RU2268635C1 - Method for remote selling of goods and system for performing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: commerce.

SUBSTANCE: method involves selling goods by way of selling system comprising stores, distributing center and selling terminal chain; transmitting signals from buyer communication means to store communication means, said signals containing information on goods ordered by buyers, and transmitting signals from buyer communication means to store and/or distributing center, said signals containing information on selling terminals selected by buyers; preparing in stores ordered goods for sending and sending said goods to distributing center and further from distributing center to selling terminals selected by buyers; also transmitting signals from store communication means to selling terminal communication means, said signals containing information on buyers orders, and/or transmitting information carriers from stores to selling terminals, said information carriers containing information on buyers orders, with goods being stored in selling terminals and dispensed therefrom to buyers. Also disclosed is goods remote selling system.

EFFECT: reduced time and costs, increased turnover of merchandize and simplified construction of delivery means.

4 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of trade, mainly to retail and wholesale trade in consumer goods, and is intended for the remote sale of goods.

In the present invention, remote means a method of selling goods in which goods are sold by stores based on pre-orders of customers and, first, orders are placed remotely by customers in stores, i.e. by transmitting with the means of communication used by the customers to the communication means of the stores through the appropriate communication channels (for example, through the websites of stores on the Internet, by telephone, by sending emails to stores, etc.) signals containing information about the goods ordered and, if if necessary, other information required by the stores for placing an order, and, secondly, buyers also accept goods outside the premises (sales area, office or warehouse) of the store that sold the goods to the buyer (for example, when ICA goods is carried out by the buyer address). To date, in the field of retail and wholesale trade in consumer goods, the remote method of selling goods is quite widespread. A typical trade in the framework of this method includes the following sequence of actions:

- remote order of goods by the buyer;

- delivery of this product to the buyer at the specified (appointed) last address;

- acceptance of this product by the buyer.

The trade transaction under consideration also includes payment for the ordered goods, which, in principle, can be made at any time of the transaction, from placing an order to receiving goods inclusively. In practice, for each specific implementation of a trade transaction, the seller establishes possible methods of payment for the goods and the corresponding acceptable payment time intervals. Details of payment methods are discussed below.

As mentioned above, various methods of remote order placement are currently used. The most famous of these methods is the method of placing an order on the website of the store. Further, in the present invention, a method for remotely selling goods using said method for placing an order is referred to as a first remote method. The first remote method is as follows.

The buyer, through a computer with access to the Internet and equipped with a program for rendering pages of Internet sites (the so-called browser), goes to the website of the store selling the required goods, selects the goods from the electronic catalog on this website (if necessary, the buyer uses the search system in this catalog) and “places” this product in the so-called order basket. Having formed a basket, the buyer fills out an electronic order form, which indicates his details, as a rule: last name, first name, phone number, email address, delivery address. Here, the buyer chooses one of the payment methods offered by the store.

Currently, both advance payment for the goods (and their delivery) and payment upon delivery are applied. Advance payment is made, as a rule, either during the process of placing an order (for example, using a bank card through the store’s website) or during the time period agreed upon by the seller after placing the order (for example, by bank transfer based on the invoice issued by the seller). In the case of payment for goods after placing the order, the store, as a rule, does not deliver until the required amount of payment is received in the seller’s bank account. Payment upon delivery is made upon delivery of the goods by the courier to the buyer at the address specified in the order, while payment is made in cash or by credit card (since, as indicated above, the payment method is selected in advance, the courier brings an imprinter or a mobile terminal).

After completing the order, the buyer means the site confirms all the data entered. Next, the store checks the ability to complete this order (for example, check the availability of the ordered goods in stock). After that, an email containing the confirmation of the acceptance of the order by the store, as well as the composition and unique identifier of the order, is sent to the email address indicated in the order. A little later (perhaps even the next day), the store employee contacts the buyer by the phone number specified in the order and agrees with the buyer on the date and time of delivery of the goods.

Many modern online stores practice the registration of their customers, namely: the buyer placing the order on the store’s website is invited (or the buyer is even obligated to this) to choose an identifier and password and enter them in a specific area of this website. After that, at each subsequent authorization of the buyer (i.e., correctly entering his identifier and password), he gets to his personal page on which he can track the progress of his unfinished orders, view the full history of his orders in this store, make a new order etc. Accordingly, all information about orders is stored in the store, if possible, for an unlimited time.

In recent years, placing orders through specialized Internet sites - the so-called Internet portals - has become increasingly widespread. In particular, Internet portals are known on which they provide customers with the opportunity to order goods offered by many stores in one place, while customers are provided with an electronic catalog that includes the entire set of goods from these stores (see, for example, the Internet portal http: // www.shopping.ru). Each product in this catalog is associated with a link to the corresponding store, while some of the products can be presented in the catalog more than once with links to different stores. These stores can offer their products through the Internet portal, regardless of whether these stores have their own sites on the Internet or not. Accordingly, if any of the indicated stores has an Internet site, then the address of this website is used as the mentioned link in the commodity item, and if desired, the buyer instead of placing an order using this portal goes directly to the store’s website and places an order there. If the store does not have an Internet site, then the phone number of such a store is used as the appropriate link, in which case the buyer contacts the store and places an order by phone. The procedure for placing an order on the website of the Internet portal is completely similar to the procedure for placing an order on the website of the online store, except that after the buyer confirms his order, all information received on the portal about this order is automatically sent to the electronic system of the corresponding store, which provides subsequent maintenance of this order.

After accepting the customer’s order using one of the above methods, a picking order is carried out in the store implementing the first remote method, and then the goods are delivered to the buyer. Today, delivery is most often carried out by truck or courier. A truck is used mainly for the delivery of bulky goods (large household appliances and electronics, furniture and interior items, spare parts for cars, etc.) or relatively large consignments. The crew of a truck, as a rule, consists of two to three people. In turn, the courier delivers relatively small goods (small household appliances and electronics, spare parts for them, audio and video products, books, stationery, toys, cosmetics, food, medicines and other inexpensive goods with a small size and weight ) The amount of goods transported by the courier during one flight is limited by the technical capabilities of the vehicle used (for example, the volume of the trunk of a car or motorcycle), as well as by the physical strength of the courier.

The acquisition and delivery of goods is as follows. The store employee who accepted this order for execution informs the order picking unit and the delivery service dispatcher of the order, as well as the date and time of delivery. The dispatcher, in addition, is informed of the delivery address. While the order picking unit picks up this order, the dispatcher in advance (most often on the eve of the delivery day ordered by the buyer), based on information about all orders to be delivered on the specified day, selects the delivery transport (by truck or courier) and plans the optimal delivery route. The route and time of departure of the delivery vehicle is planned so that delivery to the address indicated by the buyer is carried out at about the time ordered by the buyer. On the day of delivery, the delivery crew (or courier) loads the completed goods into the appropriate vehicle, receives the documents stipulated by the store's rules for processing this trade transaction (invoice, warranty card, etc.), drawn up in the name of the buyer, and at the corresponding time of departure leaves on the route chosen by the dispatcher. If an unforeseen situation arises on the route that significantly changes the planned delivery schedule (traffic jam, accident or breakdown of the delivery vehicle, etc.), the delivery crew (courier) promptly (for example, via mobile communications) coordinates with the dispatcher a change in the delivery route. If, as a result, the delivery of goods at an acceptable time interval relative to the delivery time ordered by the buyer cannot be made, the dispatcher notifies the employee who accepted this order and the latter agrees with the buyer on the new date and time of delivery of the goods.

Having delivered the goods to the address indicated by the buyer, the delivery crew (courier) transfers the goods to the buyer, after making sure (for example, by looking at the buyer's passport) that the buyer is the person in whose name the order was placed. The buyer accepts the received goods, i.e. checks the identity of the delivered goods to the ordered and the good condition of the goods. After successful completion of the acceptance of the goods, the delivery crew (courier) transfers the invoice and other required documents to the buyer, while the buyer signs a copy of the invoice returned to the seller. If the order provided for the payment of the goods upon delivery, the delivery crew (courier) accepts payment from the buyer in cash or by credit card.

If the goods have not been accepted (the goods turned out to be defective or damaged, the wrong goods were delivered, etc.), then the delivery crew (courier) immediately takes the goods back. In this case, the store employee agrees with the buyer on the parameters (date, time and address) of the repeated delivery of this product. In addition, if the buyer is an individual, then under Russian law he has the right to refuse to accept the delivered goods, and then the store must offer the buyer alternative goods or return the cost of the goods to him (possibly minus the cost of delivery). Psychologically, it is especially easy for the buyer to refuse the goods if, according to the terms of the order, he is obliged to pay for the goods not in advance, but upon delivery.

The first remote method has the following disadvantages. Modern megacities, especially as large as Moscow, are characterized by a large extent and a rapidly changing traffic situation. At the same time, there is practically no correlation between the delivery addresses of the orders closest in time, and the delivery addresses themselves are distributed throughout the city and the nearest suburban area. In such a situation, due to the complexity and significant variation in the length of delivery routes, the time it takes for delivery vehicles to travel becomes largely unpredictable, while in practice the number of orders delivered by one truck during the day, in most cases, ranges from one to five (by courier to ten). At the same time, the flow of orders daily accepted by the corresponding store is quite predictable and is subject mainly to weekly and seasonal fluctuations. As a result, the number of trucks and couriers required for this store for several consecutive days can also vary several times. In this situation, the store, not wanting to delay the delivery of a significant part of the orders (this is unacceptable for competitive reasons), is forced to maintain a staff of dispatchers and couriers, as well as a set of vehicles designed for peak load (on average, the delivery service will be underloaded), which increases costs for delivery. Thus, three shortcomings of the first remote method can be noted at once: the difficulty to ensure delivery at the time ordered by the buyer due to the significant uncertainty of the delivery vehicle’s transit time, the complexity and complexity of delivery scheduling, and significant underutilization of the delivery service capacities.

A fourth disadvantage of the first remote method is as follows. The delivery personnel (i.e., the truck crew or courier) during the delivery process performs the following functions: driver, courier, sales consultant (and the truck crew also functions as loaders). If the buyer pays for the goods upon delivery, the delivery staff, in addition, performs the functions of a cashier, collector and security guard. As noted above, the truck crew consists of two to three people, while the courier generally delivers the goods alone. Thus, the delivery staff should consist of qualified, reliable and, therefore, sufficiently paid employees, otherwise the seller will significantly increase the risk of return or loss of goods. Fulfillment of this requirement increases the store’s delivery costs.

As a rule, to increase the efficiency of delivery for one flight, goods are delivered to several customers. On such a trip, goods are not unloaded from the truck body all at once, but as these customers go around. At the same time, both at the beginning of the voyage and after each unloading, the goods remaining in the body must be securely fastened to avoid damage during transportation. Thus, increased requirements are placed on the quality and technology of securing goods in the truck body, which is the fifth drawback of the first remote method.

When preparing a truck for a flight in which goods will be delivered to several customers, the goods are loaded into the body of this car in the reverse order of the unloading schedule (i.e., the bypass order of buyers). If the buyer suddenly refuses the goods, the delivery crew is forced to either unload all other goods once, place the returned goods at the very end of the body and then load the rest of the goods back, or unload the returned goods with each next delivery and then load it back. As a result, additional physical and psychological stress is placed on the delivery crew, while the crew is often knocked out of the delivery schedule. Thus, the sixth drawback of the first remote method is the irrational procedure for the return of unclaimed goods.

The seventh disadvantage of the first remote method is that when ordering goods, the buyer must set a time for acceptance of the goods. In the conditions of modern life for many buyers this is a problem, the more significant the more busy the buyer is.

In the case of delivery of goods to the home, the buyer accepts the goods, i.e. checking its quality and serviceability, in his apartment in the presence of a stranger. Often, for such an acceptance, the buyer needs to go into the room (go to the window or to an electrical outlet), which means either leave the courier in the hallway alone, or invite him to the room with him. For many people, this situation can cause a strong sense of discomfort or even danger, which is the eighth disadvantage of the first remote method.

The closest in technical essence to the present invention is a method for the remote sale of goods, implemented by a number of stores selling including over the Internet (hereinafter in the present invention, this method is referred to as the prototype method). In the prototype method, the buyer is offered to receive the ordered goods on the trading floor of the store selected by the buyer from the list of stores proposed by the seller (see, for example, stores http://www.elfort.ru, www.janus.lv, www.compass.ua) . In these sources, the word “store” is used to indicate the place of delivery of goods to customers. Further, in the present invention, to avoid confusion with a store selling products remotely, the phrase “trading terminal” or, where this does not lead to a loss of clarity, the word “terminal” will be used to indicate the place of delivery of goods.

The prototype method is as follows. The buyer in the process of placing an order on the website of the online store chooses to receive the goods in the trading terminal. At the same time, the buyer is offered a list of trading terminals with their addresses. The buyer selects the most convenient terminal for himself and indicates it in the order form. The rest of the placement of the order is similar to the first remote method.

After accepting the order, the online store delivers the ordered goods to the trading terminal selected by the buyer (or simply reserves the ordered goods in this terminal, if this product is already in stock) and notifies the buyer by phone and / or email address specified in the order, the readiness of the goods for delivery to the buyer. After that, the buyer comes to this terminal and receives the goods (i.e., accepts the goods). In this case, payment for the order can be made by the buyer both preliminary and upon receipt of the goods in the trading terminal selected by the buyer.

The prototype method, in principle, is free from all the above disadvantages of the first remote method, with the exception of the third and fifth disadvantages. Indeed, since the location of each trading terminal is determined in the online store even at the stage of adding this terminal to the existing sales network of this online store, after which this location does not change, the dispatchers of this online store can pre-prepare for each trading terminal as the main one, and alternative (in case of traffic jams, etc.) traffic routes of delivery vehicles not only from the place of picking orders to this trading terminal, but from this terminal to the other merchant terminals (in case the vehicle must be in one trip to deliver the goods in several POS terminals), as well as familiarize with these routes of delivery personnel, eliminating the complexity and the complexity of the delivery scheduling. When delivering goods to the trading terminals, the crews of the vehicle perform only the functions of a driver and, possibly, loaders, thereby eliminating the increased requirements for delivery crews (the rest of the aforementioned functions are assigned to the personnel of the trading terminals). Further, since the delivery of goods to the trading terminal and the acceptance of this product by the buyer are generally separated in time, in the case of returning the goods there is no need to immediately take them away from this terminal (in this case, however, another drawback appears, discussed below). Also, the buyer does not need to assign a specific delivery time (and the online store, accordingly, there is no need to deliver the goods at a specific time), since the buyer can receive the ordered goods at any time after delivery of this goods to the corresponding trading terminal, and, as mentioned above, the fact of delivery of the goods to the buyer is notified. And finally, since the buyer does not accept the goods at home, but in the trading terminal, the reasons for the buyer to feel uncomfortable are eliminated.

The third and fifth disadvantages of the first remote method are manifested in the prototype method, although, perhaps, to a lesser extent. Since the sale of goods through a network of trading terminals is carried out in the prototype method with only one online store, which also sells a rather limited assortment of goods (see the above links to specific stores), it is obvious that the volume of sales through this network cannot be significant, at the same time, the flow of orders issued to customers through each separate trading terminal of this network varies greatly from day to day. In this situation, this online store, wanting to reduce the cost of the delivery service, is forced to deliver the ordered goods in turn to several trading terminals (possibly located at a considerable distance from each other) for one trip of the delivery vehicle. As a result, the time the delivery transport is on the way is still quite unpredictable, and just like in the first remote method, the prototype method has to store the staff of dispatchers and couriers, as well as a set of vehicles designed for peak load, on average, the delivery service will be underloaded. In addition, similarly to the first remote method, during the flight of a delivery truck, the goods are not unloaded from the body of this car all at once, but as the trading terminals get around. At the same time, both at the beginning of the voyage and after each unloading, the goods remaining in the body must be securely fastened to avoid damage during transportation. Thus, in the prototype method, increased requirements are imposed on the quality and technology of securing goods in the back of a truck.

In addition to the above disadvantages, the prototype method has its own disadvantages.

As mentioned above, the goods that the buyer refused in the trading terminal may remain for some time in this store. It is possible that this product can be sold to another buyer who also chose this trading terminal. But, in the general case, it is most expedient to deliver this product back to the place of picking orders, from where it (possibly after re-stocking the order) can be delivered to the next customer in any of the trading terminals included in this sales network. The likelihood that one of the nearest vehicles will be completely unloaded at this trading terminal and will be able to deliver this product to the place of picking orders by return flight is rather small. Therefore, to implement this return delivery, you will either need to send a vehicle specifically for this product from the place of picking orders, which is an irrational use of a delivery vehicle (and, therefore, a disadvantage of this method), or take this product by a vehicle in transit through this trading terminal, which entails the problem of violating the planned sequence of unloading goods from the body, described above as the sixth drawback of the first distance ion method.

