WO2001080121A2

WO2001080121A2 - Method and system for facilitating shipping

Info

Publication number: WO2001080121A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/011633
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sibty Hasan; Sandra A. Mclemore; Dirk A. Teneyck
Original assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation
Priority date: 2000-04-12
Filing date: 2001-04-10
Publication date: 2001-10-25
Also published as: MXPA02010099A; EP1281143A1; CA2406125A1

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING SHIPPING

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to shipping and more particularly to a method and system for facilitating shipping.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shipping costs for many companies are significant, particularly for large companies that rely upon external couriers for delivery. To address this cost, some companies have negotiated discounts with various couriers on delivery rates of packages and express mail letters, allowing significant cost reductions in shipping charges .

However, the discounts associated with each courier often differ, making it difficult to determine which courier provides the most economical service for a given type of package and delivery conditions. To address this problem, some companies have implemented a computerized shipping management system that determines the most economical courier to be used for a given situation. The use of such a shipping management system leads to significant cost savings and alleviates a company's employees from manually determining which courier offers the best deal for a particular package.

Such systems have traditionally been utilized only for products shipped by the company utilizing the shipping management system. Thus, a company often does not benefit from shipping discounts that could be used for products shipped to the company.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a need has arisen for an improved method and system for shipping. The present invention provides a system and method for shipping that addresses shortcomings of prior systems and methods.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a computerized method for facilitating delivery of an on-line purchase includes receiving at a shipping management system, from a supplier, an identifier identifying a purchase from the supplier. The method also includes receiving at the shipping management system a destination address and a source address for the purchase and selecting a courier from a plurality of couriers to deliver the purchase in response to the destination address and the source address. The method also including transmitting shipping data associated with the delivery of the purchase to a computer associated with the supplier. The shipping data comprises a least the identifier and the identity of the selected courier. According to another embodiment of the invention, a system for facilitating delivery of a package from a sender comprises a computer-readable medium and a computer program stored on the computer-readable medium. The computer program is operable to receive an identifier identifying a package, select a courier to deliver the package, and initiate transmission of an electronic message over a computer network to a computer associated with the sender. The electronic message includes the identifier and the identity of the selected courier. Embodiments of the invention provide numerous technical advantages. For example, according to one embodiment of the invention, a company utilizing a shipping management system may also reap the benefits of a decreased shipping. cost through appropriate selection of a courier for in-bound shipments. By automatically transmitting a mailing label to the shipper, the shipper is able to assist the company in these cost-saving efforts. Such a system is implemented with little additional effort on either the company or its suppliers. Thus, significant cost benefits may be realized.

Other technical advantages are readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of an electronic commerce system utilizing the teachings of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a shipping management system; FIGURE 3 is a block diagram of a portion of an example of a shipping information repository of the shipping management system of FIGURE 2 ;

FIGURE 4 is a schematic drawing illustrating an example purchase page for a web site of the electronic commerce system of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic drawing showing an example output screen of the shipping management system of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 6A through 6C illustrate example mailing labels generated according to the teachings of the present invention by shipping management system of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a table illustrating an example rate table for use by the shipping management system of FIGURE 2 ;

FIGURE 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for generating a shipping label using the shipping management system of FIGURE 2 ;

FIGURE 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method for purchasing a product through the electronic commerce system of FIGURE 1; and FIGURE 10 is a flow chart illustrating generation of a shipping label according to the teachings of the invention. DETAILED .DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention and its advantages may be best understood by referring to FIGURES 1 through 10 of the drawings, like numerals being used for like and corresponding parts of the various drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of an electronic commerce system 10 constructed according to the teachings of the present invention. Electronic commerce system 10 includes an on-line mall 12 connected through a network 14 to a plurality of supplier sites 16. Supplier site 16 may include a customized portion 19, customized for a particular purchaser, such as the operator of on-line mall 12. Customization may include hypertext links to computer systems operated by the operator of on-line mall 12. On- line mall 12 is accessible to a user by a user terminal 18, which may display output on a display 20. Electronic commerce system 10 also includes a shipping management system 22, which is described in greater detail below, in conjunction with FIGURES 2 and 3. Shipping management system 22 may be used to select a courier to deliver products purchased from supplier sites 16 by users of online mall 12. In this embodiment, shipping management system 22 may select a lowest-cost courier for a particular package . On-line mall 12 provides a plurality of links to one or more supplier sites 16 from which a user of on-line mall 12 may purchase items. On-line mall 12 may be implemented by computer hardware running suitable Internet server software. Example hardware and software include a windows- compatible computer running Microsoft Internet Information Server. Other suitable implementations of on-line mall 12 may be utilized, including other suitable combinations of hardware and sof ware . Network 14 may be any suitable network able to transmit data between on-line mall 12, supplier sites 16, and shipping management system 22. In the illustrated example, network 14 is the Internet; however, network 14 may take the form of any suitable computer network.

