Out-of-store purchase routing systems, methods, and media
Systems, methods, and media for picking-up and delivering products are disclosed. Some embodiments route shoppers to acquire products for multiple customers orders from multiple suppliers using a variety of transportation modes. The transportation modes may differing maximum weight carrying and volume carrying capacities, maximum vehicle speeds. Moreover, some embodiments may account for a different number vehicles for each transportation mode and may further account for the availability of shoppers and vehicles.
1. An order fulfillment system, comprising:
vehicles, wherein each vehicle corresponds to one of a plurality of modes of transportation;
an e-commerce system configured to:
receive, during a time period, customer orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each customer order requests one or more products;
identify, from the customer orders, a collection of products to be acquired from a plurality of suppliers;
select a first mode of transportation from the plurality of modes of transportation;
generate, based on a vehicle routing algorithm and a carrying capacity for the selected first mode of transportation, first routes for acquiring the collection of products from the plurality of suppliers using vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation;
assign routes of the first routes to vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation; and
in response to a quantity of first routes exceeding a quantity of vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation:
identify second products of the collection of products not assigned to a vehicle;
select a second mode of transportation from the plurality of modes of transportation;
generate, based on the vehicle routing algorithm and a carrying capacity for the selected second mode of transportation, second routes for acquiring the identified second products in the collection from the plurality of suppliers using vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation; and
assign routes of the second routes to vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation.
2. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the e-commerce system is further configured to:
generate the first routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the first mode of transportation; and
generate the second routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the second mode of transportation.
3. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the e-commerce system is further configured to:
sort the first routes by total weight of products to be acquired by each respective first route;
assign routes of the first routes to the vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired via the respective first route;
sort the second routes by total weight of products to be acquired by each respective second route; and
assign routes of the second routes to vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired via the respective second route.
4. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the e-commerce system is further configured to assign a plurality of routes from the first routes to a first vehicle of the selected first mode of transportation if the first vehicle is capable sequentially completing each of the plurality of routes within a specified shopping window.
5. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the e-commerce system is further configured to:
determine whether all of the products in the collection have been acquired from the plurality of suppliers; and
request delivery of the products to respective customers in response to determining that all of the products have been acquired.
6. A method, comprising:
receiving, with one or more computing devices during a time period, customer orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each customer order requests one or more products;
identifying, from the customer orders with the one or more computing devices, a collection of products to be acquired from a plurality of suppliers;
selecting a first mode of transportation from a plurality of modes of transportation,
generating, with the one or more computing devices based on a vehicle routing algorithm and a carrying capacity for the selected first mode of transportation, first routes for acquiring the collection of products from the plurality of suppliers using vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation;
assigning, with the one or more computing devices, routes of the first routes to vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation;
acquiring, with the one or more first vehicles, first products from the plurality of suppliers per the routes of the first routes assigned to the vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation; and
in response determining that second products of the collection remain unassigned after assigning the routes of the first routes to the vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation:
selecting a second mode of transportation from the plurality of modes of transportation;
generating, with the one or more computing devices based on the vehicle routing algorithm and the maximum carrying capacity for the selected second mode of transportation, second routes for acquiring the second products in the collection;
assigning, with the one or more computing devices, routes of the second routes to vehicles of the second mode of transportation; and
acquiring, with the vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation, the second products from the plurality of suppliers per the routes of the second routes assigned to the vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
generating, with the one or more computing devices, the first routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the first mode of transportation; and
generating, with the one or more computing devices, the second routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the second mode of transportation.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
sorting the first routes by total weight of products to be acquired by each respective first route;
assigning routes of the first routes to the vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired via the respective first route;
sorting, with the one or more computing devices, the second routes by total weight of products to be acquired via each respective second route; and
assigning, with the one or more computing devices, the second routes to the vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired.
9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising assigning, with the one or more computing devices, a plurality of routes from the first routes to a first vehicle of the selected first mode of transportation if the first vehicle is that capable of sequentially completing each of the plurality of routes within a specified shopping window.
10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining, with the one or more computing devices, whether all of the products in the collection have been acquired from the plurality of suppliers; and
requesting, with the one or more computing devices, delivery of the products to respective customers in response to determining that all of the products have been acquired.
11. One or more non-transitory computer readable media comprising instructions that, in response to being executed, cause:
one or more computing devices to:
receive, during a time period, customer orders from a plurality of customers, wherein each customer order requests one or more products;
identify, from the customer orders, a collection of products to be acquired from a plurality of suppliers;
select a first mode of transportation from a plurality of modes of transportation;
generate, based on a vehicle routing algorithm and a carrying capacity for the selected first mode of transportation, first routes for acquiring the collection of products from the plurality of suppliers using vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation;
assign routes of the first routes to vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation; and
in response to a quantity of first routes exceeding a quantity of vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation, to:
identify second products of the collection of products not assigned to a vehicle;
select a second mode of transportation from the plurality of modes of transportation;
generate, based on the vehicle routing algorithm and a carrying capacity for the selected second mode of transportation, second routes for acquiring the identified second products in the collection from the plurality of suppliers using vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation; and
assign routes of the second routes to vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation.
12. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computing devices to:
generate the first routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the first mode of transportation; and
generate the second routes based on a maximum volume carrying capacity and a maximum weight carrying capacity of the second mode of transportation.
13. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computing devices to:
sort the first routes by total weight of products to be acquired by each respective first route;
assign routes of the first routes to the vehicles of the selected first mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired via the respective first route;
sort the second routes by total weight of products to be acquired by each respective second route; and
assign routes of the second routes to vehicles of the selected second mode of transportation in decreasing order of total weight of products to be acquired via the respective second route.
14. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computing devices to assign a plurality of routes from the first routes to a first vehicle of the selected first mode of transportation if the first vehicle is capable of sequentially completing each of the plurality of routes within a specified shopping window.
15. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computing devices to:
determine whether all of the products in the collection have been acquired from the plurality of suppliers; and
request delivery of the products to respective customers in response to determining that all of the products have been acquired.
16. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the e-commerce system is configured to place routes of the first routes in a buffer for later fulfillment by a shopper who mans a vehicle of the selected first mode of transportation.
17. The order fulfillment system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle routing algorithm includes a savings algorithm.
18. The method of claim 6 , further comprising placing routes of the first routes in a buffer for later fulfillment by a shopper who mans a vehicle of the selected first mode of transportation.
19. The method of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle routing algorithm includes a savings algorithm.
20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle routing algorithm includes a savings algorithm.