Patent Grant
11443362
This disclosure relates generally to sending and receiving order changes. More particularly, the disclosure relates to communicating order changes via chat interfaces in an online concierge system.
In current online concierge systems, a customer adds items to an online shopping cart from a list of items at a retailer. These items create the customer's order, which is retrieved by a picker at the retailer who “shops” for the customer. Though customers may initially specify items in the order, the picker may encounter issues as they fulfill orders. Some commonly encountered issues may include an item being out of stock, low in stock, or low in quality. However, customers may have different preferences of what to do about an issue, so pickers need a way to address these issues with a customer to receive information about their preferences for the order. Additionally, customers need a way to respond to these issues, such as accepting a replacement option suggested by a picker or requesting a refund for an item. For example, if an item is out of stock in one flavor, but is available in another flavor, the picker may want to ask the customer if they would like to replace the unavailable item with the available item. Further, the customer may not like the other flavor and prefer a refund or other remedy for the item rather than the replacement option.
To streamline the resolution of issues with items in an order, an online concierge system generates chat communication channels between customers and pickers as part of a delivery service, such as a grocery delivery service. When a picker is fulfilling an order and encounters an issue with an item, the picker can initiate a chat with a customer to resolve the issue. Using a picker mobile application, the picker may view a picker order interface including a scrollable list of items in the order and select the item. The picker order interface may display a set of predetermined messages, or template messages, about the item indicating what the issue is and, in some embodiments, suggesting a course of action for the item. The online concierge system sends this template message as a message to the customer, which the customer views through a customer ordering interface from a customer mobile application. The customer ordering interface may also display a scrollable list of remedies for the issue, which describe possible courses of action for the item, such as picking a replacement item, changing the quantity of the item, or receiving a refund for the item. The customer may choose a template message associated with a course of action, which is sent to the picker.
More particularly, in some embodiments, the online concierge system receives an order, which is comprised of a plurality of items. The online concierge system displays the order via a chat interface in a scrollable list of items. A picker may interact with this chat interface to select an item from the scrollable list, indicating that there is an issue with the item. The online concierge system receives the selection of the item, and, in response, displays, via the chat interface, a set of template messages specifying the item. The online concierge system receives a selection of one of the set of template messages, as chosen by the picker, and transmits the template message to a client device associated with a customer. The customer may choose a course of action for the item, such as removing the item from the order, and the online concierge system transmits a message indicating this course of action to the picker.
In some embodiments, the online concierge system receives an order from a customer and transmits the order to a client device associated with a picker. When a picker encounters an issue with an item in the order, the picker indicates so via a mobile application on the client device, and the online concierge system receives, via a chat interface, a message from the client device indicating that an item in the order is not available and requesting a course of action for the item. The online concierge system displays, via the chat interface, a set of template messages indicating possible courses of action for the item, such as replacing the item with a related item. The customer selects a template message, and in response to receiving one of a subset of template messages as the selection, the online concierge system displays a set of replacement options for the item. The customer chooses a replacement option, and the online concierge system receives a selection of one of the set of replacement options. The online concierge system then transmits the template message to the picker indicating the course of action for the item.
The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.
The figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
Environment of an Online Concierge System
The environment 100 includes an online concierge system 102. The online concierge system 102 is configured to receive orders from one or more customers 104 (only one is shown for the sake of simplicity). An order specifies a list of goods (items or products) to be delivered to the customer 104. The order also specifies the location to which the goods are to be delivered, and a time window during which the goods should be delivered. In some embodiments, the order specifies one or more retailers from which the selected items should be purchased. The customer 104 may use a customer mobile application (CMA) 106 to place the order; the CMA 106 is configured to communicate with the online concierge system 102.
The online concierge system 102 is configured to transmit orders received from customers 104 to one or more pickers 108. A picker 108 may be a contractor, employee, or other person (or entity) who is enabled to fulfill orders received by the online concierge system 102. The environment 100 also includes three retailers 110a, 110b, and 110c (only three are shown for the sake of simplicity; the environment could include hundreds of retailers). The retailers 110 may be physical retailers, such as grocery stores, discount stores, department stores, etc., or non-public warehouses storing items that can be collected and delivered to customers 104. Each picker 108 fulfills an order received from the online concierge system 102 at one or more retailers 110, delivers the order to the customer 104, or performs both fulfillment and delivery. In one embodiment, pickers 108 make use of a picker mobile application 112 which is configured to interact with the online concierge system 102.
Online Concierge System
The online concierge system 102 also includes an order fulfillment engine 206 which is configured to synthesize and display an ordering interface to each customer 104 (for example, via the customer mobile application 106). The order fulfillment engine 206 is also configured to access the inventory database 204 in order to determine which products are available at which retailers 110. The order fulfillment engine 206 determines a sale price for each item ordered by a customer 104. Prices set by the order fulfillment engine 206 may or may not be identical to in-store prices determined by retailers 110 (which is the price that customers 104 and pickers 108 would pay at retailers). The order fulfillment engine 206 also facilitates transactions associated with each order. In one embodiment, the order fulfillment engine 206 charges a payment instrument associated with a customer 104 when he/she places an order. The order fulfillment engine 206 may transmit payment information to an external payment gateway or payment processor. The order fulfillment engine 206 stores payment and transactional information associated with each order in a transaction records database 208.
