WO2002041166A1

WO2002041166A1 - Personalized greeting card system for retailers

Info

Publication number: WO2002041166A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/046161
Authority: WO
Inventors: Raymond Daniel Thompson; Noel Martin Penisten; Kris Darnell Penisten
Original assignee: Itb Solutions Llc
Priority date: 2000-11-16
Filing date: 2001-11-15
Publication date: 2002-05-23
Also published as: AU2002220173A1

Abstract

A greeting card ordering system configured into a participating catalog (22) or on-line retailer's ordering catalog (24). Greeting cards (36) are printed on with a print on demand system (32) from customer personalization and customization subsystems (32). Gifts are sent from the retailer's fulfilment center (30) to the recipient. The system facilitates a consumer sending greeting cards accompanying gifts while enhancing the purchaser's variety of gift choice selections.

Description

PERSONALIZED GREETING CARD SYSTEM FOR RETAILERS Cross Reference To Related Applications

This Application claims priority and the benefit of US provisional application serial number 60/249,219, filed on November 16, 2000.

Computer Listing Appendix

This application includes a Computer Listing Appendix on compact disc, hereby incorporated by reference.

Background of the Invention Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a personalized greeting card system for retailers that is configured to be integrated into a participating catalog or on-line retailer's electronic order processing system, which allows greeting cards to be personalized and packaged with selected gift items from the retailer's inventory at the retailer's fulfillment center to enable the selected gift items and personalized greeting cards to be sent together directly from the retailer's fulfillment center to designated recipients.

Description of the Prior Art. Traditionally, greeting cards for various occasions are normally included with gift items. The gifts and greeting cards are normally purchased separately by consumers from one or more retailers and sent or delivered together by the purchaser to a designated recipient; a time consuming and cumbersome task.

Narious attempts have been made to facilitate the process of providing greeting cards with a gift. For example, U.S. Patent Νos: 5,497,876; 5,586,659; 5,641,115 and 6,070,719 all disclose greeting card and gift box combinations, formed, for example, from a single sheet of cardboard or paper stock. Unfortunately, with such gift card/gift box combinations, gifts still have to be purchased separately and shipped or delivered by the purchaser to a designated recipient.

In order to alleviate this problem, various greeting card gift combinations have been developed. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,289,917 discloses a combination greeting card and flashlight gift package. U.S. Patent No. 5,282,537 discloses a combination photo frame, gift box and greeting cards.

There are several problems with such greeting card/gift combinations. Firstly, such greeting card/gift combinations come with stock greeting cards and are normally sold by conventional retailers, which requires a purchaser to go to a conventional retail store to purchase the greeting card/gift combination. Secondly, even if such greeting card/gift combinations could be purchased on-line from an on-line retailer retailer, the greeting card/gift combination would have to be first shipped to the purchaser so that the greeting card could be personalized and re-shipped to a designated recipient, resulting in a double shipping cost. Tl irdly, each greeting card/gift combination only provides a purchaser with one choice of greeting card and gift. As such, such greeting card/gift combinations are not known to be extremely popular with consumers.

In order to increase interest in greeting card/gift combinations, greeting card/gift combinations have been developed which allow purchase of greeting cards and gifts on-line. In addition, the greeting cards can be customized and personalized on-line and shipped directly from an on-line retailer directly to a designated recipient. An example of such a greeting card/gift combination is disclosed in US patent application publication number US 2001/0005834 Al, published on June 28, 2001. The greeting card/gift combination disclosed therein relates to a greeting card CD, housed in a conventional jewel case. The CD contains generic information which can be customized by an on-line purchaser for a designated recipient. For example, the CD may be provided with birth month information for all 12 months of the year. An on-line customizing feature allows the CD to be customized such that only selected information can be replayed by the recipient. For example, if the designated recipients birth month is September, the on-line purchaser can configure the CD on-line such that only information on the CD pertaining to the month September can be played back by the designated recipient.

In order to provide an increased level of personalization, the greeting card CD system enables a consumer to personalize the greeting card that is included in the jewel case along with the CD. In addition, the CD can accommodate an additional piece of paper or card stock which can be personalized with a picture of the designated recipient's gem stone or other matter and included in the jewel case along with the CD and personalized greeting card to form a personalized CD greeting card. The personalized CD greeting card is then shipped directly from the on-line retailer to the designated recipient. Although the greeting card CD system provides one-stop on-line shopping for purchasers, the purchaser is limited in their choice of gift items.