The prototype method also has the following disadvantage. Each of the stores selling in this way sells its own specific, rather narrow, assortment of goods through a separate network of specialized trading terminals. As a result, customers who collectively purchase goods of an extremely wide assortment are forced to spend considerable time and, possibly, funds to visit many trading terminals belonging to different retail chains in order to obtain the ordered goods, as part of the prototype method.

A hypothetical modification of the prototype method seems to be much more attractive to buyers, in which many stores sell together an extremely wide range of goods through the same set (network) of trading terminals. Indeed, in this case, each buyer could, if desired, receive goods ordered in different stores in one trading terminal that is most convenient for him (for example, in the closest to the place of residence of this buyer). Nevertheless, this modification of the prototype method exhibits the most significant drawback in the context of the present invention, the essence of which is as follows. In this modification, each store from the specified set delivers goods to trading terminals from its place of picking orders, regardless of other stores from this set. As a result, each such store is forced to maintain a staff of dispatchers and couriers, as well as a set of vehicles necessary to deliver their goods to all trading terminals included in the aforementioned network, which significantly increases the total costs of these stores for delivery. In a first approximation, the following estimate is true: the indicated total costs are proportional to the number of routes for delivering goods from stores to trading terminals, that is, they are actually proportional to the product of the number of stores by the number of trading terminals (see the diagram of the corresponding system for selling goods in figure 2 in the description of the present invention below) . In addition to this, the total number of legal relationships between participants in this sale system is equal to the specified work.

Another disadvantage of the modification of the prototype method under consideration is that, together with the above-described flow of goods, each trading terminal will receive a corresponding flow of shipping documents daily, moreover, due to the lack of a uniform procedure for all of the above stores to process and transfer these documents to the trading terminals, each of these stores will send shipping documents to trading terminals in a format specific to the store, which is significantly complicates the processing of these documents in trading terminals.

Currently, the number of stores daily visited by residents of a typical microdistrict in a large city for the purchase of consumer goods may reach several dozen. If we consider this situation in relation to this modification, it becomes obvious that through one or more trading terminals located in a similar microdistrict, a large flow of goods will be passed daily, complete with the same several dozen stores. Since in this modification, as noted above, each of these stores delivers its part of the goods with its own vehicle, at each of the indicated trading terminals, vehicles from different stores will regularly form unloading queues, which is also a disadvantage of the considered modification of the prototype method .

Thus, the hypothetical modification of the prototype method under consideration, being extremely attractive to customers, is still not applied in the field of trade because of its unprofitability for stores.

The technical task of the present invention is to eliminate all the above disadvantages of the prototype method (as well as its hypothetical modification).

This problem is solved by the fact that in the remote selling method of goods of the present invention, goods are sold through a trading system comprising stores, a distribution center and a network of trading terminals, and signals from the customer’s communication tools to the store’s communication means containing information about goods ordered by customers communications of buyers to communications of stores and / or distribution center transmit signals containing information about the trading terminals chosen by customers, at the same time, the stores prepare the ordered goods for dispatch and send them to the distribution center, from where they are redirected to the trading terminals selected by the customers, and signals from the store’s communication facilities to the trading terminal’s communication facilities contain information about customer orders and / or from stores to trading terminals transmit information media with information about customer orders, while goods are stored and issued to customers in trading terminals.

A feature of the method of the present invention is that goods are stored in a distribution center.

The above technical problem is also solved by the fact that the system for the remote sale of goods of the present invention includes stores, a distribution center and a network of trading terminals having communication means for transmitting and receiving signals containing information about customer orders, while stores and / or distribution center are made with the ability to ensure the delivery of ordered goods from stores to the distribution center, distribution center and / or trading terminals are made with the possibility of ensuring the availability of goods are shipped from the distribution center to the trading terminals, and the trading terminals are configured to store and deliver goods to customers.

A feature of the system of the present invention is that the distribution center is configured to store goods.

The present invention is illustrated by drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a diagram of a remote selling system of goods selected as a prototype of the system of the present invention; Fig. 2 shows a diagram of a remote selling system of goods that implements the above-described hypothetical modification of the prototype method; 3 is a schematic diagram of a remote selling system of goods of the present invention.

As a prototype of the system of the present invention, a system for the remote sale of goods (figure 1), including:

- shop 1;

- a plurality (network) of trading terminals 3, consisting of at least two trading terminals 3.

Figure 1 also shows the routes 13 for delivery of goods ordered by customers from the store 1 to the trading terminals 3.

The above hypothetical modification of the prototype method is implemented in the system of remote sale of goods (figure 2), which includes:

- a lot of stores 1, consisting of at least two stores 1;

- a plurality (network) of trading terminals 3, consisting of at least two trading terminals 3.

Figure 2 also depicts routes 13 for delivering goods ordered by customers from stores 1 to trading terminals 3. As can be seen from the scheme in figure 2, the implementation of remote sales of goods in this system exhibits the above-described disadvantage, namely, that each store 1 of the specified of the set carries out the delivery of goods to the trading terminals 3 from its place of picking orders independently of other stores 1 of this set.

The method for the remote sale of goods of the present invention is implemented in a system for the remote sale of goods (figure 3), including:

- a lot of stores 1, consisting of at least two stores 1;

- distribution center (RC) 2;

- a plurality (network) of trading terminals 3, consisting of at least two trading terminals 3.

In the process of implementing the method of the present invention, the above-mentioned participants of the system of the present invention generate and support the following two types of flows of objects: a commodity stream, consisting of acts of movement (delivery) of goods ordered by customers, and an information stream, consisting of acts (sessions) of transmission and reception various information about customer orders.

For the purposes of organizing the flow of goods, stores 1 included in the system of the present invention are configured to:

- picking goods in accordance with orders of customers;

- ensuring the delivery of ordered goods to RC 2. This opportunity is an alternative to the similar opportunity of distribution center 2 (see below). If this opportunity is implemented in RC 2, then in this case it may not be implemented in some or even all stores 1 included in this system of selling goods;

- ensuring the delivery (return) of goods from RC 2 to the respective stores 1. This option is an alternative to the similar opportunity of distribution center 2 (see below). If this opportunity is implemented in RC 2, then in this case it may not be implemented in some or even all stores 1 included in the system of the present invention, and then such stores 1 are configured to only accept goods delivered (returned) from RC 2.

Depending on the specific implementation of the system of the present invention, the delivery of complete goods from stores 1 to RC 2 or the return of goods from RC 2 to stores 1 is carried out by the technical means of the respective stores 1 and / or distribution center 2 (hereinafter, in the present invention, under the technical means of the participant of the system in question are understood as funds belonging to the participant himself, and funds of third-party organizations, leased or otherwise attracted by this participant to fulfill his their functions within the system under consideration). If the delivery of goods from any stores 1 to RC 2 (the return of goods from RC 2 to stores 1) is carried out by the technical means of these stores 1, then, to ensure delivery, each of these stores 1 has at least one truck or, if This store 1 sells compact goods in small volumes, by courier.

Distribution center 2 is a stationary structure (building, premises), which for the purpose of organizing the flow of goods is made with the possibility of:

- ensuring the delivery of goods, completed in accordance with the orders of customers, from stores 1 to RC 2. As mentioned above, this opportunity is an alternative to the similar ability to stores 1. If this opportunity is implemented in all stores 1 included in the system of the present invention, in this case, the RC 2 can be configured to only receive goods from stores 1;

- ensuring the delivery of goods to trading terminals 3. This option is an alternative to the similar possibility of trading terminals 3 (see below). If this feature is implemented in all trading terminals 3 included in the system of the present invention, then in this case it may not be implemented in RC 2;

- ensuring the delivery of goods not claimed or returned by customers from trading terminals 3 to RC 2. This option is an alternative to the similar possibility of trading terminals 3 (see below). If this feature is implemented in all trading terminals 3 included in the system of the present invention, then RC 2 can be configured to only accept goods delivered from trading terminals 3;

- ensuring the delivery of returned goods to the respective stores 1. This opportunity is an alternative to a similar opportunity to stores 1, however, this possibility may not be available in RC 2 only if it is implemented in all stores 1 included in the system of the present invention.

Additionally, the distribution center 2 may be configured to store goods received from stores 1 for delivery to trade terminals 3 or received from trade terminals 3 for delivery to respective stores 1 or other trading terminals 3.

To perform the above functions of organizing the flow of goods, distribution center 2 has, in addition to office (office) premises, access roads, loading and unloading areas, a dedicated storage area and warehouse equipment (loaders, cars, lifts, etc.). Depending on the method of placement and possibly storage of goods used in RC 2, the warehouse area of RC 2 is divided into designated (selected) sections (cells, sections) and / or racks are installed in this warehouse zone for placement and, possibly, storage of goods. In addition, if the distribution center 2 is made with at least one of the above options for ensuring the delivery of goods, then in this case, RC 2 additionally has a corresponding fleet of trucks.

