US 10,592,964 B2Granted

Order fulfillment management

AssigneeWalmart Apollo, LLC

InventorsDonald R. High, Chandrashekar Natarajan, John J. O'Brien

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Abstract

A system receives an order from a user and evaluates a plurality of potential sources for items of an order as well as delivery options. Combinations of sources and delivery options are assigned a score according to factors such as cost, delivery time, and supply chain factors. A prior-used delivery option for the user is determined and the scores are adjusted to indicate higher desirability for combinations including the prior-used delivery option. A combination is selected and fulfillment of the order is invoked. The source and/or delivery option for an order may be adjusted after fulfillment has begun in response to user instructions or detected disruptions. A user may specify a preferred delivery option that will be used unless a combination not including the preferred delivery option meets a threshold condition. The system may analyze past orders of a user and identify lower cost delivery intervals and/or destinations.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A method for fulfilling online orders for products, the method comprising:

receiving, by a server system, an order from a customer for a product;
identifying, by the server system, a set of potential source locations of units of the product, the set of potential source locations including a distribution center, a retail location, a self-serve vending station, and a partner store;
identifying, by the server system, for each source location of the set of potential source locations, a set of potential delivery options including a delivery location for each delivery option, the set of potential delivery options including one or more delivery carriers, in-store pick up, and a courier service;
defining, by the server system, a plurality of combinations, each combination of the plurality of combinations including a source location of the set of potential source locations and a delivery option of the set of potential delivery options;
determining, by the server system, a score for each combination of the plurality of combinations, the score for each combination being the sum or weighted sum of a delivery time from the source location to the delivery location and a cost of using the delivery option to deliver the product from the source location to the delivery location;
determining, by the server system, a previously used delivery option by the customer;
adjusting, by the server system, the scores of a portion of the combinations of the plurality of combinations including the previously used delivery option to decrease the scores of the portion of the combinations that include the previously used delivery option by a predetermined amount;
selecting, by the server system, a combination of the plurality of combinations having the lowest score;
invoking, by the server system, shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the selected combinations;
receiving, by the server system, a notification indicating that one of the source location and the delivery option of the selected combination is unavailable;
selecting, by the server system, a substitute combination of the plurality of combinations having the second lowest score;
invoking, by the server system, cancelation of the shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the selected combination;
and
invoking, by the server system, shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the substitute combination.

11 more elements

A system for selecting delivery options for customers ordering products, the system comprising:

a set of potential source locations of units of a product, the set of potential source locations including a distribution center, a retail location, a self-serve vending station, and a partner store;
one or more processors and one or more memory devices operably coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more memory devices storing executable code effective to cause the one or more processors to:
receive an order from a customer for the product;
identify for each source location of the set of potential source locations, a set of potential delivery options including a delivery location for each delivery option, the set of potential delivery options including one or more delivery carriers, in-store pick up, and a courier service;
define a plurality of combinations, each combination of the plurality of combinations including a source location of the set of potential source locations and a delivery option of the set of potential delivery options;
determine a score for each combination of the plurality of combinations, the score for each combination being the sum or weighted sum of a delivery time from the source location to the delivery location and a cost of using the delivery option to deliver the product from the source location to the delivery location;
identify a previously used delivery option by the customer;
adjust the scores of a portion of the combinations of the plurality of combinations including the previously used delivery option to decrease the scores of the portion of the combinations that include the previously used delivery option by a predetermined amount;
select a combination of the plurality of combinations having the lowest score;
and
invoke shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the selected combination;
receive a notification indicating that one of the source location and the delivery option of the selected combination is unavailable;
select a substitute combination of the plurality of combinations having the second lowest score;
invoke cancelation of shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the selected combination;
and
invoke shipment of the product to the customer from the source location and using the delivery option of the substitute combination.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/471,592Filed 28 Mar 2017 · us provisional application
Priority: 29 Mar 2016
Published: US 2017/0287052 A15 Oct 2017
Granted: 17 Mar 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification3 codes

G06Q 30/0635
Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists: replenishment orders; recurring orders
G06Q 10/083
Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management: shipping
G06Q
Information and communication technology [ict] specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial