WO2009143109A1

WO2009143109A1 - Interest-based shopping lists and coupons for networked devices

Info

Publication number: WO2009143109A1
Application number: PCT/US2009/044456
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael John Putnam
Original assignee: Zeer, Inc.
Priority date: 2008-05-21
Filing date: 2009-05-19
Publication date: 2009-11-26

Abstract

Described are a method and system for recommending a product for purchase to a user of a networked device. A product database storing product information is used to determine products that match a generic item in a shopping list. The matched products are filtered to determine a recommended product for the generic item. Filtering is based on one or more criteria that include predefined user interests, point-of-sale data, purchasing history data, demographic information and location information. The recommended product is displayed to the user. Optionally, matched products are ranked according to a product rating and displayed according to a rank order. In another option, a coupon, advertisement or research solicitation for a matched product is presented to the user.

Description

INTEREST-BASED SHOPPING LISTS AND COUPONS FOR NETWORKED DEVICES

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 /054,856, filed May 21 , 2008, titled "Interest- Based Grocery Lists and Coupons on Mobile Phones," the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to interest-based shopping lists. More particularly, the invention relates to methods for providing interest-based information and coupons based on a shopping list to a user of a networked client device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shopping lists are commonly used to conveniently remind a consumer of items or products to be purchased at a later time. For example, the consumer may manually enter an item to a shopping list upon recognition that the item is no longer on hand for use or that a quantity of available items has diminished to less than an acceptable amount. For example, a grocery list is a shopping list in which the items to be purchased include specific food products. Typically, shopping lists are generated by writing product names or descriptions of the items to be purchased on paper. More recently, various portable and desktop devices have enabled the consumer to generate an electronic shopping list that can be printed prior to visiting a retailer or viewed on the display of a mobile electronics device while at the retailer or point of sale location. Various problems exist for electronic shopping lists. For example, an individual in a household may be the sole person responsible for generating the shopping list. Consequently, items desired for purchase according to other members of the household may not be known to or remembered by the person generating the list and therefore these items will be absent from the list and not purchased. In another example, the task of adding a large number of items for purchase (e.g., ingredients in a recipe) to a shopping list can be time-consuming. A consumer generating a grocery list may want to purchase an ingredient for a recipe; however, the consumer may have specific personal requirements or interests that limit the food products that would be considered for purchase for the ingredient. For example, the consumer may have a nut allergy or may be on a diet so that certain food products which would otherwise be acceptable for the ingredient should be avoided due to nuts, fat content and the like.

The consumer may desire to purchase items at their lowest available cost; however, the particular products that represent the lowest cost items are often not known at the time the list is generated. Alternatively, the consumer may prefer to rely on recommendations by others regarding the preferred products to satisfy the items for purchase.

Shopping lists, whether generated as conventional written documents or as electronic shopping lists, do not address the above problems. The present invention satisfies the above needs and provides additional advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention features a method for recommending a product for purchase to a user. According to the method, a shopping list comprising items to be purchased where at least one of the items is a generic item is provided. At least one product that matches a generic item in the shopping list is determined from a product database that stores product information for a plurality of products. The products determined to match the generic item are filtered according to at least one user interest to determine a recommended product for the generic item. The recommended product is displayed to the user.

In another aspect, the invention features a method of recommending a product to a user. For a generic item in a shopping list that includes a plurality of generic items, at least one product that matches the generic item is determined from a product database that stores product information for a plurality of products. The products determined to match the generic item are ranked according to a product rating. At least one recommended product is determined based on the ranked products and displayed to the user.

In yet another aspect, the invention features a method of using a collaborative shopping list. According to the method, a first user and a second user authorized to create and access collaborative shopping lists comprising items to be purchased are specified. Access privileges are assigned to the first and second users and include at least one of the ability to create, view, edit and delete a collaborative shopping list. The method also includes the first user creating the collaborative shopping list and the second user editing the collaborative shopping list.

In still another aspect, the invention features a system for recommending a product for purchase to a user. The system includes a database storing product information for a plurality of products, a processor in communication with the database and a memory in communication with the processor. The memory is configured for storing computer-readable instructions for execution by the processor. The computer-readable instructions cause the processor to perform the steps of: determining from the product database one or more products that match a generic item in a shopping list that includes items to be purchased and the generic item; filtering the products determined to match the generic item according to at least one user interest to determine a recommended product for the generic item; and presenting information regarding the recommended product for the generic item to the user.

