U.S. patent application number 14/331110 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-30 for computer controlled article classification and processing system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Amazon Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jonathan Leblang.
Application Number | 20140324215 14/331110 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44882581 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140324215 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Leblang; Jonathan |
October 30, 2014 |
COMPUTER CONTROLLED ARTICLE CLASSIFICATION AND PROCESSING
SYSTEM
Abstract
A system for processing and classifying articles that classifies
a set of articles based at least upon the locations of the articles
within a structure. The system provides a notification over a
computer network to a user, wherein the notification informs the
user that the user has a time period within which to select a first
article from the set of classified articles to add to a
pre-existing order by the user, wherein the time period is based at
least in part on the anticipated time to transfer at least one
article in the set of articles to a different location within the
structure.
Inventors: |
Leblang; Jonathan; (Menlo
Park, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Amazon Technologies, Inc. |
Reno |
NV |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
44882581 |
Appl. No.: |
14/331110 |
Filed: |
July 14, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13242033 |
Sep 23, 2011 |
8825501 |
|
|
14331110 |
|
|
|
|
10748745 |
Dec 30, 2003 |
8055508 |
|
|
13242033 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
700/216 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 1/1373 20130101;
G06Q 10/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
700/216 |
International
Class: |
B65G 1/137 20060101
B65G001/137 |
Claims
1. A warehouse processing system including hardware, comprising: a
database containing information on a plurality of articles, at
least one of the plurality of articles scheduled for delivery to a
user to fulfill an existing order having a shipping date; an
identification system that selects at least one article from the
plurality of articles, wherein the selection is based at least in
part upon a determination from information in the database that the
selected article is stored in the warehouse at a location whereby
it may be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping
date of the existing order; a notification system that provides a
notification to the user, the notification indicating that there is
a first time period within which the user may add the selected
article to the existing order, wherein the first time period is
based at least in part on the location of the selected article in
the warehouse and an anticipated time to physically add the
selected article to the existing order; and an order processing
system that causes the selected article to be physically added to
the existing order based on a request by the user, wherein the
addition of the selected article to the existing order does not
delay the shipping date of the existing order.
2. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a warehouse
control system configured to automatically instruct an entity to
transfer the selected article to a packing area at least partly in
response to the request by the user.
3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the database stores
timing information related to the time it takes to transfer
articles in inventory to a first location.
4. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both the selected article's
operability with at least one article in the existing order and the
determination that the selected article may be added to the
existing order without delaying the shipping date of the existing
order.
5. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both the selected article's
profitability and the determination that the selected article may
be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping date
of the existing order.
6. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both its location relative to
a packing area and the determination that the selected article may
be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping date
of the existing order.
7. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both a dimension of the
selected article and the determination that the selected article
may be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping
date of the existing order.
8. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both a user profile and the
determination that the selected article may be added to the
existing order without delaying the shipping date of the existing
order.
9. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the notification
system is configured to offer the user an incentive to add the
selected article within the first time period to the existing
order, wherein the incentive comprises at least one of a discount
incentive, a shipping incentive, or a credit incentive.
10. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the first time period
is selected to expire before the existing order is scheduled to be
packed.
11. A method, as implemented by a computer system comprising
hardware configured to execute instructions, the method comprising:
selecting at least one article from a database, the database
comprising information related to a plurality of articles, based at
least in part upon a determination from the information in the
database indicating that the selected article is stored at a
location whereby it may be physically added to an existing order of
a user, the existing order having a shipping date, without delaying
the shipping date of the existing order; transmitting a
notification to the user, the notification indicating a first time
period within which the user may add the selected article to the
existing order, wherein the first time period is based at least in
part on the location of the selected article and an anticipated
time to physically add the selected article to the existing order;
and causing the selected article be physically added to the
existing order based on a request by the user, wherein the addition
of the selected article to the existing order does not delay the
shipping date of the existing order.
12. The method as defined in claim 11, the method further
comprising instructing an entity to transfer the selected article
to a packing area at least partly in response to the request by the
user.
13. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both the selected article's
operability with at least one article in the existing order and the
determination that the selected article may be added to the
existing order without delaying the shipping date of the existing
order.
14. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both the selected article's
profitability and the determination that the selected article may
be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping date
of the existing order.
15. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both its location relative to
a packing area and the determination that the selected article may
be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping date
of the existing order.
16. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both a dimension of the
selected article and the determination that the selected article
may be added to the existing order without delaying the shipping
date of the existing order.
17. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the selected article
is selected based at least in part on both a user profile and the
determination that the selected article may be added to the
existing order without delaying the shipping date of the existing
order.
18. The method as defined in claim 11, the method further
comprising offering the user a financial incentive to add the
selected article within the first time period to the existing
order.
19. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein the first time
period is selected to expire before the existing order is scheduled
to be packed.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor
perform operations comprising: selecting at least one article from
a database, the database comprising information related to a
plurality of articles, based at least in part upon a determination
from the information in the database indicating that the selected
article is stored at a location whereby it may be physically added
to an existing order of a user, the existing order having a
shipping date, without delaying the shipping date of the existing
order; transmitting a notification to the user, the notification
indicating a first time period within which the user may add the
selected article to the existing order, wherein the first time
period is based at least in part on the location of the selected
article and an anticipated time to physically add the selected
article to the existing order; and causing the selected article be
physically added to the existing order based on a request by the
user, wherein the addition of the selected article to the existing
order does not delay the shipping date of the existing order.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
13/242,033 (filed 23 Sep. 2011), which is a divisional of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/748,745 (filed 30 Dec. 2003), now
U.S. Pat. No. 8,055,508. The entire disclosure the priority
application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to article classification, and
in particular, to methods and systems for classifying articles
based on selected article characteristics and for processing the
articles based on selected article characteristics.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] At least in part due to the failure of appropriately
classifying articles or items in a warehouse or fulfillment center,
many conventional warehouse and order fulfillment centers are
inefficient in terms of article processing. For example, articles
are often not sufficiently classified to determine what articles
can be efficiently packed and shipped together. As a result, rather
than pack and ship products that may be desired by users in
relatively fewer packages and shipments, many current order
fulfillment systems inefficiently split orders into several
shipments. Alternatively, for those orders intended to be delivered
in several shipments, oftentimes order fulfillment systems fail to
optimize the grouping of products in each shipment.
[0006] Even if orders are efficiently packed for shipping, most
order fulfillment systems fail to allow a user to efficiently add
items to a shipment at a time subsequent to when the order is
placed. Users are often not aware of the deadline for adding
articles to an order until after the deadline has passed, or, if
the users are aware of the deadline, the users are often not
apprised of the risk that adding to the order may adversely affect
shipping time and cost. It therefore would be desirable to notify
users when articles could be added to an order and shipped in a
manner that would not impact the shipping time or cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to methods and systems for
classifying articles based on selected article characteristics. An
order processing system notifies a user who ordered a product when
the ordered product is about to ship and allows the user to add
items that the system has classified as being eligible based on
selected article characteristics. By appropriately classifying
articles by article characteristics, embodiments of the present
invention ensure the efficient ordering, packing, transportation
and/or delivery of subsequently-ordered items. Embodiments of the
present invention facilitate the shipment of multiple products
together, thereby reducing overall consumption of packing materials
and the amount of energy consumed in transporting products.
[0008] One embodiment is a method of processing orders and
shipments. A system receives over a network a user order for a
first article during a first order session. The first article order
is assigned to a fulfillment center. Additional articles are
identified as being eligible to be added to the first order if
ordered by the user before a first occurrence, wherein the
identification of the additional articles is based at least in part
on an estimated time to transfer the additional articles to a first
location. After the first order session has been completed, the
user is notified that if the user orders one or more of the
eligible articles before a first time, the ordered eligible article
will be delivered with the first article and without delaying
delivery of the first article, wherein the first time is related to
the first occurrence. An order for at least one of the eligible
articles is received from the user. A determination is made as to
whether the order for the at least one eligible article is received
before the first occurrence. By way of example the first occurrence
can be one of a packing process, and a charge process. By way of
further example, the first time can be less than five minutes after
notifying the user. The first time optionally includes at least the
time to transfer at least a first of the eligible articles from a
storage area to the first location. By way of further example, the
first time can be less than four hours after notifying the user.
The user can optionally be notified that an order for at least one
eligible article was not accepted in response to determining that
the order for the at least one eligible article was received after
the first time. Optionally, the user is offered an incentive to
order one or more eligible articles, the incentive including one or
more of a discount on at least one article, a discount on shipping
costs, and a free article. Optionally, the notification, or at
least a portion thereof, is provided to the user at least partly in
response to determining that a terminal associated with the user is
online. Further, the notification, or at least a portion thereof,
is provided to the user via a toolbar displayed on a user
terminal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate an example networked article
categorization and fulfillment center.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates an example warehouse.
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates an example order process.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates an example article classification
process.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates an example database structure and
entries.
[0014] FIGS. 6A, 6B illustrate example tool bars used to provide a
notification to a user.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates an example interface that that enables a
user to add an item to an existing order.
