Coordinated delivery of dining experiences

Abstract

According to one aspect, a method for managing a multi-restaurant order may be provided. The method may comprise: receiving a delivery order comprising order items from a plurality of restaurants and a delivery order destination; for each of the order items, retrieving order item data comprising: location data of a restaurant associated with each of the order items, and preparation time associated with each of the order items; organizing optimal pickup times for the plurality of order items, each of the optimal pickup times being organized based on the following: the retrieved order item data, the delivery destination, and a target delivery time; transmitting, based on the organizing, a time to begin preparation for each of the order items to each restaurant; and transmitting, based on the organizing, to one or more delivery providers, one or more pickup notifications comprising: the optimal pickup times, and the retrieved order item data.

The following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method for managing a multi-restaurant order, the method comprising:
 receiving a delivery order comprising:
 a plurality of order items from a plurality of restaurants, and 
 a delivery order destination; 
   for each of the plurality of order items, retrieving order item data comprising:
 location data of a restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items, and 
 preparation time associated with each of the plurality of order items; 
   organizing a plurality of optimal pickup times for the plurality of order items, each of the plurality of optimal pickup times being organized based on the following:
 the retrieved order item data, 
 the delivery order destination, and 
 a target delivery time for the delivery order; 
   transmitting a time to begin preparation for each of the plurality of order items to each restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items; and   transmitting to one or more delivery providers, one or more pickup notifications comprising:
 one or more of the plurality of optimal pickup times, and 
 at least a portion of the retrieved order item data. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a preparation delay associated with an order item, of the plurality of order items, and   responsive to detecting the preparation delay, transmitting, to at least one of the one or more delivery providers, a pickup adjustment notification comprising a modified pickup time.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein detecting the preparation delay associated with an order item comprises receiving a delay notification from the restaurant associated with the order item. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising assigning at least one additional delivery provider in response to the modified pickup time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more delivery providers comprises a plurality of delivery providers, the method further comprising coordinating the plurality of delivery providers to arrive to the delivery order destination at substantially the same timeframe. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein two or more restaurants associated with the delivery order operate at the same location. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein retrieving order item data further comprises retrieving order temperature information for each of the plurality of order items. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the delivery order comprises receiving the target delivery time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the target delivery time from a manager of the delivery order. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting at least a portion of the retrieved order item data comprises transmitting the location data of the restaurant associated with each of one or more of the plurality of order items. 
     
     
         11 . A multi-restaurant order managing system comprising:
 a memory storage; and   a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, the processing unit being configured to perform the following:
 receive a delivery order comprising:
 a plurality of order items from a plurality of restaurants, and 
 a delivery order destination, 
 
 for each of the plurality of order items, retrieve order item data comprising:
 location data of a restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items, and 
 preparation time associated with each of the plurality of order items, 
 
 organizing a plurality of optimal pickup times for the plurality of order items, each of the plurality of optimal pickup times being organized based on the following:
 the retrieved order item data, 
 the delivery order destination, and 
 a target delivery time for the delivery order, 
 
