IP Library Granted Patent US 10,891,624
Granted Patent B2
US 10,891,624 · App. 16/246,960 · Granted Jan 12, 2021

Integrated online and offline inventory management

Inventors: Ajit Kalidindi Varma (San Francisco, CA); Jesse Reiss (Berkeley, CA); Andrew Lin (San Francisco, CA); Joseph Loree Robinson (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Square, Inc.
G06Q20/409G06Q10/087G06Q30/06
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,891,624
App. No.
16/246,960
Filed
Jan 14, 2019
Granted
Jan 12, 2021
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3687
USPC
705/28
Abstract

Method, systems, and apparatus for integrated online and offline sales management. A system manages both offline and online transactions and inventory in an integrated environment. An offline transaction is a sale at a point of sale (POS) system, e.g., at a typical “brick and mortar shop” physical store. An online transaction is a sale using an online store, e.g., an online shopping cart and checkout system accessed by a web browser or other application. An online store can be converted to offline store, and vice versa. An inventory management system can receive an input from a merchant device of merchant designating an item carried by the merchant as an item to be sold at the physical store, at the online store, or both. The inventory management system can modify a record of the item to respond to the input.

Claims (57)

1. A method, implemented at least in part by one or more servers, the method comprising:

storing, in at least one database associated with the one or more servers, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first indicator indicating that the one or more first items are available via an online store of the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second indicator indicating that the one or more second items are available via a physical store of the merchant;

causing, by the one or more servers, a first graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a merchant device operated by the merchant, the first GUI including a GUI element to enable a modification of an indicator associated with an item of the inventory of items via an interaction with the GUI element;

receiving, from the merchant device and at the one or more servers, an indication of an input associated with the GUI element;

in response to receiving the indication of the input, modifying, by the one or more servers, the indicator associated with the item;

causing, by the one or more servers and based at least in part on the one or more second items being associated with the second indicator, at least the one or more second items to be presented via a second GUI displayed via the merchant device operated by the merchant at the physical store; and

updating, by the one or more servers, the inventory of items based at least in part on transaction data received from at least one of:

a first transaction (i) via the online store and (ii) associated with the one or more first items, or

a second transaction (i) at the physical store and (ii) associated with the one or more second items.

2. The method as claim 1 recites, wherein a first item comprises an online item that is (i) viewable via the online store of the merchant and purchasable at the physical store or (ii) purchasable via the online store.

3. The method as claim 1 recites, wherein the first GUI further comprises one or more additional GUI elements to enable the merchant to specify one or more attributes associated with individual items of the inventory of items.

4. The method as claim 3 recites, wherein the one or more attributes comprise at least one of a discount status, an amount of a discount, or a quantity of items available.

5. The method as claim 3 recites, further comprising:

receiving, from the merchant device, another indication of another input associated with an additional GUI element of the one or more additional GUI elements, the other input associated with the item; and

updating a record associated with the item based at least in part on the other input.

6. The method as claim 1 recites, further comprising:

receiving, from the merchant device, a portion of the transaction data associated with the second transaction, wherein the second transaction is an offline transaction for purchasing a second item of the one or more second items at the physical store;

generating an online receipt based at least in part on the portion of the transaction data, the online receipt comprising an electronic document specifying a time, a location, a price, and an item name of the offline transaction; and

providing the online receipt to a user device upon request.

7. The method as claim 1 recites, further comprising:

sending, from the one or more servers to another server associated with the online store, an indication of the one or more first items associated with the first indicator; and

causing the other server to present the one or more first items via a third GUI associated with the online store.

8. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory storage device storing computer instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

storing, in at least one database, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first indicator indicating that the one or more first items are available via a first commerce channel associated with the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second indicator indicating that the one or more second items are available via a second commerce channel associated with the merchant;

causing a first graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a device operated by the merchant, the first GUI including a GUI element to enable change of a commerce channel via which an item of the inventory of items is available;

receiving, from the device, an indication of an input associated with the GUI element;

in response to receiving the indication of the input, modifying the indicator associated with the item;

sending at least one of (i) an indication of the one or more first items to a first device based at least in part on the one or more first items being associated with the first indicator or (ii) an indication of the one or more second items to a second device based at least in part on the one or more second items being associated with the second indicator; and

updating the inventory of items based at least in part on transaction data received from at least one of:

a first transaction associated with (i) the first commerce channel and (ii) the one or more first items, or

a second transaction associated with (i) the second commerce channel and (ii) the one or more second items.