[0016] FIG. 8 illustrates an example offer expiration notice
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Throughout the following description, the term "Web site" is
used to refer to a user-accessible server site that implements the
basic World Wide Web standards for the coding and transmission of
hypertextual documents. These standards currently include HTML (the
Hypertext Markup Language) and HTTP (the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol). It should be understood that the term "site" is not
intended to imply a single geographic location, as a Web or other
network site can, for example, include multiple geographically
distributed computer systems that are appropriately linked
together. Furthermore, while the following description relates to
an embodiment utilizing the Internet and related protocols, other
networks, such as networked interactive televisions, and other
protocols may be used as well. For example, HDML (Handheld Device
Markup Language), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), WML
(wireless markup language), or the like can be used with cell
phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like.
[0018] In addition, unless otherwise indicated, the functions
described herein are preferably performed by programs including
executable code or instructions running on one or more
general-purpose computers that can form part of corresponding
computer systems or subsystems. The computers can include one or
more central processing units for executing program code, volatile
memory, such as RAM for temporarily storing data and data
structures during program execution, non-volatile memory, such as a
hard disc drive or optical drive, for storing programs and data,
including databases, and a network interface for accessing an
intranet and/or the Internet. However, the present invention can
also be implemented using special purpose computers, state
machines, and/or hardwired electronic circuits. The example
processes described herein do not necessarily have to be performed
in the described sequence, and not all states have to be reached or
performed.
[0019] Further, while the following description may refer to
"clicking on" a link or button, or pressing a key in order to
provide a command or make a selection, the commands or selections
can also be made using other input techniques, such as using voice
input, pen input, mousing or hovering over an input area, and/or
the like. In addition, the terms article, item and product may be
used interchangeably.
[0020] The present invention relates to article classification, and
in particular, to methods and systems for classifying articles
based on selected article characteristics. For example, the article
characteristics can include the physical location of an article in
a fulfillment center, and/or the distance of an article from a
predetermined location. As will be described in greater detail
below, in some embodiments a networked inventory control and order
processing system enables the efficient delivery of articles based
in part on article characteristics. Advantageously, an example
order processing system notifies a user who has a pending product
or article order when the ordered product is about to ship and
allows the user to add items to the order for a limited time. Thus,
embodiments of the present invention further facilitate the
shipment of multiple products or articles together, thereby
reducing overall consumption of packing materials and the amount of
energy consumed in transporting products.
[0021] As described in greater detail below, in one embodiment,
ordered articles shipped from a fulfillment center go through
various states during the fulfillment process. An example
fulfillment process is performed as follows. An order for an
article is received from a user by an order processing system. The
user is presented with a record of the total amount of the order,
including any shipping costs. The order may be provided via a
client computer communicating with a Web site during an Internet
session. During the session, a connection is maintained while the
client and server are communicating back and forth or for a given
duration. The session can end when either or both the client and
server terminate it.
[0022] The order processing system then assigns the order to an
appropriate fulfillment center. The article is physically retrieved
from its storage location. The article is then sorted as needed,
boxed, and shipped. The sort process can be used when there are
multiple items that are to be packed together. The multiple items
can be retrieved at different times by different personnel, and are
sorted into specific corresponding bins or locations from which
they will be retrieved and subsequently packed together for
shipment. The user is typically charged or billed when the products
are shipped. In one embodiment, the user can add an item, from a
selected set of items, to the order up until the time that it is
boxed, charged or billed.
[0023] In particular, at time N before the order is charged,
billed, packed/boxed and/or shipped, a notification event takes
place, wherein the user is notified that the time in which the user
can change or add to the order will expire in time M (where
M<=N). The user will then have time M to add selected articles
to the order. The selected items can be presented to the user in a
variety of forms, for example, the notification can include a list
or a link to a list of products or articles that the user can add
to the order without affecting the shipping time and/or cost. In
one embodiment, time M is set to expire before the user is charged
for the original order. Thus, for a given order that is about to be
shipped, only one charge process needs to take place for both the
original article(s) in the order and any added article.
[0024] In one embodiment, time N is any time between the time the
order was placed and the time that the order is, or is predicted to
be, charged, billed, or about to be packed or boxed for shipping.
However, time N can be referenced to other events as well. For
example, N can optionally be the period between when an article in
a pending order is removed from its storage area in a warehouse and
when the article is delivered to a packing area. Preferably, time N
is selected to be close enough to the time of shipment to instill
in the customer a sense of imminent order shipment. For example,
time N can be set to 45 minutes, 2 hours, 8 hours, or 1 day before
the predicted shipping or packing date and time of the previously
ordered article.
[0025] As discussed above, time M is less than or equal to N. In
practice M is set so that the user has a sense of urgency and
limited time to modify or add to the user's order. For example,
time M can be set to 10 minutes, 1 hours, 4 hours, or 12 hours
before the expiration of time N. The time M can also be longer than
one day.
[0026] The notification is generated by the order processing system
and transmitted to the user via one or more communication channels.
