Delivery of remotely ordered items to the current location of a user when geographic information indicates that the user is within a predetermined area associated with a physical store

• US 10,185,984 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2015
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaffer, Jason D., Ulman, Rachael, Ramsden, Richard, Carr, David Jon, Valentine, Mark J., Peach, Corey L., Ruehle, Kevin A., Tovey, David G., Franke, Todd W., Burleson, Timothy James, McPherson, Danielle, Gebisa, Kuleni
• Primary Examiner(s): Levine, Adam L
• Application Number:
  US14/828,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20160063604A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,254 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Embodiments of a computer-implemented method and system pertaining to drive through grocery pickup are described. In one example, a computer-implemented method receives geographic information about a user. The geographic information indicates that the user is within a predetermined area associated with the physical store. The method also determines whether there is a pending remotely placed order for a user account associated with the user in a database associated with the physical store. In response to a determination that there is the pending remotely placed order for the user account associated with the user in the database, the method transmits order information to a computing device of the physical store. The order information includes one or more items in the pending remotely placed order. The method also determines a current location of the user. The method further causes a delivery of the one or more items to the current location.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

executing at a computer display screen an online order for one or more items at an e-commerce website, comprising;

displaying by the computer display screen an order screen provided by the e-commerce website for selecting the one or more items; and

communicating an order for the one or more items from the computer display screen to an order fulfillment center computer;

the method further comprising;

receiving, by one or more processors of a server associated with a physical store communicating with at least one of a mobile electronic device of a user or the order fulfillment center computer, geographic information about the user, the geographic information indicating that the user is within a predetermined area associated with the physical store;

determining, by the one or more processors, whether there is a pending remotely placed online order for a user account associated with the user in a database associated with the physical store;

in a first response to determining whether there is the pending remotely placed online order from the e-commerce website for the user account associated with the user in the database, automatically transmitting, by the one or more processors, order information to a computing device of the physical store, the order information comprising the one or more items in the pending remotely placed order;

determining, by the one or more processors communicating with the mobile electronic device of the user, a current location of the user; and

causing, by the one or more processors, a delivery of the one or more items to the current location for pickup by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the one or more processors, a message to a user device of the user, the message indicating that the one or more items are delivered to the current location within a predetermined time period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the geographic information about the user comprises at least one of:

receiving the geographic information based on a user input;

receiving the geographic information by utilizing a Global Positioning System (GPS) on a user device of the user;

or

receiving the geographic information from a sensor in the predetermined area.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an assignment of the pending remotely placed order based on a type or a size of the one or more items, the assignment of the pending remotely placed order including an assignment for pre-picking of the one or more items.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the order information further comprises at least one of the pickup time slot of the pending remotely placed order, a customer order serial number (OSM) of the pending remotely place order, or a user identifier (ID) of the user or the user account.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the order information further includes a user preference of the user, the user preference indicating an acceptable substitution of the one or more items or an unacceptable substitution of the one or more items, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining availability of an item of the one or more items; and

determining a substitution of the item based on the user preference.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in a second response to the step of determining whether there is a pending remotely placed order for the user account associated with the user in the database, determining advertisement information of the physical store based on a user online record, a user offline record, or a combination thereof; and

transmitting the advertisement information to a user device of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message from an additional computing device of the physical store, the message indicating a rejection or return of an item of the one or more items;

in response to receiving the message, recalculating billing information of the pending remotely placed order; and

notifying the user of the recalculated billing information.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

executing at a computer display screen an online order for one or more items at an e-commerce website, comprising;

displaying by the computer display screen an order screen provided by the e-commerce website for selecting the one or more items; and

communicating an order for the one or more items from the computer display screen to an order fulfillment center computer;

receiving geographic information about a user from a user device associated with the user, the geographic information indicating that the user is within a predetermined area associated with a physical store communicating with at least one of a mobile electronic device of a user or the order fulfillment center computer;

determining whether there is a pending remotely placed online order for a user account associated with the user in a database associated with the physical store;

in a first response to determining whether there is the pending remotely placed online order from the e-commerce website for the user account associated with the user in the database;

automatically transmitting, by the one or more processors, order information to a computing device of the physical store, the order information comprising the one or more items in the pending remotely placed order,

determining, by the one or more processors, a current location of the user, and

causing, by the one or more processors communicating with the mobile electronic device of the user, a delivery of the one or more items to the current location; and

in a second response to the step of determining whether there is a pending remotely placed order for the user account associated with the user in the database;

determining advertisement information of the physical store based on a user online record, a user offline record, or a combination thereof, and

transmitting the advertisement information to a user device of the user.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the order information further comprises at least one of a pickup time slot of the pending remotely placed order, a customer order serial number (OSM) of the pending remotely place order, or a user identifier (ID) of the user or the user account.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the order information further includes a user preference of the user, the user preference indicating an acceptable substitution of the one or more items or an unacceptable substitution of the one or more items, or a combination thereof.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining availability of an item of the one or more items; and

determining a substitution of the item based on the user preference.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from an additional computing device of the physical store, the message indicating a rejection or return of an item of the one or more items;

in response to receiving the message, recalculating billing information of the pending remotely placed order; and

notifying the user of the recalculated billing information.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a computer display screen that displays an order screen provided by an e-commerce website for selecting one or more items; and

a memory configured to store one or more sets of instructions;

a processor configured to access the memory to execute the one or more sets of instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving geographic information about a user, the geographic information indicating that the user is within a predetermined area associated with a physical store;

receiving an order communicated by the display screen for the one or more items from the computer display screen to an order fulfillment center computer;

determining whether there is a pending remotely placed order for a user account associated with the user in a database associated with the physical store;

in a first response to determining whether there is the pending remotely placed online order for from the e-commerce website the user account associated with the user in the database, automatically transmitting order information to a computing device of the physical store, the order information comprising the one or more items in the pending remotely placed order;

determining a current location of the user; and

causing a delivery of the one or more items to the current location for pickup by the user.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

in a second response to the step of determining whether there is a remotely placed order for the user account associated with the user in the database, determining advertisement information of the physical store based on a user online record, a user offline record, or a combination thereof; and

transmitting the advertisement information to a user device of the user.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from an additional computing device of the physical store, the message indicating a rejection or return of an item of the one or more items;

in response to receiving the message, recalculating billing information of the pending remotely placed order; and

notifying the user of the recalculated billing information.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the receiving the geographic information about the user comprises receiving the geographic information by utilizing a GPS in a user device of the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the order information further includes a user preference of the user, the user preference indicating an acceptable substitution of the one or more items or an unacceptable substitution of the one or more items, or a combination thereof.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining availability of an item of the one or more items; and

determining a substitution of the item based on the user preference.