The order fulfillment engine 206 also determines replacement options for items in an order. For each item in an order, the order fulfillment engine 206 may retrieve data describing items in previous orders facilitated by the online concierge system 102, previously selected replacement options for that item, and similar items. Similar items may be items of the same brand or type or of a different flavor. Based on this data, the order fulfillment engine 206 creates a set of replacement options for each item in the order comprising the items from the data. The order fulfillment engine 206 ranks replacement options in the set to determine which items to display to the customer 104. In some embodiments, the order fulfillment engine 206 may rank the replacement options by the number of previous orders containing the replacement option or user quality ratings gathered by the online concierge system 102. In some embodiments, the order fulfillment engine 206 only uses data for the customer 104 related to the order to suggest replacement options.
In some embodiments, the order fulfillment engine 206 also shares order details with retailer 110. For example, after successful fulfillment of an order, the order fulfillment engine 206 may transmit a summary of the order to the appropriate retailer 110. The summary may indicate the items purchased, the total value of the items, and in some cases, an identity of the picker 108 and customer 104 associated with the transaction. In one embodiment, the order fulfillment engine 206 pushes transaction and/or order details asynchronously to retailer systems. This may be accomplished via use of webhooks, which enable programmatic or system-driven transmission of information between web applications. In another embodiment, retailer systems may be configured to periodically poll the order fulfillment engine 206, which provides detail of all orders which have been processed since the last request.
The order fulfillment engine 206 may interact with a picker management engine 210, which manages communication with and utilization of pickers 108. In one embodiment, the picker management engine 210 receives a new order from the order fulfillment engine 206. The picker management engine 210 identifies the appropriate retailer 110 to fulfill the order based on one or more parameters, such as the contents of the order, the inventory of the retailers 110, and the proximity to the delivery location. The picker management engine 210 then identifies one or more appropriate pickers 108 to fulfill the order based on one or more parameters, such as the picker's proximity to the appropriate retailer 110 (and/or to the customer 104), his/her familiarity level with that particular retailer 110, and so on. Additionally, the picker management engine 210 accesses a picker database 212 which stores information describing each picker 108, such as his/her name, gender, rating, previous shopping history, and so on. The picker management engine 210 transmits the list of items in the order to the picker 108 via the picker mobile application 112. The picker database 212 may also store data describing the sequence in which the pickers 108 picked the items in their assigned orders.
As part of fulfilling an order, the order fulfillment engine 206 and/or picker management engine 210 may access a customer database 214 which stores information describing each customer 104. This information could include each customer's name, address, gender, shopping preferences, favorite items, stored payment instruments, and so on.
The online concierge system 102 may use a communication engine 216 that transmits information between the customer mobile application 106 and the picker mobile application 112. The information may be sent in the form of messages, such as texts or emails, or notifications via application, among other forms of communication. The communication engine 216 may receive information from each application about the status of an order, the location of a customer 104 in transit, issues with items in an order, and the like. The communication engine 216 determines a message or notification to send to a customer 104 or picker 108 based on this information and transmits the notifications to the appropriate application. In one embodiment, the online concierge system 102 may receive messages composed via a user interface of the picker mobile application 112 and transmit the messages to the customer mobile application 106 (or vice versa) via the communication engine 216. For example, a picker 108 may compose, via a picker order interface, a message indicating that an item of an order is not available. The online concierge system 102 may receive the message from the picker mobile application 112 and transmit the message to the customer mobile application 106 associated with the order. The customer 104 may interact with a customer ordering interface to indicate a course of action for the item, such as to remove the item from the order. The online concierge system 102 receives this information and transmits it in the form of a message to the picker mobile application 112.
Customers 104 may also use the customer ordering interface to message with pickers 108 and receive notifications regarding the status of their orders. Customers 104 may view their orders and communicate with pickers 108 regarding an issue with an item in an order using the customer ordering interface. For example, a customer 104 may respond to a message from a picker 108 indicating that an item cannot be retrieved for the order by selecting a replacement option for the item or requesting a refund via buttons on the customer ordering interface. Based on the chosen course of action, the customer ordering interface generates and displays a template message for the customer 104 to send to the picker 108. The customer 104 may edit the template message to include more information about the item or course of action and communicate back and forth with the picker 108 until the issue is resolved.