The notification can be pushed to the user, that is, the user does
not need to take proactive action to retrieve the notification. In
addition, or instead, the notification can be pulled by the user,
wherein the user actively checks or requests the status of the
user's order, or visits a location, such as a website page, where
the notification is displayed.
[0027] By way of example, and not limitation, the notification
channels can include a message presented on a merchant, vendor, or
affiliate's website. The user can be identified at the website by
the user logging in, or via information stored in a file or cookie
located on the user's terminal or computer system. In addition or
alternatively, the notification can be provided via a client
application residing or executing on the user's terminal, which can
be, by way of example, a personal computer, PDA, Blackberry-type
device, cell phone, or other device that allows for message
reception.
[0028] By way of example, the notification message can be delivered
via a browser plug-in, such as a toolbar or sidebar or Java or
other script application, or to a browser otherwise equipped to
receive such message notification. In addition or alternatively,
the notification message can be delivered via an instant messaging
client (such as AIM (America On Line Instant Messenger) or MSN
(Microsoft Network) messenger or IRC (Internet Relay-Chat).
Further, the message notification can be delivered via e-mail, or
via SMS or other cell phone based messaging system. Still further,
the message notification can be delivered via a paging mechanism to
devices equipped to receive text or numeric pages, and/or via
e-mail to any device or devices equipped to receive e-mail. In
addition, or alternatively, the message notification can be
delivered via a live or automated voice to a phone or other device
equipped to receive voice messages.
[0029] Once the user receives the notification the user can elect
to respond by adding one or more articles to the user order within
the time M. The user can make a selection from a list or grouping
of articles provided by the order processing system. As will be
described below, the list or grouping of articles can be generated
based at least in part on whether the added article will keep the
original shipment time of the original article, whether the
physical proximity of the added article is sufficiently close to
the location of the originally ordered article, and/or other
criteria. The response and selection can be made using one or more
communication medium including, for example, those used to provide
the notification message. Thus, for example, the response can be
made via the web, such as via the merchant, vendor, or affiliate's
website, via a special purpose application, via a web browser
plug-in, via a toolbar, via an instant message, via SMS, via voice
or a key press on a cell phone or similar device, via e-mail,
and/or the like.
[0030] As described above, the list or group of articles presented
to the user are selected by the processing system. The list or
group of articles are chosen by the processing system or operator
so that they have the characteristic that adding one or more of the
articles to the order will not change the shipping time and/or
shipping charge to the user. At the operator's discretion, even if
the actual shipping costs increase as a result of added articles,
the operator can decide to bear the additional costs so that the
shipping cost to the user remains unchanged. This may be done in
order to promote additional sales, to specifically promote sales of
high margin items, or to promote a new store, by way of example. In
addition the list or group of articles may be chosen by the
processing system or operator using various business logic. Thus,
for example, the list or group of articles can be generated based
on cross-sell criteria, the net or gross profit margins, whether a
given article is a clearance or on sale article. The list or group
of articles can also be limited by the communication medium and/or
user terminal used to transmit or receive the notification message
or user response. For example, the list may be relatively large or
extremely large if the notification or response is being
communicated via a website. The list may be relatively small or
very small if the notification or response is being communicated
via SMS to a cell phone or other SMS terminal having a generally
small display.
[0031] The user can optionally be offered incentives to add an
article to the order during or before time M. The incentives can
include special offers, discounts (e.g., a percent or dollar off),
reduced or free shipping, free additional articles, credits towards
future purchases, and/or other types of incentives or offers.
[0032] In the discussion that follows, embodiments of the order
processing system are described in conjunction with a variety of
illustrative examples.
[0033] FIG. 1A depicts an example of hardware and software
components that are invoked or used in one embodiment during the
above-described processes, including a web site server 100A, a task
management/article classification system 102A, a warehouse control
system 104A, and user terminals 106A, 108A, 110A. The system
elements are connected together for communication purposes via a
network 112A.
[0034] The foregoing components can be used to place, process, and
fulfill orders. In this example, the user terminals are a desktop
computer 106A, a laptop computer 108A, and a personal digital
assistant 110A. As depicted by this drawing, users access the web
site served via server 100A using respective terminals 106A-110A,
or other networked terminals. The user terminals 106A-110A may run
commercially-available Web browser applications such as Microsoft
Internet Explorer.RTM., which implement the basic World Wide Web
standards such as HTTP and HTML. However, other interfaces can be
used as well. The terminals 106A-110A may also run a commercially
available e-mail application, such as Microsoft Outlook.RTM. or
Outlook Express.RTM., which may be used to communicate information
with the site server 100A. The e-mail applications and the browsers
may be integrated with one another, and/or may be integrated with
other application programs or the operating system.
