Non-sequential restaurant order system and method
Systems and restaurant locations for use with a mobile ordering system, and methods thereof, to provide at least more time-efficient pick up of orders by customers than with traditional ordering and pick up windows.
1. A method for scheduling an order for a customer, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving, at a data processor, at least one ordered menu selection;
transmitting, by the data processor using a network interface device connected to a network, the at least one ordered menu selection to a plurality of interconnected restaurant location servers that uses a feedback loop to update an overall order queue used for selecting a restaurant location to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection;
generating, at the data processor, an estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection;
based on a determined geographic location of at least one delivery service and the selected restaurant location, assigning, by the data processor, the at least one delivery service to deliver the at least one ordered menu selection from the selected restaurant location to a location of a user that made the at least one ordered menu selection;
sending, by the data processor using the network interface device connected to the network, the estimated preparation time to the at least one delivery service;
receiving, at the data processor, a request for starting to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection from the at least one delivery service; and
transmitting tracking information of the at least one delivery service for presentation on a computing device of the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request received from the at least one assigned delivery service is transmitted with an estimated arrival time for pick-up of the at least one assigned delivery service.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of comparing, at the data processor, the estimated arrival time for the pick-up with the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is less than or equal to the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is immediately started to prepare for the pick-up.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is greater than the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is started to prepare for the pick-up within a time determined by a difference between the estimated arrival time and the estimated preparation time.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one delivery service includes a driverless delivery system and/or a delivery system with a driver.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the driverless delivery system sends the request for starting to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection when the driverless delivery system is in route for the pick-up.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated preparation time is determined based on factors including a complexity of the order, a skill level of one or more staff members preparing the order, or some combination thereof to generate the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one ordered menu selection comprises one or more of a food selection and a beverage selection.
10. A system for scheduling an order for a customer, the system comprising:
a memory storing instructions;
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor executes the instructions to:
receive, at a data processor, at least one ordered menu selection;
transmit, by the data processor using a network interface device connected to a network, the at least one ordered menu selection to a plurality of interconnected restaurant location servers that uses a feedback loop to update an overall order queue used for selecting a restaurant location to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection;
generate, at the data processor, an estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection;
based on a determined geographic location of at least one delivery service and the selected restaurant location, assign, by the data processor, the at least one delivery service to deliver the at least one ordered menu selection from the selected restaurant location to a location of a user that made the at least one ordered menu selection;
send, by the data processor using the network interface device connected to the network, the estimated preparation time to the at least one delivery service;
receive, at the data processor, a request for starting to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection from the at least one delivery service; and
transmit tracking information of the at least one delivery service for presentation on a computing device of the user.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the request received from the at least one delivery service is transmitted with an estimated arrival time for pick-up of the at least one delivery service.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor further executes the instructions to compare the estimated arrival time for the pick-up with the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is less than or equal to the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is immediately started to prepare for the pick-up.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is greater than the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is started to prepare for the pick-up within a time determined by a difference between the estimated arrival time and the estimated preparation time.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one delivery service includes a driverless delivery system and/or a delivery system with a driver.
16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:
receive, at a data processor, at least one ordered menu selection;
transmit, by the data processor using a network interface device connected to a network, the at least one ordered menu selection to a plurality of interconnected restaurant location servers that uses a feedback loop to update an overall order queue used for selecting a restaurant location to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection;
generate, at the data processor, an estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection;
based on a determined geographic location of at least one delivery service and the selected restaurant location, assign, by the data processor, the at least one delivery service to deliver the at least one ordered menu selection from the selected restaurant location to a location of a user that made the at least one ordered menu selection;
send, by the data processor using the network interface device connected to the network, the estimated preparation time to the at least one delivery service;
receive, at the data processor, a request for starting to prepare the at least one ordered menu selection from the at least one delivery service; and
transmit tracking information of the at least one delivery service for presentation on a computing device of the user.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the request received from the at least one delivery service is transmitted with an estimated arrival time for pick-up of the at least one delivery service.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the processor compares the estimated arrival time for the pick-up with the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is less than or equal to the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is immediately started to prepare for the pick-up.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein when the estimated arrival time for the pick-up is greater than the estimated preparation time of the at least one ordered menu selection, the at least one ordered menu selection is started to prepare for the pick-up within a time determined by a difference between the estimated arrival time and the estimated preparation time.