Granted Patent B2

US 10,592,858 · App. 15/588,174 · Granted Mar 17, 2020

Inventor: Vijay Subramanian (New York, NY)

Assignee: Rent The Runway, Inc.

G06Q10/087G06Q10/08G06Q10/083G06Q10/0875G06Q10/20G06Q10/30G06Q30/0635G07F7/00G06Q30/0645

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method for implementing just-in-time reverse logistics inventory management over a network on a computing system that includes a computing device having a processor associated therewith, wherein the processor includes instructions for executing the method comprising:

mapping in real-time all reservations against an inventory of products as the products advance through a cyclical product lifecycle, wherein the cyclical product lifecycle includes any of: receiving a returned product, presorting the returned product, performing maintenance on the returned product, and restocking the returned product, matching a product order with the returned product, assembling the product order, or shipping the product order;

receiving over the network from a user terminal a new product order associated with a reservation for one or more individual SKUs;

establishing a priority hierarchy for the reservation against the inventory of products;

receiving information over the network from the user terminal, wherein the received information corresponds to a receipt of a returned product associated with an individual SKU;

assigning a priority code for the returned product based on the priority hierarchy;

sending over the network to the user terminal the priority code by which one or more operations are performed on the returned product, the operations including any of:

presorting the returned product based on the priority hierarchy;

performing maintenance on the returned product as necessary;

restocking the returned product;

matching the new product order with the returned product;

assembling the new product order based on the priority hierarchy; or

shipping the new product order based on the priority hierarchy;

wherein the mapping is recalculated anytime a material change is made to any product in the inventory of products.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the priority hierarchy assigns a weighing factor to orders based on requirements to fill the product order, wherein the requirements include any of: date of required delivery, days required for shipment, product inventory availability, expected return date from previous sale, availability of alternative products, customer membership category, or customer event type.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the cyclical product lifecycle includes any of:

pre-inspecting the returned product for maintenance;

cleaning the product;

steaming or ironing the product;

inspecting the product for quality control; or

repairing the product.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

recording the step of the product lifecycle at which the returned product resides.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

providing an estimation of time until the returned product is restocked.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein assembling the new product order based on the priority hierarchy includes selecting the returned product from restocked inventory or selecting the returned product from the cyclical product lifecycle before restocking of the returned product.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising calculating preferred shipping dates based on one or more factors comprising: product availability; least expensive shipping date; first available shipping date, last possible shipping date; bundling of orders; requested receipt date or receipt time.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising any of:

indicating on a display the status of the returned product in the cyclical product lifecycle, indicating the status of an order fulfillment, or indicating the status of shipment or delivery.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising recalculating the priority hierarchy based on a change in any of: the cyclical product lifecycle, product availability, or competing orders.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein recalculation of the priority hierarchy is performed for all products in the product lifecycle simultaneously.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the new product is order corresponds to a rental sale.

12. A system for implementing just-in-time reverse logistics management, the system comprising:

a computing device including a processor; and

a mechanism for sending and receiving information between the computing device and a user terminal over a network;

wherein the processor includes instructions for executing a method comprising:

mapping in real-time all reservations against an inventory of products as the products advance through a cyclical product lifecycle, wherein the cyclical product lifecycle includes any of: receiving a returned product, presorting the returned product, performing maintenance on the returned product, and restocking the returned product, matching a product order with the returned product, assembling the product order, or shipping the product order;

receiving over the network from a user terminal a new product order associated with a reservation for one or more individual SKUs;

establishing a priority hierarchy for the reservation against the inventory of products;

receiving information over the network from the user terminal, wherein the received information corresponds to a receipt of a returned product associated with an individual SKU;

assigning a priority code for the returned product based on the priority hierarchy;

sending over the network to the user terminal the priority code by which one or more operations are performed on the returned product, the operations including and of:

presorting the returned product based on the priority hierarchy;

performing maintenance on the returned product as necessary;

inspecting the returned product;

restocking the returned product;

matching the new product order with the returned product;

assembling the new product order based on the priority hierarchy; or

shipping the new product order based on the priority hierarchy;

wherein the mapping is recalculated anytime a material change is made to any product in the inventory of products.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor includes instructions for recalculating product priority for all products in the system based on state changes in the cyclical product lifecycle or new product orders.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor includes instructions for recalculating product priority for a chain of products associated with a state change in the product lifecycle or new product orders.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the cyclical product lifecycle includes any of:

pre-inspecting the returned product for maintenance;

cleaning the product;

steaming or ironing the product;

inspecting the product for quality control; or

repairing the product.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor includes instructions for providing an indication on a display as to the priority and status of a product order and/or product position within the product lifecycle.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor includes instructions for indicating the order priority and/or product status based on a color scheme on the display.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor includes instructions for recalculating the priority of an order and/or product based on a state change to any product in the system and the displayed priority and status of an order and/or product is refreshed after the recalculation.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor includes instructions for recording and/or calculating critical dates including preferred shipping dates based on one or more factors comprising any of: product availability; least expensive shipping date; first available shipping date, last possible shipping date; bundling of orders; requested receipt date or receipt time.

20. The system of claim 12 wherein the new product order corresponds to a rental sale.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (2)

Cited By (2)

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