Systems and methods for servicing curb-side deliveries

1 . A computing device comprising:

at least one processor;

a wireless interface;

a display;

an input device; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to perform actions comprising:

receiving, via the wireless interface from a pickup management system, a notice about an order to be delivered from a retailer to a customer at a pickup location, wherein the notice includes a predicted arrival time automatically determined by the pickup management system based on real-time location data received from a customer computing device;

presenting a first alert via the display, the first alert being configured to attract attention of an employee;

receiving, via the input device, an input indicating that the employee intends to deliver the order;

in response to receiving the input, automatically transmitting, by the computing device via the wireless interface, an acknowledgement response to the pickup management system, wherein the acknowledgement response causes the pickup management system to automatically cease transmission of the notice to other computing devices;

storing the order, by a queue management engine executing on the at least one processor of the computing device, in a preparation prioritizing queue, wherein the queue management engine is communicatively coupled to an automated food preparation machine, wherein the queue management engine is configured to automatically determine preparation times using machine learning techniques based at least in part on a general time of day noting periods of increased activity, identified bottlenecks in a preparation pipeline, historical performance of employees, and actual preparation times when compared to predicted preparation times;

automatically instructing, by the queue management engine of the computing device, the automated food preparation machine to begin preparation of food items at a time calculated by the computing device to cause the food items to be ready at the predicted arrival time;

receiving, via the wireless interface, an escalation notice for the order, wherein the escalation notice is automatically generated by the pickup management system in response to determining that the customer has arrived at the pickup location before handoff of the order;

in response to receiving the escalation notice, automatically presenting multiple subsequent alerts on the display, wherein the multiple subsequent alerts are presented at increasing intervals; and

in response to determining that no employee has claimed the order and the customer has arrived at the pickup location, automatically transmitting, by the computing device via the wireless interface, a message to the customer computing device associated with the customer, the message conveying a delay in handoff of the order.

2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the actions further comprise:

presenting, via the display, information regarding at least one of the order, the customer, or the pickup location.

3 . The computing device of claim 1 , further comprising a vibration motor, and wherein presenting the first alert includes activating the vibration motor.

4 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the actions further comprise:

receiving, via the input device, an input indicating that the employee can no longer deliver the order; and

transmitting, via the wireless interface, an opt-out response indicating that the employee will not be able to deliver the order.

5 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the actions further comprise interacting with a customer device of the customer to verify completion of handoff.

6 . The computing device of claim 5 , further comprising an optical scanner, and wherein interacting with the customer device to verify the completion of the handoff includes scanning a code displayed by the customer device.

7 . The computing device of claim 5 , further comprising a near-field communication (NFC) device, and wherein interacting with the customer device to verify the completion of the handoff includes obtaining information from the customer device via the NFC device.

8 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the input device includes at least one of a push button, an accelerometer, or a touchscreen.

9 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the actions further comprise, in response to receiving the escalation notice, automatically sending a message to the customer computing device including at least one of an indication of a wait time or providing an instruction.

10 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the actions further comprise:

dynamically reordering the preparation prioritizing queue based on a recalculated predicted arrival time received from the pickup management system, wherein the recalculated predicted arrival time is based on updated real-time location data from the customer computing device.

11 . A method comprising:

transmitting, by a pickup management system of a computing device, a first notification indicating an order for handoff to a customer at a pickup location, wherein the first notification includes a predicted arrival time automatically determined based on real-time location data received from a customer computing device;

receiving, by the pickup management system from a device associated with an employee, an acknowledgement response to the first notification, wherein the acknowledgement response causes the pickup management system to automatically cease transmission of the first notification to other computing devices;

storing the order in a preparation prioritizing queue, wherein the preparation prioritizing queue is used by a preparation queue management engine for instructing an automated food preparation machine to begin preparation of food items at a time based on handoff of the order, wherein the preparation queue management engine is configured to automatically determine preparation times using machine learning techniques based at least in part on a general time of day noting periods of increased activity, identified bottlenecks in a preparation pipeline, historical performance of employees, and actual preparation times when compared to predicted preparation times;

automatically instructing the automated food preparation machine to begin preparation of food items at a time calculated to cause the food items to be ready at the predicted arrival time;

transmitting, by the pickup management system, information relating to the order to the computing device for presentation by the computing device;

receiving an escalation notice for the order, wherein the escalation notice is automatically generated in response to determining that the customer has arrived at the pickup location before handoff of the order;

transmitting, based at least in part on receiving the escalation notice, multiple subsequent alerts to the computing device associated with the employee, wherein the multiple subsequent alerts are presented at increasing intervals; and

in response to determining that no employee has claimed the order and the customer has arrived at the pickup location, automatically transmitting, by the pickup management system, a message to the customer computing device associated with the customer, the message conveying a delay in handoff of the order.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving, by the pickup management system from the device, a confirmation that the order was delivered to the customer at the pickup location.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, by the pickup management system, an opt-out notification indicating that the employee associated with the device can no longer deliver the order;

transmitting, by the pickup management system, a third notification indicating the order for handoff to the customer at the pickup location; and

receiving, by the pickup management system from a second device, a second acknowledgement response to the third notification.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

in response to determining that greater than a threshold amount of time has passed before receiving the acknowledgement response, transmitting, by the pickup management system, an escalated notification indicating the order for handoff to the customer at the pickup location.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the escalated notification is transmitted to more devices than the first notification.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the information related to the order includes one or more of identifying information for the customer, identifying information for a vehicle of the customer, identifying information for the order, or directions to the pickup location.

17 . A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform actions comprising:

transmitting a first notification to a first plurality of computing devices, the first notification indicating an order for handoff to a customer at a pickup location, wherein the first notification includes a predicted arrival time automatically determined based on real-time location data received from a customer computing device;

receiving, from an accepting computing device of the first plurality of computing devices, an acknowledgement response to assign the order for handoff to the accepting computing device, wherein the acknowledgement response causes the system to automatically cease transmission of the first notification to other computing devices of the first plurality of computing devices;

storing the order in a preparation prioritizing queue, wherein the preparation prioritizing queue is used by a preparation queue management engine for instructing an automated food preparation machine to begin preparation of food items at a time based on handoff of the order, wherein the preparation queue management engine is configured to automatically determine preparation times using machine learning techniques based at least in part on a general time of day noting periods of increased activity, identified bottlenecks in a preparation pipeline, historical performance of employees, and actual preparation times when compared to predicted preparation times;

automatically instructing the automated food preparation machine to begin preparation of food items at a time calculated to cause the food items to be ready at the predicted arrival time;

transmitting order information to the accepting computing device;

receiving an escalation notice for the order, wherein the escalation notice is automatically generated in response to determining that the customer has arrived at the pickup location before handoff of the order;

transmitting, based at least in part on receiving the escalation notice, multiple subsequent alerts to the accepting computing device, wherein the multiple subsequent alerts are presented at increasing intervals; and

in response to determining that no employee has claimed the order and the customer has arrived at the pickup location, automatically transmitting a message to the customer computing device associated with the customer, the message conveying a delay in handoff of the order.

18 . The system of claim 17 , the actions further comprising:

transmitting a third notification to a second plurality of employee devices upon determining that the acknowledgement response has not been received within a predetermined amount of time after transmitting the first notification.

19 . The system of claim 18 , the actions further comprising:

presenting a first alert upon receiving the first notification; and

presenting a second alert different from the first alert upon receiving the escalation notice.

20 . The system of claim 17 , the actions further comprising:

receiving a handoff confirmation from the accepting computing device upon completion of the handoff of the order to the customer at the pickup location.