Patent Publication Number: US-10769712-B1

Title: ETA-based item pick-up and fulfillment alternatives

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Consumers are increasingly ordering items in an online environment, such as via a website or a mobile application. Instead of requesting that the ordered items be delivered to a physical location associated with a customer (e.g., a personal residence, a workplace, etc.), the customer may opt to pick up the ordered items from a physical location of a merchant (e.g., a grocery store). The customer may pick up the ordered items from the physical location of the merchant provided that the customer arrives during the hours of operation of that merchant. However, the ordered items will likely be unavailable for pick-up if the customer arrives after the merchant has closed, which may result in a poor customer experience. Provided that the ordered items had been previously picked and assembled for pick-up, the merchant may also be required to restock the assembled ordered items, resulting in additional costs, and possibly the spoilage of perishable items (e.g., frozen or refrigerated food items). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical components or features. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example system for determining an estimated time of arrival (“ETA”) of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location and identifying alternative options for fulfilling an order for the items. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an example content server that determines an ETA of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location and identifying alternative options for fulfilling an order for the items. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of determining an ETA of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location and identifying alternative options for fulfilling an order for the items. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of determining whether an ETA of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location is likely to occur during the hours of operation of the merchant. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of generating a modified ETA of a customer with respect to a merchant location based on customer data associated with the customer. 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of generating a modified ETA of a customer with respect to a merchant location based on merchant location data associated with the merchant. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of facilitating the pick-up of items ordered by a customer from an alternate merchant location. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Described herein are systems and/or processes for determining, based on estimated time of arrival (“ETA”) data associated with a customer that is traveling to pick up items at a merchant location, whether the customer is likely to arrive at the merchant location during its hours of operation. If the ETA data indicates that the customer is likely to arrive after the merchant location closes, the systems and/or processes described herein may notify the customer of alternative options to obtain the ordered items, such as facilitating a delivery of the ordered items at a subsequent time, identifying an alternative merchant location at which the customer could pick up the ordered items, rescheduling the pick-up of the items at the merchant location at a subsequent time, or canceling the order for the items (and possibly offering a full or partial refund). In particular, using one or more sensors (e.g., location sensor, accelerometer, etc.) of a customer device (e.g., a mobile telephone) of the customer, the systems and/or processes described herein may estimate when the customer is likely to arrive at the merchant location at which the customer is schedule to pick up items that he/she previously ordered. Since the systems and/or processes described herein store, or at least have access to, the hours of operation of that merchant location, an ETA of the customer may indicate that the customer is likely to arrive after the merchant location has closed. The customer may be notified that the merchant location will likely close before the customer arrives, and one or more of the alternative options noted above may be presented to the customer. 
     In various embodiments, a service provider may receive orders for items (e.g., food items) that are fulfilled by merchants (e.g., a grocery store merchant). Although the items may be delivered to customers that place the orders for the items, the customers may also have the option to pick up the items at a merchant location of the merchant (e.g., a physical grocery store or pick-up location). The service provider may identify a time slot/period for the customer to pick up the ordered items, or the customer may be provided with options to select a particular time slot/period for pick-up. Ordering of the items and/or the selection or assignment of the time slot/period may be performed using a mobile application or website that is associated the service provider and that is accessible via customer devices of customers. 
     When the customer begins traveling or initiates travel to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items, the customer may send an indication to the service provider. For example, the customer may select an “on my way” button via the mobile application. In some instances, upon receiving this indication, the service provider may send instructions to the merchant location to pick and/or assemble the items included in the customer&#39;s order. Moreover, during travel to the merchant location, the service provider may obtain or the customer device may provide location data that indicates a current location of the customer device and/or ETA data that indicates when the customer is likely to arrive at the merchant location. Provided that the location data is provided, the service provider may calculate the ETA of the customer. The ETA of the customer may be received or calculated continuously and periodically while the customer is in transit to the merchant location, resulting in multiple data points that indicate the likely arrival time of the customer as the customer travels closer to the merchant location. 
     In some embodiments, the multiple ETA data points may be smoothed to eliminate or disregard outlier data points that are not indicative of an accurate ETA of the customer. Moreover, the customer ETA determined by the service provider or received from the customer device may be modified based on customer data associated with the customer, such as a driving behavior of the customer that has been collected over time. The customer data may include routes previously taken by the customer, whether the customer typically takes short-cuts, drives over or under the speed limit, and so on. The customer ETA may also be modified based on information or data about the particular merchant location. In particular, the service provider may maintain historical data relating to customers traveling to the merchant location from different areas or directions, including route information. Modifying the customer ETA using the customer data and/or the merchant location data may result in a more accurate ETA for the customer. 
     The service provider may maintain, or at least have access to, the hours of operation of the merchant location at which the customer is to pick up the ordered items, as well as the hours of operation of other merchant locations of the same merchant and/or different merchants. As a result, the service provider may determine whether the customer ETA indicates that customer will arrive at the merchant location during its hours of operation (e.g., when the merchant location is open), or after the merchant location has closed. If the customer will likely arrive at the merchant location during its open hours, the customer may continue to pick up his/her ordered items. 
     However, if customer ETA indicates that the customer is likely to arrive after the merchant location closes, or after a threshold amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes) after the merchant location closes, the customer would likely be unable to pick up the ordered items at that time. In response, the service provider may notify, via the mobile application or the website, the customer that he/she is likely to arrive at the merchant location after the merchant location closes. Via this notification, the service provider may also identify alternate options for obtaining the items, such as scheduling a delivery of the ordered items at a subsequent time (e.g., to a residence of the customer), identifying an alternate merchant location at which the customer could pick up the ordered items, rescheduling pick-up of the items at the merchant location at a subsequent time during the hours of operation of the merchant location, or canceling the order for the items (and possibly offering a full or partial refund). The customer may select one of these options via the mobile application/website. Alternatively, the customer may proceed to travel to the merchant location, while being aware of the risk that the merchant location may be closed when he/she arrives. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example system  100  for determining, based on a customer ETA of a customer, whether the customer is likely to arrive at a merchant location to pick up items prior to a closing time of the merchant location. If not, one or more alternate options for obtaining the items may be provided to the customer. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the system  100  may include a service provider  102 , one or more merchants  104 , merchant devices  106  associated with the one or more merchants  104 , one or more customers  108 , and customer devices  110  associated with the customers  108 . The service provider  102 , the merchant devices  106 , and/or the customer devices  110  may communicate via one or more networks  112 . As shown, the service provider  102  may include, or be associated with, one or more content server(s)  114 . 
     As stated above and herein, the service provider  102  may provide and/or maintain functionality that allows the service provider  102  to determine when a customer  108  is on his/her way to pick up items from a merchant location of a merchant  104 , such as a brick-and-mortar store or pick-up location (also referred to herein as a “physical location,” a “store location,” or a “physical store location”). When the customer orders items via a mobile application or web site associated with the service provider  102 , the customer  108  may elect to pick up the items at a merchant location of the merchant  104  (or the service provider  102 ) that is preparing, providing, assembling, and/or packaging the ordered items. When the customer  108  initiates travel to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items, the customer  108  may indicate that via the mobile application/website, which causes such information to be transmitted to the content server(s)  114  of the service provider  102 . This signal indicates a current location of the customer  108 . The customer device  110  and/or the service provider  102  continuously calculates an ETA of the customer  108 , where the ETA indicates an estimated time that the customer  108  will likely arrive at the merchant location. 
     Based on the customer ETA, the service provider  102  may send instructions to the merchant location to begin preparing the ordered items for pick-up, which may include picking the ordered items and/or assembling the ordered items. Since the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114  may receive or determine periodic ETA updates for the customer  108  as the customer  108  is travelling to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may send such instructions to the merchant location when the customer  108  is within a threshold distance from, or is within a threshold amount of time from arriving at, the merchant location. In particular, preparing the ordered items for pick-up may include obtaining the ordered items from shelving, a refrigerator, a freezer, etc., and packaging the items in bags or boxes. As a result, the ordered items are ready for pick-up when the customer  108  arrives at the merchant location. This may allow for minimal wait time for the customer  108  once the customer  108  actually arrives at the merchant location. This may also minimize the amount of time spent by individuals at the merchant location to provide the ordered items to the customer  108  once the customer  108  arrives, which may reduce costs of the merchant location. Awareness of the likely arrival time of the customer  108  may also reduce the amount of time that items are waiting to be picked up, which may be important for perishable, refrigerated, and/or frozen items. 
     As stated above, the service provider  102  may receive from the customer device  110 , or calculate, an ETA of the customer  108  periodically. If the current ETA of the customer  108  is equal or less than a check-in ETA threshold (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.), the service provider  102  may automatically check in the customer  108 . At that point, an individual (or an automated mechanism) may begin gathering the ordered items for pick-up. Moreover, when it is determined that the current ETA of the customer  108  is equal to or less than an arrival threshold (e.g., 1 minute, 2 minutes, etc.), the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  has arrived, or will shortly arrive at the merchant location. Via an instruction from the service provider  102 , or via a device maintained by the merchant location, an individual at the merchant location may greet the customer  108  when he/she arrives, and the ordered items may be provided to the customer  108 . 