Trading terminals 3 included in the system of the present invention are stationary structures (buildings, premises), each of which includes, in addition to office (office) premises, two separate zones: a warehouse zone and a customer service zone. Moreover, for the purposes of organizing the flow of goods, trade terminals 3 are configured to:

- ensuring the delivery of goods from RC 2 to the trading terminals 3 and the placement of these goods in the warehouse area of the trading terminals 3. As mentioned above, this opportunity is an alternative to the similar opportunity of the distribution center 2. If this opportunity is implemented in RC 2, then in this case it may not be implemented in some or even all trading terminals 3 included in the system of the present invention, and then such terminals 3 are only capable of receiving goods from the RC 2 and placing these goods in a warehouse area;

- storage of goods in a warehouse area;

- transfer of goods from the warehouse area to the service area for delivery to customers;

- carrying out by customers the acceptance of ordered goods in the service area;

- transfer of goods returned by customers from the service area to the warehouse area;

- ensuring the delivery of goods returned or not claimed by customers from the warehouse area of terminal 3 to RC 2. This opportunity is an alternative to the similar opportunity of distribution center 2. If this opportunity is implemented in RC 2, then in this case it may not be implemented in some or even in all trading terminals 3 included in the system of the present invention.

To perform the above functions of organizing the flow of goods, each trading terminal 3 has a loading and unloading platform, storage facilities (loader, car, lift, etc.). Depending on the method of placement and storage of goods used in the trading terminal 3, the warehouse area of the terminal 3 is divided into designated (selected) sections (cells, sections) and / or racks for placement and storage of goods are installed in this warehouse area. In addition, the warehouse area is equipped with equipment for storing the widest range of goods, including refrigerators and freezers for perishable products. For the movement of goods from the warehouse area to the service area and back in the trading terminal 3, conveyors can be installed (for example, similar to the conveyors used at airports to issue baggage to air passengers). The customer service area contains technical means for receiving goods by customers: bench tables equipped with electrical outlets, changing rooms, etc. If the rules for payment of orders adopted in the system of the present invention allow payment for goods upon receipt (acceptance) by the buyer in the trading terminal 3, then in this case the trading terminal 3 is additionally equipped with the necessary technical means (cash register, terminal for receiving bank cards, etc. .d.).

If any of the trading terminals 3 deliver goods from the distribution center 2 to their warehouse areas or deliver goods returned or not claimed by the customers to RC 2, then in this case each such trading terminal 3 is additionally equipped with at least one by truck.

If in any of the trading terminals 3 they provide customers with an additional service for the delivery of goods received at the addresses indicated by the customers, then in this case this trading terminal 3 is additionally equipped with at least one truck and / or one passenger car. The implementation of such a service is beyond the scope of the present invention.

As mentioned above, in the process of implementing the method of the present invention, participants of the system of the present invention and customers collectively generate and maintain an information stream consisting of acts (sessions) of transmission and reception of various information about customer orders. In a preferred implementation of the system of the present invention, this information flow is generated by signals containing the specified information, which are transmitted from the communication means of the customers to the communication means of various participants of the system and from the communication means of some participants in the system to the communication means of its other participants. To enable this signal transmission, each of the two parties involved in the act of transmitting and receiving information uses mutually compatible communication tools (modem, telephone, fax machine, etc.) connected to the corresponding communication channels (Internet, dial-up telephone public network, etc.).

In addition to transmitting information about customer orders by means of signals, it is also possible to transmit said information between participants in the system of the present invention through various information carriers: computer diskettes, paper documents, etc. Therefore, further in the present invention, in cases where the content of the information is considered regardless of which of the above methods, this information is transmitted, to designate a structured piece of information in a certain way, which is, from the point of view of transmission success, an indivisible object (which is considered to be successfully transmitted and received, only if adopted entirely and without errors), the word "message" is used. Messages used in the system of the present invention are described in detail when considering the method of the present invention.

Regardless of the above messaging, stores 1 participating in the system of the present invention, completing goods based on customer orders, draw up the corresponding shipping documents. In a preferred implementation of the system of the present invention, a shipping document of a single format is used, which is executed and transmitted electronically, in which case the participants of this system are equipped with automatic means for compiling, signing, recording and processing shipping documents. The use of shipping documents is discussed in detail in the method of the present invention.

Figure 3 also shows the routes 12 for delivery of goods ordered by customers from stores 1 to RC 2 and routes 23 for the delivery of these goods from RC 2 to trade terminals 3. The use of routes 12 and 23 is described in detail in the description of the method of the present invention.

The remote selling method of the goods of the present invention is carried out as follows (hereinafter, wherever it is not specified separately, the preferred embodiment of this method will be implied). When the next store enters the distance selling system of the goods of the present invention, this store is assigned a unique identifier in this system, for example, the verbal name of this store or its address is used. Instead, it is possible to implement the method of the present invention, in which the store’s unique identifier in the list of participating stores of a given goods selling system is a number one greater than the number of the previous store that entered this system.

In preparation for the start of the sale of goods by the method of the present invention, the store coordinates with the RC the procedure for delivering goods to the RC and returning the goods to the store, including the schedule and methods of delivery (return). If, after the specified approval, it was determined that the store provides delivery of goods to the shopping center (picks up goods from the shopping center), then in this case the store develops the main and possibly alternative routes for delivering goods to the shopping center (return of goods from the shopping center), otherwise the development of these routes is carried out in a distribution center. It is also possible such a procedure for the delivery of goods from the store to the RC, in which the delivery of goods is mainly assigned to the store, but the RC also provides delivery in cases where the store’s capabilities are temporarily insufficient to service the order flow (for example, if technical funds of the store or during a surge in the flow of orders through this store, significantly exceeding the average level of the flow of orders). If it is necessary to avoid queues at the loading and unloading sites of the distribution center when unloading goods received from stores, each store is assigned one or more specific time intervals for the delivery and unloading of goods in the distribution center during the day. In addition, the store agrees with the RC messaging order, including communications, message formats, etc. In a preferred implementation of the system and method of the present invention, the messaging order is established uniform for all participants in the information exchange.

When a new trading terminal is added to the system of the present invention, an identifier is also assigned to this terminal, the uniqueness of which is provided by one of the above methods of assigning unique identifiers to stores. After that, all the stores participating in this system of selling goods are informed with the details of the newly added trading terminal: identifier, name, address, phone number, etc. An alternative implementation of the method of the present invention is possible, in which stores quickly receive the details of any of the trading terminals if necessary from an Internet portal known to all participants in this system (see below).

In preparing the next trading terminal for the start of the sale of goods by the method of the present invention, the RC assigns to this trading terminal the procedure for delivering goods to this terminal (returning goods from the terminal), including a delivery (return) schedule. Also, in the distribution center, they develop the main and possibly alternative routes for delivering goods to this terminal (returning goods from the terminal). In addition, the RC informs the trading terminal of the messaging procedure.

If it is necessary to avoid queues at the loading and unloading sites of the distribution center when loading goods sent to trade terminals, loading and sending goods to each of the terminals are carried out in the distribution center at one or more specified time intervals during the day. At the same time, it is most expedient to carry out the delivery of goods from the shopping center to the trading terminals at night: firstly, at night the roads are least loaded with vehicles, and secondly, this approach allows the daylight hours of the shopping center to be freed up for receiving goods from stores. As a result, with this implementation of the method of the present invention, both the RC and the trading terminals will process the goods around the clock.

Since the method of the present invention provides for the transfer from stores to trading terminals of information about customer orders (see below), for this reason, each store and trading terminal entering the system of the present invention must coordinate with each of those already participating in this system, respectively , terminals and stores, the procedure for exchanging messages containing the specified information, including the method of message delivery, communications, etc. By analogy with the above hypothetical modification of the prototype method, the total number of such bilateral approvals for all stores and trading terminals of the system of the present invention will be equal to the product of the number of stores and the number of trading terminals. In order to reduce the specified number of approvals to a value equal to the total number of stores and trading terminals, in a preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, one or more variants of the specified messaging order are developed for all future participants in advance (during the stage of organizing the system of the present invention) , and then regularly maintain in this system lists of all stores and trading terminals containing all the necessary details of the specified participants in the system. In particular, if orders are received in the method of the present invention through an Internet portal, then these lists of system participants can be maintained in this portal. In this case, each store can at any time receive (download) the current list of terminals with their details from the corresponding page of the portal’s site. Accordingly, a similar opportunity is provided for each trading terminal in relation to stores. The holder of the specified Internet portal may be, for example, a distribution center, in which case it is equipped with the necessary computer equipment and communications for accessing the Internet. It should also be noted that in the implementation of the method of the present invention under consideration, the aforementioned agreement for each participant in the system amounts, in fact, to joining one of the indicated options for the messaging order by concluding only one agreement with this system in the person of, for example, a distribution center.

