System and method for facilitating pick up of products ordered by a customer by a friend or family member of the customer

A method of facilitating pick up of products purchased over a network by a customer from a retailer, the method comprising:

• providing an electronic customer information database configured to store electronic data associated with geographic locations of friends and family members of the customer;
• processing, at an order processing server, an order for a product placed by the customer, and permitting, the customer to elect, via a computing device of the customer, to have the product ordered by the customer be picked up by a friend or a family member of the customer;
• accessing, via a computing device of the retailer including a processor-based control circuit, the electronic customer information database to obtain the electronic data associated with the geographic locations of the friends and family members of the customer;
• identifying, via the computing device of the retailer and based on the electronic data obtained from the customer information database, the geographic locations of the friends and family members of the customer;
• analyzing, via the computing device of the retailer, the identified geographic locations of the friends and family members of the customer to determine a first friend or family member of the customer located at a geographic location closest to a geographic location of a retail facility of the retailer associated with a geographic location of the customer;
• transmitting, via the computing device of the retailer, a first electronic notification to a computing device of the first friend or family member of the customer, the first electronic notification causing a first graphical interface to be displayed on the computing device of the first friend or family member, the first graphical interface requesting the first friend or family member of the customer to select at least one input field within the first graphical interface to indicate agreement to pick up, at the retail facility of the retailer, the product ordered by the customer;
• in response to a selection by the customer of the at least one input field within the first graphical interface, receiving, at the computing device of the retailer, a response from the computing device of the first friend or family member of the customer indicating agreement by the first friend or family member of the customer to pick up, at the retail facility of the retailer, the product ordered by the customer;
• and
• transmitting, from the computing device of the retailer, a second electronic notification to the computing device of the customer, the second electronic notification causing a second graphical interface to be displayed on the computing device of the customer, the second graphical interface indicating that the product ordered by the customer will be available for pick up at the geographic location of the first friend or family member of the customer.