# US 12,217,202 B1 · Computer program product for prioritizing order fulfillment at a retail sales facility based on anticipated customer arrival times > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,217,202 B1 - Document ID: US12217202B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 18/206,737 - Filed: 2023-06-07 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2019-07-22 - Assignees: Whizzable, Inc. - Applicants: Whizzable, Inc. - Inventors: Steven Samuel - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12217202B1 ## CPC - G06Q 10/06316: {Sequencing of tasks or work} - G01S 19/51: Relative positioning - G06F 16/903: Querying (for retrieval from the web G06F16/953) - G06K 19/06037: {multi-dimensional coding} - G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders - G06Q 10/08744: {by distributed inventory management} - G06Q 10/1093: Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups - G06Q 20/12: specially adapted for electronic shopping systems - G06Q 20/18: involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals - G06Q 20/202: {Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR} - G06Q 20/209: {Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output} - G06Q 20/3224: {Transactions dependent on location of M-devices} - G06Q 20/405: {Establishing or using transaction specific rules} - G06Q 30/0635: {replenishment orders; recurring orders} - G06Q 50/12: Hotels or restaurants - H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences - H04W 4/023: {using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds} - H04W 4/025: {using location based information parameters} - H04W 4/12: Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A computer program product for prioritizing order fulfillment at a retail sales facility receives purchase request information at a retail sales computing device that includes identifying information and order information for the first customer, receives location information for the first customer, processes the received location information for the first customer together with location information of the retail sales facility to predict an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer at the retail sales facility, schedules a time interval for acquiring updated location information for the first customer, and places the identifying information, order information and ETA for the first customer in an order fulfillment queue for all current customers. Entries in the order fulfillment queue are ordered in increasing ETA order. ETA is continuously updated for each customer, and thereby the order for fulfilling customer orders in the order fulfillment queue. For example, if a customer's distance from the retail sales facility increases (for example, due to a mistaken turn), that customer's order will drop to a later-served position in the queue. The location information for the first customer includes GPS-based location information of the first customer that is captured by a GPS device associated with a mobile computing device of the first customer. The location information for the retail sales facility includes GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility. The ETA prediction is performed using the GPS-based location information of the first customer and the GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer program product for prioritizing order fulfillment at a retail sales facility, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying computer-executable program instructions thereon that, when executed, causes a computer system that includes one or more computer devices to: receive purchase request information at a retail sales facility computing device for a first customer, the purchase information providing identifying information of the first customer and order information for enabling order fulfillment; receive location information for the first customer at the retail sales facility computing device, the received location information including the identifying information of the first customer, wherein the location information for the first customer comprises GPS-based location information of the first customer that is captured by a GPS device associated with a mobile computing device of the first customer; process the received location information for the first customer together with location information of the retail sales facility by the retail sales facility computing device to predict an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer at the retail sales facility, wherein the location information for the retail sales facility comprises GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility, and wherein the ETA prediction is performed using the GPS-based location information of the first customer and the GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility; schedule a time interval by the retail sales facility computing device within which to acquire updated location information for the first customer, wherein the scheduled time interval is set as a function of a distance between the first customer and retail sales facility calculated as a function of the location information for the first customer together with the location information of the retail sales facility, and wherein the scheduled time interval decreases from an initial non-zero value to one or more shorter non-zero values as the distance between the first customer and the retail sales facility decreases; and place the identifying information, order information and ETA for the first customer in an order fulfillment queue for the retail sales facility including the identifying information, order information and ETA for at least one additional customer, wherein entries in the order fulfillment queue are ordered in increasing ETA order. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: prepare a message for transmission by the retail sales facility computing device to the first customer to indicate a status of order fulfillment for the purchase request. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the message is prepared by the retail sales facility computing device to be sent as one of a text (SMS) or push message. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the message indicates a status of order received. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the message indicates a status of order complete. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: generate a query by the retail sales facility computer to obtain updated location information for the first customer. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: receive updated location information for the first customer in response to the query; processing the updated location information for the first customer together with the location information of the retail sales facility to predict an updated ETA for the first customer at the retail sales facility; and update the information for the first customer in the order fulfillment queue. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: detect that no updated information is received in response to the query; place the order request for the first customer on hold; and remove the information for the first customer in the order fulfillment queue. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the scheduled time interval value is 5 minutes while the calculated distance is greater or equal to 5 miles, 3 minutes when the distance is less than 3 miles, and one minute or less when the distance is less than 1 mile. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the retail sales facility is a beverage sales facility. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: generate an order receipt by the retail sales facility computer to be provided to the first customer with an order delivery, the order receipt including a scannable identifier; receive a signal by the retail sales facility computer including information of the scannable identifier indicating that the order has been delivered to the first customer; and remove the associated entry for the first customer from the order fulfillment queue. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the location information received for the first customer at the retail sales facility computing device is initially transmitted by the mobile computing device of the first customer substantially coincidently with an entry of the mobile computing device within a geo-fence of the retail sales facility. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: receive information by the retail sales facility computer confirming a payment made by the first customer in reference to the order request. ### Claim 14 A computer program product for prioritizing order fulfillment at a retail sales facility, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying computer-executable program instructions thereon that, when executed, causes a computer system that includes one or more computer devices to: receive purchase request information at a retail sales facility computing device for a first customer, the purchase information providing identifying information of the first customer and order information for enabling order fulfillment; receive location information for the first customer at the retail sales facility computing device, the received location information including the identifying information of the first customer, wherein the location information received for the first customer at the retail sales facility computing device is initially transmitted by a mobile computing device of the user first customer substantially coincidently with an entry of the mobile computing device within a geo-fence of the retail sales facility, wherein the location information for the first customer comprises GPS-based location information of the first customer that is captured by a GPS device associated with the mobile computing device of the first customer; process the received location information for the first customer together with location information of the retail sales facility by the retail sales facility computing device to predict an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer at the retail sales facility, wherein the location information for the retail sales facility comprises GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility, and wherein the ETA prediction is performed using the GPS-based location information of the first customer and the GPS-based location information of the retail sales facility; schedule a time interval by the retail sales facility computing device within which to acquire updated location information for the first customer; and place the identifying information, order information and ETA for the first customer in an order fulfillment queue for the retail sales facility including the identifying information, order information and ETA for at least one additional customer, wherein entries in the order fulfillment queue are ordered in increasing ETA order. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: generate a query by the retail sales facility computer to obtain updated location information for the first customer. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: receive updated location information for the first customer in response to the query; process the updated location information for the first customer together with the location information of the retail sales facility to predict an updated ETA for the first customer at the retail sales facility; and update the information for the first customer in the order fulfillment queue. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: detect that no updated information is received in response to the query; place the order request for the first customer on hold; and remove the information for the first customer in the order fulfillment queue. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable program instructions, when executed, further causes the computer system to: generate an order receipt by the retail sales facility computer to be provided to the first customer with an order delivery, the order receipt including a scannable identifier; receive a signal by the retail sales facility computer including information of the scannable identifier indicating that the order has been delivered to the first customer; and remove the associated entry for the first customer from the order fulfillment queue.