Method and system for order returns

• US 20020184106A1
• Filed: 06/05/2001
• Published: 12/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Christensen, James E., Duri, Sastry S., Moskowitz, Paul A., Murdock, John S. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 6,970,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

A system and method for handling the return of items supplied by a store. The method entails building a list of items to be returned on a local computing device. The list is sent to a remote server that handles returns for the store. The remote server returns a confirmation of the items that are returnable and/or of items that are not returnable. As the list is built, each item is compared to a return policy of the store and added to the list only if the item qualifies as returnable. The method also allows for requesting the store to honor the return of items that do not qualify for return. Provision is also made for scheduling pickup of items to be returned.

Claims

1. A method for the return of items supplied by a business establishment comprising:

(a) developing a list of items to be returned by checking each of said items to be returned with a return policy of said business establishment and adding to said list only those items that are returnable according to said return policy;

(b) presenting said list of items for processing by said business establishment; and

(c) identifying a confirmation of said items on said list that are returnable and/or any of the items that are not returnable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said return policy is stored locally to a computing device, and wherein said confirmation includes notification of any updates to said return policy.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises:

(a1) developing a notice to return an item that is determined not returnable according to said policy, and

(a2) presenting said notice to said business establishment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said return policy includes at least one rule that a condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is either temporal or usage.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein each of said items to be returned is entered in said computing device by an input device selected from the group consisting of:

keyboard, mouse, touch screen, stylus pad, radio frequency tag reader, bar code reader, microphone and any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said policy includes a dynamic rule that a business value condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is at least one condition selected from the group consisting of:

current business conditions and markets, inventory levels, weather conditions, seasonal factors, an age/value curve for the product and any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises:

(a3) determining if said return policy requires that one of said items needs to be physically returned to said business establishment, and if not, presenting notice that said one item can be discarded.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises:

(a4) determining if said business establishment will have one of said items picked up, and if so, scheduling a pick up of that item and if not, presenting a notice that said item must be transported to the business establishment.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising (d) collecting data associated with said items, said data comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

customer identification, product identification, store where purchased, date of purchase, date of return, quantity purchased, quantity returned, reason for return, and whether or not to return was handled as an exception to the returns policy.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising (e) mining said data.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising making said data available for mining.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) employs an input device and steps (b) and (c) employ one or more computing devices.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of said computing devices is located remotely from said input device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of said computing devices is located locally to said input device.

16. The computing system of claim 15, wherein said list building means further develops a notice to return an item that is determined not returnable according to said policy, and wherein said means for presenting presents said notice to said business establishment.

17. The computing system of claim 15, wherein said return policy includes a rule that a condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is either temporal or usage.

18. The computing system of claim 15, further comprising an input device, wherein each of said items to be returned is entered by said input device, and wherein said input device is selected from the group consisting of:

keyboard, mouse, touch screen, stylus pad, radio frequency tag reader, bar code reader, microphone and any combination thereof.

19. The computing system of claim 15, wherein said policy includes a dynamic rule that a business value condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is selected from the group consisting of:

current business conditions and markets, inventory levels, weather conditions, seasonal factors, an age/value curve for the product and any combination thereof.

20. The computing system of claim 15, wherein list building means further determines if said return policy requires that one of said items needs to be physically returned to said business establishment, and if not, notifying a user that said one item can be discarded.

21. The computing system of claim 15, wherein said list building means further determines if said business establishment will have one of said items picked up, and if so, scheduling a pick up of that item and if not, presenting notice to a user that said item must be transported to the business establishment.

22. The computing system of claim 15, further comprising means for collecting data associated with said items, wherein said data comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

customer identification, product identification, store where purchased, date of purchase, date of return, quantity purchased, quantity returned, reason for return, and whether or not to return was handled as an exception to the returns policy.

23. The computing system of claim 22, further comprising means for mining said data.

24. The computing system of claim 22, further comprising means for making said data available for mining.

25. The computing system of claim 15, further comprising an input device, wherein each of said items to be returned is entered by said input device, and wherein said input device is a radio frequency tag reader.

27. The memory media of claim 26, wherein said first operation further develops a notice to return an item that is determined not returnable according to said policy, and wherein said means for presenting presents said notice to said business establishment.

28. The memory media of claim 26, wherein said return policy includes a rule that a condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is either temporal or usage.

29. The memory media of claim 26, wherein said policy includes a dynamic rule that a business value condition must be satisfied, and wherein said condition is selected from the group consisting of:

current business conditions and markets, inventory levels, weather conditions, seasonal factors, an age/value curve for the product and any combination thereof.

30. The memory media of claim 26, wherein said first operation further determines if said return policy requires that one of said items needs to be physically returned to said business establishment, and if not, notifies a user that said one item can be discarded.

31. The memory media of claim 26, wherein said first operation further determines if said business establishment will have one of said items picked up, and if so, scheduling a pick up of that item and if not, presenting notice to a user that that item must be transported to the business establishment.

32. The memory media of claim 26, further comprising means for collecting data associated with said items, wherein said data comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

customer identification, product identification, store where purchased, date of purchase, date of return, quantity purchased, quantity returned, reason for return, and whether or not to return was handled as an exception to the returns policy.

33. The memory media of claim 32, further comprising fourth means for controlling said computer system to perform a fourth operation of mining said data.

34. The memory media of claim 32, further comprising fifth means for controlling said computer system to make said data available for mining.

15. A computing system for processing the return of items supplied by a business establishment comprising:

list building means for forming a list of items to be returned by developing a list of items to be returned by checking each of said items to be returned with a return policy of said business establishment and adding to said list only those items that are returnable according to said return policy;

means for presenting said list of items for processing by said business establishment; and

means for identifying a confirmation of said items on said list that are returnable and/or any of the items that are not returnable.

26. A memory media for the control of a computer system that processes the return of items supplied by a business establishment comprising:

first means for controlling said computer system to perform a first operation of forming a list of items to be returned by developing a list of items to be returned by checking each of said items to be returned with a return policy of said business establishment and adding to said list only those items that are returnable according to said return policy;

second means for controlling said computer system to perform a second operation of presenting said list of items for processing by said business establishment; and

third means for controlling said computer system to perform a third operation of identifying a confirmation of said items on said list that are returnable and/or any of the items that are not returnable.