ONLINE SUPERMARKET METHOD AND SYSTEM

FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to online retailing of supermarket items , such as food and groceries and other items typically sold in supermarkets .

BACKGROUND

[0002] There are several supermarket chains and other traders that offer online services from which to purchase supermarket items and have them delivered to a nominated delivery address such as the customer's home or collected ready for pickup. There are also several price comparison services which tabulate prices quoted by supermarkets and publish them on the internet so that the customer can minimise the supermarket bill.

[0003] The existing systems do not provide a useful service for price minimisation or optimisation of another criterion for customers who are time poor, incapacitated or otherwise unable or unwilling to spend the effort involved in finding the best price or optimise another criterion for comparison. There is therefore a need for an online supermarket purchasing service which provides a measure of automatic optimised vendor selection to the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] According to a first broad aspect of the invention there is provided, for an ordering system comprising a processor and memory operating over a data communications network to vendors , a method of providing supermarket items to a customer, the method comprising the steps of: creating a shopping list of one or more desired supermarket items based on input from a user;

determining price bids to provide the items to the customer from a bidding set of one or more vendors;

selecting a vendor from the bidding set to provide each item to the customer, based on a selection criterion; and

ordering the items from the corresponding selected vendors over the data communications network for delivery to a customer delivery address or for pickup.

[0005] The customer may be an end consumer of the supermarket item, but in some embodiments the customers may include

commercial customers, such as in the food service industry.

[0006] In one embodiment, the selection criterion for at least one of the items is to select a vendor with a lowest price bid.

[0007] In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of aggregating and storing product and price lists of each vendor in a price list database in the memory.

[0008] In one embodiment, the step of selecting vendors

comprises manual override facility to allow the user to override one or more suggested vendor selections.

[0009] In one embodiment, the step of selecting vendors

comprises the step of removing a vendor from selection to supply any items when including the vendor would incur a higher overall charge due to other costs such as shipping and handling.

[0010] According to a second broad aspect of the invention there is provided a system for providing supermarket items to a customer having a processor and memory operating over a data communications network, the processor comprising:

a shopping list creator for creating a shopping list of one or more desired supermarket items based on input from a user;

a price bid determiner for determining price bids to provide the items to the customer from a bidding set of one or more vendors ;

a vendor selector for selecting a vendor from the bidding set to provide each item to the customer, based on a selection criterion; and

an orderer for ordering the items for delivery to the customer from the corresponding vendors over the data

communications network .

[0011] In one embodiment, at least one of the shopping list creator, price bid determiner, vendor selector and orderer is implemented at least in part by a processor executing computer program code.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a flow diagram of method steps according to first broad aspect of the invention.

[0013] Figure 2 is a block diagram of system components

according to an embodiment of the second broad aspect of the invention .

[0014] Figure 3 is a screen display according to an embodiment of the invention .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0015] An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures .

[0016] As is the case with all online e-commerce systems, the ordering system of the invention may be provided by a range of computer hardware and software operating thereon. Components of the system may be located at different sites and interconnected by data communication. Referring to Figure 2, a server is remotely located from the user and from online vendors 101, 102, 103 as exemplified by Coles Online (www.colesonline.com.au) and is connected to the internet. The server typically houses memory 30 and at least some components of processor 20. Processor 20 may also be realised in part by code such as HTML running on a user's telecommunications device such as a computer, smart phone, or tablet. In some embodiments, such device may

incorporate a scanning device located for example on a

refrigerator or in a kitchen whereby the customer is able to scan an item in order to be able to inform the system that a particular product is wanted to be ordered.

[0017] Each online vendor 101, 102, 103 is an existing vendor of supermarket items, such as Coles Online. The invention typically requires an arrangement and purpose built software interface with the online vendor whereby orders and price queries may be automatically sent over the internet by processor 20 to the vendor's server, which replies with a response as to price or as to an acknowledgement of an order.

[0018] The overall aim of this embodiment is to provide

supermarket items to a customer delivery address 40 from one or more vendors in such a way as to minimize price to the customer, within other constraints where relevant. [0019] Elements of processor 20 are described in functional form in the following with reference to Figure 2 and Figure 1 , all elements typically being provided by program code executed on the server or in part on the user's device.

[0020] In step 1201 of the method, each of a group of users, typically signed up members of the service, interacts remotely with the processor 20 over the internet via a user interface 50 such as a computer keyboard and mouse or touchscreen in the user's premises, at an internet cafe, or while mobile. The user may have the option of selecting some or all of the available vendors as the bidding set from which price bids will be

considered. The system may automatically restrict the bidding set to include only those vendors that can meet the delivery requirements (region - e.g. by postal code - or time period) of the customer. The user creates a shopping list 330 from

available items displayed on user interface 50 by shopping list creator 210. Shopping list creator 210 displays as is known in the art a list of supermarket items that are available to be purchased. Typically this list has been collected in advance by system managers or by the online vendors and stored in memory 30 in aggregated vendor product and price list database 310. One convenient way of indexing the list of available items is by the GS1 System, or similar. In this embodiment of the invention, the list of available items includes all supermarket items available to be purchased through one or more of the vendors in the bidding set, and the user selects desired items from the list of available items to create a shopping list 330 stored in memory 30. Also, the user may have stored previous shopping lists in memory 30 from which new shopping lists can be easily created.

[0021] Once the shopping list 330 has been created, the user requests processor 20 to select appropriate vendors. Vendor selector 230 in step 1202 determines the price bids by activating price bid determiner 220 which may communicate directly with online vendors 101, 102, 103 or alternatively consult with aggregated vendor product and price list database 310 where previous price quotations have been stored. An

advantage of aggregated vendor product and price list database 310 in this embodiment is that price and product information may be provided more rapidly to the user, being stored in advance in memory 30 and updated periodically.