     In various embodiments, the service provider  102  may be any entity, server(s), platform, etc., that offers items  116  (e.g., products, services, food/drink items, etc.) to customers  108  via an electronic marketplace (e.g., a website, a mobile application, etc.) associated with the service provider  102 . That is, the customers  108  may access the electronic marketplace via corresponding customer devices  110  for the purpose of searching for, viewing, selecting, acquiring (e.g., purchasing, leasing, renting, borrowing, lending, etc.), etc., items  116 . The items  116  may be provided directly by the service provider  102 , or may be provided by the service provider  102  on behalf of a different entity, such as the merchants  104 . That is, via a website, an electronic marketplace, and/or a mobile application associated with the service provider  102 , the customers  108  may place orders for items  116  to be provided by the merchants  104 . Alternatively, customers  108  may place orders directly with the merchants  104 , such as via a merchant website, a mobile application associated with a merchant  104 , etc. In some embodiments, provided that one or more ordered items  116  are to be prepared/provided by a merchant  104 , the merchant  104  may prepare/provide the item(s)  116  at one or more physical merchant locations of the merchant  104  (e.g., a warehouse, a retail store, a fulfillment center, etc.). If a merchant  104  is mobile in nature and offers items  116  at different locations at different times (e.g., a food truck), the mobile merchant  104  may prepare/provide the ordered items  116  at their current location. The ordered items  116  may be delivered to a delivery location associated with the customer  108  (e.g., a residence, a workplace, etc.), or the ordered items  116  may be picked up by the customer  108  at a physical merchant location of the merchants  104 . 
     The merchants  104  may include any entity that provides items  116  (e.g., products, services, etc.) to the customers  108 . The items  116  may be offered for sale, lease, rent, etc., via a physical merchant location (e.g., a brick-and-mortar retail store), via a merchant-branded website (and/or a website associated with the service provider  102  or another entity), or via an application that resides on the customer devices  110 . The items  116  may be offered by the service provider  102  via a mobile application or website, ordered by the customer  108  via the mobile application/web site, and the items  116  may be picked up by the customer  108  at one of one or more merchant locations of the merchant  104 . For instance, assuming that a merchant  106  is a grocery store chain having multiple physical grocery stores in a region, the customer  108  may select which physical grocery store that he/she would like to pick up the ordered items  116 . In some embodiments, the merchant  104  may be the service provider  102  itself, or may be associated with the service provider  102 . For instance, the items  116  ordered by the customer  108  via the mobile application/website of the service provider  102  may be picked up at a physical retail location or a physical pick-up location of the service provider  102 . Moreover, regardless of whether the physical location is associated with the service provider  102  or a third-party merchant  104 , any type of items  116  may be ordered and picked up, including food or drink items  116 , flowers, non-food/drink items  116  (e.g., electronics, houseware, clothing, music, videos, etc.), and so on. 
     Each merchant  104  may have one or more associated merchant devices  106 . In some embodiments, a merchant  104  may be associated with multiple merchant devices  106  such that individual employees or representatives of the merchant  104  may operate a merchant device  106  (e.g., handheld device, tablet, terminal, a point-of-sale (POS) system/device, a device to receive payment, etc.). The merchant devices  106  may be used by the merchants  104  to determine the ETA of customers  108 , receive instructions from the service provider  102 , check in customers  108 , identify orders placed by customers  108 , identify items  116  that are to be picked up by customers  108 , send notifications to customers  108 , and so on. 
     Moreover, the customers  108  may include any person or entity that interacts with the service provider  102  and/or merchants  104  for the purpose of ordering, acquiring, purchasing, etc., items  116  from the service provider  102  on behalf of the merchants  104 . As discussed herein, the customers  108  may include in-store customers  108  that purchase or consume the items  116  provided by the merchants  104  at the current physical location of the merchants  104 , or remote customers  108  that order items  116  via the service provider  102  (e.g., the mobile application or website) and travel to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items  116 . Provided that an ETA of a customer  108  indicates that he/she will arrive after a closing time of the merchant location, the customer  108  may receive the ordered items  116  via delivery. The customers  108  may interact with the service provider  102  and/or the merchants  104  via corresponding customer devices  110 , which may include cellular telephones, tablet devices, laptop computers, desktop computers, gaming consoles, electronic book (eBook) reader devices, and so on. The customer devices  110  may be used by the customer  108  to place an order for items  116 , determine a route to the merchant location, determine and/or send location data and/or ETA data to the service provider  102 , check in at the merchant location, select one or more alternative options to obtain the ordered items  116 , and so on. 
     The network(s)  112  may facilitate communications and/or interactions between the content server(s)  114  of the service provider  102 , the merchant devices  106 , and/or the customer devices  110 . The network(s)  112  may facilitate such communications/interactions via any type of network, such as a public wide-area-network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet), which may utilize various different technologies including wired and wireless technologies. Moreover, the content servers  114  may contain any number of servers that are possibly arranged as a server farm. Other server architectures may also be used to implement the content servers  114 . 
     Moreover, the merchant devices  106 , the customer devices  110 , and/or the content servers  114  may include one or more processors  118  and computer-readable media  120 , which is indicated in  FIG. 1  as “CRM.”. The processor(s)  118  may execute one or more modules  122  and/or processes to cause the merchant devices  106 , the customer devices  110 , and/or the content servers  114  to perform a variety of functions, as set forth above and explained in further detail in the following disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor(s)  118  may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), both CPU and GPU, or other processing units or components known in the art. Additionally, each of the processor(s)  118  may possess its own local memory, which also may store program modules, program data, and/or one or more operating systems. 
     The computer-readable media  120  may include volatile memory (such as RAM), non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, miniature hard drive, memory card, or the like), or some combination thereof. The computer-readable media  120  may be non-transitory computer-readable media  120 . The computer-readable media  120  may include, or be associated with the one or more modules  122  that perform various operations associated with the merchant devices  106 , the customer devices  110 , and/or the content servers  114 . In some embodiments, the one or more modules  122  may include or be associated with computer-executable instructions that are stored by the computer-readable media  120  and that are executable by the processor(s)  118  to perform such operations. The merchant devices  106 , the customer devices  110 , and/or the content servers  114  may also include additional components not listed above that may perform any function associated with the merchant devices  106 , the customer devices  110 , and/or the content server(s)  114 . 
     Via the mobile application and/or website associated with the service provider  102 , the customer  108  may place an order for one or more items  116  that are to be fulfilled by a merchant  104  (or the service provider  102 ). When placing the order, the service provider  102  may indicate that the items  116  are to be picked up at a merchant location of the merchant  104 , or the customer  108  may select a specific merchant location of one or more merchant locations of the merchant  104  for pick-up of the ordered items  116 . Provided that a merchant location is to prepare/provide the ordered items  116  for pick-up, the service provider  102  may send order data  124  to a merchant device  106  at that merchant location. The order data  124  may identify the items  116  included in the order, the customer  108  that placed the order, a time slot or period (e.g., 3:00-5:00 pm) for pick-up of the ordered items  116 , and any other information that could be used to identify the items  116  at the merchant location for assembly, assemble the ordered items  116 , and provide the ordered items  116  when the customer  108  arrives at the merchant location. 
     In various embodiments, the service provider  102  may maintain, or at least have access to, merchant store data  126  associated with different merchants  104  and/or merchant locations. For a particular merchant  104 , the merchant store data  126  may indicate one or more merchant locations, stores, or pick-up locations of the merchant  104 , the hours of operation of those merchant locations (indicating when each merchant location is open or closed), an inventory of items  116  at each merchant location, a number of employees at each merchant location at different times, a number of orders that each merchant location is currently processing of fulfilling, and/or a number of orders that each merchant location has yet to process or fulfill. The number of currently processed orders and the number of unfulfilled orders may indicate a current and future capacity of the merchant locations to fulfill future orders, as well as an estimated wait time for customers  108  when the customers  108  arrive at the merchant locations to pick up ordered items  116 . 
     Provided that a customer  108  placed an order for one or more items  116  to be picked up at a merchant location, the customer  108  may indicate when he/she is initiating travel or is traveling to the merchant location to pick up the ordered item(s)  116 . This customer pick-up signal  128  may constitute the customer  108  sending a message (e.g., a text message, an e-mail message, a chat message, etc.) to the service provider  102 , or the customer  108  indicating that he/she is leaving to travel to the merchant location via the mobile application/website of the service provider  102 . Either concurrently with placement of the order, or at a subsequent time, the customer  108  may press a button indicating that he/she is traveling to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items  116  (e.g., an “on my way” button). Accordingly, the customer pick-up signal  128  may indicate to the service provider  102  and/or the merchant location that the customer  108  intends to pick up the ordered items  116 . 
     Upon receiving the customer pick-up signal  128 , the service provider  102  may receive, from the customer device  110  of the customer  108 , location data (e.g., GPS data) indicating a current location of the customer  108 . As will be described in additional detail herein, based on the current location of the customer  108 , the geographic location of the merchant location, a scheduled route between the current location of the customer  108  and the geographic location of the merchant location, and possibly other factors (e.g., current weather conditions, current traffic conditions, a mode of transportation of the customer  108 , etc.), the service provider  102  may determine/calculate a customer ETA that indicates a time at which the customer  108  is expected to arrive at the merchant location. The customer ETA may also be referred to herein as “ETA/location data  130 .” In other embodiments, the ETA/location data  130  may be received directly from the customer device  110 . For instance, a mobile application residing on the customer device  110  (e.g., a maps application) may determine the customer ETA with respect to the merchant location and send corresponding ETA/location data  130  to the service provider  102 . 
     The service provider  102  may determine or receive a customer ETA of the customer  108  on a periodic basis (e.g., every second, every 30 seconds, every minute, every 2 minutes, etc.) as the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. As a result, the service provider  102  may be aware of the likely time of arrival of the customer  108  as the customer  108  is traveling closer and closer to the merchant location. From the multiple data points that indicate the ETA of the customer  108  at different times, the service provider  102  may arrive at an ETA determination  132  for the customer  108  with respect to the merchant location. The ETA determination  132  may be based on the ETA/location data  130  and may indicate a predicted time in which the customer  108  is to arrive at the merchant location. 