[0035] A warehouse control system 104A, located in or accessible
from a warehouse, is used to track the warehouse inventory and
location of articles. The articles can include items such as books,
DVDs, electronics, cooking equipment, clothing, and/or the like.
The web site server 100A, task management and article
classification system 102A, warehouse control system 104A, and user
terminals 106A-110A are networked together via network 112A, which
include one or more networks, such as the Internet and/or an
intranet. In another embodiment, the functionality of the server
100A, task management and article classification system 102A, and
the warehouse control system 104A are optionally combined into a
single system.
[0036] In the example embodiment described herein, the web site
server 100A includes a computer system and associated content that
are accessible via the network 112A. The web site server 100A may
serve one or more websites that include content spanning multiple
Internet domains, and/or may be implemented using physical servers
that are geographically remote from one another. The server 100A
can include an HTML database used to generate Web pages in response
to the actions of end users. In other embodiments, the served web
site may be in the form of an intranet site, in which case the
terminals 106A-110A may be coupled to the site by a private
network. In one embodiment, one or more of the terminals 106A-110A
are coupled to the web site server 100A via a VPN (virtual private
network). By way of example the web site may be in the form of an
online store generally accessible by those with access to the
Internet.
[0037] As depicted in FIG. 1B, the task management and article
classification system 102A includes a task management server 108B.
The server 108B is used to control the overall order and order
fulfillment process flow and handles interactions with users and
order fulfillment centers, including warehouses. The server 108B is
also coupled to an order database 106B which keeps track of user
orders, the identity of the warehouse or order fulfillment center
that will be used to ship the articles in the orders, and the
expected shipping date of each order. The server 108B is further
coupled to an article database 104B that stores product or article
related information, including for example, the cost of the
article, the size and weight of the article (for shipping and
handling purposes), the number of the article in inventory, and the
location and accessibility of the article inventory. The database
104B can further include information related to purchase incentives
that can be offered to users if they add corresponding articles to
an existing order. Various other back-end components (not shown)
are also used for this purpose.
[0038] The task management and article classification system 102A
also includes an article classification module 102B which includes
the basic functionality for suggesting articles to the user that
the user may want to add to an existing order prior to the packing
and shipment of the existing order. The article classification
module 102B accesses the article database 104B that includes
information indicating how accessible articles are in a warehouse,
how easily and/or quickly an article can be retrieved for shipping,
and which articles are related or are typically used or operated
together (such as an electronic article and batteries for the same,
or a camera and a camera case for the same). The article database
104B may further include such information as article profit
margins, articles that the seller wants to dispose of quickly, the
operability of a given article with other articles, the quantity of
articles in inventory, the article shelf life, and the like. The
article classification module 102B provides suggestions or options
to the user as to what additional articles can be added to an
existing order without adversely affecting the shipment date and/or
without increasing the shipping cost of the order.
[0039] The article classification module 102B can further
incorporate or utilize collaborative filtering in recommending
items to be added to the order. For example, collaborative
filtering identifies a set of user's whose purchased items and/or
rated items that overlap one or more other users' purchased and
rated items. The collaborative filter aggregates information
related to these items from these similar users, and eliminates all
or selected items that the user has already purchased and/or rated.
The remaining items may be included in the set of items recommended
or suggested to the user by the article classification module 102B
if the items can be added to the existing order without adversely
affecting the shipment date and/or without increasing the shipping
cost of the order. In addition, the article classification module
102B can further refine the set of recommended or suggested items
based on other criteria, such as whether the item is overstocked,
has a limited shelf life, and/or on the user profile. The user
profile can include user preferences, purchase history information,
the items on the user's wish list, the user's browsing history,
and/or category preferences. Thus, the suggested set of items can
be personalized for a given user.
[0040] FIG. 1C illustrates the warehouse control system 104A in
greater detail. The example warehouse control system 104A includes
a warehouse task management server 108C coupled to an inventory
control module 102C, and to an article inventory and location
database 104C. The warehouse task management server 108B interacts
with the web site server 100A and the task management and article
classification system 102A, and controls the processing of incoming
inventory and outgoing inventory to the fulfillment center. The
inventory module 102C keeps track of the quantity, location and
accessibility of articles in the fulfillment center, and stores
such information in the database 104C. The information stored in
the database 104C optionally can be the same as, a subset of, or
partially overlap with the information stored in article database
104B illustrated in FIG. 1B.
[0041] The layout of a fulfillment center typically includes a
storage area or areas, a packing area, and a loading area. The
storage area can include shelving systems or other storage units
and may be partitioned into a long-term (and less accessible)
storage area and a short-term (and more easily accessible) storage
area. The packing area is used to load one or more articles into a
box or other packing container, and the loading area is used to
transfer packed or boxed articles to trucks, trains, or the like
for shipment to the user. The article or articles stored in the
short-term storage area may include those articles that are
predicted based on past experience, surveys, or otherwise, to be
more likely to be included in a typical user's order. These
articles may be placed near to the packing and loading areas in
order to facilitate their rapid identification and addition to an
order. The articles in short-term storage may also be placed in
relatively more accessible locations that do not require a forklift
or other specialized equipment to access.