Supplier sites 16 may also be implemented using web servers comprising combinations of hardware and software. Customized portion 19 may include web pages allowing a selection of products for purchase as well as links to shipping management system 22.

In operation, a user of on-line mall 12 is able to view on display 20 web pages received from customized portion 19 of supplier site 16. These web pages include offerings of products for purchase. Upon indicating a desire to purchase such products, by for example clicking on a pointer and transmitting a web page back to supplier site 16, a purchase may be made. Furthermore, in conjunction with the purchase of a product, supplier site 16 may communicate data relevant to delivery of purchased products to shipping management system 20 by for example transmission of a web page. Shipping management system 22 utilizes such data and may select a courier to deliver the purchased item. A web page may be communicated by shipping management system 22 to display 20 for viewing by a user and to allow supplementation of any special delivery instructions. In response, shipping management system 22 may select an appropriate courier (which may differ from the initial selection) and transmit data defining a mailing label to the supplier site 16. The data may include the name of the courier and an identifier associated with the product purchased. Furthermore, in one example, an account number may be included on the shipping label . Shipping management system 22 may be located remotely or co-located with supplier site 16 or user terminal 18.

The mailing label may be printed by supplier site 16 or a computer associated with supplier site 16 (not explicitly shown) for use in shipping purchased product . Thus, the illustrated embodiment of the invention allows a supplier to easily ship goods according to the desires of a purchaser, which in this case allows the purchaser to reap the benefits of negotiated rates with various couriers and to select the lowest-cost courier. Additional details of components of electronic commerce system 10 and its operation are described below in conjunction with FIGURES 2 through 10.

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of shipping management system 22. As described above, in this example shipping management system 22 is accessible by a user of user terminal 18 through appropriate links. Shipping management system 22 may be any system that is operable to select an appropriate courier to deliver an item. In this example, shipping management system selects a lowest-cost courier. Furthermore, according to the illustrated embodiment, shipping management system is also accessible by a user computer 24. Shipping management system includes a processor 26 that can access a memory area 28. Memory area 28 may be a computer-readable medium storing rate shop program 30 and shipping information repository 32. Example computer-readable media include hard disks, floppy disks, CD-ROM, CD Read/ riteable media, and random access memory; however, any other form of computer-readable media may be used. Rate shop program 30 comprises software to determine a lowest-cost courier based on a plurality of parameters, as described in greater detail below. Shipping information repository 32 may comprise data related to the determination of which courier is the lowest-cost courier. Shipping information repository may also include data related to auditing and reporting functions of shipping management system 22. Although shipping information repository 32 as illustrated is associated with processor 26, it could be located remotely and accessed through a computer network.

In operation, shipping management system 22 receives data relevant to the selection of an appropriate courier for a particular package. Such data may be received through network 14, from user computer 24, or through other suitable techniques. Processor 26 executes rate programming 30 to select a lowest-cost courier. Rate shop program 30 determines, based upon the received information, a lowest cost courier. In making such a determination, shipping information repository 32 is accessed to obtain data used in making the determination. For example, a rate table for a particular courier may be accessed. Rate shop program 30 calculates the cost of shipping a particular package according to the desired criteria for each of the available couriers and provides the identity of the selected courier to user computer 24, user terminal 18 (through network 14) , or to any other suitable output device. In some embodiments, the identity of a number of couriers are provided to a user, including the rates for each courier, allowing a user to select a courier that is not the lowest-cost courier.