 transmit a time to begin preparation for each of the plurality of order items to each restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items, and 
 transmit to one or more delivery providers, one or more pickup notifications comprising:
 one or more of the plurality of optimal pickup times, and 
 at least a portion of the retrieved order item data. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further configured to:
 detect a preparation delay associated with an order item, of the plurality of order items, and   responsive to detecting the preparation delay, transmit, to the one or more delivery providers, a pickup adjustment notification comprising a modified pickup time of each of the plurality of order items.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , further configured to modify, upon receipt of a modification request from a restaurant associated with one of the plurality of order items, the preparation time associated with the one of the plurality of order items. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein receiving the delivery order further comprises receiving at least one of the following:
 at least one delivery address,   payment information of at least one customer associated with the delivery order, and   contact information of the at least one customer associated with the delivery order.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , further configured to receive a completion indicator upon a completed delivery from each of the one or more delivery providers to at least one customer of the delivery order. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein two or more restaurants associated with the delivery order operate at the same location. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform a method, the method comprising:
 receiving a delivery order comprising:
 a plurality of order items from a plurality of restaurants, and 
 a delivery order destination; 
   for each of the plurality of order items, retrieving order item data comprising:
 location data of a restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items, and 
 preparation time associated with each of the plurality of order items; 
   organizing a plurality of optimal pickup times for the plurality of order items, each of the plurality of optimal pickup times being organized based on the following:
 the retrieved order item data, 
 the delivery order destination, and 
 a target delivery time for the delivery order; 
   transmitting a time to begin preparation for each of the plurality of order items to each restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items; and   transmitting to one or more delivery providers, one or more pickup notifications comprising:
 one or more of the plurality of optimal pickup times, and 
 at least a portion of the retrieved order item data. 
   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein retrieving order item data comprises parsing the following information from each restaurant associated with each of the plurality of order items to determine the preparation time associated with each of the plurality of order items:
 one or more other order items currently being prepared,   one or more other order items queued for preparation, and   a preparation rate of each of the plurality of restaurants.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein two or more restaurants associated with the delivery order operate at the same location. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising assigning at least one prerequisite item relating to the delivery order, the at least one prerequisite item comprising at least one of the following:
 at least one thermal container, and   at least one chafing apparatus.   
     
     
         21 . A method for executing a multi-restaurant order, the method comprising:
 receiving a first order item and a second order item of the multi-restaurant order, by a delivery organizer from a software interface, wherein the delivery organizer is a software application executing on a computer, the multi-restaurant order comprising a plurality of order items associated with one or more kitchens, each of the one or more kitchens comprising one or more restaurants;   retrieving, by the delivery organizer, a first preparation time information associated with the first order item, the first order item being associated with a first restaurant;   retrieving, by the delivery organizer, a second preparation time information associated with the second order item, the second order item being associated with a second restaurant;   scheduling, by the delivery organizer, a plurality of pickup times for at least one delivery provider to pick up the first order item and the second order item, the plurality of pickup times being based on the following:
 geolocation data of the first restaurant and the second restaurant, 
 a target temperature of at least one of the first order item and the second order item, and 
 a target delivery time for the multi-restaurant order; 
   scheduling, based on order data, a first time to begin preparation of the first order item and a second time to begin preparation of the second order item;   transmitting, by the delivery organizer, the following:
 the scheduled first time to begin preparation to the first restaurant, 
 the scheduled second time to begin preparation to the second restaurant, and 
 at least one of the plurality of pickup times to the at least one delivery provider; 
   monitoring, by the delivery organizer, preparation times associated with the first order item and the second order item at their respective restaurants to detect one or more delays; and   triggering a transmission upon a detection of one or more delays, by the delivery organizer, of a notification to one or more delivery providers to adjust one or more of the pickup times.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein retrieving the first preparation time information comprises parsing, from the first restaurant, the following information to determine the first preparation time information:
 one or more other order items currently being prepared,   one or more other order items queued for preparation, and   a preparation rate of the first restaurant.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein retrieving the second preparation time information comprises parsing, from the second restaurant, the following information to determine the second preparation time information:
 one or more other order items currently being prepared,   one or more other order items queued for preparation, and   a preparation rate of the first restaurant.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising assigning one or more additional delivery providers in response to the adjusted one or more pickup times. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more delivery providers comprises a plurality of delivery providers, the method further comprising coordinating the plurality of delivery providers to arrive to the delivery order destination at substantially the same timeframe. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein two or more restaurants associated with the multi-restaurant order operate at the same location. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein receiving the multi-restaurant order further comprises receiving at least one of the following:
 one or more delivery addresses;   payment information of one or more customers associated with the multi-restaurant order;   contact information of the one or more customers associated with the multi-restaurant order;   the target delivery time; and   desired service options.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein retrieving order item data further comprises retrieving order temperature information for each of the plurality of order items. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving a completion indicator upon a completed delivery from the one or more delivery providers to a customer of the multi-restaurant order. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising transmitting payment from the customer to one or more of the following based on the completion indicator:
 the first restaurant;   the second restaurant; and   the at least one delivery provider.