     As stated above, the service provider  102  may maintain, or at least have access to, the hours of operation (also referred to herein as “hours of pick-up”) of each merchant location. The hours of operation may indicate when the merchant location is open, closed, period of time in which the merchant location is available to facilitate the pick-up of items  116 , and/or periods of time in which the merchant location is unable to facilitate the pick-up of items  116  (e.g., a time in which individuals/employees at the merchant location are scheduled to have lunch). Based on the ETA determination  132  and the time at which the merchant location closes, the service provider  102  may determine whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time (e.g., a “customer pick-up determination  134 ”). If so, the customer  108  will proceed to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items  116  (e.g., “item pick-up  142 ”). For instance, if the merchant location closes at 5:00 pm and the ETA determination  132  is 4:50 pm, the customer  108  will likely arrive before 5:00 pm and, therefore, will be able to pick up the ordered items  116 . 
     However, based on the ETA determination  132  and the closing time of the merchant location, the customer pick-up determination  134  may be that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location after the merchant location closes. Using the example above, if the merchant location closes at 5:00 pm and the ETA determination  132  indicates that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at 5:15 pm, the customer  108  will likely arrive after 5:00 pm. In some instances, the customer  108  may have stated that he/she was on his/her way at a time at which the merchant location was open, but the customer ETA indicates that the merchant location will likely be closed when he/she arrives. As a result, the customer  108  may be unable to pick up the ordered items  116  at the merchant location when he/she arrives. Based on this customer pick-up determination  134 , and the relatively high likelihood that the customer  108  will be unable to pick up his/her items  116  when he/she arrives at the merchant location, the service provider  102  may identify one or more alternative options for the customer  108  to obtain the ordered items  116 . The one or more alternative options may be provided to the customer  108  via an order notification  136  that is sent to the customer device  110  of the customer  108  (e.g., via the mobile application, a text message, an e-mail message, etc.). The customer  108  may select one of the alternative options (i.e., alternate option selection  138 ) and, as a result, the service provider  102  may send order instructions  140  to the merchant location, where the order instructions  140  indicate that the customer  108  will not be picking up the ordered items  116  prior to the merchant location closing. 
     Via the order notification  136 , the service provider  102  may indicate that the customer  108  is unlikely to arrive at the merchant location prior to a closing time, and that the customer  108  will need to obtain the ordered items  116  in a different manner. The order notification  136  may identify alternative options for obtaining the ordered items  116 , such as alternate pick-up  144 , which may allow the customer  108  to pick up the ordered items  116  at a different merchant location of the merchant  104  (e.g., a different grocery store). The alternate pick-up  144  may be contingent on the hours of operation of the alternate merchant location, the customer ETA to that alternate location, and/or whether some or all of ordered items  116  are included within an inventory of the alternate location (i.e., whether the ordered items  116  are available at the alternate merchant location). The order notification  136  may also propose item delivery  146 , which, if selected, may cause the ordered items  116  to be delivered to a location of the customer  108  (e.g., a residence, a workplace, etc.) at a subsequent time (e.g., later in the day, the next day, etc.). Moreover, the order notification  136  may include reschedule pick-up  148 , which may allow the customer  108  to reschedule pick-up  148  of the ordered items  116  at a subsequent time (e.g., later in the day, the next day, etc.), either at the merchant location or an alternate merchant location. The order notification  136  may also include order cancelation  150 , which may allow the customer  108  to cancel the order for the items  116 , and possibly receive a full or partial refund. Each of the alternate options presented via the order notification  136  may include an additional fee to be incurred by the customer  108 . As illustrated, data/information representative of the options for alternate pick-up  144 , item delivery  146 , reschedule pick-up  148 , and/or order cancelation  150  may be generated and maintained by the content server(s)  114 . 
     The order instructions  140  sent to the merchant location may be based on the alternate option selected by the customer  108  (e.g., the alternate option selection  138 ). For instance, for alternate pick-up  144 , the order instructions  140  may instruct the merchant location to restock or restage the ordered items  116  (if they have been picked and assembled), and may instruct an alternate merchant location to assemble the ordered items  116  for pick-up. For item delivery  146 , if the ordered items  116  have already been assembled for pick-up, the order instructions  140  may instruct the merchant location to facilitate a delivery of the ordered items  116 , or to assemble/package the ordered items  116  for delivery. As for reschedule pick-up  148 , the order instructions  140  may instruct the merchant location to maintain the assembled items  116  for a subsequent pick-up. For order cancelation  150 , the order instructions  140  may instruct the merchant location to restock or restage the assembled ordered items  116  or to refrain from assembling the ordered items  116  for pick-up. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example system  200  that depicts the content server(s)  114  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . As shown, the content server(s)  114  includes the one or more processor(s)  118 , the computer-readable media  120 , and various modules  122 . In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may determine, based on a customer ETA of a customer  108 , whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive at a merchant location to pick up items  116  prior to a closing time of the merchant location. If not, one or more alternate options for obtaining the items  116  may be provided to the customer  108 . 
     In various embodiments, the computer-readable media  120  may include an item order module  202 . As described with respect to  FIG. 1 , the service provider  102  may receive, from customer devices  110  of customers  108 , orders  204  for items  116  to be picked up from a particular merchant location. The service provider  102  may also maintain, or at least have access to merchant store data  126  associated with one or more merchant locations. For instance, via a web site or mobile application associated with the service provider  102 , a customer  108  may shop and place an order for food items  116  to be provided by a grocery merchant  104  that has multiple store locations. Instead of having the food items  116  delivered, the customer  108  may select one of the store locations to pick up the ordered food items  116 , as well as a time period/slot (e.g., 3:00-5:00 pm) at which the customer  108  is scheduled to pick up the food items  116 . While placing the order  204 , or at a later time, the customer  108  may indicate that he/she is leaving to pick up the ordered items  116  (e.g., the customer pick-up signal  128 ), meaning that the customer  108  is beginning to travel to the merchant location. As stated herein, the customer pick-up signal  128  may result from the customer  108  sending an e-mail message, a text message, a chat message, possibly via the mobile application/website, or from the customer  108  selecting a button or other selectable option via the mobile application/website. A determination that the customer  108  has begun traveling to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items  116  may be referred to herein as a “customer pick-up indication  206 .” 
     Upon an occurrence of the customer pick-up indication  206 , meaning that the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location to pick up the ordered items  116 , a location module  208  may determine or receive customer location data  210  associated with the customer device  110  of the customer  108 . The customer location data  210  may be GPS data and may indicate a current customer location  212  of the customer  108 . The location data  210  may be obtained via the mobile application of the service provider  102  or by one or more sensors (e.g., location sensor, GPS sensor, etc.) of the customer device  110 . Provided that the customer  108  is currently traveling to the merchant location, the customer location data  210  and the corresponding current customer location  212  will change over time. In other embodiments, the customer location data  210  can be obtained and/or received from the customer device  110  at any time, including when the customer  108  opens and/or interacts with the mobile application used to place orders  204 , when the customer  108  selects a merchant  104  in which he/she would like to order items  116  from, when the customer  108  selects a merchant location of the merchant  104  at which to pick up the items  116 , when the customer  108  places the order  204 , and/or when the customer  108  indicates that he/she is beginning to travel to the merchant location. In various embodiments, the customer location data  210  will not be collected by the customer device  110  or the mobile application, and will not be sent to the service provider  102 , the merchant  104 , and/or the merchant location unless the customer  108  first opts in to (e.g., agrees to) the collection and sharing of such customer location data  210 . 
     In some embodiments, the customer  108  may select a merchant location at which the customer  108  would like to pick up the ordered items  116 . If the customer location data  210  indicates that the customer ETA of the customer  108  with respect to that merchant location is after the merchant location closes (or is after a closing time plus a threshold amount of time), the customer  108  may be notified at that time. For instance, assume that the merchant location closes at 5:00 pm, the customer  108  chooses that merchant location at 4:45 pm, and the customer ETA with respect to the merchant location is 30 minutes, indicating that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location at 5:15 pm. Since this is after the merchant location closes, the mobile application/website may notify the customer  108 , which may prevent the customer  108  from placing an order  204  that the merchant location will be unable to fulfill. Upon receiving this notification, the customer  108  may select a different merchant location, or schedule a time or time period to pick up the items  116  from that same merchant location at a later time. 
     In addition to maintaining merchant store data  126  associated with different merchant locations, the location module  208  may also maintain, or at least have access to, merchant store location  214 . The merchant store location  214  may identify the geographic locations of different merchant locations at which customers  108  may pick up items  116  included in an order  204 . The merchant store location  214  may include addresses of the merchant locations, directions to the merchant locations, description of the surrounding areas, information about parking lots/areas, areas at the merchant location where items  116  are picked up by customers  108 , and so on. 
     The computer-readable media  120  may also include an ETA determination module  216 . In some embodiments, the customer device  110  of the customer  108 , or a mobile application residing on the customer device  110  (e.g., a maps application), may determine a customer ETA for the customer  108  with respect to the merchant location at which the customer  108  is to pick up his/her ordered items  116 . The customer device  110  may send the customer ETA to the content server(s)  114  of the service provider  102 , or the service provider  102  may collect the customer ETA from the customer device  110 . The customer ETA may be send by the customer device  110  periodically while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location, such that the service provider  102  is aware of the likely arrival time of the customer  108  at the merchant location in real-time (or near real-time). Therefore, in this embodiment, the customer device  110 , or a mobile application residing thereon (e.g., a maps application, a mobile application associated with the service provider  102 , etc.), may compute and send the ETA of the customer. 