In addition to the functions of selecting a lowest- cost courier, shipping management system 22 also may generate a mailing label for transmission over network 14 to a supplier site 16 such that an operator of supplier site 16 may ship the purchased goods using the courier selected by shipping management system and may take advantage of shipping discounts negotiated by the operator of shipping management system 22. According to the illustrated embodiment, such mailing label may include an identifier (normally unique) associated with the package to be shipped. In some cases, the identifier may be similar or identical to another identifier, such as, for example when multiple boxes are required to be shipped to satisfy a particular order. Such label generation is described in greater detail in conjunction with FIGURE 10. Alternatively, information from which a mailing label may be generated, which information may include courier identity and an identifier associated with an item to be shipped may be transmitted.

FIGURE 3 is a block diagram of a portion of one example of a shipping information repository 32. Shipping information repository 32 may store a plurality of types of data used by shipping management system 22. Shipping information repository may include user information 34, shipping rates 36, shipping agency feed 38, reports 40, and additional data 42. Some of these types of data may be excluded or other data included without departing from the scope of the invention. User information 34 comprises information specific to individual users, such as identification numbers and default addresses at which packages are to be received. Shipping rates 36 comprise tables providing negotiated shipping rates for various combinations of parameters . An example of one type of shipping rate table is illustrated in FIGURE 8. Shipping agency feed 38 comprises data received by the selected courier to confirm that the selected courier charged the user the negotiated amount . Such data may include an internal tracking number and the amount charged. Reports 40 comprises data associated with reports that may be prepared on the amount of items shipped, the cost associated with each item, total costs, and other relevant information that a company may wish to review regarding its shipping practices . Additional data 42 may include various information such as audit information and client-specific information.

FIGURE 4 is an example web page 20A that may be displayed on display 20 after linking to customized portion 19 of supplier site 16. As illustrated, an order may specify an order number, a description, a quantity, a price per unit, and a total price. Other data may be included or some of this data excluded without departing from the scope of the invention. Further, the user may provide to supplier site 16 an address to which the products to be purchased will be sent. Alternatively, such an address could be omitted and provided later in conjunction with shipping management system 22 selecting the appropriate courier. In this example, web page 0A includes a continue button 44, which transmits the data stored in web page 20A to shipping management system 22, allowing shipping management system 22 to process -the data to select the appropriate courier.

FIGURE 5 illustrates an example web page 0B that may be displayed on display 20 and received from shipping management system 22 for use in selecting an appropriate courier. As illustrated, both the destination and source addresses, which were received from supplier site 16, are displayed, as well as the order number. In addition, entry spaces are available for indicating special handling features. Examples of a special handling feature include a Saturday delivery and an insurance amount. Other special handling features may be included or these excluded without departing from the scope of the invention. FIGURES 6A through 6C illustrate example mailing labels generated according to the teachings of the present invention. Each of the example mailing labels include an origination address and a destination address as well as an account number. In these examples, the account number is displayed in bar code format. Also included in each of the example labels is a reference number (887.143 on FIGURE 6A, 900001 in FIGURE 6B, and 200/45621 on FIGURE 6C.) These reference labels allow the shipper to associate the mailing label with a particular purchase to be shipped. The data on the mailing label may be formatted in any manner desired by the courier. In addition, the mailing label may include any data desired by the courier.

FIGURE 7 is an example rate table 66 stored in shipping rates area 36 for use by shipping management system 22 in selecting an appropriate courier and generating a corresponding mailing label. Although an example rate table is utilized, standard rate tables supplied by common couriers and other suitable tables may also be used. Rate table 66 includes a plurality of columns designating particular parameters regarding a shipment. Column 68 designates the weight of a package; column 70 designates the origination zone; column 72 designates the destination zone; and column 74 provides the shipping rates . Many couriers charge different rates depending upon the zones between which a package will be shipped to. Therefore, rate table 66 includes a plurality of destination zones 76 for each combination of origination zone and weight. Shipping rates portion 36 stores a plurality of rate tables 66 for each courier. For example, additional tables would be stored for shipping rates or packages originating, in this example, in zone two and zone three . FIGURE 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for generating a shipping label using shipping management system 22. It may be useful, for example, in delivering products to the user of shipping management system 22. With reference to FIGURES 1 through 8, a method for generating a shipping label by shipping management system 22 is described.