The CMA 106 also includes a system communication interface 304 which, among other functions, receives inventory information from the online concierge system 102 and transmits order information to the online concierge system 102. The CMA 106 also includes a preferences management interface 306 which allows the customer 104 to manage basic information associated with his/her account, such as his/her home address and payment instruments. The preferences management interface 306 may also allow the user to manage other details such as his/her favorite or preferred retailers 110, preferred delivery times, special instructions for delivery, and so on.
The PMA 112 also includes a system communication interface 324, which interacts with the online concierge system 102. For example, the system communication interface 324 receives information from the online concierge system 102 about the items of an order, such as when a customer 104 updates an order to include more or fewer items. The system communication interface may receive notifications and messages from the online concierge system 102 indicating information about an order or communications from a customer 104. The system communication interface 324 may send this information to the order interface engine 328, which generates a picker order interface.
A picker order interface is an interactive interface through which pickers 108 may interact message with customers 104 and receive notifications regarding the status of orders they are assigned. Pickers 108 may view their orders through the picker order interface and indicate when there is an issue with an item in an order, such as the item being out of stock or of poor quality. A picker 108 may draft a message to a customer 104 associated with the order requesting clarification about what to do for the item given the issue. The picker order interface displays template messages for the picker 108 to choose from regarding the item and the picker 108 may edit the template message to include more information about the item or a question for the customer 104. The picker 108 communicate back and forth with the customer 104 until the issue is resolved.
In the customer ordering interface 500A, the replacement options 525 for the item 510 “Granny Smith Apples” are displayed in a slider. Replacement options are items similar to the item 510, and the customer 104 may interact with the replacement options 525 by scrolling through the slider or selecting a replacement option to replace the item 510. In
The picker 108 scrolls through the scrollable list of items to designate items that have been found and retrieved for the order and designate issues with items. The online concierge system 102 receives 615 a selection of an item in the order from the PMA 112, the selection indicating that the order needs to be changed because there is an issue with the item. Issues may include the item being out of stock, lacking in quantity, of poor quality, or otherwise unavailable. In response to receiving the selection of the item from the picker 108, the online concierge system 102 displays 620 a set of template messages to the picker 108 via a picker order interface. The template messages each specify a different issue with the order that requires resolution from the customer 104. Examples include that the item is not available at the retailer 110, the item is of poor quality, the item is not available in the quantity ordered, and the item is not available in the type or brand ordered. In some embodiments, each item is associated with a different set of template messages. For example, a produce item may be associated with a template message indicating that the item is poor quality, while a cleaning item is not.
The online concierge system 102 receives 625 a selection from the picker 108 of one of the template messages. The picker order interface displays the template message, and the picker 108 may edit the template message to add custom information, such as alternative options to resolve the issue with the item or a picture of the options available at the retailer 110. Once the picker 108 indicates via the picker order interface that the template message, edited or not, is ready to send, the online concierge system 102 transmits 630 the template message to the CMA 106 to obtain information from the customer 104. The CMA 106 displays, via a customer ordering interface, the template message, as further described in
It is appreciated that although
The online concierge system 102 displays 715, via the customer ordering interface, a set of template messages the customer 104 may use to respond to the message from the picker 108. Each template message indicates a course of action for the item, such as to remove the item from the order and obtain a refund or to replace the item with a different item. In some embodiments, the template message may include another remedy for the item, such as a request for information regarding available replacement options in-store from the picker 108. The customer ordering interface may also display the option for the customer 104 to change the quantity of the item.
The online concierge system 102 receives 720 a selection of one of the set of template messages from the customer 104. In this embodiment, the selection indicates that the customer 104 would like to replace the item with another item. In response to receiving one of a subset of the template messages as the selection 725, the online concierge system 102 displays 730, via the customer ordering interface, a set of replacement options and receives 735 a selection of one of the replacement options, which is inserted into the template message. In this embodiment, the subset off template messages request that the picker 108 substitute a replacement item for the item, whereas the other template messages do not. For example, the customer 104 may receive a message indicating that the item “Moo Moo organic milk” is not available and selects a template message describing a replacement option for the item. The customer ordering interface may display multiple replacement options, such as “Moo Moo whole milk” or “Dairy Farms organic milk,” which are different types and brands of milk. In other embodiments, the customer ordering interface display other remedies, such as a refund for the item. The customer 104 may select one of the replacement options or find an option in a database of items. The online concierge system displays the template message to the customer 104 describing the replacement option, which the customer 104 can edit. The online concierge system then 102 transmits 740 the template message to the picker 108.
It is appreciated that although
Other Considerations
The present invention has been described in particular detail with respect to one possible embodiment. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments. First, the particular naming of the components and variables, capitalization of terms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Also, the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely for purposes of example, and is not mandatory; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component.
Some portions of above description present the features of the present invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names, without loss of generality.
Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
Certain aspects of the present invention include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems.
The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium that can be accessed by the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of computer-readable storage medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.
The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the art, along with equivalent variations. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any references to specific languages are provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the present invention.
The present invention is well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, the configuration and management of large networks comprise storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.
Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
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