Unfortunately, purchaser's are limited to the CD as a gift and can not select from the multitude of items available on e-commerce for purchase. Should a purchaser wish to send a designated recipient a gift from an on-line retailer, the purchaser would have to order to gift on-line and have it shipped back to the purchaser. A greeting card would have to be purchased separately and packaged with the gift and re-shipped to the recipient. Thus, there is a need for a system which allows gift items, available from e-tailers, and personalized greeting cards to be packaged together and sent directly from the retailers fulfillment center to a designated recipient.

Summary of the Invention Briefly, the present invention relates to a personalized greeting card system for retailers that is configured to be integrated into a participating catalog or on-line retailers electronic ordering system. The system allows greeting cards to be customized and personalized on-line and packaged with any item from the retailer's inventory. The personalized greeting cards and gift combinations are sent directly from the retailer's fulfillment center to a designated recipient. The system thus facilitates the process for a consumer of sending greeting cards along with gifts without restricting the purchaser's choice of gift items.

Description of the Drawings

These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following specification and attached drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for the personalized greeting card system for retailers in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the exemplary embodiment of the communication architecture for the personalized greeting card system in accordance with the present invention, illustrating communication by way of the Internet.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the hardware architecture for the system illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of the information flow between the consumer, retailer e-commerce site and the personalized greeting card system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram system level informational flow diagram of a production center in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram from the consumer side illustrating the order process for personalized cards and selected gifts item in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an information flow diagram of the retailer's fulfillment center in accordance with the present invention

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a state machine of the user interface for use with the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a process diagram illustrating the operation of the system in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

The system in accordance with the present invention allows participating retailers to offer consumers the option of ordering personalized greeting cards that are printed at the retailer's shipping facility or fulfillment center for inclusion with the gift item and shipped directly to a designated recipient. Unlike known systems, the system in accordance with the present invention allows gifts to be selected from a relatively large selection from the retailer's inventory by way of a retailer's electronic ordering system along with a personalized and customized greeting card and shipped directly from the retailer's fulfillment center directly to a designated recipient. As such, the need for the purchaser to purchase a gift and greeting card separately, repackage the card with the gift and ship the combination gift and card to a designated recipient is obviated. Narious embodiments of the invention are contemplated. An on-line embodiment is illustrated and described in which the communication network consists of a public communication network, such as the Internet, which allows purchasers to purchase gifts and greeting cards over the Internet. Although not shown, the principles of the present invention also apply to other types electronic ordering systems, such as electronic ordering systems which allows consumers to purchase items over a private communications network. In addition, the principles of the present invention apply to printed matter other than greeting cards.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system in accordance with the present invention is generally identified with the reference numeral 20. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the present invention is adapted to be integrated into a retailer's existing website e-catalog 22. As will be discussed in more detail below, the retailer's existing website is provided with a link to a greeting card e-catalog 24. The greeting card e-catalog 24 allows retail customers to select, personalize and order a greeting card, while the retailer's e-catalog 22 allows a consumer to select any available item in its current inventory. The order selection information, as well as the greeting card data, is directed to a retailers fulfillment center 26 via a communication network 28 which may be a public communication network, such as the Internet, or private communications network, for example, an in-store electronic ordering system.

The personalized greeting card system 20 in accordance with the present invention is integrated with the retailer's existing fulfillment system 30. There are two main components of the personalized greeting card system 20 that are located at the retailer's fulfillment center 26; namely, a print on demand system 32 and a greeting card fulfillment system 34. Both the print on demand system 32 and the greeting card fulfillment 34 are integrated with the retailer's existing fulfillment system 30 to facilitate matching personalized greeting card orders with orders from the retailers e-catalog 22 and shipped together directly from the retailer's fulfillment center 26.

Print on Demand System

The print on demand system 32 includes computer hardware and software at the retailer's fulfillment center 26 for generating personalized greeting cards in response to consumer orders from the greeting card e-catalog 24. In one embodiment of the invention, the print on demand system 32 is configured to receive in process greeting card orders via a communications network that is independent of the retailer's network.

The print on demand system 32 prints, cuts, folds and envelopes the cards. More particularly, the print on demand system 32 includes the following components: one or more production computers; a printing system consisting of one or more laser printers; a finishing system consisting of a sheet-fed cutter; a folder/inserter; and production center software. Except for the software discussed below, each of these components are commonly available. As will be discussed in more detail below, the production computer, for example, a standard PC, communicates with the greeting card e-catalog 24, for example, over the Internet, to download card orders in real time or batch. The card orders may be printed immediately or as requested by the operator.