     In other embodiments, the service provider  102  may determine the customer ETA of the customer  108  as the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. Here, the service provider  102  may determine, receive, and/or collect/obtain location data  218  (e.g., raw GPS data). The location data  218  may correspond to the customer location  212 , which may indicate a current location of the customer device  110 , which may indicate a current location of the customer  108 . Moreover, the location data  218  may consider or indicate a velocity/speed or acceleration of the customer  108  as the customer  108  is in transit to the merchant location, as well as a change in velocity/speed or a change in acceleration. The location data  218  may also correspond to a physical location of the merchant location (e.g., the merchant store location  214 ) at which the customer  108  is to pick up the ordered items  116 . As stated herein, the merchant store location  214  may include an address of the merchant location, a description of the surroundings of the merchant location, directions to the merchant location, and so on. Accordingly, the customer ETA of the customer  108  may be based on the initial location when the customer  108  indicates that he/she is on his/her way to the merchant location, a current location of the customer  108 , and/or a physical location of the merchant location. 
     The customer ETA may also be based on route data  220 . The route data  220  may correspond to a route that the customer  108  is taking, and/or a route that the customer is scheduled to take, with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location. The route data  220  may be determined by the service provider  102  and/or by a mobile application that resides on the customer device  110 , which may be associated with the service provider  102  or a third-party entity. The customer ETA may also consider traffic data  222  and/or weather data  224 . In particular, data indicating traffic along the route taken by the customer  108  to the merchant location may impact the customer ETA of the customer  108 . For instance, an increased amount of traffic along the route and/or near the merchant location may cause the customer  108  to travel to the merchant location at a slower rate, which may result in an increased customer ETA. However, if the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location during the night (e.g., 2:00 am), a decreased amount of traffic may be experienced and the customer ETA may decrease. Moreover, inclement weather or road conditions (e.g., rain, snow, ice, etc.) and/or the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location when it is dark (e.g., the evening, nighttime, early morning, etc.) may cause an increased customer ETA. In various embodiments, the traffic data  222  may be based on the time of day in which the customer  108  is traveling, such as during rush hour (e.g., 7:00-9:00 am and 4:00-6:00 pm). 
     The customer ETA may also be calculated based on historical data, such as historical traffic data  222  and/or historical weather data  224 . For instance, the customer ETA may be determined based on previous traffic conditions on a route that the customer  108  is scheduled to take to the merchant location, or previous traffic conditions near the merchant location. Time of day (e.g., rush hour, late at night, etc.) or time of year (e.g., winter) may also be considered when calculating the customer ETA. 
     In some instances, the customer ETA may be determined once the current location of the customer  108  is determined. For instance, since the service provider  102  is aware of the physical locations of the various merchant locations, the customer device  110  and/or the service provider  102  may determine the customer ETA to a merchant location based on the current location of the customer  108 . The customer ETA may be received, determined, or calculated once the customer  108  selects a specific merchant location at which the customer  108  desires to pick up items  116 , and such a selection may occur before the customer  108  actually places an order  204  for the items  116 . Based on the customer ETA to a single merchant location, or possibly multiple different merchant locations, the service provider  102  may advise the customer  108  as to which merchant location the customer  108  should pick up the items  116 . The service provider  102  may also recommend a time slot/period that the customer  108  should pick up the ordered items  116  based on the customer ETA to a particular merchant location. This may be based on current or expected traffic/weather conditions, an availability of different merchant locations to fulfill orders  204 , and so on. 
     In certain embodiments, the customer ETA for the customer  108  may be calculated based on mode of transport data  226 . In particular, the customer  108  may travel to the merchant location in one of many ways, such as using a car, a bicycle, running, walking, public transportation (e.g., a bus, train, etc.), and so on. The customer ETA for the customer  108  will likely vary based on the particular mode of transportation that the customer  108  is currently using. For instance, a customer ETA when the customer  108  is driving will likely be significantly less that a customer ETA when the customer  108  is walking or riding a bicycle. The mode of transportation currently being used by the customer  108  may be identified by the customer  108 , such as via the mobile application when the customer  108  places the order  204  or indicates that he/she is on his/her way. In other embodiments, the mode of transportation may be inferred by the service provider  102  based on a customer profile of the customer  108  or a past or current velocity in which the customer  108  has/is traveling. 
     As described herein, while the customer  108  is traveling to a particular merchant location, the customer device  110  may calculate a customer ETA with respect to that merchant location at periodic or random intervals. Similarly, the service provider  102  may calculate the customer ETA. In either scenario, the service provider  102  may have access to multiple data points that indicate a customer ETA of the customer  108 , where each data point corresponds to a current location of the customer  108 /customer device  110  and a particular time in which the current location was captured while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. However, some of the ETA data points may be inaccurate, or may deviate from other ETA data points that have been collected. Based on continuous monitoring of the customer ETA of the customer  108  and obtaining multiple data points, inaccurate or deviating data points may be disregarded or eliminating using ETA smoothing  228  in order to arrive at the ETA determination  132 . 
     In particular, GPS data, for instance, may indicate a current location of the customer  108  that is not entirely accurate. This may result from a poor network connection or signal associated with the customer device  110 , or for different reasons. For example, the GPS data may indicate that the customer  108  is traveling on a road that the customer  108  is not currently traveling on. The road may be adjacent or parallel to the road currently being traveled by the customer  108 , or may correspond to an overpass or underpass that intersected the road at which the customer  108  is or was located. Inaccurate or incorrect location data of the customer  108  may result in an inaccurate or incorrect customer ETA with respect to the merchant location. The customer ETA may be artificially increased or decreased based on the inaccurate or incorrect location data, and such inaccurate/incorrect location data points may deviate significantly from proximate location data points. For instance, a first location data point at a first time and a third data location point at a second time may indicate that the customer  108  is traveling on a highway, and a third location data point captured at a third time between the first time and the second time may indicate that the customer  108  is traveling on a different road (e.g., not the highway). This outlier location data point that may significantly deviate from proximate location data points may cause a vastly different customer ETA. For instance, the customer ETA at the first time may be 14 minutes, the customer ETA at the second time may be 13 minutes, and the customer ETA at the third time, which is based on the incorrect/inaccurate location data point, may be 22 minutes. 
     In certain embodiments, the ETA smoothing  228  may disregard or eliminate customer ETA data points that indicate that the customer  108  will likely not arrive at the merchant location prior to a closing time of that merchant location, when other customer ETA data points indicate that the customer  108  will in fact arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time. The outlier customer ETA data point may be a single ETA data point, or may be multiple ETA data points collected/obtained while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. In some instances, outlier customer ETA data points may be disregarded or filtered out when a threshold number of customer ETA data points associated with the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location have been obtained/calculated. The threshold number may be any number, such as five customer ETA data points, ten customer ETA data points, and so on. For example, provided that the threshold number is ten customer ETA data points collected while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location, assume that fifteen customer ETA data points indicate that the customer  108  will likely arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time, and a single customer ETA data points indicates that the customer  108  will likely arrive after the closing time. These customer ETA data points may be smoothed by eliminating, disregarding, or filtering out the outlier customer ETA data point that indicates that the customer  108  will likely arrive after the closing time of the merchant location. 
     Using the example in the preceding paragraph, the ETA smoothing  228  may utilize one or more algorithms to filter out outlier customer ETA data points. For instance, and as discussed above, outlier customer ETA data points may be filtered out or disregarded if the customer ETA data points are equal to or greater than a threshold variation from proximate customer ETA data points. Moreover, customer ETA data points that are determined to be outliers may be maintained or considered if a sufficient amount of non-outlier customer data points have been obtained or calculated. In this embodiment, for instance, a threshold number of outlier customer ETA data points may be maintained or considered for every certain number of non-outlier customer ETA data points, such as one outlier customer ETA data points per every ten or twenty non-outlier customer ETA data points. 
     Regardless of how or whether outlier customer ETA data points are maintained/considered or considered/filtered out, the service provider  102  may desire to err on the side of informing customers  108  that they are likely to arrive at the merchant location prior to its closing time. That is, if the customer ETA data points collected/calculated while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location indicate that the customer  108  is likely to arrive prior to the closing time of the merchant location, or if the customer ETA data points indicate that the customer  108  will likely arrive right around the closing time of the merchant location, the service provider  102  may refrain from informing the customer  108  that he/she will not arrive prior to the closing time, or that there is a chance that the customer  108  may not arrive prior to the closing time. This is the case even if some, but not all, of the customer ETA data points indicate that the customer  108  may not arrive prior to the closing time of the merchant location. In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may indicate that the customer  108  likely will not arrive prior to the closing time if the customer ETA data point having the lowest amount of time (e.g., 18 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes, 22 minutes, etc.) would still cause the customer  108  to arrive at the merchant location after the closing time. If the lowest customer ETA data point indicates that the customer  108  is unlikely to arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time, then the service provider  102  may determine with confidence that the customer  108  will not arrive prior to the closing time. For instance, if the lowest customer ETA indicates that the customer  108  will arrive at the merchant location at 5:15 pm, and the closing time of that merchant location is 5:00 pm, then the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  will arrive after the merchant location has closed, and the service provider  102  may send a notification to the customer  108  as a result. 
     Upon performing the ETA smoothing  228  on the customer ETA data points with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may determine an ETA determination  132  with respect to the customer  108  and the merchant location. The ETA determination  132  may be calculated or received at any point during travel of the customer  108  to the merchant location, and the ETA determination  132  may represent a time that the customer  108  is expected to arrive at the merchant location. As stated above, the ETA determination  132  may be based on numerous factors, such as the physical geographic location of the merchant location, the current location of the customer  108 , the route that the customer  108  is scheduled to take, current or expected traffic conditions, current or expected weather conditions, a mode of transport that the customer  108  is currently using, or is expected to use, and so on. 
