Fulfillment of orders

A system, comprising:

• a fulfillment network model maintained in at least one server, the fulfillment network model comprising an abstraction of a physical fulfillment network operated by a merchant, the physical fulfillment network being configured for multi-channel delivery;
• and
• an e-commerce application for the merchant implemented on the at least one server, the e-commerce application being configured to:
• facilitate a generation of an order for an inventory item based upon interaction with a client;
• and
• generate a fulfillment manifest based upon the fulfillment network model, the fulfillment manifest identifying an optimal one of a plurality of fulfillment scenarios to be implemented in the physical fulfillment network to implement fulfillment of the order, wherein the fulfillment scenarios incorporate a preparation time for preparing the inventory item for dispatch, wherein the preparation time further comprises a pick-to-manifest time and an internal transportation time, wherein the pick-to-manifest time is a period of time needed to pick the inventory item from inventory and ready the inventory item for shipment, wherein the internal transportation time is based at least in part on a transportation schedule for a plurality of vehicles to transport the inventory item between a plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network, wherein the fulfillment manifest is generated based in part upon a delivery capability of respective ones of a plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network from the fulfillment network model, wherein the delivery capability is chosen from options of:
• limited to delivering to another site in the physical fulfillment network;
• limited to delivering the inventory item to a physical store;
• and
• unlimited.

A system, comprising:

• a fulfillment network model maintained in at least one server, the fulfillment network model comprising an abstraction of a physical fulfillment network operated by a merchant, the physical fulfillment network being configured for multi-channel delivery;
• and
• an e-commerce application for the merchant implemented on the at least one server, the e-commerce application being configured to:
• facilitate a generation of an order for an inventory item based upon interaction with a client;
• generate a fulfillment manifest based upon the fulfillment network model, the fulfillment manifest identifying at least one action to be taken in the physical fulfillment network to implement fulfillment of the order;
• identify a plurality of locations within the physical fulfillment network where the inventory item is stored;
• generate a plurality of fulfillment scenarios for the fulfillment of the order based on the locations at which the inventory item is stored, wherein the fulfillment scenarios incorporate a preparation time for preparing the inventory item for dispatch, wherein the preparation time further comprises a pick-to-manifest time and an internal transportation time, wherein the pick-to-manifest time is a period of time needed to pick the inventory item from inventory and ready the inventory item for shipment, wherein the internal transportation time is based at least in part on a transportation schedule for a plurality of vehicles to transport the inventory item between a plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network;
• and
• select an optimal one of the fulfillment scenarios for fulfillment of the order, where the fulfillment manifest is generated based upon the selected one of the scenarios and in part upon a delivery capability of respective ones of the plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network from the fulfillment network model, wherein the delivery capability is chosen from options of:
• limited to delivering to another site in the physical fulfillment network;
• limited to delivering the inventory item to a physical store;
• and
• unlimited.

A method, comprising the steps of:

• maintaining a fulfillment network model in at least one server, the fulfillment network model comprising an abstraction of a physical fulfillment network operated by a merchant, the physical fulfillment network being configured for multi-channel delivery;
• maintaining an e-commerce application for the merchant on the at least one server;
• generating an order for an inventory item in the e-commerce application based upon interaction with a client;
• and
• generating a fulfillment manifest based upon the fulfillment network model, the fulfillment manifest identifying at least one action to be taken in the physical fulfillment network to implement fulfillment of the order, where the step of generating the fulfillment manifest further comprises the steps of:
• identifying a plurality of locations within the physical fulfillment network where the inventory item is stored;
• generating a plurality of fulfillment scenarios for the fulfillment of the order based on the locations at which the inventory item is stored, wherein the fulfillment scenarios incorporate a preparation time needed for preparing the inventory item for dispatch, wherein the preparation time comprises:
• an internal transportation time, wherein the internal transportation time is based at least in part on a transportation schedule for a plurality of vehicles to transport the at least one of the inventory items between a plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network;
• and
• a pick-to-manifest time, wherein the pick-to-manifest time is a period of time needed to pick the at least one of the inventory items from the inventory and ready the at least one of the inventory items for shipment;
• selecting an optimal one of the fulfillment scenarios for fulfillment of the order;
• and
• generating the fulfillment manifest based upon the selected one of the scenarios and in part upon a delivery capability of respective ones of the plurality of sites in the physical fulfillment network from the fulfillment network model, wherein the delivery capability is chosen from options of:
• limited to delivering to another site in the physical fulfillment network;
• limited to delivering the inventory item to a physical store;
• and
• unlimited.