A bargain between a store and a buyer in the remote selling method of goods of the present invention is as follows. In a preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, the buyer places an order in a store that is part of the system of the present invention through the site of this store on the Internet (or through the website of the Internet portal representing this store). In the process of placing an order, as the buyer takes actions to select or enter any data related to this order, signals containing information about these actions of the buyer are transmitted to the appropriate means of communication of the store or the Internet portal from the buyer’s communication device connected to the Internet . In this case, the sequence of actions of the buyer to place an order is similar to the sequence described above in the prototype method, namely: being on the website of the corresponding store or on the website of the Internet portal, the buyer browses the electronic catalog on this website, searches and selects the required product, then “ puts "the selected product in the order basket, indicating the required number of units of this product. Moreover, as mentioned above, the corresponding signals with information about the ordered goods are transmitted from the customer’s communication tool to the store’s communication tool or Internet portal. If necessary, the buyer repeats the described procedure for the selection of goods until he forms an order basket.

Having formed the order basket, the buyer fills in the electronic order form, which indicates the following details: last name, first name, and also, if required by the store, phone number and / or email address. The phone number or email address of the buyer may be needed in the store for feedback with the buyer, in particular, in order to confirm the buyer the acceptance of his order or notify the buyer of the receipt of the ordered goods at the distribution center or the trading terminal selected by the buyer (see below). In another embodiment of the method of the present invention, instead of indicating by the buyer his personal data, on the contrary, in the store an individual identifier is assigned to the buyer, which allows one to make sure that the goods are issued to the person entitled to receive the goods when issuing the goods. The use of the specified individual identifier allows stores to carry out trade transactions with anonymous customers as part of the method of the present invention.

An embodiment of the method of the present invention is also possible, in which the reliability of a trade transaction with a buyer, including an anonymous one, is ensured by the method protected by patent RU No. 2174708 (priority date 15.11.2000). In this embodiment of the method of the present invention, the store offers customers to pay for their orders by payment to a dedicated account in a transit bank. In connection with the order of the goods, the buyer appoints an individual code for payment for this product (in the preferred implementation of the method, it changes from order to order), after which he pays for the goods by payment to the indicated dedicated account, and in addition to the payment, he informs the transit bank of the code assigned for this payment. To receive the goods in the trading terminal, the buyer presents the cipher, and from the trading terminal in the presence of the buyer, they contact the transit bank and check the cipher received from the buyer. The recipient receives the ordered goods (respectively, the store from the transit bank - funds in the amount of the buyer’s payment) provided that the code sent from the trading terminal to the transit bank coincides with the code previously received by the transit bank in addition to the buyer’s payment.

When filling out the electronic order form, the buyer also chooses one of the proposed payment methods. In the method of the present invention, the payment method is not specified - the store can offer the buyer any payment method, including one of the above-described in the prior art. In the process of placing an order, the buyer also selects one of the proposed trading terminals to receive the ordered goods. Moreover, to select a trading terminal, the buyer is offered a list containing the names, addresses, phone numbers and other possible details of these terminals. In some cases, it may be more convenient for buyers to choose a trading terminal, in which (the method) a buyer is offered a map of a city or region covered by this system of selling goods, with the symbols of trading terminals placed on it, moreover, when the cursor is drawn to the designation of each of these terminals next to this designation, a rectangular window is formed containing the specified details of this terminal. By placing the cursor on the designation of the selected trading terminal, the buyer confirms his choice by pressing the appropriate enter key, thereby initiating the transmission of a signal containing information about the selected trading terminal from the communication device of the store or the Internet portal.

In contrast to the prototype method described above, in the method of the present invention, the buyer is not required to select a trading terminal directly during the checkout process. This can be convenient for the buyer, in particular, if the store has agreed on a long lead time for this order (for example, up to several months) and at the same time the buyer cannot determine at which point of the order it will be convenient for him to receive the goods after the specified period. As will be described later in the method of the present invention, the buyer must finally choose a trading terminal after the transfer of the ordered goods by the store to the RC.

In addition to the specified information, the buyer can, in addition to ordering the goods, order some additional services, for example, non-standard (advanced) testing of this product when it is accepted at the trading terminal (other examples of possible additional services are given later in the description of the method of the present invention). Having completed the ordering process, the buyer confirms all the entered data using the site’s means (and, as mentioned above, the trading terminal may not be selected yet). If the buyer has not indicated the selected trading terminal in the order form, then the buyer is offered to authorize or register, for example, by the method described above in the prior art (the specified authorization of the buyer is necessary so that he can call the order form again later and select the trading terminal; see . Further). If the buyer placed an order through the Internet portal, then after the buyer confirms the order, all information on this order accepted by this portal is automatically sent from the communication means of this Internet portal via the Internet to the appropriate communication means of the store, which will carry out subsequent maintenance of this order. Thus, the signals transmitted from the buyer’s communication means with information about the goods ordered by him in any case, directly or indirectly (via the Internet portal), are sent to the store’s communication means.

If the acceptance of the customer’s order in the store is not unconditional (for example, upon receipt of the order in the store, they check the possibility of fulfilling this order, in particular, check for the availability of the ordered goods in the warehouse), then after successful verification of this possibility in the store, the order is assigned an order identifier that is unique within this the store. The required uniqueness of the order identifier can be ensured, for example, by assigning to each successive order accepted by this store a number per unit larger than the number of the previous order. After that, a letter containing confirmation of the acceptance of this order, as well as a unique identifier of this order generated by the store, the composition of the order and the approximate (or maximum) deadline for its execution are sent to the e-mail address indicated in the order from the store. Regardless of this, this information can be reported to the buyer at the phone number specified in the order. Information about each order accepted by the store is stored in the store, at least until the completion of this order.

As already indicated, in a preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, customers place orders through Internet sites (their own store sites and / or sites of Internet portals representing the respective stores) using the appropriate means of communication. Nevertheless, it is possible to use other remote methods of placing orders, including those mentioned above in the description of known methods for the remote sale of goods.

After accepting the customer’s order, the store picks the goods in accordance with this order (it is possible that, in accordance with the conditions chosen by the buyer when placing the order in the store, the picking of goods begins only after the required prepayment is received on the bank account of the store). Then, in a store, one way or another, they attach (for example, stick) a label (label, sticker) on the product that contains the identifiers of the order, store and the trading terminal selected by the buyer (the identifier of the trading terminal is indicated in the label if the buyer is at the time of registration This label informed the store about the selected terminal). After that, the stocked goods are delivered from the store to the RC. Delivery is carried out on one of the previously developed routes. Depending on the transfer procedure agreed between the store and the RC, delivery of goods to the RC is carried out either by the store’s motor transport (or courier), or by the distribution center’s motor transport. It is also possible that the method of the present invention is implemented in which, in normal mode, the goods are transferred to the RC by the vehicles of the store, and the RC performs the specified transfer only in critical cases, for example, in the case of an illness of the driver (courier) of the store or when the vehicle fails the store. Unloading of the vehicle that delivered the goods from the store is carried out at the loading and unloading site of the RC using the appropriate warehouse equipment. At the same time, for unloading a given vehicle in a distribution center, a certain loading and unloading site is pre-assigned, or the driver of this vehicle, having arrived at the RC, independently chooses one of the available sites at that moment. The most expedient seems to be such a schedule for the transfer of goods to the shopping center, according to which the store’s vehicle arrives at the shopping center and is unloaded at strictly defined time intervals. In case of delay, this vehicle will be forced to wait for the release of any of the loading and unloading sites of the distribution center. It is likely that a certain number of stores with a small or uneven flow of orders will participate in the system of the present invention and, as a result, goods will be transferred from such stores to the retail centers irregularly. In this case, such an embodiment of this method is possible, in which from each store in advance (for example, the day before) the shopping center is notified whether this store will perform the next transfer of goods to the shopping center, and then in the distribution center they can optimally distribute loading and unloading platforms between those stores that transfer goods to the shopping center on a given day, as well as free up more areas for vehicles that are late to their unloading time interval. Such a notification is sent from the store to the RC in a free form (for example, by e-mail or verbally by phone) or in accordance with the unified procedure established in advance by the distribution center for all stores of this system for selling goods.