[0022] Price bid determiner 220 reports the price bids to vendors selector 230 which then determines the cheapest of each bid using price comparator 240.

[0023] The user is able in this embodiment to manually override the automatic suggestion of the vendors to select in relation to particular items . Vendor selector 230 is also adapted to

override specific selections advised from price comparator 240 in the event that the total savings realised from the

comparisons of the shopping list items does not exceed an additional cost of paying shipping and handling charges to more than one vendor. This will be described in more detail later in reference to Figure 3.

[0024] Once the vendor selector 230 has finished the task (step 1203) of selecting vendors for each item, the outcome is stored in shopping cart 320. Orderer 250 then in step 1204 places the appropriate orders with one or more of the vendors , who fulfil the delivery to a customer delivery address 40 or prepare the order for pickup by the customer at a local location in

accordance with the usual procedure. This procedure typically includes the user specifying from a set of delivery time or pickup options in relation to each vendor. [0025] The user may have an account with each of the online vendors 101, 102, 103 which are used by orderer 250 or

alternatively the system via orderer 250 will communicate delivery details and payment directly to the online vendors at each purchase, and the user may have an account only with the vendor associated with the system of the invention.

[0026] Referring now to Figure 3, a screen output 60 from the result of price comparator 240 is shown. In the first line, it can be seen that the item "Pantene shampoo" has been quoted at $16.04 from Coles and $16.97 from Woolworth's. Price comparator 240 has identified the Coles price as lowest and this is shown on the screen as the highlighted box around the Coles bid. In the second line, the item "Finish dishwashing tablets" has a blank entry under Coles , because it was not available from that vendor. Accordingly, price comparator 240 has automatically selected the Woolworths bid as the lowest bid, being the only one available.

[0027] It can be seen from the extreme right hand column called "total savings" that the total savings for the shopping list, compared the most expensive combination has been $1.25. Although shipping and handling charges are increased by $9.00 dollars through the choice of two vendors in this example, the customer is able to purchase all the desired items , because neither of the vendors were able to supply all of the items . In this case vendor selector 230 may issue a warning to the user to consider dropping one or more items (in this case the Finish Dishwashing tablets) to avoid the unwarranted extra shipping charge. This is appropriately at the option of the user since the customer may have an urgent need for this item. Vendor selector 230 may operate to offer the user default settings as to how it resolves such difficulties and alternatives. [0028] In the event that all of the items in shopping list 330 can be purchased from more than one vendor, if the price savings to be achieved by selecting more than one vendor is outweighed by an extra shipping and handling charge, vendor selector 230 may operate to select a single vendor as the one with the cheapest total cost.

[0029] This embodiment of the invention thus provides a labour saving method of obtaining a lowest possible online supermarket purchase, while also giving the opportunity of obtaining all the items in a shopping list where no single vendor is able to supply all the items .

[0030] The broad concept of the method and system is compatible with a number of revenue generating models to enable an owner of the system to profit. Such models include any one or a

combination of : payment by the online vendors of a fee whenever a new customer signs up as a member of the service; payment by the item wholesalers of a fee whenever a customer adds an item to their shopping list; payment by the online vendors of an agreed percentage of the total spend with each vendor; payment by the online vendors of a startup fee; and payment by the customer of a periodic membership fee or a percentage of

purchase or of savings. To implement revenue collection, the processor may further comprise a revenue collection module to record and sum appropriate transactional events for charging to the vendors, item wholesalers, customers or other entity as appropriate .

[0031] Persons skilled in the art will also appreciate that many variations may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. [0032] For example, the price bids contemplated by the invention include passive pricelists which are published and periodically updated by the online vendors , or dynamic price bids which are offered by the vendors in interaction with the system. This may encourage a dynamic form of competition between vendors to further lower prices to the customer.

[0033] Further, in its broadest aspect the invention extends to a selection criterion which involves optimisation of a criterion other than lowest price from the price bids, or a criterion in addition to lowest price. Multiple or single criteria are contemplated, such as dietary or religious requirements, organic or vegetarian characteristics and the like. This is to

accommodate customers who may not have as much interest in the price bids in determining the purchase choice, or who have particular requirements in addition to price optimisation.

[0034] Further still, in its broadest aspect the invention extends to situations in which the step of ordering may not be immediate or executed in one go. For example, the shopping list for each vendor might be saved by the user and the part of the order associated with each vendor processed when the customer feels that there is enough to justify the shipping and handling costs .

[0035] Further still, it is within the broadest scope of the invention for a customer to be assisted by human agents such as a call centre operator, operating user interface 50 during discussions with the customer to ascertain the customer' s requirements and operate the system. This is especially useful where the customer is challenged by computer interfaces and requires assistance, or simply prefers human contact. In such a human-assisted system, some of the processor elements can also be (at least in part) realised without computer code, such as where a call centre operator may perform all or some of the vendor selection step.

[0036] Additional features within the scope of the broadest aspect which may be incorporated in embodiments may include :

• when each item is chosen, alternative products based on certain classifications may be displayed to offer

alternative choices to the customer. The classification may be based on brand alternatives, packaging size, use or purpose, religious or dietary requirement;

• display of a catalogue from each vendor where users can directly select items to add to the list;

• the use of promotional vouchers as payment alternatives ;

• the provision of detailed product information on the user interface ;

• the provision of consumer feedback and reviews in

relation to displayed products ;

• display advertisements, videos and chat rooms etc.

[0037] In the claims which follow and in the preceding

description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or

"comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention .

[0038] The method steps recited in the claims are not

necessarily performed in serial order, and may be performed in parallel (for example steps 1202 and 1203) unless the context requires otherwise.

[0039] It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.