[0042] An example of a type of article that would be located in the
short term storage area is batteries. Batteries are often added to
orders for electronic devices, and may be a common type of article
that a user would be interested in adding to an existing order if
they had failed to remember to do so when placing the order.
Another example of a type of article that would be located in the
short term storage area is a best-selling novel that is frequently
purchased by customers. Because articles in short-term storage are
closer to the packing and loading areas, and are otherwise
relatively more accessible, they can quickly be added to an order
shipment. Thus, the time M that the user can be allowed to add
articles in short-term storage to an order about to ship can be
relatively long as compared to the time that a user can be allowed
to add articles that are located further away or are less
accessible.
[0043] FIG. 2 illustrates the layout of a portion of an example
warehouse or fulfillment center, including inventory 202 and the
warehouse control system 104A discussed above. In this example, the
inventory 202 is stored in rows and columns, separated by walkways
via which people or moving equipment, such as forklifts or
conveyors, can move to place or retrieve articles from the
inventory 202. In other embodiments, the layout can include just
rows or just columns, and/or the layout can be distributed
spoke-like relative to a center or off-center point. The warehouse
or fulfillment center further includes a packing area and loading
dock 204. In other embodiments, the packing area can be a separate
area at a distance from the loading dock. In addition, the
warehouse can include one or more buildings or other
structures.
[0044] As illustrated, some of the inventory 202, such as inventory
in row 1, column 1, is significantly closer to the packing area and
loading dock 204 as compared to other inventory, such as inventory
located in row 6, column 1. In addition, some inventory sits on top
of or in front of other inventory. Thus, to access certain
inventory, the use of inventory moving equipment, such as a
forklift, may be needed. The time it takes to access and deliver an
article out of inventory 202 to the packing area and loading dock
204 can be based, at least in part, on the distance from the
packing area and loading dock 204 and on whether other inventory
202 has to be moved in order to access the article.
[0045] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary sequence of acts that are
performed by the web site server 100A, the task management and
article classification system 102A, and the warehouse control
system 104A. At state 302 an order for an article is received by
the web site server 100A from a user or customer during a first
networked order session on a web site. At state 304 the order (or a
portion thereof) is assigned to a fulfillment center, which can
include a warehouse such as that illustrated in FIG. 2. At state
306, a determination is made as to whether it is within time N
before the order is charged, billed, packed, and/or shipped. If
not, the process waits until it is within time N. If it is within
time N the process proceeds to state 307. Time N, for example, can
be one or more days removed from the time the order was received.
At state 307 a determination is made by the task management and
article classification system 102A and/or the warehouse control
system 104A as to which article or articles are eligible to be
added to an order or a portion thereof. Eligible articles include
articles that can be added to the order without affecting the
shipping date and/or shipping costs billed to the user. Thus, for
example, eligible articles might include those that are currently
in short-term inventory in the same fulfillment center as the
article in the pending order.
[0046] At state 308 a notification is sent to the user regarding
the eligible articles and the time M the user has to order one or
more of the eligible articles. As previously discussed, the
notification may take a number of different forms. The user can be
provided with the notification in a form such as e-mail where the
user will receive the message even if the user is not accessing the
site operated by web server 100A. Optionally, the notification may
only be conveyed in a fashion that depends upon a determination
that the user is currently available to view or receive the
notification, such as, for example, when the user is currently
viewing the website served by web server 100A, or is using a
toolbar or accessing another website that the website operator is
able to monitor. In this latter form, the notification can be a
graphic element on the page, such as flashing toolbar icon. The
notification can be spaced apart in time from the placement of the
existing order. For example, the notification can be provided
several hours after the placement of the existing order, or one or
more days after the placement of the existing order.
[0047] When the user responds to the notification by, for example,
clicking on an embedded URL link in the e-mail or clicking on the
toolbar icon, a URL is accessed via a browser and the user is
presented with a web page including a list of eligible articles
generated at state 307 (such as the web page depicted in FIG. 7,
and described below). In addition, the user can be presented with
one or more incentives to order one or more eligible articles. For
example, the user can be offered discounts, reduced or free
shipping, free additional articles, credits towards future
purchases, and/or other types of incentives or offers.
