Method and system for managing group orders from third party retail shops
10929906 ยท 2021-02-23
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
G06Q20/202
PHYSICS
G07F17/40
PHYSICS
International classification
G07F17/40
PHYSICS
G06Q50/00
PHYSICS
Abstract
Managing orders from third party retail shops that includes: storing one or more predetermined orders for each of a plurality of users of a platform service, each of the predetermined orders including a product selection for the user associated with a particular third party retail shop; receiving, from a user of the platform service, a selection of one or more of the plurality of users; receiving, from the user, a selection of the third party retail shop from among a plurality of third party retail shops; and after receiving both (1) the selection of the third party retail shop and (2) the one or more users, generating an order including the product selection associated with the selected third party retail shop for each of the selected one or more users.
Claims
1. A method of managing orders from third party retail shops, the method comprising: storing in a database one or more predetermined orders for at least a portion of a plurality of users of a platform service, each of the one or more predetermined orders including a default product selection for the user associated with a particular third party retail shop from among a plurality of third party retail shops; storing, in the database, one or more predetermined ordering groups, the predetermined ordering groups including one or more of the plurality of users; providing a user interface to a mobile device of an ordering user of the platform service, the user interface including a shop selection screen and a group selection screen; receiving, associated with the ordering user, a selection of a predetermined ordering group associated with the ordering user, the predetermined ordering group being presented on a group selection screen; receiving, associated with the ordering user, a selection of a third party retail shop from among the plurality of third party retail shops presented in the shop selection screen and included in the platform; and after receiving both (1) the selection of the third party retail shop and (2) the predetermined ordering group including a plurality of the users of the platform service, generating an order including the product selection associated with the selected third party retail shop for each of the selected one or more users; wherein the platform service does not require the ordering user to re-select users to be included in a predetermined ordering group and does not require the ordering user or the users in the predetermined ordering group to enter product selections for the users in the predetermined ordering group to be included in the order.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of retail shops comprise a plurality of restaurants.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the product selection comprises a menu item.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of users is established within the platform service through a social media network.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising electronically submitting the generated order to the selected third party retail shop.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising submitting electronic payment for the generated order.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the order includes transmitting a group order for display on a user interface of a mobile device of the ordering user.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a message to each user in the predetermined ordering group; and receiving from at least one user in the predetermined ordering group a notification opting in to being included in the order.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the order includes the product selection and one or more customizations associated with the selected third party retail shop for the at least one user.
10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving a selection from the ordering user to include a user from the predetermined ordering group in the order despite not receiving a notification opting in to being included in the order from that user.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing one or more customizations associated with the user in the database, and wherein the order includes the one or more customizations.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection of the third party retail shop comprises, upon not receiving a selection from the ordering user within a predetermined amount of time, automatically selecting a third party retail shop on behalf of the ordering user.
13. A method of coordinating orders from a third party retail shop for a plurality of user contacts, the method comprising: displaying a user interface including a group selection screen that presents a predetermined plurality of users of a platform service on a mobile device of an ordering user; transmitting, from the mobile device of the ordering user to a platform service, a selection of a predetermined group of users, the predetermined group of users including the ordering user and one or more of the plurality of users of the platform service, wherein the group selection screen does not require the ordering user to re-select users to be included in a predetermined ordering group; displaying a user interface including a shop selection screen that presents a plurality of third party retail shops included in the platform service; transmitting, from the mobile device of the ordering user to the platform service, a selection of a third party retail shop from among a plurality of third party retail shops included in the platform service; and receiving an order including a previously-selected product associated with the selected third party retail shop for each of the selected one or more users based on information in a database, without requiring each of the selected one or more associated users to re-enter the product after the selection of the third party retail shop by the ordering user.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the order is associated with fewer than all of the selected one or more users based on which of the one or more users indicates interest in inclusion in the order.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising electronically transmitting, from the mobile device to the third party retail shop, payment for the order.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying the order on a display of the mobile device.
17. A mobile device comprising: a programmable circuit; a memory communicatively connected to the programmable circuit storing instructions which, when executed by the programmable circuit, cause the mobile device to: display a user interface including a group selection screen that presents a predetermined plurality of users of a platform service on a mobile device of an ordering user; transmit, from the mobile device of the ordering user to a platform service, a selection of a predetermined group of users, the predetermined group of users including the ordering user and one or more of the plurality of users of the platform service, wherein the group selection screen does not require the ordering user to re-select users to be included in a predetermined ordering group; display a user interface including a shop selection screen that presents a plurality of third party retail shops included in the platform service transmit, from the mobile device of the ordering user to the platform service, a selection of a third party retail shop from among a plurality of third party retail shops included in the platform service; and receive an order including a previously-selected product and one or more customizations associated with the selected third party retail shop for each of the selected one or more users based on information in a database, without requiring each of the selected one or more associated users to re-enter the product or the one or more customizations after the selection of the third party retail shop by the ordering user.