     In some instances, the customer ETA data received by customer devices  110  is inaccurate, incomplete, or may otherwise not accurately represent the current ETA with respect to a customer  108  arriving at a merchant location. In order to generate a more accurate ETA, the service provider  102  may perform the ETA smoothing  228  described above. In addition, upon performing the ETA determination  132  for the customer  108 , the service provider  102  may generate or calculate a revised/updated customer ETA for the customer  108 . A more precise customer ETA may allow the service provider  102  to more accurately determine whether a customer  108  is likely to arrive at a merchant location prior to a closing time of the merchant location, at about the same time as the closing time, or after the closing time. The inability of customer devices  110  to determine or calculate accurate location data and/or customer ETAs, and the inability of the service provider  102  to receive accurate customer ETAs for customers  108 , are technological problems that are solved by technological processes described herein. Without accurate location data or accurate customer ETA data, the service provider  102  will be unable to accurately determine whether the customer  108  will arrive prior to the closing time of the merchant location, which will impact whether the customer  108  will be able to pick up previously ordered items  116  from a merchant location. 
     The computer-readable media  120  may also store a customer-based ETA module  230 , which may determine customer data  232  associated with customers  108  and calculate a customer-based ETA  234  based on the customer data  232 . Calculation of the customer-based ETA  234  may constitute a technological solution to the technological problem raised above. In particular, the customer data  232  may correspond to any type of information relating to customers  108 , including data identified by customers  108  in a customer profile, and/or data inferred or learned about customers  108  over time. Such customer data  232  may be based on past orders  204  for items  116  that are picked up at one or more merchant locations. For instance, the customer data  232  may include the identity of merchant locations selected or visited by customers  108 , locations at which the customers  108  have indicated that they are traveling to merchant locations, routes taken by customers  108  to merchant locations, the velocity at which customers  108  have traveled, instances in which customers  108  have arrived prior to and/or after the closing time of a merchant location, and so on. Such data may be obtained or collected by a mobile application residing on a customer device  110  of the customer  108 , one or more sensors of the customer device  110 , or in any other manner. As a result, the customer data  232  for a customer  108  may indicate routes previously taken by the customer  108 , whether the customer  108  typically arrives prior to or after a closing time, whether the customer  108  typically drives over, at, or under the speed limit, shortcuts taken by the customer  108 , or any other behavior/habits exhibited by the customer  108 . 
     As described herein, the service provider  102  may receive the customer ETA data from the customer device  110  of the customer  108 , such as via a mobile application residing on the customer device  110 . The service provider  102  may generate a customized or customer-centric ETA (i.e., the customer-based ETA  234 ) to a merchant location based on the customer data  232  for that customer  108 . For instance, the customer data  232  for the customer  108  indicates that the customer  108  typically drives faster than the speed limit or frequently takes shortcuts, the service provider  102  may automatically decrease the customer ETA received from the customer device  110 . Likewise, if it is determined that the customer  108  typically drives slower than the speed limit, the service provider  102  may increase the customer ETA for that customer  108 . As a result, the service provider  102  may use generic customer ETA data for a customer  108  with respect to a merchant location and generate a modified customer ETA specific to that customer  108  based on the customer data  232 . 
     In some embodiments, the customer-based ETA  234  may be determined by first generating and/or maintaining a matrix, database, table, data structure, etc. (hereinafter, “matrix”), that includes the customer data  232 . In particular, the multiple types of data included within the definition of “customer data  232 ” may be maintained for each customer  108 , and such data may include a customer identifier that uniquely identifies each customer  108 . For each instance in which the customer  108  picks up items  116  at different merchant locations, the matrix may maintain an initial location of the customer  108 , a geographic location of the merchant location at which the items  116  were picked up (e.g., destination location), a route taken by the customer  108 , the multiple customer ETA data points during travel to the merchant location, a velocity of the customer  108  at different points during the travel, a time of arrival at the merchant location, whether the customer  108  used alternate options to obtain ordered items  116 , and so on. The service provider  102  may use any type of statistical analysis to generate the customer-based ETA  234  from the data stored in the matrix. 
     With respect to statistical analysis, and for the purpose of this discussion, any type of machine learning model/technique and/or predictive model may be used. Examples of predictive models that may be utilized include group method of data handling, Naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbor algorithm, majority classifier, support vector machines, random forests, boosted trees, Classification and Regression Trees (CART), neural networks, ordinary least square, regression analysis, and so on. Moreover, examples of machine learning techniques may include supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervised learning, classification analysis, regression analysis, clustering, etc. Moreover, any other types of algorithms may also be used. 
     Alternatively, or in addition to generating a customer-based ETA  234 , a merchant store-based ETA module  236  may generate a merchant store-based ETA  238  based on the merchant store data  126 . That is, the customer ETA received from the customer device  110  of the customer  108  may be modified to generate a modified customer ETA that is refined or customized based on data relating to the merchant location at which the items  116  are to be picked up by the customer  108 . Since the service provider  102  may facilitate the order  204  and pick-up of items  116  from different merchant locations, the service provider  102  may maintain data relating to those particular merchant locations. For a particular merchant location, such data may include historical data representative of different customers  108  who have traveled to that merchant location. That is, the merchant store data  126  may include information regarding how and when customers  108  traveled from different locations/areas to a fixed geographic location of the merchant location. The merchant store data  126  may include initial locations from which the customers  108  traveled to the merchant location, routes taken by those customers  108 , velocities at which the customers  108  traveled, times of day or days of the week in which pick-up of the items  116  occurred, weather or traffic conditions associated with the pick-up of the items  116 , and any other information relating to the pick-up of items  116  from that particular merchant location. 
     Accordingly, over time, the service provider  102  may determine and maintain travel times from various locations to the specific geographic location of different merchant locations, as well as determine variance in travel times based on the day of the week, times of day, varying weather conditions, varying traffic conditions, and so on. As a result, the service provider  102  may maintain a robust data set relating to travel from different area/locations to each merchant location at different times of day, different days of the week, varying weather conditions, varying traffic conditions, and so on. Based on the merchant store data  126  relating to a particular merchant location, the service provider  102  may generate/calculate the merchant store-based ETA  238  based on generic customer ETA/location data  130  provided by a merchant device  110  and the merchant store data  126  for that merchant location. The service provider  102  may then calculate a customized ETA for customers  108  with respect to a merchant location based on their initial location and data representative of other customers  108  that have traveled to that merchant location around the same time, on the same day, in the same/similar weather conditions, in the same/similar traffic conditions, etc. 
     As an illustrative example, assume that the service provider  102  maintains merchant store data  126  regarding a specific merchant location at which a customer  108  has ordered items  116  for pick-up, and that the customer  108  is traveling from a specific area. Based on travel times from customers  108  that have previously traveled from that area to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may refine the generic ETA/location data  130  received from the customer device  110  of that customer  108  to generate a more customized ETA for that customer  108  (i.e., the merchant store-based ETA  238 ). The merchant store-based ETA  238  may be more accurate provided that the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location at times/days in which other customers  108  have previously traveled to the merchant location from that same/similar area. For instance, if additional traffic is expected along the route to be taken by the customer  108 , the merchant store-based ETA  238  may be higher than the generic ETA/location data  130  received by the customer device  110 . As a result, the service provider  102  may use generic customer ETA/location data  130  for a customer  108  with respect to a merchant location and generate a modified, and more accurate, customer ETA specific to that merchant/store location. In various embodiments, the generic customer ETA/location data  130  received from the service provider  102  may be updated/modified using the customer data  232 , the merchant store data  126 , and/or a combination thereof. 
     In some embodiments, the merchant store data  126  may indicate additional information about a merchant location, such as the existence of a parking lot at the merchant location, a location of parking spots reserved for customers  108  that arrive at the merchant location to pick up items  116 , a location of pedestrian crossings, and so on. The customer ETA received from the customer device  110  of a customer  108  may only consider a time at which the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the location of the merchant location, such as when the customer  108  turns into a parking lot of the merchant location. As a result, the generic customer ETA may not consider an amount of time it generally takes to travel through the parking lot, an amount of time to travel to a pick-up parking spot, and any additional time corresponding to an amount of time it typically takes to navigate from an entry of the merchant location to an item pick-up location at the merchant location. This data may be due to traffic in a parking lot, a distance from the entry to the pick-up location, waiting for pedestrians in the parking lot, etc. Accordingly, the service provider  102  may generate a modified/refined customer ETA based on this additional information known about the merchant location. 
     The computer-readable media  120  may also include a customer pick-up determination module  240  that determines the customer pick-up determination  134  for a customer  108  with respect to a merchant location that the customer  108  is scheduled to pick up items  116 . Upon determining the ETA determination  132  for the customer  108 , which indicates a time that the customer  108  is predicted to arrive at the merchant location, the service provider  102  may confirm whether the customer  108  will likely arrive at the merchant location during its hours of operation. That is, the service provider  102  may compare the time corresponding to the ETA determination  132  to the hours of operation of the merchant location. For instance, if the ETA determination  132  is 4:45 pm and the merchant location closes at 5:00 pm, the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  will in fact arrive prior to the closing time of the merchant location and, therefore, the customer  108  may pick up the previously ordered items  116 . 