The goods received by the distribution center from the store are placed in free cells (sections) of the RC warehouse area (on the floor and / or on special racks), using appropriate warehouse equipment for this. It is also possible to implement the method of the present invention, in which, for the convenience of the subsequent loading of goods sent to the trading terminals, the distribution center warehouse area is divided into sectors, each of which corresponds to a separate trading terminal or a group of closely located terminals. In this case, each accepted product is placed in the sector corresponding to the trading terminal where this product is to be delivered (provided that the message corresponding to this product regarding the trading terminal has already arrived at the RC by this moment; see below). If such messages were not received with respect to any goods, then these goods are placed in a separate sector. Regardless of the described division of the warehouse zone into sectors, it is possible to divide the warehouse zone of the RC into sections, each of which corresponds to goods of certain dimensions. And then, for example, large-sized equipment (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) is placed on the first floor of the distribution center, smaller equipment on the second floor, and so on.

To increase the efficiency of processing goods located in the warehouse area of the RC, it is advisable to keep an automated record of these goods. For example, the following implementation of the indicated accounting is possible. All the above cells (sections) of the RC warehouse zone are assigned unique numbers in advance (for example, when organizing the RC). In particular, if the above-described division of the warehouse area into sectors is applied in the RC, then in this case a unique cell number is formed from two parts: sector numbers and cell numbers within the sector. In the store, preparing goods for transfer to the RC, they additionally place a bar code on the above label containing the identifiers listed above: order, store, trading terminal (the last identifier may not be included in the bar code). Accordingly, each employee of the RC performing the goods is equipped with a mobile (portable) computer with a barcode scanner connected to it. When unloading goods completed in accordance with this order, the specified employee uses the barcode scanner to read the specified barcode, while the program installed on the specified computer writes the record containing identifiers received (extracted) from this barcode to the spreadsheet run locally on this computer. Then, after placing this product in one of the cells (sections) of the warehouse area of the RC, this employee adds the unique number of this cell to the specified record in the warehouse inventory system of the RC. At least once a day (for example, after the processing of the last delivery of goods from stores last day on the current day), all RC employees who received goods on that day transfer the daily accumulated records in local electronic tables about goods received per day to a common spreadsheet (table of the goods account of the RC) maintained in the computer system of the distribution center.

Since it is supposed to place the widest assortment of goods with a wide variety of weight and size characteristics in the RC as part of the method of the present invention, it seems advisable to place a relatively small product or group of such goods related to each individual order in a separate small container, selected store from a standardized range of sizes, moreover, attached to each container from the outside in one way or another (for example, adhesives aetsya) sealable envelope of waterproof material that is resistant to a wide range of weather conditions. Before sending the container with the goods to the RC, the aforementioned label accompanying the goods is placed in the specified envelope in the store in the specified envelope. Since these containers are released each time the goods placed in them are transferred to customers, it is possible to reuse containers with the following container movement pattern in the system of the present invention. Initially, containers of all sizes used in this system are stored in the retail center. Each store that intends to use these containers, before starting the sale of goods by the method of the present invention, orders the required number of containers of various sizes in the RC. Further, after each delivery of goods packed in containers from this store to the shopping center to the store by the return flight (usually empty, unless the goods have been returned to this store), the exact same containers (or others, separately store request), but only empty. Similarly, a motor vehicle that delivers containers with ordered goods to one of the trading terminals on the next flight, picks up empty containers in the shopping center by return flight (also usually empty), after the customers have accepted the goods previously delivered to this terminal. Thus, the containers are continuously circulated within the system of the present invention.

If the aforementioned label received by the RC along with the goods indicates the identifier of the trading terminal to which the RC should deliver the goods, then in this case goods are delivered from the RC to the specified trading terminal in accordance with the procedure described later in the present invention. Otherwise, the product is stored in the distribution center in the designated cell (section) of the warehouse area of the RC until a message (instruction) from the store arrives.

If, at the time of transferring the goods, completed in accordance with the customer’s order, from the store to the RC, the buyer still has not selected a trading terminal for receiving the goods, then in this case they will remind him of the need to make this choice by calling the buyer by phone number and / or by sending a message to the e-mail address indicated in the buyer's order (if the buyer indicated these details in the order). If the buyer has exceeded the time limit set by the store for choosing a trading terminal, then the store is canceled this order, and then the buyer is notified about it in one of the indicated ways (if this is possible; see note above), and also initiate the product return procedure described below. If the canceled order was pre-paid by the buyer, the store returns the amount of the prepayment to the buyer.

To select a trading terminal after placing its order (i.e., by a separate procedure), the buyer, using the appropriate means of communication, visits the store’s website (or the website of the Internet portal representing this store), logs in, after which the buyer gets, for example, to your personal page. On this page, the buyer finds a record of this order and by means of the page calls the form of this order for editing (change). In this case, the displayed order form allows the buyer to edit (change) only the selection field of the trading terminal, the buyer can only view all other fields of this form. Having selected the trading terminal in the above-described way, the buyer by means of this page confirms his choice, thereby initiating the transmission from the means of communication used by him to the means of communication of the store or the Internet portal of a signal containing information about the selected trading terminal by the buyer.

If at the time of receipt of the signal from the buyer’s communication device to the store’s communication device containing the information about the trading terminal selected by the buyer, the corresponding product has already been sent to the RC from this store, in this case, upon receipt of this signal, the corresponding message is generated in the store and sent to the RC containing the identifiers of this store, this order and this trading terminal. Depending on the particular implementation of the method of the present invention, this message is sent from the store’s communication facility to the distribution center’s communications facility via a signal containing the specified information (for example, by modem in the form of a computer file), or this message is processed in the store as a computer file on electronic medium (for example, on a diskette) or in the form of a paper document and transmit this information medium to the RC by the next scheduled flight of a vehicle transporting goods from this store to the RC. After receiving the specified message, the corresponding product is marked in the distribution center as intended for delivery to this trading terminal, having entered the identifier of this terminal contained in the specified message in the aforementioned label accompanying this product. In addition, if the distribution center uses the division of the warehouse area into sectors, then the goods in relation to which this message was received are moved from the sector allocated to goods with an undefined delivery address (goods were placed in this sector when they were received at the RC), assigned to this trading terminal. If the above-mentioned automated accounting of goods is used in the distribution center, then upon receipt of this message, the identifier of this trading terminal is entered in the corresponding entry in the table of goods accounting.

An alternative implementation of the method of the present invention is possible, in which instead of the above-described signal transmission with information about the selected trading terminal, the customer sends a signal containing the specified information from his communication device to the communication center of the distribution center. Moreover, in order to be able to determine in the RC which product a given customer’s message refers to, the latter additionally includes information about the store and order (for example, store and order identifiers) in this message. Upon receipt of the specified message from the buyer, the corresponding goods are marked in the distribution center as described above for delivery to this trading terminal. In addition, from the communication center of the shopping center, a message containing the identifier of this order is sent to the communication tool of the corresponding store, notifying the store that the buyer has informed the shopping center of the selected trading terminal. Such notification of the store is necessary so that the store, as described above, does not cancel this order after the deadline for choosing a trading terminal.

It is also possible to implement the method according to the present invention, in which the buyer sends from his means of communication the above signals containing information about the trading terminal to both the communication means of the store and the communication means RC. With this duplication, both the store and the shopping center receive information about the selected trading terminal with guarantee (regardless of the serviceability of the communication system between this store and the shopping center) and at the same time as quickly as possible.

After one of the above methods has received a message in the RC about the trading terminal selected by the buyer, the goods are delivered from the RC to the trading terminal indicated in this message. It is preferable to use trucks to deliver goods to the trading terminals in the distribution center. As mentioned above, each trading terminal participating in the system of the present invention, in the distribution center is assigned an order (including schedule) for the delivery of goods to this terminal. Preferred is a delivery procedure in which a separate truck is allocated to each trading terminal in the distribution center, while delivery is carried out at least once a day, mainly at night. All trucks for loading are assigned in advance the loading and unloading site of the RC and the loading time.

The specified delivery is as follows. A truck heading to a trading terminal at the appointed time occupies the loading and unloading area of the RC allocated to it. Further, goods intended for delivery to a given trading terminal are loaded into this vehicle by means of warehouse technical means. In particular, if the above division of the warehouse area into sectors is used in the distribution center, then goods placed in the sector allocated to this trading terminal are sent for loading. If the above-mentioned automated goods accounting is used in the distribution center, then all records containing the identifier of the given trading terminal are selected from the goods accounting table, after which the goods stored in the cells (sections) of the warehouse area of the shopping centers indicated in these records are sent. Upon completion of the download, the car delivers the goods on a pre-designed route to this trading terminal.