18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the user interface including the group selection screen includes a shop search bar.
19. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the user interface including the shop selection screen includes a user search bar.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(12) As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods to establish a platform service, which is accessible to a plurality of users through any number of various computing devices, that enables each user to identify and store a preferred product selection at a particular third party retail shop and, optionally, include user preferred customization options to the product. The platform service further enables users of the platform to define a group of users and, based on the defined group, generate a combined order reflecting the preferred product selections of the users in the group for a particular retail shop; the combined order can additionally include the customizations of the preferred product selection. The combined order can then be placed in person at the retail shop or submitted electronically to the retail shop.
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(14) For ease of understanding, the remaining figures of the present disclosure illustrate the operation of the platform service 150 for the management of group orders from third party retail shops in the context of third party restaurants. However, it is to be understood that use of the platform service 150 is not limited to restaurants but should be recognized as being applicable to any of various other types of third party shops including, but not limited to, for example, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, movie theatres, or other types of shops at which groups of potential customers may typically desire to place orders at the same time.
(15) As noted above, the platform service 150 for the management of group orders from third party retail shops utilizes the database 110. Referring to
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(17) It is noted that, in alternative embodiments, the database 200 may store less than the entire collection of data from each of the restaurants. For example, in an example embodiment, the database 200 stores a list of restaurant identifiers, and can access menu information from a remote database, either controlled by the same entity as that of the platform 100, or a separate entity such as the restaurant owner or other third party. In such embodiments, the restaurant database 200 can store information associated with the restaurants participating in the platform service 150, but may not store all menu information for those restaurants due to frequency of update of such information, and a lack of mechanism for notifications regarding such updates. As such, the platform service 150 may also include an interface to a third party menu service for accessing menu items for the restaurant participants in the restaurant database. The interface to the third party menu service may be an aggregator of menu items, or may be specific to a particular one or more restaurants. As such, more than one such interface may be used, depending on the participation of restaurants in such an aggregator and in the platform service 150.
(18) Referring to
(19) In the example of
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(21) Such storage of data and relationships among data, including the linkage between different users, each user and specific restaurants and order preferences at those restaurants, allows for improved efficiency of data storage and communication among users, for a variety of reasons. For example, maintaining these correspondences in the user database 250 allows for creation of group orders without requiring presentation of options to each user (which that user may not remember at a time of ordering) or requesting that each user newly-enter information associated with an order at each time the user wishes to join a group order.
(22) Referring to
(23) The flowchart of
(24) Once established, the user is then queried as to whether they wish to select menu items from a restaurant, S716. If the user does not wish to select menu items from a restaurant, S716:NO, the user is queried as to whether they would like to make a group selection and/or create an order, S718. If the user would like to make a group selection or create an order, S718:YES, operation is transferred to the group selection and order module 620 at item A. If the user would not like to make a group selection but would still like to place an order, S718:YES, operation is transferred to the group selection and order module 620 at item A. If user does not wish to make a group selection or create an order, S718:NO, operation of the user registration module 610 ends.
(25) If the user does wish to select menu items from a restaurant, S716:YES, the user is provided with a listing of restaurants from which to select, e.g. those restaurants stored in restaurant database 250, S720. Alternatively, or in addition to, providing the user with a listing of restaurants from which to select, the user may enter the name of a restaurant or use a global positioning system (GPS) function to provide a map of nearby restaurants from which to select
(26) Returning once again to
(27) The flowchart of
(28) If the user utilizes one of the group operations, e.g. S910 or S912, or chooses to bypass these operations, the group selection and order module 620 presumes the user wishes to create a combined order and subsequently prompts the user to select a restaurant from which to order, S914. Upon selection of a restaurant, S914, the user is presented with a list of groups and/or individual users from which to invite into placing a combined order of menu items from the selected restaurant, S916. In certain embodiments, the user can perform operations S914 and S916 in reverse order by selecting those individuals the user wishes to invite first and the restaurant second.
