US 12,346,908 B2
Systems and methods for processing third-party returns
Maheer Manmohan, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Douglas E. Humphrys, Bentonville, AR (US); Sid Shake, Bentonville, AR (US); Charles Harry Lobo, Cave Springs, AR (US); Tripuresh Pandey, Bengaluru (IN); Zhijian Huang, San Diego, CA (US); Nivea Mandavia, Sterling, VA (US); Casey S. Hulliberger, Rogers, AR (US); and Darren W. Stanley, Falls Church, VA (US)
Assigned to Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed by Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed on Jul. 16, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/773,892.
Application 18/773,892 is a continuation of application No. 18/225,316, filed on Jul. 24, 2023, granted, now 12,073,412.
Application 18/225,316 is a continuation of application No. 17/235,669, filed on Apr. 20, 2021, granted, now 11,748,761, issued on Sep. 5, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/036,069, filed on Jun. 8, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 202041016928 (IN), filed on Apr. 20, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0370876 A1, Nov. 7, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06Q 20/40 (2012.01); G06Q 10/0837 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0601 (2023.01)
CPC G06Q 20/407 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/0837 (2013.01); G06Q 30/0639 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for processing product returns, the system comprising:
a database, wherein the database is configured to store order information;
a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, wherein the POS terminal is located in a retail facility; and
a control circuit communicatively coupled to the POS terminal, the control circuit configured to:
receive, from the POS terminal, the order identifier;
determine, based on accessing the database, the product, that the product is eligible to be returned, a refund amount for the product, and a location to which the product should be returned;
generate, based on the location to which the product should be returned, a return label;
transmit, to the POS terminal, the return label;
transmit a signal to the database to update a custody flag associated with the product in the database, wherein the custody flag indicates possession of the product by the retailer; and
responsive to the update of the custody flag in the database, trigger a start of a timer, the timer setting a predetermined threshold period of time for the third-party to issue a refund to a customer for the product returned to the retailer, wherein upon an expiration of the timer, the control circuit is programmed to issue the refund to the customer for the product returned to the retailer even if the third-party has not issued the refund to the customer for the product returned to the retailer;
wherein the POS terminal is further configured to print the return label.