In a trading terminal, a truck arriving from a shopping center is unloaded at the loading and unloading site of this terminal using warehouse equipment. In principle, after being placed in the warehouse area of the trading terminal, the goods are ready for transfer (issue) to the buyer. However, if, according to the rules of the system of the present invention, they must inform the stores of the acceptance of goods from the RC from the trading terminals (so that the stores can, in turn, notify the relevant customers about this), then in this case, from the communication terminal of the trading terminal that received the goods send a message to the communication tool of the corresponding store, which includes the identifier of this order, informing the store about the receipt of goods from the RC. If the trading terminal that sent the specified message cannot be identified by the message source (for example, in the message transmission option through the RC described below), then the identifier of this terminal is also included in this message in the trading terminal.

The product received from the RC itself is still not enough to be able to transfer this product to the buyer in the trading terminal and at the same time correctly complete this trade transaction, since, as described above, the set of order information entering the trading terminal directly with the goods is minimal and includes the identifiers of this order and store, indicated on the aforementioned label. This order information is not enough to make sure that the goods are transferred to the person authorized to receive the goods at the trading terminal. Also, without obtaining additional information about this order, the employees of the trading terminal do not know whether this product was paid and, if it was not paid in advance, what payment method the buyer indicated at the time of placing this order. In addition, it seems appropriate, if necessary, to provide additional information specific to each specific order from the store to the trading terminal, for example, that the buyer additionally ordered non-standard (advanced) testing of the goods at the store when it was accepted at the trading terminal, or vice versa , the buyer ordered the goods without testing (therefore, if you want to test it at acceptance, the buyer will have to pay for this service separately in the trading terminal); the buyer additionally ordered the delivery of goods from the trading terminal to the address indicated by the buyer and may have already paid for this additional service; the buyer ordered the goods anonymously and must receive the individual identifier assigned to the buyer in the store to receive it; in order to draw up a warranty obligation for a store, the buyer must present an identity card to the employee of the trading terminal, etc. From the above it is seen that the composition of the information about the customer’s order, which must be transferred from the store to the trading terminal, can vary widely from order to order.

In connection with the customer’s order, the store generates a message that includes at least the identifier of this order, as well as information on how the trade terminal can verify that the goods are transferred to the person who has the right to receive this goods. Depending on which method of customer identification was chosen during the above procedure of placing a remote order, the relevant customer identifier is used as such information: customer’s passport data (for example, last name and first name), or an individual identifier assigned to the buyer in the store, or assigned by the buyer and the individual cipher communicated by him to the transit bank, etc. The method of the present invention also allows the simultaneous use of several of these customer identifiers. The message also includes information on whether the order has been paid. In addition, this message may include the above additional information specific to this order.

The store sends the specified message containing information about the customer’s order to the trading terminal either by means of a signal transmitted from the store’s communication device to the communication device of the trading terminal, or by means of information medium, for example, in the form of a paper document or in the form of a computer file on a diskette. If, according to the rules of a specific implementation of the system of the present invention, a store is obliged to transmit information about a customer’s order to a trading terminal by means of a legally significant paper document, then in this case it is advisable to combine both methods of transmitting this information: electronically via a signal - for efficiency, and a paper document - to comply with legal formalities.

Stores and trading terminals participating in the system of the present invention can communicate with each other as described in the present invention, either directly, in point-to-point mode, or indirectly, for example, through a distribution center. In the "point-to-point" mode, the message is transmitted from the sender's address to the address of the final recipient, and if the transmission is via a communication network using unique addressing of subscribers (for example, by mail or via the Internet), then the final recipient of the message at the sender's address can identify the sender of this message, and then such a message may not include the identifiers of the sender and the final recipient. Otherwise (for example, when transmitting a message through a public switched telephone network in a situation where the communication means of the final recipient is not equipped with the function of automatically determining the number of the calling subscriber - AON), the message should include, among other things, the sender ID. In the second version of the exchange, the sender of the message indicates, among other things, the identifier of the final recipient of this message and, possibly, his identifier, after which he transmits this message to the RC. Having received this message, the distribution center determines the address of this recipient by the identifier of the final recipient (as indicated above, the details of all participants in the system of the present invention are known in advance and available to all its participants), supplement this message with the identifier of the sender (if only this the identifier was no longer contained in the message), after which they redirect this message to this address. In a preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention, stores and trading terminals exchange messages with each other through the RC, all of the described message processing steps in the RC are carried out automatically.

After the store received the above message from the trading terminal about the acceptance of goods from the RC and, in turn, from the store by one of the methods described above passed the relevant information about the customer’s order to this trading terminal, the buyer who ordered this product is notified of the readiness from the store goods for acceptance by calling the buyer by phone number and / or sending a letter to the email address specified in the order (in the event that the buyer indicated his phone number or email address in the order ).

In principle, the above notification of the buyer about the readiness of the goods ordered by him for acceptance is not required to implement the method of the present invention. Instead, the delivery time of the goods to the trading terminal can be announced in advance by the store upon receipt of the order or follow the rules of the store’s trade, or the buyer can, for example, periodically call this trading terminal (as mentioned above, phone numbers of trading terminals are provided to customers as part of details of the terminals when placing orders on the store’s website or the corresponding Internet portal) or go to this terminal if it is convenient for the buyer (for example, on the way to work), and inquire from arrester terminal serving the customers, and do not get there at the trading terminal of the respective goods. At the same time, the buyer presents this order employee with this terminal employee. Since in this case the buyer only inquires about the receipt of the ordered goods, in this case it seems permissible not to identify the buyer.

Having learned in one way or another about the receipt of the ordered goods at the selected trading terminal, the buyer comes to the service area of this terminal to receive the ordered goods at a convenient time in the time interval for servicing the customers of this trading terminal. Since, as mentioned above, in the preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, goods are delivered from the shopping center to the trading terminals at night, in this case the trading terminal can serve customers around the clock. Once in the service area of this trading terminal, the buyer, in order to receive the ordered goods, presents the terminal’s customer service identifier of his order, as well as the customer’s identifier determined during the execution of this order and transferred from the store to this trading terminal. The indicated employee of the terminal verifies the data presented by the buyer with the corresponding data contained in the message previously received in the given trading terminal from the store containing information about this order. Regardless of the method used to identify the buyer, when the verified data coincide, the terminal employee receives this product from the warehouse area to the terminal service area and provides the buyer with this product for acceptance.

Further, the buyer accepts the goods, if necessary, using the technical means available in this trading terminal for this purpose. During the acceptance, the buyer independently or with the help of a terminal employee checks the identity of the presented goods to the ordered and the serviceability of the goods. If necessary, a terminal employee advises the buyer on the features of the product and / or the rules for using it. After that, the buyer finally decides whether to accept this product or refuse it. If the buyer decided to accept this product, then the terminal employee serving this buyer finds out, based on the information about the customer’s order, previously received at the trading terminal from the store, should the buyer pay for this product. If this order provides for the payment of the goods upon acceptance by the buyer, the appropriate terminal employee (cashier) accepts payment from the buyer in cash or by credit card, and then transfers the goods to the buyer.

Upon the transfer of goods to the buyer from the communication means of this trading terminal, a message is transmitted to the communication means of the corresponding store, including the identifier of this order, notifying the store that the goods have been accepted by the buyer. If the trading terminal that sent the specified message cannot be identified by the source of the message (for example, in the above-described embodiment of message transmission through the RC), then in this case the identifier of this terminal is also included in this message in the trading terminal. Upon receipt of the specified message by the store, the trade transaction between the store and the buyer in the remote selling method of the goods of the present invention is completed.

If the goods were not accepted by the buyer in the trading terminal (the goods turned out to be defective or damaged, the wrong goods were delivered, etc.) or the buyer refused the goods for some reason, then the terminal employee who served this buyer returns the goods back to the warehouse area of this trading terminal. After that, a message including the identifier of this order informing the store that the goods were rejected by the buyer is transmitted from the communication means of this trading terminal to the communication means of the corresponding store. If the trading terminal that sent the specified message cannot be identified by the source of the message (for example, in the above-described embodiment of message transmission through the RC), then in this case the identifier of this terminal is also included in this message in the trading terminal. This product is stored in the warehouse area of the trading terminal until an order for this product is received from the corresponding store.

