Patent ID: 7937330

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving data related to delivering shipments to a set of recipients at separate addresses; generating by a computer a first shipping option to deliver shipments to a first sub-set of the recipients within a first time period, and to deliver shipments to a second sub-set of recipients within a second time period that is greater than the first time period, shipments to the second sub-set of recipients being a greater distance than shipments to the first sub-set of recipients, and the first shipping option providing a cost of shipping savings relative to shipping to all of the recipients within the first time period, wherein the generating of the first shipping option comprises selecting the second sub-set of recipients to include a quantity of recipients to provide a cost of shipping savings equal or greater to a predetermined percentage, wherein the generating of the first shipping option further comprises generating the first shipping option to deliver shipments to the first sub-set of recipients via a first shipping method, and to deliver the shipments to the second sub-set of recipients via a second shipping method; presenting the first shipping option in a user interface to a user for selection; generating a second shipping option to deliver shipments to the first sub-set of the recipients within the first time period, and to deliver shipments to a third sub-set of recipients within a third time period that is greater than the second time period, wherein a quantity of the third sub-set of recipients is unequal to the quantity of the second sub-set of recipients, the second shipping option providing a cost savings unequal to the first shipping option; and providing the second shipping option to the user for selection.