     In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may add a threshold amount of time to the closing time of the merchant location. For instance, even though the merchant location closes at 5:00 pm, the service provider  102  may add a threshold amount of time (e.g., five minutes) to the closing time. As a result, if the ETA determination  132  indicates that the customer  108  is likely to arrive prior to the closing time plus the threshold amount of time, then the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  will still likely be allowed to pick up the items  116  from the merchant location. As an illustrative example, provided that the ETA determination  132  indicates that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location at 5:03 pm, that the closing time of that merchant location is 5:00 pm, and that the threshold amount of time is five minutes (5:05 pm) or ten minutes (5:10 pm), the customer  108  may nevertheless be allowed to pick up the items  116 . That is, the service provider  102  may refrain from sending a notification to the customer  108  indicating that the customer  108  may be unable to pick up his/her items  116 . Accordingly, the service provider  102  and/or the merchant location may allow customers  108  to arrive a short amount of time after the closing time of merchant locations, and may want to avoid turning customers  108  away that arrive a short amount of time after closing. If the customer  108  arrives at the merchant location within that threshold amount of time, then the service provider  102  may not consider the customer  108  to be late when picking up items  116 . 
     In some embodiments, the threshold amount of time described in the preceding paragraph may be relative to a closing time of a merchant location and may be specific to that particular merchant location. More particularly, the service provider  102  may determine a predetermined time associated with the merchant location. After that predetermined time, customers  108  are no longer authorized or allowed to pick up items  116  at the merchant location. The predetermined time may correspond to the closing time of that merchant location. However, the predetermined time may also consider the threshold amount of time that is either prior to or after the closing time of the merchant location. For instance, the predetermined time may be a threshold amount of time (e.g., five minutes) prior to the closing time of the merchant location (e.g., 5:00 pm), resulting in a predetermined time of 4:55 pm. On the other hand, the predetermined time may be a threshold amount of time (e.g., five minutes) after the closing time of the merchant location (e.g., 5:00 pm), resulting in a predetermined time of 5:05 pm. The predetermined time and/or threshold amount of time may vary based on the merchant location, the time of day, the area in which the merchant location is located, and so on. 
     As stated herein, the customer ETA of the customer  108  with respect to a merchant location may vary as the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. For instance, when the customer  108  initially indicates that he/she is beginning to travel to the merchant location, the customer ETA may be 18 minutes. However, as the customer  108  travels closer to the merchant location, the customer ETA may vary from 18 minutes, to 15 minutes, to 16 minutes, to 13 minutes, etc., as the customer  108  travels closer to the merchant location. That is, the customer ETA may be continuously updated/calculated based on the route taken by the customer  108 , traffic conditions, weather conditions, stopping at traffic lights, construction along the route taken by the customer  108 , and so on. 
     The customer pick-up determination module  240  may determine or generate the customer pick-up determination  134 , which is a determination as to whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location prior to a closing time of the merchant location, or within a threshold amount of time of the merchant location (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). In some instances, however, the ETA determination  132  of the customer  108  may be very close to either the closing time of the merchant location or the threshold amount of time past the closing time. Any variance in the customer ETA may be greater when the customer  108  is further from the merchant location. A determination of whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive after the closing time of the merchant location (or possibly plus a threshold amount of time) may be based on a sliding scale that is dependent on the distance between the current location of the customer  108  and the merchant location or the customer ETA to the merchant location. For example, if the customer  108  is approximately an hour from the merchant location, and the customer ETA indicates that the customer  108  will arrive at the merchant location two minutes after closing, the service provider  102  may refrain from notifying the customer  108  that he/she will be late. This is because the customer ETA may vary significantly when the customer  108  is that far away from the merchant location and, even though the customer ETA indicates that the customer  108  will arrive slightly after the closing time, the customer  108  may very well arrive prior to the closing time. A threshold amount of time may be 15-20 minutes in this scenario. However, if the customer  108  is instead likely to be 20-30 minutes late (e.g., greater than the threshold amount of time), it is very unlikely that the customer  108  will arrive prior to closing time and the service provider  102  may send a notification indicating that the customer  108  will likely arrive after the merchant location has closed. 
     The threshold amount of time described in the preceding paragraph may decrease over time as the customer  108  travels closer to the merchant location. As stated above, the threshold amount of time when the customer  108  is approximately an hour from the merchant location may be 15-20 minutes. However, the service provider  102  may set the threshold amount of time at 5-10 minutes when the customer  108  is approximately 30 minutes from the merchant location. If the customer  108  is approximately 30 minutes from the merchant location and the customer ETA indicates that the customer  108  will arrive about 10 minutes after the closing time of the merchant location, the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  is unlikely to arrive at the merchant location during its hours of operation. As described in additional detail herein, the service provider  102  may notify the customer  108  that he/she is unlikely to arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time (or prior to the closing time plus the additional threshold amount of time). The threshold amount of time may continue to decrease as the customer  108  continues to travel towards the merchant location. For example, the threshold amount of time may decrease to 3-5 minutes when the customer  108  is approximately 10-15 minutes from the merchant location. In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may assign confidence values as to whether each customer ETA indicates that the customer  108  will arrive after the closing time or not. 
     The threshold amount of time described in the preceding paragraphs may also be route specific, as the customer ETAs for certain routes may be more accurate than others. For instance, historical data maintained by the service provider  102  may indicate that the customer ETAs for customers  108  traveling along a particular route (e.g., a highway in a more rural area) may be more accurate that customer ETAs associated with different routes (e.g., a street in an urban downtown area). One or more machine learning techniques may be utilized to determine the relative accuracy of different routes to different merchant locations, where the customer ETAs of customers  108  who previously traveled to pick up items  116  from merchant locations may serve as a training data set. That is, using one or more machine learning techniques or algorithms, the service provider  102  may learn which ETAs are more accurate than other with respect to different routes to a merchant location. One or more predictive models may further be used to determine customer ETAs for a customer  108  currently traveling to a merchant location. 
     Based on the historical data, such as historical data relating to previous traffic conditions in different areas and/or the accuracy of previously determined customer ETAs for customer  108 , the service provider  102  may predict customer ETAs from different locations/areas to different merchant locations. For instance, with respect to an initial location of the customer  108  and a specific merchant location at which the customer  108  is to pick up one or more items  116 , the service provider  102  may determine the shortest travel time and the longest travel time at different times of day. The service provider  102  may determine that, based on the historical data, the shortest travel time may be at 2:00 am when there is little, if any, traffic (e.g., 15 minutes), and that the longest travel time may be during rush hour when roads are much more congested, such as between 7:00-9:00 am or 4:00-6:00 pm (e.g., 35 minutes). Based on the time in which the customer  108  will be traveling to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may estimate the likely travel time and corresponding customer ETA. In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may consider the shortest travel time when determining the customer ETA and conservatively determine whether the customer  108  will arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time. In some instances, the service provider  102  may notify the customer  108  of the best possible customer ETA, and the customer  108  may consider this information to determine whether he/she will attempt to travel to the merchant location prior to the closing time. 
     Based on the customer pick-up determination  134  of whether a customer  108  is likely to arrive at a merchant location prior to its closing time (or the closing time plus the additional threshold amount of time), the customer pick-up determination module  240  may determine one or more item fulfillment options  242 . More particularly, the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  will not, or is unlikely to, arrive at the merchant location during its hours of operation. Therefore, the customer  108  will be unable to pick up his/her ordered items  116  at that time. The service provider  102  may identify one or more item fulfillment options  242  that may allow the customer  108  to obtain the ordered items  116  in a different manner. The item fulfillment option(s)  242  may be presented to the customer  108  at various times and in different manners. For instance, the item fulfillment option(s)  242  may be presented to the customer  108  when the customer  108  selects a merchant location prior to placing the order  204  (via the website or mobile application), when the customer  108  places the order  204 , or at any time when the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. When the service provider  102  determines, based on the ETA determination  132 , that the customer  108  will not arrive prior to the closing time of the merchant location, the service provider  102  may indicate that to the customer  108  (e.g., “your ETA indicates that you will arrive after the merchant location closes”) and may present the one or more item fulfillment options  242 . The notification indicating that the customer  108  will be unable to pick up his/her items  116  and/or the item fulfillment options  242  may be presented via the mobile application or website associated with the service provider  102 , a text message, an e-mail message, a chat message, and so on. 
     Some or all of the potential item fulfillment options  242  may be presented to the customer  108 , and may allow the customer  108  to still obtain his/her ordered items  116  even though the customer  108  has arrived, or will arrive, at the merchant location after the merchant location has closed, or will close. One item fulfillment option  242  may be to offer an option for the customer  108  to pick up the ordered items  116  at a different merchant location that is possibly associated with the service provider  102  or the same merchant  104  as the initial merchant location. As will be described in additional detail herein, the alternative pick-up option may be based on one or more factors, such as whether there are other merchant locations associated with the service provider  102 /merchant  104 , an availability of those alternative merchant locations, an inventory of items  116  of those alternative merchant locations (e.g., whether the ordered items  116  are available at those alternative merchant locations), whether a customer ETA with respect to the customer  108  and those alternative merchant locations indicates that the customer  108  would arrive during the hours of operation of those alternative merchant locations, and so on. 
