Methods and systems to enhance a shipping transaction

1 . A method to enhance a shipping transaction, comprising:

gathering data associated with a shipping transaction, in response to communication with a consumer, via a consumer device, from a source of more than one sources of the data based upon accessibility of the source;

generating a shipping label for the shipping transaction based upon the data; and

recording the shipping transaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein gathering data comprises accessing the data based upon an access level associated with the consumer, wherein the data is stored in an intranet coupled with the consumer device.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein accessing the data comprises accessing an address book to determine a destination associated with the shipping transaction.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein gathering data comprises accessing a remote database.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein gathering data comprises determining a rate associated with the shipping transaction via an application program interface associated with a carrier server.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein gathering data comprises determining a rate associated with the shipping transaction for more than one carrier from the source.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a shipping label comprises communicating with a carrier to print a shipping label.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein recording the shipping transaction comprises transmitting a manifest to a carrier.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein recording the shipping transaction comprises storing the data at a location within an intranet via the consumer device to generate a manifest associated with shipping transactions recorded by more than one consumer device.

10 . An apparatus, comprising:

a data gatherer residing in a consumer device to communicate with a consumer to gather data for a shipping transaction from a source of more than one sources of the data based upon accessibility of the source;

a label generator coupled with the data gatherer to generate a shipping label based upon the data; and

a transaction recorder coupled with the label generator to record the shipping transaction.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer comprises a user interface to communicate with the consumer to select data associated with the shipping transaction.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer comprises an application interface to access protected consumer data via an access level associated with the consumer.

13 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer couples with an Internet interface to gather data from a remote location.

14 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer comprises a data interface to access a local database.

15 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer comprises a rate determiner to determine a rate associated with the shipping transaction via an application program interface associated with a carrier server.

16 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data gatherer comprises a rate determiner to determine a rate associated with the shipping transaction for more than one carrier from the source.

17 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the label generator comprises a label procurer to procure a shipping label.

18 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the transaction recorder comprises a transaction logger to store the data at a location within an intranet via the consumer device to generate a manifest associated with shipping transactions recorded by more than one consumer device.

19 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the transaction recorder comprises a manifest generator to generate an end of the day manifest to transmit to the carrier.

20 . A system to enhance shipping transactions, comprising:

a shipping server to store data, wherein the data comprises rates associated with a shipping transaction for more than one carrier; and

instructions to install on a consumer device, to cause the consumer device to perform operations, comprising

gathering data associated with a shipping transaction, in response to communication with a consumer, via a consumer device, from the shipping server when the shipping server is accessible and from a carrier server when the shipping server is inaccessible;

generating a shipping label for the shipping transaction based upon the data; and

recording the shipping transaction.

21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein generating a shipping label is configured to communicate with an application program interface of the carrier to print the shipping label.

22 . The system of claim 20 , wherein generating a shipping label is configured to communicate with the shipping server to print the shipping label.

23 . The system of claim 20 , wherein recording the shipping transaction comprises storing the data at a location within an intranet coupled with the consumer device, wherein the location is accessible by more than one consumer device.

24 . A machine-readable medium containing instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations, comprising:

gathering data associated with a shipping transaction, in response to communication with a consumer, via the machine, from a source of more than one sources of the data based upon accessibility of the source;

generating a shipping label for the shipping transaction based upon the data; and

recording the shipping transaction.

25 . The machine-accessible medium of claim 24 , wherein gathering data comprises accessing consumer data stored in an intranet coupled with the machine based upon an access level associated with the consumer.

26 . The machine-accessible medium of claim 24 , wherein gathering data associated comprises gathering data from an application interface program associated with the carrier when a primary source of the data is inaccessible.

27 . The machine-accessible medium of claim 24 , wherein gathering data comprises accessing a rate table for the carrier via a server, wherein the server is to provide a rate table for more than one carrier.

28 . The machine-accessible medium of claim 24 , wherein recording the shipping transaction comprises storing data associated with the shipping transaction at a location within an intranet of the consumer, wherein the location is accessible by more than one machine coupled with the intranet.