information comprises generating the fulfillment information to further include an indication of the first cost and an indication of the second cost.

20. The system as claim 14, the operations further comprising:

analyzing data describing one or more previous orders received from the electronic device, wherein the data describing a respective previous order of the one or more previous orders indicates whether the respective previous order was fulfilled by customer pickup or fulfilled by delivery; and

determining, based at least in part on analyzing the data, a preference for the customer, the preference including that the customer prefers orders fulfilled by pickup or prefers orders fulfilled by delivery,

and wherein generating the fulfillment information is further based, at least in part, on the preference of the customer.