Examples of delivery and/or referral service sms ordering

Abstract

Various systems and methods that may relate to referral and/or delivery services are described. Some embodiments may include billing SMS ordering.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 one or more computing devices; and   a non-transitory medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that when executed by the one or more computing devices cause the apparatus to:   receive a first SMS message from a phone number;   determine a delivery location, a payment method, and order information by referencing a user database using the phone number;   transmit a second SMS message to the phone number with the order information, in which the order information identifies at least two possible orders;   receive a selection of at least one order of the at least two possible orders through a third SMS message from the phone number; and   based at least in part on the selection of the at least one order, facilitate delivery of the at least one order to the delivery location and facilitate payment for the order and delivery of the order using the payment method.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the apparatus is caused to:
 receive an indication of the phone number through a user interface;   receive an indication of the payment method through the user interface;   receive an indication of the payment method through the user interface;   receive an indication of the order information through the user interface; and   establish an entry in the database connecting the phone number with the payment meth, delivery location and order information.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , in which the user interface includes a webpage. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the payment method is a credit card and in which facilitating payment includes charging the credit card. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the payment method includes a cash payment at a time of delivery. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the apparatus is caused to:
 transmit a fourth SMS message to the phone number requesting confirmation of the selection;   receive confirmation of the selection through a fifth SMS message; and   in which facilitating delivery and payment includes facilitating delivery and payment in response to receiving confirmation.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the apparatus is caused to:
 in response to receiving the first SMS message, transmit menu SMS message requesting a selection from among a plurality of order information types.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the plurality of order information types include favorite orders, saved orders, and recent orders. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , in which the apparatus is caused to at least one of:
 determine favorite orders based on an order history of a user associated with the phone number; and   determine recent orders based on order history of the user associated with the phone number.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , in which the apparatus is caused to: determine saved orders based on entry of at least one saved order through a user interface by a user associated with the phone number. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the apparatus is caused to:
 determine that the first SMS message includes a keyword; and   in which the menu SMS message is transmitted in response to determined that the first SMS message includes the keyword.   
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, a first SMS message from a phone number;   determining, by the computing device, a delivery location, a payment method, and order information by referencing a user database using the phone number;   transmitting, by the computing device, a second SMS message to the phone number with the order information, in which the order information identifies at least two possible orders;   receiving, by the computing device, a selection of at least one order of the at least two possible orders through a third SMS message from the phone number; and   based at least in part on the selection of the at least one order, facilitating, by the computing device, delivery of the at least one order to the delivery location and facilitating payment for the order and delivery of the order using the payment method.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 receiving an indication of the phone number through a user interface;   receiving an indication of the payment method through the user interface;   receiving an indication of the payment method through the user interface;   receiving an indication of the order information through the user interface; and   establishing an entry in the database connecting the phone number with the payment meth, delivery location and order information.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , in which the user interface includes a webpage. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , in which the payment method is a credit card and in which facilitating payment includes charging the credit card. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , in which the payment method includes a cash payment at a time of delivery. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 transmitting a fourth SMS message to the phone number requesting confirmation of the selection;   receiving confirmation of the selection through a fifth SMS message; and   in which facilitating delivery and payment includes facilitating delivery and payment in response to receiving confirmation.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 in response to receiving the first SMS message, transmitting menu SMS message requesting a selection from among a plurality of order information types.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , in which the plurality of order information types include favorite orders, saved orders, and recent orders. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , in which the method includes at least one of:
 determining favorite orders based on an order history of a user associated with the phone number; and   determining recent orders based on order history of the user associated with the phone number.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , comprising: determining saved orders based on entry of at least one saved order through a user interface by a user associated with the phone number. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , comprising:
 determine that the first SMS message includes a keyword; and   in which the menu SMS message is transmitted in response to determined that the first SMS message includes the keyword.