In still another aspect, the invention features a method of presenting user-specific information for items in a shopping list to a user. Nutritional information and/ or an infobit are calculated for at least one item in a shopping list. The calculation is based on information stored in at least one of a database of product nutritional information and a database of generic food item nutritional information. The calculated nutritional information and/ or the infobit are presented to the user according to predefined user preferences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages of this invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like structural elements and features in the various figures. For clarity, not every element may be labeled in every figure. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked environment in which the method of the invention may be practiced. FIG. 2 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method for generating an improved shopping list according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representation of an environment for practicing the method of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of access privileges for users of a collaborative shopping list.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a recipe having product recommendations and showing how the recipe can be integrated with a shopping list according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of how infobits and nutritional information are provided to a user according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting how recommendations for products and coupons can be refined using ratings, reviews, expressed user interests, demographic information and purchasing history according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying figures. Although the invention is described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is understood that these embodiments are not intended to limit the invention. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the following detailed description includes numerous specific details set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention; however, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention. At times, concepts disclosed in the description of embodiments of the present invention are made more readily apparent by reference to the figures.

The present invention relates to a method for recommending a product for purchase to a user of a client device. By way of examples, the client device can be a personal computer (PC), handheld computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile and cellular telephones and devices having web-enabled browsers, and the like that can communicate over a network. Referring to the networked environment 10 shown in FIG. 1 , client devices 14 communicate with a server 18 through an intervening network 22, such as the Internet, enabling users to interact through a website interface. The network 22 can include one or more subnetworks using various types of communications protocols.

The website can be implemented using conventional server and database technology. The server 18 includes a processor and memory for storing instructions executable by the processor. The server communicates with a user registry database 26 and one or more additional databases 30 to facilitate registration, session login and user services as described in more detail below. Although only one server 18 is shown, it should be understood that not all tasks and operations associated with the methods of the invention are required to be performed using a single website or server 14 and that additional websites and servers can be utilized to perform the methods described herein. The additional website and servers can be controlled by the same entity or can be controlled by different entities. In one embodiment, the tasks and operations performed in accordance with the method of the invention are accessible through a webpage by way of a widget embedded in the webpage, that is, by portable code that is installed in the web page and executed by user initiation as is known in the art.

The present invention also relates to a system having memory and a processor for performing the methods described herein. The system can be specifically constructed for the intended purposes. Alternatively, the system can include a general purpose computer activated or reconfigured by a computer program or program code stored in the computer and including instructions to practice a method of the invention. The computer program or program code can be stored in a computer usable storage medium, such as one or more floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic optical disks, readonly memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs or any other media that can store instructions and is in communication with a computer system bus. Various embodiments and details are provided herein to illustrate and explain the present invention. It should be recognized that other embodiments not described herein are contemplated according to the principles of the invention. The method of the invention can be used to deliver a shopping list with matched coupons for a user. FIG. 2 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method 100 for generating an improved shopping list according to the invention and FIG. 3 is a block diagram representation of an environment for practicing the method 100. Initially, the user registers (step 1 10) with a service website by entering user specific information such as a birth date and the user's zipcode. As part of the registration process, the user provides information regarding specific interests of the user by joining relevant communities, for example as disclosed in PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2008/084175, titled "Interest-Based Product Viewing, Searching and Advertising, and incorporated by reference herein. By way of a specific example, the user can provide information to indicate an interest in products that accommodate individuals with a peanut allergy and products that are suitable for a low-fat diet. It should be understood that step 110 is not required each time a user desires to generate a shopping list. Registration is omitted if the user has previously registered with the website although the user can optionally delete or update interest information previously provided during registration or an earlier session, or add new information according to changes in user interests over time.

The user generates (step 120) a shopping list 34 by selecting items using the client device 14. The list 34 can include generic items, that is, items that are not specifically identified as a product distributed by a certain distributor or manufacturer and may not include a specific amount or quantity. Conversely, the user searches for specific products by product name, manufacturer name, brand, ingredients, warnings, nutritional information and/ or product ratings accessible by way of the website. When the user finds a product to purchase, the user adds the product to the shopping list 34. Once included in the shopping list 34, the user can modify the amount of the product (e.g., three packages) and insert notes (e.g., "if Brand A is not available, purchase Brand C).

The user indicates (step 130) whether or not coupon recommendations are to be provided. This indication can be made each time a shopping list 34 is created. Alternatively, the indication can be stored so that the indication is applied to all subsequently- created shopping lists.