As mentioned above, the print on demand system 32 includes a printing system which includes one or more laser printers. These laser printers print on, for example, prescored card stock paper. The printers are configured to use two passes to print dual sided cards with a high degree of side by side accuracy. The printers may be clustered for load balancing and redundancy.

The finishing system includes a sheet-fed paper cutter and a folder/inserter. For example the paper cutter may be a model no. DocuCutter DC-535 as manufactured by Duplo U.S.A. Corporation. A suitable folder/insert is a model no. F351 as manufactured by Pitney Bowes.

The sheet-fed paper cutter may be an automatic four-sided cutter capable of processing, for example, about 50 sheets per minute. All of the blades of the cutter are enclosed and once configured, an operator can set a stack of card stock in place and press a single button.

The folder, inserter may be pre-configured to fold the cards and insert them into envelopes, for example, at a rate of about 40 cards per minute. As will be discussed in more detail below, the cards are printed with a bar code on the reverse side. The folder/cutter is configured to insert the cards in the envelope such that the bar codes are visible to the operator.

Fulfillment System

A greeting card fulfillment system 34 is also included at the retailer's fulfillment center 26. The retailer's fulfillment system facilitates matching greeting card orders, ordered via the greeting card e-catalog 24 with gift item orders, ordered via of the retailer's e-catalog 22. The greeting card fulfillment system 34 is a component for managing large volumes of card orders and matching the exact card to the right gift order. The greeting card fulfillment system 34 may include a barcode scanner, a storage rack, and the greeting card fulfilhrient system software. The scanner is used to read order or other identification information from the back of the card and an order-processing document (usually a retailer's pick slip) to determine a match. The software clearly indicates to the operator if the correct card has been selected.

Alternate greeting card fulfillment systems 34 may be as set forth below:

Pick Slip to Card Production By scanning the order number barcode off the pick slip, the system identifies all cards associated with the order. This releases for print, all cards associated with the order to a high-speed printer with finishing equipment. Pick slips can be scanned as a batch on a scanner with an automated document feeder and barcode recognition software. The operator matches the on demand printed cards with the pick slip and the bundles are turned over for fulfillment of the remaining items.

Card to Pick Slip Production

The barcode on the back of the finished card is scanned with a hand-held barcode reader integrated into the retailer's fulfillment system. The pick slip for the matching order is printed on demand at the barcode station and carried with the card for the rest of the fulfillment process.

Non-Barcode Fulfillment

The retailer provides the pick slip information to the greeting card fulfillment system 34 thus allowing the system to format and produce the pick slip. Using a high-speed printer with an attached folder, the pick slips and cards for each order are printed and folded together as a set. The pick slip is wrapped around all the cards in the order. These cards are printed at the final size and do not require further finishing, and therefore do not have to be separated from the pick slip.

Retailer Assigned Card Locations

The finished card is scanned and the card is placed in a pick location determined by the retailer's inventory control system. The retailer's pick slip would indicate the pick location for the card and the card is picked as any other item on the list. With this method, the retailer's system manages all fulfillment operations. The system would need to contain enough pick locations to match the card production.

Assigned Card Locations Using the greeting and fulfillment system 34, the cards are assigned pick locations. Through integration with the retailer's inventory control system, these locations are uploaded into the system and included on pick slips. The retailer's pick slip would indicate the pick location for the card and the card is picked as any other item on the list.

Once the personalized greeting cards are matched with a customer's order, the greeting card is packaged with the gift item, represented by the box 36, and sent directly from the retailer's fulfillment center 26 to a designated recipient. As such, the system 20 provides a service heretofore unknown; namely, one-stop shopping for gift items from a rather extensive array of items available along with a personalized greeting card, which can all be purchased by consumer, on-line, and sent together directly from a retailer's fulfillment center 26 to a designated recipient.

Network Communication Arcihtecture FIG. 2 is an exemplary network architecture diagram illustrating a plurality of retailers connected to the personalized greeting card system 20 in accordance with the present invention. In such an application, the personalized greeting card system 20 is configured as a local area network (LAN) which functions as a main office 40. The boxes, identified with the reference numerals 42 and 44, are LANs located at the respective retailer's fulfillment centers 26 (FIG. 1) which function as retailer production centers.