The method of FIGURE 7 begins at step 46. At step 48 parameters relevant to the selection of an appropriate courier are provided to shipping management system 22. Factors affecting the selection of an appropriate courier may include the origin of delivery, the destination, a service level (express, 2-day, book rate), special handling, weight, the value of the item delivered, the pick-up and delivery location, package type (letter, box, etc.), and package content (letter, explosives, etc.). Some or all of these parameters may be provided to shipping management system 22 by supplier site 16 or from another remote site. Alternatively, default values for these items may be incorporated or a user may specify some of these parameters . Other parameters may be included or some of these parameters excluded without departing from the scope of the invention.

At step 50, the delivery cost for each of the available couriers is determined. Determination of such costs may include reference to rate tables, such as the rate table illustrated in FIGURE 8. At step 52, shipping management system may display on display 20, or alternatively, on a display associated with user computer 24, a screen allowing the user to specify which of more than one selected courier should be used (in the case that each courier offers the same service at the same price) , or alternatively, displays a plurality of couriers and associated costs, so that the user can learn the price difference between the various available couriers. As another alternative, only the selected courier is displayed. At step 54, an option may be provided to the user to override the selected courier and allow use of a favorite courier. This feature may be omitted without departing from the scope of the invention. If an override occurs, shipping management system 22 receives an indication of which courier to use at step 56, and at step 58 receives a reason for the selection of the alternative courier. Processing continues for either case at step 60, where an electronic shipping label is generated. Step 58 may be omitted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the override option may be omitted without departing from the scope of the invention.

Generation of an electronic shipping label is described in greater detail m conjunction with FIGURE 10. One example of an electronic shipping label that is appropriate for use with the current invention is a Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) file defining a mailing label . The electronic shipping label generated at step 60 may include a unique identifier associating the mailing label with the purchase, such as is illustrated in FIGURES 6A through 6C. The order number may serve as such an identifier; however, other identifiers may also be used. Some of this data may be excluded or other data included without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, other file formats may be used. At step 62, the data is electronically transmitted to the supplier For example, shipping management system may transmit the electronic mailing label through network 14 to supplier site 16. According to another embodiment user computer 24 may transmit such data through network 14. In another embodiment, data may be communicated through network 14 to supplier Shell that allows supplier site 16 to construct a mailing label . The process concludes at step 64. Thus, a method is provided that allows a company to transmit an electronic message either defining or useful for defining a mailing label to allow its suppliers to ship to the company via a courier chosen by the company. Furthermore, the company may select the courier appropriately such that the lowest-cost courier is utilized, allowing cost savings.

FIGURE 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method for purchasing a product through electronic commerce system 10 and having the product shipped by the purchaser's desired courier. The method is described with reference to Figures 1-9. The method begins at step 78. At step 80 a user logs onto on-line mall 12 through use of user terminal 18 and display 20. Through links provided by on-line mall 12, the user links to a customized portion 19 of a desired supplier site 16. Utilizing web pages such as display 20a (FIGURE 4), a user selects items for purchase. Through links such as continue button 44 of page 20a shown in FIGURE 4, a user links to shipping management system 22 after selecting the desired items for purchase. Clicking on such a link causes data to be transferred through network 14 to shipping management system 22. The data may include a destination address and a source address. At step 90, shipping management system 22 selects an appropriate courier, as described above. At step 92 an override option may be provided, allowing a user to override the selected courier. At step 94, a label is transmitted electronically for the appropriate courier to supplier site 16. Transmission may occur through network 14. Having received the mailing label, the supplier may easily ship 'the purchased goods according to the user's desired shipping instructions. The method concludes at step 98. Thus, a method is provided that allows purchase of a product and its shipping by a courier selected by the purchaser, allowing cost savings conventionally associated only with outbound shipments.