     Alternatively, or in addition to offering alternative merchant locations to pick up the ordered items  116 , the item fulfillment options  242  may include offering to deliver the ordered items  116 . That is, instead of allowing the customer  108  to pick up the ordered items  116  from the merchant location, the service provider  102  may offer to deliver the ordered items  116  to a location associated with the customer  108 , such as a residence, a workplace, or some other location provided by the customer  108  or specified in a customer profile/account of the customer  108 . Switching from pick-up to delivery may also be accompanied with a fee to be incurred by the customer  108 . In some embodiments, in addition to offering a delivery of the ordered items  116 , the service provider  102  may identify one or more time slots/periods in which the ordered items  116  may be delivered. The customer  108  may then select, via the mobile application or website, one of the time slots/periods. Provided that the ordered items  116  had already been assembled for pick-up at the merchant location, the assembled order  204  may be repackaged for delivery. In some instances, the service provider  102  may send an instruction for the merchant location to assemble the order  204  or repackage the order  204  for delivery and provide information (e.g., customer identity, delivery location, delivery time slot/period, etc.) that allows an individual at the merchant location to deliver the ordered items  116 . If the items  116  had not yet been assembled for delivery at the merchant location, the service provider  102  may instruct the merchant location to package the ordered items  116  for delivery. The ordered items  116  may be delivered by an individual at the merchant location or by a different individual that picks up the ordered items  116  from the merchant location and transports the ordered items  116  to the delivery location of the customer  108 . 
     The item fulfillment option(s)  242  may also include offering to reschedule pick-up  148  of the ordered items  116  at the same merchant location. In this embodiment, the service provider  102  may identify one or more subsequent time slots/periods in which the customer  108  is able to pick up the ordered items  116  from the merchant location. Provided that the customer  108  selects one of the subsequent pick-up time slots/periods, the service provider  102  may convey that information to the merchant location. If the ordered items  116  have already been assembled or packaged at the merchant location, the service provider  102  may instruct the merchant location to restock or restage the items  116  at the merchant location, such as by placing the items  116  back on shelving, in a refrigerator or refrigerated area, in a freezer or a frozen area, and so on. If the ordered items  116  have not been assembled for pick-up, the service provider  102  may instruct the merchant location to assemble the ordered items  116  for the selected subsequent time slot/period. 
     In other embodiments, the item fulfillment option(s)  242  may allow the customer  108  to cancel the order  204 , and the service provider  102  may possibly offer a full or partial refund for an amount paid by the customer  108 . If the ordered items  116  have already been assembled or packaged at the merchant location, the service provider  102  may instruct the merchant location to restock or restage the items  116  at the merchant location, such as by placing the items  116  back on shelving, in a refrigerator or refrigerated area, in a freezer or a frozen area, and so on. If the ordered items  116  have not been assembled for pick-up, the service provider  102  may instruct the merchant location to forgo assembling the order  204  for pick-up. 
     Accordingly, upon determining that the customer  108  will not be able to pick up his/her items  116  prior to the merchant location closing, the service provider  102  may perform one or more of several options. For instance, the service provider  102  may instruct one or more individuals at the merchant location to not assemble the ordered items  116  for pick-up, to restock/restage the ordered items  116  if they have already been assembled for pick-up, to assemble or repackage the ordered items  116  for delivery, and/or to assemble or repackage the ordered items  116  for a later pick-up at the merchant location. The service provider  102  may also instruct an individual or associate to pick up the ordered items  116  for delivery. In other embodiments, the service provider  102  may instruct individuals at an alternative merchant location to assemble/package some or all of the ordered items  116  for pick-up from that alternative merchant location. 
     The service provider  102  may send different notifications to customers  108  at different times, and the extent and substance of the notifications may be customized for the customer  108 . For instance, either when the customer  108  selects a merchant location for pick-up or when the customer  108  places the order  204 , the service provider  102  may notify the customer  108  of the customer ETA and/or an indication of whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location prior to a closing time of the merchant location. As stated above, the notifications may be sent via the mobile application or website associated with the service provider  102 , a text message, an e-mail message, a chat message, and so on. The notification may indicate that customer  108  may possibly arrive at the merchant location prior to the closing time, but the customer ETA for the customer  108  indicates that the customer  108  likely will not arrive prior to the closing time. A different type of notification may inform the customer  108  that he/she will arrive subsequent to the closing time of the merchant location. 
     The frequency of the notifications to customers  108  may also vary. For instance, notifications to the customer  108  may be infrequent due to safety reasons since the customer  108  may be driving to the merchant location. In some embodiments, once the customer  108  selects the “on my way” button, the service provider  102  may send or present (via the mobile application/website) a notification indicating the customer ETA and/or an indication that the customer  108  likely will or will not arrive prior to the closing time. The service provider  102  may send/present this notification since the customer  108  is likely viewing his/her customer device  110 . Once the customer  108  begins traveling to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may keep notifications to a minimum. For instance, the service provider  102  may only send/present notifications if the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location after the closing time. In some instances, the silent notifications may be sent/presented in order to avoid distracting a driver. In other embodiments, the service provider  102  may determine a velocity of the customer device  110  and only send notifications if the velocity data indicates that the customer  108  is not currently driving (e.g. the customer device  110  is traveling less than a threshold velocity, such as five miles per hour). 
       FIGS. 3-7  illustrate example processes of determining an ETA of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location and identifying alternative options for fulfilling an order for the items. These processes (as well as each process described herein) are illustrated as logical flow graphs, each operation of which represents a sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the operations represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described operations can be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement the process. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process  300  of determining an ETA of a customer with respect to the pick-up of items at a merchant location and identifying alternative options for fulfilling an order for the items. Moreover, the following actions described with respect to  FIG. 3  may be performed by the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114 , as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Block  302  illustrates receiving an order for items to be picked up by a customer at a merchant location. In particular, the customer  108  may place an order for items  116  via a mobile application or website associated with the service provider  102 , where the ordered items  116  are to be picked up at a merchant location of a merchant  104 , such a physical grocery store of a grocery store chain. In some embodiments, the merchant location may be associated with the service provider  102 . 
     Block  304  illustrates receiving, from a customer device of the customer, an indication that the customer is initiating travel to pick up the items. Either while placing the order  204  or afterwards, the customer  108  may indicate that he/she is beginning to travel to the merchant location. For instance, the customer  108  may select a button or a selectable user interface element via the mobile application/website of the service provider  102  (e.g., an “on my way” button), which may indicate to the service provider  102  that the customer  108  is now traveling to the merchant location. 
     Block  306  illustrates determining multiple ETA data points while the customer is in transit to the merchant location. In some embodiments, the customer device  110  of the customer  108  may determine and send, at different times, multiple ETA data points indicating an ETA of the customer  108  with respect to the merchant location while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. The ETA data points may be calculated by one or more sensors and/or mobile applications associated with the customer device  110 . In alternate embodiments, the customer device  110  may send, to the content server(s)  114 , raw location data  218  that indicates a current location of the customer device  110  at different times while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. Based on various data (e.g., current location of the customer  108 , physical location of the geographic location, a route taken by the customer  108 , traffic conditions, weather conditions, etc.), the service provider  102  may calculate the customer ETA of the customer  108  with respect to the merchant location at different times while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. 
     Block  308  illustrates determining, based on the multiple ETA data points, a customer ETA with respect to the merchant location. After possibly smoothing the multiple ETA data points (e.g., ETA smoothing  228 ), the service provider  102  may determine a customer ETA of the customer  108 . In some embodiments, the customer ETA may be a refined and more accurate ETA, as compared to the generic ETA received from the customer device  110 , based on customer data  232  associated with the customer  110  (e.g., the customer-based ETA  234 ) and/or the merchant store data  126  associated with the merchant location (e.g., the merchant store-based ETA  238 ). 
     Block  310  illustrates determining that the customer ETA indicates that the customer will not arrive at the merchant location prior to a predetermined time associated with the merchant location. In particular, the service provider  102  may confirm that the customer  108  likely will, or likely will not, arrive at the merchant location after the closing time of the merchant location, after the closing time plus an additional amount of time (e.g., 5-10 minutes), or an amount of time prior to the closing time. As a result, the predetermined time may correspond to a time prior to the closing time of the merchant location, the particular closing time of the merchant location, or a time subsequent to the closing time of the merchant location. The predetermined time may correspond to a time at which customers  108  are no longer authorized or allowed to pick up items  116  at the merchant location. 
     Block  312  illustrates sending, to the customer device, a notification identifying alternate fulfillment options for the order. For instance, via the mobile application or the website associated with the service provider  102  (or via an e-mail message, text message, chat message, telephone call, etc.), the service provider may send/present a notification that indicates that the customer  108  likely will not arrive at the merchant location in time to pick up his/her ordered items  116 . Optionally, the service provider  102  may present alternate item fulfillment options  242  for the customer  108  to obtain the items  116 . Such item fulfillment options  242  may include allowing the customer  108  to pick up the items  116  at an alternative merchant location, facilitating a delivery of the ordered items  116 , allowing the customer  108  to pick up the ordered items  116  from the merchant location at a subsequent time period/slot, and/or allowing the customer  108  to cancel the order  204  (possibly with a full or partial refund). 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process  400  of determining whether a customer is likely to arrive at a merchant location outside of the hours of operation of the merchant location. Moreover, the following actions described with respect to  FIG. 4  may be performed by the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114 , as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Block  402  illustrates determining that a customer has initiated travel to pick up items from a merchant location. For instance, the customer  108  may select an “on my way” button via the mobile application or website associated with the service provider  102 . 
     Block  404  illustrates determining multiple ETA data points with respect to the customer and the merchant location. The multiple ETA data points may correspond to an estimated time that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the merchant location at different times when the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location. In some embodiments, the multiple ETA data points may be determined by, and received from, the customer device  110  of the customer  108 . In other embodiments, the service provider  102  may receive raw location data  218  from the customer device  110  and then calculate the multiple ETA data points from the raw location data  218 . 
     Block  406  illustrates disregarding one or more of the multiple ETA data points that are more than a threshold amount of time from other ETA data points of the multiple ETA data points. The disregarded ETA data point(s) may be ETA data points that are considered to be outliers in view of proximate ETA data points, and disregarding of the ETA data point(s) may be performed by ETA smoothing  228 . 