As shown, the main office 40 may be provided with a virtual private network (VPN) hardware 46, as well as a router and firewall 48. The firewall is optional and may be used to block unsolicited communications. Each of the production centers 42 and 44 may also be provided with VPN hardware 48 and 50, respectively, for communication with one or more Internet Service Providers (ISP) 52 and 54 via of a public network, such as the Internet, 56. The main office 40 as well as the production centers 42 and 44 may be linked to the ISP's 52 and 54, via public communication links 58, 60, 62 and 64. These communication links 58, 60, 62 and 64, may be, for example, conventional DSL links or conventional phone lines, in which case the VPN hardware 46, 48 and 50 will include modems.

Hardware Architecture

An exemplary diagram of the hardware architecture for the main office 40 and the production centers 42 and 44 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The hardware for the main office is illustrated within the dashed box 40, while the hardware for the production centers is shown within the dashed boxes 42 and 44.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, certain functionality of the system 20 may be hosted by an ISP via a Web Server 66. Alternatively, the Web Server 66, for example, an NT server, may be located physically at the retailer's fulfillment center 26 (FIG. 1). The Web Server 66 acts as a central server for all retailers and is used to serve dynamic content to the consumer's web browser to enable orders to be placed and to receive orders.

The Web Server 66 includes three subsystems components: a Card Order Database; a Card Catalog Database; and a Card Catalog, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The Card Order Database accepts a consumer order for a card and holds the order data until the card gets printed. The Card Order Database also shares orders with the retailer for billing purposes and allows a retailer to enter order confirmations. The Card Catalog Database is a database of card information, used to provide content for the HTML pages created by Active Server Pages (ASP). The Retailer Card Catalog is a collection of ASPs used to create HTML pages for display in the consumer's browser.

The main office 40 may include a developmental server 68, a developmental workstation 70 for integrating the on-line greeting cards ordering system 20 with a retailer's e-catalog 22 (FIG. 1). A business service server 72 may also be provided for maintaining customer account information. A laser printer 78 may be provided to enable greeting card orders to be printed directly at the main office 40. Additionally, the main office 40 may be provided with a workstation 74; and a laptop computer 76, all connected in a LAN and interconnected to the retailer production center LANs 42 and 44 using standard TCP/IP protocol.

Each of the production center LANs 42 and 44 may include a personal computer 82, 84; a printer server 86, 88; an optional backup printer server 90, 92; a laser printer 94, 96; and an optional backup printers 98, 100. Should one of the printer servers 86, 88 fail, the backup printer servers, 90, 92 can easily take over without any reconfiguration of the system. The printer servers 86, 88 as well as the backup printer servers 90, 92 function to query the Web Server 66 for card orders; merges PostScript templates with consumer supplied messages (system may use alternative variable data methods such as assemble orders into book ticket files (BTF) send the BTF files as well as text files) and send to greeting card content the printers 94, 98 and 96, 100 and reconcile orders for printing bar codes and other indicia on the back side of the card to facilitate matching the card with a customer's order.

Information Flow

FIGs. 4 and 5 are system level flow diagrams which illustrate the ordering process in accordance with the present invention. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the retailer's web server 22 hosts the retailer's e-catalog 22 (FIG. 1) as well as provides a link to the greeting card e-catalog 24. More particularly, as will be discussed in more detail below, the personalized greeting card ordering system is integrated in the retailer's existing e-catalog or website, for example, as a button, which, when selected, displays a pop-up window containing the greeting card e-catalog 24.

Referring to FIG. 4, initially the consumer by way of a standard web browser 102, initiates a session with the retailer's e-catalog 22, for example, on a conventional PC, by directing the browser to the retailer's e-catalog URL, for example, SEARS.COM. Once the session is initiated, the retailer's e-catalog 22, hosted by the retailer production center 42, 44, returns the retailer's e-catalog 22 web page(s), which contain a link to the greeting card e- catalog (24), as indicated by the line 104 (FIG. 4). The consumer may then place an order to purchase an item from the retailer's e-catalog 22 (FIG. 1), as indicated by the line 106. After ordering, the consumer may select the link to the greeting card e-catalog 24 (FIG. 1), which results in a pop-up window and causes the retailer's web server 22 (FIG. 4) to redirect the consumer's browser 102 to the Web Server 66, passing a Retailer ID and a unique token, as indicated by the line 108.

