Facilitation of authorized in-store pickup

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for the facilitation of authorized in-store pickup in conjunction with online ordering. A request to process an order of an item selected by a customer and placed through a website may be received. The website may be transformed to a cart fulfillment web page including a fulfillment interface. Through the fulfillment interface, a selection of an option for in-store pickup by a third party may be received from the customer. Through the fulfillment interface, identifying information regarding the third party, pickup details associated with the in-store pickup of the item by the third party, and a preferred notification method for contacting the third party may also be received from the customer. An authorization pickup record related to the in-store pickup of the item by the third party may be generated. The authorization pickup record may be transmitted to the third party via the preferred notification method.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A method for facilitating in-store pickup, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a customer, a request to purchase an item;   receiving an electronic indication of an option for in-store pickup of the item;   receiving identifying information regarding a party that will perform the in-store pick up of the item;   responsive to receiving the identifying information, generating an authorization pickup record related to the in-store pickup of the item by the party, wherein the authorization pickup record comprises a unique code that verifies that the party is authorized to pick up the item;   electronically transmitting the authorization pickup record to the party;   receiving the authorization pickup record from the party; and   verifying that the party is authorized to pick up the item based on the authorization pickup record.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 transmitting a pickup confirmation message to the customer after the party picks up the item.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 receiving a notification method for contacting the party;   wherein electronically transmitting the authorization pickup record to the party comprises transmitting the authorization pickup record according to the notification method.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein verifying that the party is authorized to pick up the item based on the authorization pickup record comprises verifying that the party is authorized to pick up the item by scanning the unique code. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the unique code comprises a unique bar code. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein verifying that the third party is authorized to pick up the item based on the authorization pickup record comprises verifying that the third party is authorized to pick up the item by scanning the unique bar code. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the authorization pickup record further comprises one or more of:
 customer information;   a location of a store for pickup of the item;   a pickup date;   a pickup time;   information to identify the item;   the size of the item;   the weight of the item; or   directions to the store.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the request to purchase the item is received in a first store; and   wherein the authorization pickup record is received from the party in a second store.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the item is not available in the first store. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 determining that the item is available in the second store before providing the authorization pickup record to the party.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the request to purchase the item is received through a website. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the party is a third party. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein electronically transmitting the authorization pickup record to the party comprises electronically transmitting the authorization pickup record to the party in a text message. 
     
     
         22 . A method for store-to-store pickup, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a first store, a plurality of product identifiers associated with a plurality of items, wherein the items are unavailable at the first store;   locating a plurality of alternate stores that contain the items based on the plurality of product identifiers;   generating an ordered list of the plurality of alternate stores;   receiving a selection of an option for in-store pickup of one or more items of the plurality of items at one or more of the plurality of alternate stores;   receiving identifying information regarding a party to perform the in-store pickup, pickup details associated with the in-store pickup, and a notification method for contacting the party;   responsive to receiving the identifying information, the pickup details, and the notification method, generating an authorization pickup record related to the in-store pickup of the item by the party, wherein the authorization pickup record comprises a unique code;   electronically transmitting the authorization pickup record to the party via the notification method;   receiving, at a second store, the authorization pickup record from the party; and   verifying, based on the unique code, that the party is authorized to pick up the one or more items based on the authorization pickup record.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the unique code comprises a bar code. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein verifying that the third party is authorized to pick up the one or more items based on the authorization pickup record comprises verifying that the third party is authorized to pick up the one or more items by scanning the unique bar code. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the party is a third party. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the second store is one of the plurality of alternate stores. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 transmitting a pickup confirmation message to the customer after the party picks up the one or more items.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the authorization pickup record further comprises one or more of:
 customer information;   a location of the second store;   a pickup date;   a pickup time;   information to identify the one or more items;   the respective sizes of the one or more item;   the respective weights of the one or more items; or   directions to the second store.