Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • 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
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

• the present invention pertains to the field of electronic commerce, and more specifically to a system and method for delivering merchandise that is ordered electronically.
• the Internet has become an important tool for retail merchandising.
• a customer makes a selection from an on-line catalog or presentation screen.
• the product is delivered via a conventional air and ground delivery service, such as the mail or a private parcel delivery service.
• the customer must then wait anywhere from one to three days for the arrival of the merchandise, depending on the delivery service selected. This is a significant drawback when compared to shopping at local retail stores where the customer immediately receives, and has the use of, a purchased product.
• the delayed product delivery also compares disadvantageously with the product delivery times of local business entities that have established rapid neighborhood product-delivery service capabilities, such as those associated with florist shops and pizza or other fast-food establishments.
• a remote electronic commerce (e-commerce) site that offers items of merchandise for sale is electronically linked to a local store that has an established product-delivery network or infrastructure.
• the delivery infrastructure such as that of a florist shop or pizza or other fast-food establishment, was previously created to provide delivery of a product or business service to a limited geographic area.
• the local store pre-stocks one or more of a plurality of products that are sold on the e-commerce site, and provides rapid product delivery to a product purchaser upon receipt of an order and a local delivery address from said e-commerce site.
• the order may come directly from the e-commerce site or through a third party facilitator that routes orders to appropriate local stores.
• the product inventory retained in said local store is limited to a small number of first tier products comprising only the most popular products.
• a local delivery agent receives instructions from the operator of the e-commerce site, or third party facilitator, and delivers the product ordered from the site in minutes or hours rather than days, as in the conventional process.
• Such rapid home delivery of purchased e-commerce merchandise uses existing infrastructure and provides a significant improvement over the existing e-commerce architectures.
• a system and method for using existing warehouses, regional distribution centers, and the upstream processing channels of a local store for delivering a plurality of second tier products to a local store, and from the store to the customer.
• Such second tier products which may comprise less popular products than the first tier products, would not have to be kept in the local store, but could be stocked in regional storage centers and delivered on demand to the local stores for delivery by the local delivery agent.
• Such regional centers are typically located within a few miles of any of the stores in any urban area.
• Figure 1 shows the principal elements of an electronic purchasing and delivery system according to the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the steps involved in an electronic transaction including a delivery from a local store.
• Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the steps involved in making a delivery from local store and a restocking delivery from a regional storage center
• Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an electronic transaction where a facilitator is involved.
• figure 1 shows a diagram of a business structure 10 showing the elements of the electronic purchasing and delivery system according to the present invention.
• a purchaser using a home personal computer (PC) 12 interactively connects to a computer 14 at the e-commerce site 16 over the Internet, typically using telephone or cable 18.
• Various transactional program modules in computer 14 present a catalog of items of merchandise for sale to computer 12. Similar modules are currently used on a number of e-commerce Internet sites and are well known. It is noted that while the present invention is described in terms of the Internet, this description is illustrative only, and should not be interpreted to prevent the use of networks currently in use or developed in the future.
• an order which includes a delivery address is transmitted via electronic link 20 to a computer 22 located in one of a plurality of local business entities or stores 24.
• Each store has an established delivery infrastructure for delivery of a product that typically is unrelated to the merchandise available at the e-commerce site.
• the delivery infrastructure provides for product delivery to a local neighborhood by means of delivery agents who walk or use automobiles, trucks, bicycles, or motorcycles. Deliveries are typically made rapidly to destinations within a limited geographic area of the local business 24. Typically, such local areas are limited to a two to five mile radius from store 24, but this can vary based on the nature of the business and the geographic area where the business is located.
• each local store 24 reserves a storage area 26 for stocking selected ones of a plurality of best-selling items from e-commerce site 16.
• This storage area can be in the store or located off-site.
• delivery means 28 comprises the aforementioned agents and any of the aforementioned transportation modes.
• an electronic request for delivery can be sent via a link 30 to a computer 32 at a regional storage and distribution facility, or a warehouse 34.
• warehouse 34 which can support a plurality of neighborhood stores 24, can provide additional product stocking and rapid delivery to the local stores 24 via truck or van delivery means 36.
• the delivery agents of local store 24 can retrieve ordered products from warehouse 34 and deliver them to the local delivery area.
• FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the steps of an electronic transaction between the purchaser and the e-commerce site 16 and a subsequent delivery from a local store 24.
• the purchaser After the purchaser establishes an electronic connection with the e-commerce site in a step 38, the purchaser previews the items of merchandise via an on-line catalog or presentation screen in step 40 and makes a selection in step 42.
• These steps could also comprise the viewing and selection from a paper or other catalog or sales presentation available at the purchaser's location, with just an item identification number being entered as the selection mechanism of step 42.
• the purchaser enters a destination address on the order form in step 44.
• an order is transmitted in step 46 to one of the plurality of local stores 24, typically, but not necessarily, the closest store to said destination address.
• the local store computer 22 queries an inventory listing in step 48 to determine if the ordered item is present in storage area 26. If it is determined in step 50 that the item is present in storage area 26, the item or items are removed from inventory, decremented from the inventory listing, and delivered in step 52 to the destination address provided in the order.
• Warehouse computer 32 is notified of the decrement in the inventory count so that the local store can be re-stocked.
• a priority order is sent in a step 54 to warehouse computer 32 so that the item can be shipped in a step 56 from warehouse 34 to local store 24, and then delivered in step 52 to the destination address. Any stocks which are depleted due to deliveries can be restored to appropriate levels as a normal course of business. In the event that an item is not in stock at one of the plurality of local stores 24 or in warehouse 34, an appropriate message will be sent to the e-commerce site.
• Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the steps involved in querying a local store to see if an ordered item is in the store and delivering that item from a regional distribution center if it is not in stock.
• the local store 24 receives in step 58 an order from one or more of a plurality of e-commerce sites 16.
• a query in step 60 is made to a local inventory listing to ascertain the presence or absence of an item of merchandise in local storage area 24.
• Determination in step 62 either forwards in step 64 the order for delivery or places orders in step 66 for additional product deliveries in step 68 from warehouse 34. Again all inventory lists are adjusted to reflect a current on-hand listing.
• the present invention also provides a system for using existing warehouses, regional distribution centers, and upstream processing channels of said local store to provide for the rapid delivery of a plurality of second tier products to the local store, and then to the customer.
• FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 70 of the transaction steps between a consumer 72 and an e-commerce retailer 74 using a third-party facilitator 76 to interact with local retailer 78, according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.
• consumer 72 orders merchandise from retailer 74.
• retailer 74 queries facilitator 76 for availability of said product, and in step 84 facilitator 76 either queries local retailer 78 for availability, or queries a stored database of said local inventories.
• local retailer 78 responds with product availability status.
• Facilitator 76 relays the response to e-commerce retailer 74 in step 88.
• E-commerce retailer 74 informs consumer 72 of availability, and provides a delivery or shipping schedule in step 90 and transmits a delivery request to facilitator 76 in step 92.
• Facilitator 76 transmits the delivery order to local retailer 78 in step 94.
• a delivery agent of local retailer 78 delivers the merchandise in step 96 and local retailer 78 informs facilitator 76 in step 98 that the merchandise has been delivered.
• Facilitator 76 in step 100 notifies e-commerce retailer that the merchandise has been delivered.

Landscapes

• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• Development Economics (AREA)
• Economics (AREA)
• Marketing (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24129246

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (2)

• 2001
  • 2001-03-23 AU AU2001249370A patent/AU2001249370A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-03-23 WO PCT/US2001/009277 patent/WO2001071631A2/fr not_active Ceased

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events