Package shipping system and method, including usage of historical analytic data

Abstract

Embodiments provide methods, apparatus, systems, and computer-readable media associated with using historic analytic data to identify shipping options for a user to use when shipping a package. Historic analytic data may be received and maintained by a package shipment facilitation system. The analytics may then be used to generate business rules which may be applied to parameters for a package that is to be shipped. Through application of the business rules, one or more preferred shipping options may be identified. Business rules may be received after being manually-generated by a user, or may be automatically generated based at least in part on the maintained historic analytics. After a shipping option is chosen for the package, a shipping label may be printed for the package, and the package may be entered into a carrier's system for processing.

1 . A computer-implemented method for facilitating shipment of a package, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, one or more parameters for shipment of the package; and   based at least in part on the one or more parameters and historical analytic data of one or more available shipping options, identifying, at the computing device, one or more preferred shipping options out of the one or more available shipping options.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computing device, one or more business rules using the one or more historical analytic data; and   wherein the business rules are configured such that, when the business rules are applied to the parameters, the business rules identify the one or more preferred shipping options.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein receiving the one or more business rules comprises:
 receiving, at the computing device, identification of one or more business rule parameter inputs for a user-defined business rule; and   receiving, at the computing device, an output shipping option for the user-defined business rule.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein receiving the one or more business rules comprises:
 receiving, at the computing device, identification of one or more business rule parameter inputs for a computer-generated business rule; and   automatically identifying, by the computing device, an output shipping option for the computer-generated business rule.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 automatically identifying an output shipping option comprises automatically identifying, by the computing device, an output shipping option which, when used with the one or more business rule parameter inputs, results in higher values for one or more first types of the historical analytic data as compared to other shipping options; and   the first types of the historical analytic data are types for which a user has identified that higher values are desired.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 automatically identifying an output shipping option comprises automatically identifying, by the computing device, an output shipping option which, when used with the one or more business rule parameter inputs, results in lower values for one or more second types of the historical analytic data as compared to other shipping options; and   the second types of the historical analytic data are types for which a user has identified that lower values are desired.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein receiving one or more business rules comprises receiving an identification of a default business rule. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein shipping options comprise shipping via one or more different carriers. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein shipping options comprise different modes of transportation for the packages being shipped. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein parameters comprise a destination address or a delivery time. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the historical analytic data, by the computing device, including receiving empirical data taken from multiple users. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving one or more parameters for shipment of the package comprises receiving the one or more parameters from a user shipping the package; and
 wherein the method further comprises receiving, by the computing device, all or part of the historical analytic data from the user shipping the package.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein historic analytic data comprises shipping price or surcharges. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising printing, by the computing device, a shipping label for the package. 
     
     
         15 . A system for facilitating shipment of a package, the system comprising:
 one or more computer processors;   an analytic history storage coupled to the one or more computer processors, the analytic history storage configured to contain historical analytic data for one or more available shipping options;   a business rules storage coupled to the one or more computer processors, wherein the business rules storage is configured to contain one or more business rules based on the historical analytic data in the analytic history storage, and the business rules are configured to identify one or more preferred shipping options out of the one or more available shipping options based on one or more shipping parameters; and   a business rules application module configured to control the one or more processors, in response to operation by the one or more processors, to:
 receive one or more parameters for shipment of the package; and 
 apply the one or more business rules from the business rules storage to the one or more parameters to identify one or more preferred shipping options out of the one or more available shipping options. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising a business rules generation module configured to control the one or more processors, in response to operation by the one or more processors, to generate the one or more business rules based on the historical analytic data in the analytic history storage. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein historical analytic data comprises empirical data taken from multiple users and empirical data taken from a user from whom the parameters were received. 
     
     
         18 . An article of manufacture, comprising:
 a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium; and   a plurality of computer-executable instructions stored on the tangible computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-executable instructions, in response to execution by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform operations for facilitating shipment of a package, the operations including:
 receiving one or more parameters for shipment of the package; 
 receiving one or more business rules based on historical analytic data; and 
 applying the one or more business rules to the one or more parameters to identify one or more preferred shipping options out of one or more available shipping options. 
   
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise generating the one or more business rules based on the historical analytic data. 
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 18 , wherein historical analytic data comprises empirical data taken from multiple users and empirical data taken from an entity with whom the preferences are associated.