[0048] At state 310, a determination is made as to whether, in
response to the notification and as part of a second order session,
one or more additional articles were added to the order within time
M. If yes, the process proceeds to state 312 and the article or
articles are added to the order. If no, the process proceeds
directly to state 314. At state 314, workers or automated conveyor
mechanisms process all or a portion of the order, including packing
and shipping the order. The shipped package includes at least one
article from the original order and added articles, if any. At
state 316, the user is charged for the order, including any
articles that were added to the order.
[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates state 307 in greater detail. The process
is performed by the task management and article classification
system 102A, the warehouse control system 104A, or the two systems
operating in conjunction with each other. At state 402, articles
are classified as being potentially eligible articles, that is,
articles that are potentially eligible to be selected by a user to
add to the user's already pending order. A number of techniques may
be used, either alone or in combination, to select the set of
potentially eligible articles. For example, collaborative filtering
techniques may be used to determine what articles the user might
want to order. As is well known in the art, collaborative filtering
is used to produce personal suggestions or recommendations by
examining the similarity between a given user's preferences or
order history and that of other people. The potentially eligible
articles can also be selected based on a relationship to one of the
articles already ordered. For example, if the user ordered a
digital camera, the set of potentially eligible articles can
include batteries for the camera, a camera case, and/or a memory
card. The potentially eligible articles can also be selected based
on a variety of other factors. These other factors can include, for
example, whether there are articles or products that manufacturers
want to particularly promote, whether the articles are in stock,
whether the articles are located in the immediate vicinity of the
packing area and/or loading area, the article price, the amount of
a given article in inventory, the size of the article, the weight
of the article, the length of time the article has been in
inventory, and so on.
[0050] At state 404 article inventory information for one of the
set of potentially eligible articles is retrieved from a database,
such as article database 104B and/or article inventory and location
database 104C. FIG. 5 illustrates an example database entry for two
articles, article 125691 and article 347812. The database entry
includes fields corresponding to article characteristics. As
illustrated, the database entry includes fields for an article
identifier, article dimensions, a location identifier that
indicates the row and column of the article, the estimated transfer
time it would take to move the article from its storage location to
the packing area, the article level, indicating which level in a
stack of inventory the article is located, the estimated time it
would take to retrieve the article from the stack, and the total
estimated time to retrieve the article and transfer the article to
the packing area. Additionally, the database entry may include the
weight of the item (not shown). While in this example the location
is provided in row/column format, in addition or alternatively an
alphanumeric location identifier can be used, such as A54312, which
would correspond to a physical location. Similarly, rather than
have length, width, and height dimensions in the dimensions field,
a total volume dimension can be used, or an alphanumeric identifier
that corresponds to a given size, dimension or volume. For example
A1 can be used to refer to an article, in its manufacturer
packaging, that has a volume in the range of 150 to 180 cubic
inches. The estimated times can be based on averages of actual
transfer times, or can be based at least in part on estimated
walking time or driving time to traverse the distance from a
storage location to the packing area or loading dock. Rather than
being precalculated and stored in the database, the estimated times
may also be calculated on the fly based on the location of the item
and the known warehouse layout.
[0051] Returning to FIG. 4, at state 406 the total estimated time
to retrieve the article and transfer the article to the packing
area is read from the database 104B or 104C. At state 408 the total
estimated time is compared to time M. If the total estimated time
is less than or equal to time M then the article is classified as
an eligible article, that is, an article that the user can add to
the order without affecting a shipping time and/or shipping cost.
In addition, a determination is optionally made as to whether an
article can be efficiently packaged with the current order.
Packaging efficiency may take into account the volume of the
product and/or the weight of the product. For example, if the
current order is for a vacuum cleaner, it may not be efficient to
package the vacuum cleaner with an article having certain
dimensions, such as a bicycle. Moreover, if the articles in the
current order weigh in aggregate less than a pound, it may not be
efficient to add an additional article that weighs five pounds to
the order.
[0052] If the total estimated time is less than or equal to time M,
and optionally if the article can be efficiently packed or boxed
with the existing order, then at state 410 the article is
classified as an eligible article. At state 412 a determination is
made as whether there are additional articles in the potential
eligible article set that have not yet been evaluated. If yes, the
process proceeds to state 414, and the classification process is
performed on the next article. Once the articles in the set have
been analyzed the process illustrated in FIG. 4 ends at state
416.
[0053] FIG. 6A illustrates an example toolbar 600A that can be used
to provide a notification message to a user that the user's order
will ship shortly and that the user can add one or more articles to
the order and shipment. In the example toolbar, a truck icon 602A
is used to provide the notification. In one embodiment, the truck
icon 602A only appears to offer the user an opportunity to add
another product to an existing order as discussed above. If no
offer exists, the truck icon is absent from the toolbar. In another
embodiment, the truck icon 602 is constantly displayed on the
toolbar, but flashes or changes color, such as to green, when the
user is being provided the option to add to the order without
incurring a shipping penalty. In one embodiment, the user can click
on the icon to access a remote site that will display a Web page
listing the articles the user can add to the order without
incurring a shipping penalty. FIG. 7 illustrates one such Web page,
which is discussed in greater detail below. The toolbar can
optionally be continuously displayed via the user browser and/or
other application even when the user is not viewing a website
associated with the toolbar provider, such as an online
retailer.