After receiving from the trading terminal the above message that the product was rejected by the buyer, the product is re-entered into the above-mentioned electronic catalog of goods on the store’s website on the Internet or on the website of this store’s Internet portal. The sequence of actions carried out in the store after accepting a new order, the basket of which this product is included in, depends on whether this new order has the same packaging as the previous order for the rejected goods or does not. If the configuration of the new order differs from the configuration of the previous order, then a message containing the identifier of the previous order and an indication to this terminal to transfer this product back to the store is sent to the communication means of the above trading terminal from the communication means of the store. Having received this message, from the trading terminal they deliver this product back to the RC with another car flight. In the distribution center, this product is reloaded into another vehicle, which is sent (for example, by a return flight) to the specified store. Upon receipt of this product in the store staff it in accordance with a new order. The subsequent actions of the store in relation to this product are completely identical to the actions described above when considering a trade transaction in the method of the present invention.

If the complete set of the new order is identical to the complete set of the previous order, then in this case the actions of the store are determined by which trading terminal the new buyer chose. If a new buyer chooses to receive this product in the same trading terminal, then from the store’s communication facility they send a message about the new order to the communication facility of this terminal containing at least the identifiers of the old and new orders (the identifier of this terminal may also be included in the message, for example, in the case of the formation of this message by an automatic store system). Upon receipt of this message in this trading terminal, using the identifier of the previous order specified in the message, they find this product in the warehouse area, fill in a new label for this product, indicating the identifiers of this store, new order and, possibly, this terminal, and then attach this new label for this product instead of the previous label. Subsequent transfer of this product to a new buyer in this trading terminal is carried out in accordance with the above description of a trade transaction in the method of the present invention.

If the new buyer chose to receive this product in another trading terminal, then from the store’s communication facility they send to the communication facility of the terminal storing this product a new order message containing the identifiers of the old and new orders, as well as the identifier of the trading terminal selected by the new buyer. Upon receipt of this message in the trading terminal that stores this product, as described above, they draw up and attach to the product a new label containing the identifiers of the store, the new order and the trading terminal selected by the new buyer. After that, from this trading terminal, this product is delivered back to the RC by the next car flight. In the distribution center, this product is loaded into another vehicle, which leaves from the retail center to the trading terminal selected by the new buyer (in accordance with the terminal identifier indicated on the new label). The subsequent actions of the trading terminal selected by the new buyer in relation to this product are completely identical to the actions described above when considering a trade transaction in the method of the present invention.

As already mentioned, regardless of the above messaging, each store participating in the system of the present invention, completing the goods on the basis of the customer’s order, draws up the corresponding shipping document. In a preferred implementation of the system of the present invention, a shipping document of a single format is used, hereinafter referred to as a waybill or simply a waybill. When compiling the specified invoice in the store, at least the identifier, composition and cost of this order and the identifier of this store are entered into it. In addition, the identifier of the trading terminal selected by the buyer can be entered into the invoice (in the event that the buyer informed the store about the selected terminal by the time this invoice was issued) and other data disclosed below.

The present invention provides for the design and transfer of the above consignment notes both in paper and in electronic form. If paper invoices are used in the system of the present invention, then a document flow is possible in which four copies of the invoice are issued in the store in addition to the goods, which are then delivered with the same vehicle to the RC with the same vehicle. After receiving this product in the RC, one copy of the specified invoice is left in the RC, the remaining three copies are delivered together with this product to the corresponding trading terminal. After accepting the goods, the buyer signs all three copies of the invoice in the trading terminal, after which one copy of the invoice is handed over to the buyer along with the goods, the second copy is left in the trading terminal, and the remaining copy is marked with the note that the goods were transferred to the buyer, and then this copy they are transferred from the trading terminal with the next vehicle’s flight back to the RC, from where this copy is transferred with the next flight to the store.

In a preferred implementation of the system of the present invention, invoices are issued and transmitted electronically, in which case all participants in this system are equipped with automatic means for compiling, signing, recording and processing shipping documents. In this implementation, an invoice is drawn up in the store in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic digital signature, and sent to the RC either on an information medium (for example, on a diskette) together with the corresponding goods, or by means of a signal transmitted from the store’s communication medium to the communication center of the RC. The distribution center stores this electronic document in its accounting system for shipping documents, and also transfers it further to the trading terminal in the same way as this document was received in the RC. The trading terminal also stores the received electronic invoice in its accounting system for shipping documents, and prints it in triplicate - for the buyer, the corresponding store and the trading terminal itself. Further, these three copies of the invoice in paper form are processed as described above.

It is also possible such an implementation of the present invention, in which the above-mentioned electronic invoice additionally includes the aforementioned information about customer orders, reported from stores to trading terminals. In this form, the electronic invoice acts simultaneously as a message containing the specified information, and as a shipping document, thereby eliminating the need for a separate (duplicate) transmission of messages containing information about customer orders.

The use of a distribution center in the method of the present invention allows, on the one hand, to minimize the cost of stores to maintain their delivery services (including vehicles), and on the other hand, to a large extent or even completely load cars delivering goods from the shopping center to the shopping terminals (after all, goods from many stores are delivered to each trading terminal in one flight). The combination of these factors almost completely eliminates the underutilization of the capacities of delivery services, characteristic of the prototype method. Moreover, the method of the present invention allows to dramatically increase the efficiency and, accordingly, the profitability of the modern remote sale of goods.

In a preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, all delivery vehicles, making the next flight to deliver goods from the store to the RC or from the RC to the trading terminal, are unloaded once, and completely, at the end point of their route. In this case, before each flight of the delivery vehicle, the goods in its body are securely fastened at loading. In addition, as mentioned above, the trucks of the distribution center in most cases will be loaded to a large extent or even completely. Obviously, in a fully (or almost completely) loaded body it is much easier to secure goods than in a noticeably underloaded body. Thus, the method of the present invention practically removes the increased requirements for the quality and technology of securing goods in the back of a delivery truck.

As indicated above, in a preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, the delivery of goods from the RC to each of the trading terminals is carried out at least once a day. In the above procedure for returning goods, the goods rejected by the buyer in the trading terminal are placed in the warehouse area of this trading terminal, and then, provided that the above-mentioned instructions for returning goods are received from the corresponding store, they are delivered to the RC by the return flight of the next truck delivering goods to this trading terminal. Thus, the goods rejected by the buyer at the minimum (one loading and one unloading) additional costs no later than a day later are in the distribution center, from where it can be equally promptly delivered to another trading terminal (in the case that a new order for this the product is identical to the configuration of the previous order) or returned back to the store again with minimal additional costs. Thus, the method of the present invention removes the problem of irrational return procedures.

In the method of the present invention, each buyer can, if desired, receive goods ordered in different stores in one trading terminal, which is most convenient for him, thereby saving considerable time and money.

The method of the present invention is also free from the disadvantages of the above hypothetical modification of the prototype method. Indeed, the use of a distribution center allows one to reduce both the number of delivery routes for goods and the number of legal relationships between participants in the system of the present invention from the aforementioned value equal to the product of the number of stores by the number of trading terminals to a value equal to their total, which in practice gives a commensurate decrease in the total costs of participants in this system. So, for example, according to the above formula, the implementation of the method of the present invention in a system including thirty stores and ten trading terminals will allow, as a first approximation, to reduce these total costs by an order of magnitude. Further, as indicated above, in the preferred implementation of the method of the present invention, the delivery of shipping documents from stores to trading terminals is carried out electronically through the RC, while the shipping documents have a common format for all participants in the system of the present invention, which greatly facilitates (in particular , allows you to automate) the reception and processing of these documents in trading terminals (as well as in the RC). And finally, since the delivery of goods to trading terminals is carried out not from stores, but from a distribution center, in this case, queues at the loading and unloading areas of trading terminals become impossible.

Claims (4)

1. The method of remote sale of goods, which consists in the fact that the goods are sold through a trading system containing stores, a distribution center and a network of trading terminals, and from the means of communication of buyers to the communication means of stores transmit signals containing information about goods ordered by customers from communication customers transmit signals to stores and / or distribution center communications containing information about the trading terminals chosen by customers, while stores prepare the goods ordered are sent for shipment and sent to a distribution center, from where they are redirected to the trading terminals selected by the customers, signals from the stores’s communication channels to the trading terminals’s communications, and / or information carriers are transferred from the stores to the trading terminals with information about customer orders, while goods are stored and issued to customers in trading terminals. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the goods are stored in the distribution center. 3. A system for the remote sale of goods, containing stores, a distribution center and a network of trading terminals having communication means for transmitting and receiving signals containing information about customer orders, while the stores and / or distribution center are configured to ensure delivery of ordered goods from stores to distribution center, distribution center and / or trading terminals are configured to ensure the delivery of goods from the distribution center to trading terminals, and trade terms Inals are made with the possibility of storage and delivery of goods to customers. 4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that the distribution center is configured to store goods.

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