(29) Upon selecting a group of users and/or one or more individual users, S916, the group selection and order module 620, operates to optionally transmit an invitation S918 to the selected users via text and/or e-mail and/or app notification based on the user's contact information stored in the user database 250. The invited user's, in turn, optionally send a reply S920 to the invitation S918. If the user chooses not to reply to the invitation, then the originating user has the ability to process the order and choose whether or not to include the invited user. In certain embodiments, if a restaurant has not been selected by the user that is the order originator, the invitation can invite the receiver of the invitation to vote on a list of restaurants from which to order or to enter/select a restaurant the receiver of the invitation would like to order from. In a further example, if the restaurant has not been selected by the user that is the order originator, that user can be presented a number of restaurants based on the users selected and invited, e.g., among those restaurants for which the selected users have preselected orders.
(30) In an example embodiment, a timer can be implemented with which, if no restaurant is selected within a predetermined period of time, a restaurant is selected for the user. This has a benefit of reducing indecision of the user with respect to restaurant choice.
(31) If the user does not wish to be included in the combined order at the selected restaurant, S922:NO, the declining user is eliminated from the combined order, S923. If the user does wish to be included in the combined order at the selected restaurant, the group selection and order module 620 operates to determine if the replying user has a predetermined menu selection (which can additionally include options and/or customized instructions) stored in the user database 250 that can be included in the combined order, S924. If the replying user, does not have a predetermined menu selection, S924:NO, the replying user is directed back to the user registration module 610 (see
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(33) Returning to the flowchart of
(34) In example additional embodiments, the order originating user may be presented with a number of additional options. For example that user may be requested to provide a rating or review for the restaurant and/or delivery service with which the order was placed, or may be able to share photos or video of various completed orders on social media.
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(36) The computing device 1200 may also include additional data storage devices (removable or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated by a removable storage 1216 and a non-removable storage 1218. Computing device 1200 may also contain a communication connection 1220 that may allow computing device 1200 to communicate with other computing devices 1222, such as over a network in a distributed computing environment, for example, an intranet or the Internet. Communication connection 1220 is one example of a communication medium, via which computer-readable transmission media (i.e., signals) may be propagated.
(37) Programming modules, may include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that may perform particular tasks or that may implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, aspects may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable user electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Aspects may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, programming modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
(38) Furthermore, aspects may be practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit using a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors (e.g., a system-on-a-chip (SoC)). Aspects may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including, but not limited to, mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition, aspects may be practiced within a general purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems.
(39) Aspects may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product may be computer storage medium readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. Accordingly, hardware or software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) may provide aspects discussed herein. Aspects may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system.
(40) Although aspects have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or read from other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, or other forms of RAM or ROM. The term computer-readable storage medium refers only to devices and articles of manufacture that store data or computer-executable instructions readable by a computing device. The term computer-readable storage media does not include computer-readable transmission media. In at least some embodiments, the computer-readable media comprise at least some tangible media, and in further embodiments, comprise entirely non-transitory media devices.
(41) Aspects of the present invention may be used in various distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network.
(42) Aspects of the invention may be implemented via local and remote computing and data storage systems. Such memory storage and processing units may be implemented in a computing device. Any suitable combination of hardware, software, or firmware may be used to implement the memory storage and processing unit. For example, the memory storage and processing unit may be implemented with computing device 1200 or any other computing devices 1222, in combination with computing device 1200, wherein functionality may be brought together over a network in a distributed computing environment, for example, an intranet or the Internet, to perform the functions as described herein. The systems, devices, and processors described herein are provided as examples; however, other systems, devices, and processors may comprise the aforementioned memory storage and processing unit, consistent with the described aspects.
(43) The description and illustration of one or more aspects provided in this application are intended to provide a thorough and complete disclosure the full scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art and are not intended to limit or restrict the scope of the invention as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and details provided in this application are considered sufficient to convey possession and enable those skilled in the art to practice the best mode of the claimed invention. Descriptions of structures, resources, operations, and acts considered well-known to those skilled in the art may be brief or omitted to avoid obscuring lesser known or unique aspects of the subject matter of this application. The claimed invention should not be construed as being limited to any embodiment, aspects, example, or detail provided in this application unless expressly stated herein. Regardless of whether shown or described collectively or separately, the various features (both structural and methodological) are intended to be selectively included or omitted to produce an embodiment with a particular set of features. Further, any or all of the functions and acts shown or described may be performed in any order or concurrently. Having been provided with the description and illustration of the present application, one skilled in the art may envision variations, modifications, and alternate embodiments falling within the spirit of the broader aspects of the general inventive concept provided in this application that do not depart from the broader scope of the present disclosure.