     Block  408  illustrates determining, based on the multiple ETA data points, a customer ETA with respect to the merchant location. Based on the ETA data points with respect to the customer  108  and the merchant location while the customer  108  is traveling to the merchant location, the service provider  102  may calculate a final customer ETA for the customer  108 . 
     Block  410  illustrates determining hours of pick-up of the merchant location. For instance, the hours of pick-up may correspond to times in which the merchant location is available or open (and/or is not available or closed) for the pick-up of items  116  ordered by customers  108 . The service provider  102  may maintain the hours of pick-up data if the merchant location is associated with (or operated by) the service provider  102 . Otherwise, the hours of pick-up of the merchant location may be sent or made available by an associated merchant  104 . 
     Block  412  illustrates determining, based on the hours of operation, a closing time of the merchant location and a threshold amount of time prior to or after the closing time. The service provider  102  may compare the customer ETA of the customer  108  to the hours of pick-up of the merchant location to determine whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive after a time at which customers  108  are no longer authorized or allowed to pick up items  116  at the merchant location. This predetermined time may be an amount of time prior to the closing time, the closing time itself, or an amount of time after the closing time (e.g., 5-10 minutes). 
     Block  414  illustrates determining whether the customer ETA is prior to the threshold amount of time prior to or after the closing time. If the customer ETA is after the closing time of the merchant location (or after the closing time plus an additional amount of time), the service provider  102  may indicate that to the customer  108  and possibly present the one or more alternate item fulfillment options  242 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process  500  of determining a modified customer ETA based on customer data associated with a customer. Moreover, the following actions described with respect to  FIG. 5  may be performed by the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114 , as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Block  502  illustrates determining a customer ETA with respect to a customer traveling to a merchant location. In some embodiments, a generic customer ETA may be provided to the service provider  102  by a customer device  110  of the customer  108 . The generic customer ETA may indicate a likely time of arrival with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location to pick up one or more ordered items  116 . 
     Block  504  illustrates obtaining customer data associated with the customer. The customer data  232  may indicate information associated with previous instances in which the customer  108  picked up items  116  from various merchant locations, as described in additional detail herein. 
     Block  506  illustrates generating an updated customer ETA based on the customer ETA and the customer data. Based on the customer data  232 , the service provider  102  may generate a customized, refined, and more accurate customer-based ETA  234  with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process  600  of determining a modified customer ETA based on merchant store data associated with a merchant location. Moreover, the following actions described with respect to  FIG. 6  may be performed by the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114 , as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Block  602  illustrates determining a customer ETA with respect to a customer traveling to a merchant location. In some embodiments, a generic customer ETA may be provided to the service provider  102  by a customer device  110  of the customer  108 . The generic customer ETA may indicate a likely time of arrival with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location to pick up one or more ordered items  116 . 
     Block  604  illustrates obtaining merchant location data associated with the merchant location. The merchant location data (e.g., the merchant store data  126 ) may indicate information associated with previous instances in which customers  108  traveled to the merchant location from different areas/locations, as described in additional detail herein. 
     Block  606  illustrates generating an updated customer ETA based on the customer ETA and the merchant location data. Based on the merchant location data, the service provider  102  may generate a customized, refined, and more accurate merchant location-based ETA  238  with respect to the customer  108  traveling to the merchant location. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process  700  of facilitating the pick-up of items by a customer at an alternative merchant location. Moreover, the following actions described with respect to  FIG. 7  may be performed by the service provider  102  and/or the content server(s)  114 , as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Block  702  illustrates determining that a first customer ETA with respect to a customer and a first merchant location indicates that the customer will arrive after a predetermined time associated with the first merchant location. In some embodiments, a customer  108  may have selected a first merchant location to pick up one or more ordered items  116 , and the service provider  102  may determine that, based on a customer ETA of the customer  108 , the customer  108  is unlikely to arrive at the first merchant location prior to a time at which customers  108  are no longer authorized or allowed to pick up items  116  at the first merchant location. The predetermined time may be the closing time of the merchant location, or an amount of time prior to or after the closing time. As a result, the customer  108  will be unable to pick up the ordered items  116  if he/she arrives after the predetermined time. 
     Block  704  illustrates identifying one or more alternative merchant locations. Upon determining that the customer  108  is unlikely to arrive at the first merchant location while it is still open, the service provider  102  may present one or more alternative fulfillment options  242  for obtaining the ordered items  116 . Such options may include picking up the items  116  from an alternate merchant location, facilitating a delivery of the ordered items  116 , scheduling the items  116  to be picked up from the first merchant location at a subsequent time period/slot, or even allowing the customer  108  to cancel the order  204 . 
     In some instances, the customer  108  may elect to pick up the items  116  from an alternative merchant location. Provided that the first merchant location is associated with or operated by the service provider  102 , the service provider  102  may identify other merchant locations that may be able to fulfill the pick-up order  204  for the customer  108 . If the first merchant location is associated with or operated by a third-party merchant  104 , the service provider  102  may identify other merchant locations of that merchant  104  that may be able to facilitate a pick-up of the ordered items  116 . In either embodiment, the service provider  102  may identify one or more alternative merchant locations that could potentially fulfill the pick-up order  204  for the customer  108 . The alternative merchant locations that could potentially offer at least some of the ordered items  116  for pick-up may be identified in various manners. For instance, the service provider  102  may identify alternative merchant locations within a certain distance (e.g., miles) from the current location of the customer  116  or a different location associated with the customer  108  (e.g., a residence, a workplace, a previous location, a future anticipated location, etc.). Moreover, the potential alternative merchant locations may be selected based on being a predetermined distance from the merchant location at which the customer  108  was initially intending to pick up his/her items  116 . 
     Block  706  illustrates determining that a second customer ETA with respect to the customer and a second merchant location of the alternative merchant location(s) indicates that the customer will arrive prior to a second predetermined time associated with the second merchant location. Provided that the service provider  102  identifies one or more alternative merchant locations that could potentially fulfill the pick-up order  204  for the customer  108 , the service provider  102  may determine the hours of operation/pick-up of the alternative merchant location(s). The service provider  102  may then determine a customer ETA of the customer  108  with respect to one or more of the alternative merchant locations. The customer ETA(s) may be received from the customer device  110  of the customer  108  or calculated by the service provider  102  based on location data  218  received from the customer device  110 . Based on the hours of operation/pick-up of the alternative merchant location(s), the service provider  102  may determine whether the customer  108  is likely to arrive at the alternative merchant location(s) prior to a closing time (or a closing time plus or minus an additional amount of time) of the alternative merchant location(s). In one embodiment, the service provider  102  may determine that the customer  108  is likely to arrive at a second merchant location of the alternative merchant locations prior to its closing time, or prior to a time at which customers  108  are no longer authorized/allowed to pick up items  116 . The second merchant location may be identified by the service provider  102  and/or selected by the customer  108  (via the mobile application or website). For instance, the service provider  102  may present, to the customer  108 , one or more nearby alternative merchant locations that could facilitate the pick-up of the items  116  ordered by the customer  108  and allow the customer  108  to select one of the alternative merchant locations. 
     Block  708  illustrates determining an inventory of items of the second merchant location. More particularly, the service provider  102  may determine which items  116  are currently in stock at the second merchant location, such as via a point-of-sale system that maintains an inventory of available items  116  at the second merchant location and that is accessible by the service provider  102 . The service provider  102  may access the inventory of items  116  of the second merchant location to determine if the items  116  ordered by the customer  108  are currently located at the second merchant location. 
     Block  710  illustrates determining, based on the inventory of items, that at least one item in an order placed by the customer is available from the second merchant location. In some embodiments, the service provider  102  may determine that the items  116  ordered by the customer  108  are not available at the second merchant location. In that scenario, the customer  108  will be unable to pick up the ordered items  116  from the second merchant location. However, in other embodiments, the service provider  102  may determine that at least some of the ordered items  116  are available for pick-up at the second merchant location. The service provider  102  may present, to the customer  108 , the items  116  in the customer&#39;s order  204  that are available for pick-up from the second merchant location. If one or more of the ordered items  116  are not currently available at the second merchant location, the service provider  102  may indicate this to the customer  108 . In some instances, the customer  108  may identify alternative items  116  that could serve as substitutes for those non-available items  116 . The customer  108  may then indicate, via the mobile application/website, whether he/she would like to pick up the alternative items  116  in lieu of the non-available items  116  that were included in the order  204  placed by the customer  108 . 
     Block  712  illustrates presenting, via a customer device of the customer, an option to pick up the ordered items from the second merchant location. Upon determining that at least one item  116  ordered by the customer  108  is available for pick-up from the second merchant location, the service provider  102  may allow the customer  108  to indicate that he/she would like pick up those items  116  from the second merchant location. The customer  108  could make such a selection via the mobile application or website that the customer  108  used to place the order  204 . 
     Block  714  illustrates sending, to the second merchant location, an instruction to prepare the order for pick up. Upon receiving the selection from the customer  108 , the service provider  102  may send instructions to a merchant device  106  at the second merchant location, where the instructions identify the items  116  that are to be picked up by the customer  108 . The instructions may also instruct one or more individuals at the second merchant location to assemble the items  116  for pick-up, as well as identify when the customer  108  is expected to pick up the items  116 . 
     In some embodiments, additional time may be needed by the second merchant location to assemble the items  116  for pick-up. For instance, facilitating the items  116  for pick-up may include an amount of time to obtain and package the items  116  for pick-up (e.g., 30 minutes). If the customer ETA of the customer  108  for that second merchant location was less than the amount of time (e.g., 20 minutes), the customer  108  may have to wait to pick up the ordered items  116 . 
     Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.