9. The system as claim 8 recites, wherein a first item of the one or more first items comprises an online item that is (i) viewable via an online store of the merchant and purchasable at a physical store or (ii) purchasable via the online store.

10. The system as claim 8 recites, wherein the first GUI further comprises one or more additional GUI elements to enable the merchant to specify one or more attributes associated with individual items of the inventory of items.

11. The system as claim 10 recites, wherein the one or more attributes comprise at least one of a discount status, an amount of a discount, or a quantity of items available.

12. The system as claim 10 recites, further comprising:

receiving, from the device, another indication of another input associated with an additional GUI element of the one or more additional GUI elements, the other input associated with the item; and

updating a record associated with the item based at least in part on the other input.

13. The system as claim 8 recites, wherein the first device comprises another server associated with an online store of the merchant, the operations further comprising, based at least in part on modifying the indicator associated with the item is available and based at least in part on the one or more first items being associated with the first indicator, sending the indication of the one or more first items to the other server.

14. The system as claim 8 recites, wherein the second device comprises a point-of-sale (POS) device associated with a physical store of the merchant, the operations further comprising, based at least in part on modifying the indicator associated with the item is available and based at least in part on the one or more second items being associated with the second indicator, sending the indication of the one or more second items to the POS device.

15. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing, in at least one database, an inventory of items for a merchant, the inventory of items including (i) one or more first items associated with a first indicator indicating that the one or more first items are available via a first commerce channel associated with the merchant and (ii) one or more second items associated with a second indicator indicating that the one or more second items are available via a second commerce channel associated with the merchant;

causing a first graphical user interface (GUI) to be presented via a device operated by the merchant, the first GUI including a GUI element to enable change to a commerce channel via which an item of the inventory of items is available;

receiving, from the device, an indication of an input associated with the GUI element;

in response to receiving the indication of the input, modifying the indicator associated with the item;

sending at least one of (i) an indication of the one or more first items to a first device based at least in part on the one or more first items being associated with the first indicator or (ii) an indication of the one or more second items to a second device based at least in part on the one or more second items being associated with the second indicator; and

updating the inventory of items based at least in part on transaction data received from at least one of:

a first transaction associated with (i) the first commerce channel and (ii) the one or more first items, or

a second transaction associated with (i) the second commerce channel and (ii) the one or more second items.

16. The computer-implemented method as claim 15 recites, wherein a first item of the one or more first items comprises an online item that is (i) viewable via an online store of the merchant and purchasable at a physical store or (ii) purchasable via the online store.

17. The computer-implemented method as claim 15 recites, wherein the first GUI further comprises one or more additional GUI elements to enable the merchant to specify one or more attributes associated with individual items of the inventory of items, wherein the one or more attributes comprise at least one of a discount status, an amount of a discount, or a quantity of items available.

18. The computer-implemented method as claim 17 recites, further comprising:

receiving, from the device, another indication of another input associated with an additional GUI element of the one or more additional GUI elements, the other input associated with the item; and

updating a record associated with the item based at least in part on the other input.

19. The computer-implemented method as claim 15 recites, wherein the first device comprises another server associated with an online store of the merchant, the computer-implemented method further comprising, based at least in part on modifying the indicator associated with the item and based at least in part on the one or more first items being associated with the first indicator, sending the indication of the one or more first items to the other server.

20. The computer-implemented method as claim 15 recites, wherein the second device comprises a point-of-sale (POS) device associated with a physical store of the merchant, the computer-implemented method further comprising, based at least in part on modifying the indicator associated with the item and based at least in part on the one or more second items being associated with the second indicator, sending the indication of the one or more second items to the POS device.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jan 5, 2022
From: SQUARE, INC.
To: BLOCK, INC.
Reel/Frame 058646/0154 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE THIRD INVENTOR'S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 048261 FRAME: 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT . Recorded Sep 24, 2020
From: VARMA, AJIT KALIDINDI; ROBINSON, JOSEPH LOREE; REISS, JESSE; LIN, ANDREW
To: SQUARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 053880/0963 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 5, 2019
From: VARMA, AJIT KALIDINDI; ROBINSON, JOSEPH LOREE; REISS, JESSE L.; LIN, ANDREW
To: SQUARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 048261/0001 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 14312397 · Jun 23, 2014
Provisional Application 61839098 · Jun 25, 2013
Related Publication 20190147446A1 · May 16, 2019
Cited By (1)
US 12,694,410