The Card Catalog Database 110 and the Retailer" Card Catalog 112, hosted by the Web Server 66, are used to generate active server pages, as discussed above, which are directed to the consumer browser 102, as indicated by the lines 114 and 116. The consumer may then customize and order a greeting card from the greeting card e-catalog 24, as indicated by the line 118. Once the card order is complete, the pop-up window is closed and the order is stored in the Card Order Database 120, as indicated by the line 122. As indicated by the line 124, the Web Server 66 may optionally indicate to the retailer's applications 125, hosted by the retailer's web server 22, that the greeting card order is complete or to redirect the consumer. The term retailer's applications 125 is used to identify the retailer's e-catalog software and credit card verification software.

Alternatively, as indicated by the line 126, once the retailer's applications 125 verifies the credit card order with the credit card company, the retailer's applications 125 sends an order confirmation to the Web Server 66 passing an Order ID, Customer ID, Retailer ID and one or more tokens. Each token is a unique character string, generated by the retailer's applications 125, for each card. The Order ID, Customer ID and Retailer ID, are unique text strings used to identify orders, customers and retailers, respectively.

Confirmed orders are stored in the Card Order Database 120, as indicated by the line 120, until a print release is issued by the Retailer's applications 125. The consumer may optionally place additional orders. Print releases are directed to the Web Server 66 to release the card order for printing, as indicated by the line 128. The Web Server 66 assigns a pick number which is stored with the Order LD, Customer ID and Retailer ID in the Card Order Database 120. The Order ID, Customer ID, Retailer ID and pick number are returned to the print on demand system 32 (FIG. 1) at the retailers production center 42, 44.

An informational flow diagram of a production center 40, 42 is illustrated in FIG.

5, located at each retailer's order fulfillment center 30 (FIG. 1). More specifically, FIG. 5, illustrates the information flow at the production center 40, 42 and how it integrates with the print on demand system 32, located at the retailer's fulfillment center 30 (FIG. 1). At any time, the retailer's applications 125 may query for open card orders, as indicated by the line 127, to determine the number of cards associated with a consumer's order. In response to that query, an Open Card Order List is returned from the Card Order Database 120 to the retailer's applications 125, as indicated by the line 130. The Open Card Order List is a list of greeting card orders associated with a single customer and order and retailer. The retailer's applications 125 uses this data to indicate to the consumer by way of the browser 102, the number of cards and costs in the consumer's shopping cart.

Once the card order is released for printing, as discussed above, for example, after the consumer's credit is verified, the greeting cards may be printed immediately or in batches by an operator at the retailer's fulfillment center 30 (FIG. 1) by way of the PC 84 (FIG. 3). The retailer production centers 40, 42 and specifically the printer servers 86, 88 (FIG. 3) and optional backup printer servers 90, 92, access a Card Graphics Database 132 and a Production Center Database 134, which may be hosted by the main office workstation 74 (FIG. 3), to print the greeting cards. The Card Graphics Database 132 (FIG. 5) contains card related data, such as graphics, stock messages and pricing. The Production Center Database 134 contains downloaded card orders and confirmations that are ready for printing. The graphics content and the card property data is assembled by the printer servers 90, 92 (FIG. 3), as indicated by the lines 136 and 138 (FIG. 5), awaiting order confirmation. Once the order is confirmed, the greeting cards data along with an order data is directed to the printers 94, 96, 98, 100 (FIG. 3) on operator command, as indicated by the line 140. The printers 94, 96, 98 and 100, print the greeting cards with bar codes on the back and order or pick slips, as indicated by the line 142. The bar codes printed on the back of the greeting cards are scanned by a bar code scanner 154, which results in a production time stamp data being sent to the Production Center Database 134, as indicated by the line 156, and the original order being deleted in the Card Order Database 120, as indicated by the line 158. The cards and order slips are then matched to an order, as discussed above and packaged together, as indicated by the line 160 and shipped to a designated recipient.

The bar code printed on the rear of the card includes the order number. By scanning the order number bar code, the system identifies the information from the back of the card and an order processing document (usually a retailer's pick slip) to determine a match. By scanning the order number bar code off the pick slip, the system identifies all cards associated with the order. The bar code on the back of the finished card may be scanned with a hand-held bar code reader integrated into the retailer's fulfillment s system. A pick slip for the matching order may be printed on demand at the bar code station and carried with the card for the rest of the fulfillment process. The finished card is scanned and the card is placed in a pick location determined by the retailer's inventory control system. The retailer's pick slip indicates the pick location for the card and the card is picked as any other item on the list. Alternatively, these locations are uploaded into the system and included on pick slips. In line 160, the operation assembles the orders and the correlating greeting cards into a packing or shipment to a designated recipient.