[0054] The toolbar 600A can be displayed upon startup of the
computer, upon the user logging in, upon a user selection, upon
launching an Internet browser, or upon another trigger. The
functions of the toolbar can optionally be integrated into the
toolbar on the user's browser. While the icon to notify the user
may be displayed anytime there is an opportunity to add to an
existing order, preferably the icon is displayed on the toolbar
only when it is known that the user that placed the original order
is using the browser. In order to identify when the user is present
to the order processing system, the toolbar can be associated with
a client application residing and executing on the user terminal or
computer. The client application can periodically transmit an
identifier over the Internet to the order processing system
indicating that the client application is online. The order
processing system deduces from the presence information that it is
likely that the user is viewing the user's terminal display and/or
the toolbar. If the order processing system ceases to receive the
identification information, the system infers that the user is
offline. Presence detection can also be performed by the order
processing system polling or pinging the client application
executing on the user terminal. By first detecting whether the user
is currently online before sending a notification, the system can
better ensure that the notification is viewed and acted upon by the
user. Requiring the user to be present also helps ensure that the
notification is not inadvertently presented to another party (not
the user associated with the original order) that is using the
user's terminal.
[0055] FIG. 6B illustrates another example toolbar 600B, wherein an
order incentive 604B is displayed in association with an offer
notification icon 602B. In this example, the order incentive 604B
is free shipping. Other incentives, such as discounts on items, can
be displayed as well. When the user clicks on the notification icon
602B or the order incentive 604B, the order screen illustrated in
FIG. 7 is transmitted by the web site server 100A to the user
browser for display.
[0056] FIG. 7 is a representative article order screen depicting
one example of an interface that would allow a user to add an item
to an existing order. The interface can be displayed via the user
browser during a network session initiated in response to the user
clicking on a toolbar notification icon, such as that illustrated
in FIGS. 6A and 6B, by clicking on an emailed link sent to a user
email address, where the link is to a Web page corresponding to the
interface, or can be automatically presented to the user when the
user visits the Web site hosted by the Web site server 100A. The
offers depicted on the article order screen could also be inserted
directly into the email that is sent to the user.
[0057] As illustrated, the order screen 700 lists one or more items
that can be added to the existing order without adversely affecting
the shipping date of the existing order. In this example, the user
is given 30 minutes to add the items to the order. In addition, the
order screen 700 optionally provides the actual time and date, 6:45
PM, July, 2003, in this example, at which the user's ability to add
items to the order will expire. The order screen 700 lists the
price for each item, as well as corresponding order incentives or
special offers, if any. In this example, each item is associated
with an "add to order" button or link, which, when activated by the
user, adds the corresponding item to the user's existing order. In
the illustrated example, headphones are offered at a 10% discount
and with free shipping if added to the existing order. A compact
flash memory card is offered without an incentive. Batteries are
offered with a free shipping incentive.
[0058] With respect to an emailed offer to add items to an existing
order, wherein the emailed offer includes a link to an article
order screen, such as that illustrated in FIG. 7, there will be
occurrences when the email becomes stale, wherein the user will not
view the email until after the offer expiration time has passed. In
one embodiment, if the user clicks on the emailed link after the
offer expiration time, an expiration notice will be transmitted by
the Web site server 100A to the user terminal for display on the
user browser. FIG. 8 illustrates an example expiration notice 800.
As illustrated, the notice 800 informs the user that the offer has
expired.
[0059] Thus, embodiments of the present invention appropriately
classify articles to provide for the efficient packing,
transportation and delivery of articles. Advantageously,
embodiments of the present invention notify a user who ordered a
product when the ordered product is about to ship and allow the
user to add articles that the system has classified as being
eligible based on selected article characteristics. Embodiments of
the present invention thereby facilitate the shipment of multiple
products together, reducing the overall consumption of packing
materials and the amount of energy consumed in transporting
products.
[0060] Although this invention has been disclosed in the context of
certain preferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood
by those skilled in the art that the present invention extends
beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative
embodiments and/or uses of the invention and obvious modifications
and equivalents thereof. While a number of variations of the
invention have been shown and described in detail, other
modifications, which are within the scope of this invention, will
be readily apparent to those of skill in the art based upon this
disclosure. It is also contemplated that various combinations or
subcombinations of the specific features and aspects of the
embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the
invention. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the present
invention herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular
disclosed embodiments described above.
* * * * *