FIGURE 10 is a flow chart illustrating the generation of a shipping label according to the teachings of the invention. The method begins at step 100. At step 110, the identity of the selected courier is provided to the portions of rate shop program 30 that perform label generation. At step 120, the data associated with the shipment are also provided. Such data may include a destination address, the source address, the desired level of service, and a number associating the purchase with the mailing label, such as an order number. Some of this data may be excluded or other data included without departing from the scope of the invention. At step 130, rate shop program 30 accesses a generic shipping label for the selected courier, and at step 140, the data received at step 120 is parsed into appropriate portions of the shipping label. At step 150 the results of step 140 are converted into an electronic format suitable for electronic transmission. For example, in one embodiment of the invention a Graphical Interchange Format (GIF) file is created. Other example formats include JPEG and PNG; however, other format could also be used. Such creation may be performed through conventional or other suitable techniques. The method concludes at step 160. Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A computerized method for facilitating delivery of an on-line purchase comprising: receiving at a shipping management system, from a supplier, an identifier identifying a purchase from the supplier; receiving at the shipping management system a destination address and a source address for the purchase; selecting a courier from a plurality of couriers to deliver the purchase in response to the destination address and source address; and transmitting shipping data associated with the delivery of the purchase to a computer associated with the supplier, the shipping data comprising at least the identifier and the identity of the selected courier.

2. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein the shipping data further comprise an account number.

3. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein receiving at the shipping management system a destination and a source address for the purchase comprises receiving the destination address and the source address from the computer associated with the supplier.

4. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein the shipping data defines a mailing label.

5. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein the shipping data comprises data from which the supplier may construct a mailing label.

6. The method of Claim 1, wherein receiving at the shipping management system an identifier identifying a purchase from the supplier comprises receiving through the Internet at the shipping management system, from a web site of the supplier, an order number identifying the purchase from the supplier.

7. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein selecting a courier comprises selecting a courier determined to be a lowest-cost courier of the plurality of couriers for the purchase.

8. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein the shipping data is transmitted through the Internet .

9. The computerized method of Claim 1 and further comprising changing ^■ the selection of the courier to an alternative courier.

10. The computerized method of Claim 1, wherein selecting a courier from a plurality of couriers comprises selecting a courier based on an attribute selected from the group consisting of lowest cost, a courier's agreement to provide Saturday deliver, and a courier's agreement to provide insurance on the shipped item.

11. The computerized method of Claim 4, wherein the mailing label is defined in response to a format specified by the courier.

12.. A computerized method for facilitating delivery of a purchase from a supplier comprising: receiving an identifier identifying a purchase from the supplier; selecting a courier from a plurality of couriers to deliver the purchase; and transmitting an electronic message over a computer network to a computer associated with the supplier, the electronic message including the unique identifier and the identity of the selected courier.

13. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein the identifier is received from the supplier through the Internet .

14. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein the identifier is provided to a shipping management system by a user of the shipping management system.

15. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein selecting a courier comprises selecting a courier determined to be a lowest-cost courier of the plurality of couriers for the purchase.

16. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein the electronic message defines a mailing label.

17. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein the electronic message comprises data from which the computer associated with the supplier may construct a mailing label.

18. The computerized method of Claim 12, wherein the electronic message is transmitted through the Internet to a web site associated with the supplier.

19. A system for facilitating delivery of a package from a sender comprising: a computer-readable medium; and a computer program stored on the computer-readable medium, the computer program operable to: receive an identifier identifying a package; select a courier to deliver the package; and initiate transmission of an electronic message over a computer network to a computer associated with the sender, the electronic message including the identifier and the identity of the selected courier.

20. The system of Claim 19, wherein the computer program is further operable to select a lowest-cost courier to deliver the package from a plurality of possible couriers .

21. The system of Claim 19, wherein the computer program is further operable to initiate transmission of data defining a mailing label.

22. The system of Claim 19, wherein the electronic message comprises data from which the computer associated with the sender may construct a mailing label.

23. A system for electronic commerce comprising: a shipping management system; a computer displaying a web page, the web page including a plurality of links to a plurality of supplier sites, each supplier site having selectable links to the shipping management system; and wherein the shipping management system comprises : a computer-readable medium; and a computer program stored on the computer-readable medium, the computer program operable to: receive an identifier identifying a package; select a courier to deliver the package; and initiate transmission of an electronic message over a computer network to a computer associated with the sender, the electronic message including the unique identifier and the identity of the selected courier.