The production centers may also be provided with the capability to provide reports, as indicated by the line 162. The reports may be for any purpose.

A flow diagram indicating the information flow from a consumer standpoint is illustrated in 6. FIG. 6 in connection with FIGs 8 and 9 illustrate the process for ordering a greeting card. FIG. 8 is a state diagram of the Card Catalog 112 (FIG. 4) which illustrates the interaction between the consumer and greeting card ordering system 20. FIG. 9 illustrates the graphical user interfaces.

Referring to FIG. 6, the system begins in step 166 when the consumer initiates a session with a retailer's e-catalog 22 (FIG. 1), shown as SEARS.COM. The consumer selects items as indicated in box 168. This action causes, for example, an order cookie to be written for the consumer's order as indicated by the box 169. The system is not required to use cookies. Alternatively, order information and State information may be maintained between pages by other methods including using search strings and urls or database queries.

As mentioned above, a button or link is added to the retailer's e-catalog 22 (FIG. 1), represented by the block 170. If the consumer decides not to select the personalized greeting card, as indicated by the box 172, the program ends. If the consumer selects the button on the retailer's e-catalog 22, an exemplary pop-up window, as indicated by the box 174 (FIG. 9) appears. As indicated in FIG. 9, the pop-up window 174 includes four exemplary drop-down menus 176, 178, 180 and 182 which enable a greeting card to be selected. The drop-down menu 176 provides a list of different holidays, while the drop-down menu 178 provides a list of events. The drop down menu 180 allows a sentiment to be selected while the drop down menu relates to corporate greeting cards. Selecting an occasion, causes the order cookie to be updated in state 010 as indicated in FIG. 8.

Basically, the available greeting cards are displayed in the pop-up window by selecting a search button 189 (FIG. 9). A recipient is entered and selected in state 020 (FIG. 8) causing the order cookie to be further updated. A particular greeting card is selected in state 030 (FIG. 8) by selecting a choice button 188 which updates the order cookie. After a greeting card is selected in step 184 (FIG. 6), the customer can then personalize the greeting card in state 040 (FIG. 8), which updates the order cookie, as indicated in step 190 (FIG. 6). The card order information is stored in the Card Order Database 116 (FIG. 5). As discussed above, the retailers applications 125 (FIG. 4) queries the Card Order Database 116, as indicated by the box 185. The greeting card is personalized by selecting a personalize button 192 (FIG. 9). The personalize button 192 (FIG. 9) causes a large image of the inside and outside of the card to be shown and also provides a personalization area where personalized messages can be included. The card order is confirmed in state 050 (FIG. 8), as indicated in step 194 (FIG. 6), by depressing a submit button 195 (FIG. 9). As indicated in FIG 8, once the order is confirmed, the order cookies are updated. The order confirmation may also cause the order cookie to get updated with a SKU number as indicated in step 198 (FIG. 6). When the card order is complete, the consumer may then continue shopping as indicated in step 200 or check out in step 202. The customer then inputs credit card information, as indicated in step 204, and a system utilizing conventional credit card authorization equipment confirms the credit card authorization as indicated in step 206. Once the credit card is authorized, the Card Order Database 116 (FIG. 5) is updated with the order number in steps 208 and 210. After the consumer has checked out, the retailer's applications 125 (FIG. 4) confirms the order by sending Card Order Database 116 (FIG. 5) a string containing a token for each card in the order as indicated in box 211 (FIG. 9). The Web Server 66 (FIG. 4) generates and sends the retailers applications 125 (FIG. 4) a pick number along with an order ID bar code, used for matching retailer order sheets with greeting cards.

A process flow diagram for the retailer's fulfillment center 30 is illustrated in FIG. 7. Initially, the system pulls all the non-fulfilled orders for the day in step 212 from the production center database 134. The production center database 134 is updated with the order number and status complete with time stamp, as indicated by box 214. All orders that are not fulfilled results in the card choice being recalled and the template loaded and populated as indicated in step 216. A pick slip is also requested as indicated by the box 218. The card data and the pick slip data is then sent to the retailers production centers 40, 42, as indicated by the box 220. The laser printers 94, 96, 98, 100 (FIG. 3) print the cards and pick slip sequentially, as indicated by the box 222. As indicated above, the cards are printed on both sides and sent to a finishing facility 224, which cuts the cards, score them, folds them and feeds them into envelopes so that the bar code is visible from the outside of the envelope, as discussed above. The bar code on the pick slip and correlating card are scanned in step 226. The pick slip is double-sided taped to a box for the gift item and the card is placed in the box in step 228 and sent to the fulfillment line, indicated by the numeral 230.

Database Architecture

An exemplary architecture for the Card Order Database 120 (FIG. 4) is illustrated in Tables 1 and 2. The Card Orders Database 110 may contain an Order Table (Table 1) and a Confirmation Table (Table 2). One or more of the fields in the order table may be factory preset.

TABLE 1

Orders - Contains orders for single cards for single customer, single session Order ID field is indexed, OrderID+TimeStamp=Primary Key

TABLE 2

Confirmations - Contains confirmations of orders

An exemplary architecture for the Production Center Database 134 (FIG. 5) is illustrated in Tables 3, 4 and 5. The Production Center Database 134 includes a Cards Table (Table 3), and Orders Table (Table 4) and a Confirmation Table (Table 5).

TABLE 3

Cards - information used to print the card

TABLE 4

Orders - Contains orders for single cards for single customer, single session OrderlD field is indexed, OrderlD+TimeStamp = Primary Key

TABLE 5

Confirmations - Contains confirmations of orders

An exemplary architecture for the Retailers Card Catalog Database 110 (FIG. 4) is illustrated in Tables 6, 7, 8 and 9. The Card Catalog Database contains four tables; a Recipients Table (Table 6); an Occasions Table (Table 7); a Cards Table (Table 8); and a Ready Table (Table 9).

TABLE 6 Recipients - Contains list of recipient classes

TABLE 7

Occasions - Contains a list of possible occasions and sentiments for giving a card

TABLE 8

Cards - Contains information about cards

TABLE 9

Cards - Contains information about cards

The Retailers Card Catalog 112 consists of the state machine illustrated in FIG. 8.

The Card Graphics Database 132 (FIG. 5) is essentially for storing various graphics files stored in a conventional manner in a persistent storage device, such as a hard drive.

Alternative to the embodiment discussed above, the system in accordance with the present invention can be used to print indicia other that greeting cards, for example, promotional materials, which are placed in a shipping box along with one or more selected goods or items. In such an embodiment, an additional database is provided (not shown) which includes templates for various indicia, such as promotional materials, hi this embodiment the particular printed indicia to be included with the shipment is based upon the order information received from the retailer's applications 125 and not selected by the consumer. In an alternate embodiment of the greeting card system, printed indicia other than greeting cards, for example, promotional material, may be included with a shipment, as discussed above, when a consumer decides not to purchase a greeting card.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above.

What is claimed and desired to be covered by a Letters patent is as follows:

Claims

CLAIMSWe claim:

1. An electronic greeting card system that is configured to be integrated with a retailer's electronic ordering system to enable consumers to purchase greeting cards and retail gift items during an ordering session to be packaged together and shipped form a retailer's fulfillment center, directly to a designated recipient, the electronic greeting card system comprising:

an electronic greeting card catalog, linked to said retailer's electronic ordering system, for enabling greeting cards to be selected and personalized during an ordering session;

a print on demand system, located at said retailer's fulfillment center, for printing greeting cards, selected by a consumer; and

a matching system for matching greeting card orders with orders by way of said retailer's electronic ordering system to enable selected greeting cards to be matched with gift items ordered form said retailer's electronic ordering system.

2. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 1, wherein said print on demand system is configured to print predetermined indicia on the greeting card.

3. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 2, wherein said predetermined indicia includes a bar code.

4. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 3, wherein said print on demand system is configured to print retailer's order slips.

5. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 3, wherein said print on demand includes a finishing system for cutting, folding and placing printed cards in envelopes.

6. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 5, wherein said finishing system is configured to place printed cards in envelopes such that the predetermined indicia is visible

7. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 1, wherein said print-on- demand system includes one or more servers and one or more printers.

8. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 1, further including a Web

Server which boosts said greeting card electronic catalog wliich communicates with said retailer's electronic ordering system.

9. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 8, wherein said communication is over a public network.

10. The electronic greeting card system as recited in claim 9, wherein said public network is the Internet.