An optimized shopping list 36 is created (step 140) if coupons were requested in step 130. The optimized shopping list 36 includes coupons, advertisements and/ or research solicitations matched to items on the shopping list 34 based on a variety of parameters. Matching takes into account one or more of: the expressed purchase intentions of the user; demographic information for the user; and interest information provided by the user. Matching can also be based on other available information such as past user purchasing behavior that can be determined from the user's purchasing history as recorded in point of sale data or user recorded data. The shopping list is presented (step 150) to the user either in a printed format or as a visual display on the client device 14. In one embodiment, the printed shopping list is formatted with attached coupons that can be scanned at a point of sale. Conversely, if the shopping list is displayed on the client device 14, coupons are also displayed on the client device 14 so that a clerk at the point of sale can manually type the coupon information or optically scan the displayed coupons (e.g., optically scanning barcodes). In other embodiments, other systems employing radio frequency identification (RFID), smart chard chips, Bluetooth and infra-red communications techniques are used to determine the relevant coupon data from the client device 14 at the point of sale.

Capabilities of client devices 10 such as display size and available data storage can vary significantly according to the type of device. In a preferred embodiment, the website detects the type of client device 14 being used and determines the corresponding device capabilities. The server then implements the translating code and hypertext markup language (HTML) to provide to the user only the application functions and display layouts that are appropriate for the client device 14.

Collaborative Shopping List

In one embodiment the shopping list is a collaborative shopping list that is created by a group of users. As described below, the group of users includes members of a household; however, it should be recognized that members collaborating on a shopping list can be predefined and need not have a familial or other pre-existing relationship among the members.

A household is created by selecting one or more registered members of the website. In one embodiment, the selection is realized by providing invitations to the selected members and members are added to the household upon receipt of their responses indicating acceptance of the invitations.

At least one household shopping leader is assigned and allowed to have administrative privileges to set shopping list access privileges for the other household members. Access privileges define whether or not household members can create or view shopping lists. Any member with list viewing privileges can print collaborative shopping lists or view collaborative shopping lists on a client device. Access privileges also define whether or not the household member can edit items in collaborative shopping lists. Editing includes adding and deleting items, and making notations in a shopping list. A notation can include an indication that an item in the list has been purchased.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of access privileges for a household having two parents and two children. Parent 1 and Parent 2 have creation, deletion, editing and list viewing privileges for all collaborative shopping lists 34A through 34D (generally 34). Child 1 has list viewing privileges and can view or print all collaborative shopping lists; however, Child 1 has no other privileges and therefore cannot modify the content of the collaborative shopping lists 34. In the illustrated example, Child 2 has no access privileges. Access may not be desirable because Child 2 may not want to contribute to the collaborative shopping lists 34 or may be too young to contribute. Recipe Product Recommendations

In one embodiment a shopping list 42 is generated in response to a recipe 38 having product recommendations as illustrated in FIG. 5. The recipe 38 includes multiple generic items (e.g., generic ingredients) typically with specified amounts or quantities for each item. The recipe 38 can be selected from the website or manually entered by the user through the website interface.

By way of an example, a generic recipe item can specify two cups of general-purpose flour. Database records are examined to determine products that are in the category "flour" and which of the determined products are "general-purpose." Next, products determined to match the generic recipe item are ranked according to criteria that can include product ratings and reviews, either for all website communities or within a specific product community (e.g., "Gluten Free"). For example, KING ARTHUR^® all-purpose flour might be rank ordered first based on a high rating in a "Cooks" community maintained by the website. The highest ranked product is displayed near to the generic recipe item in the display of the client device 14. The user views the recommended product for each generic recipe item and has the option of selecting a different product or accepting the recommended product. Selection of a different product is accomplished by searching or browsing product databases. In another embodiment, one or more alternative products are displayed along with the recommended product near to the corresponding generic recipe item. Thus the user can conveniently select one of the alternative recommended products if the user does not prefer the primary recommended product.

A user can integrate one or more recipes 38 with a shopping list 42. Integration starts by creating or selecting a recipe 38 of interest. The user then chooses to view products that the author of the recipe 38 recommends, initiates the recipe product recommendation process described above or directly identifies products preferred by the user. Once all products are selected for the recipe 38 according to one or more of these techniques, the selected products are added to the shopping list 42. In effect, the user has added the recipe 38 to the shopping list 42.

Displaying Infobits Based on a Recipe or Shopping List

An infobit is a limited quantity of information that is displayable in a graphical context, a textual context or a combined graphical and textual context that represents a product attribute or metadata associated with a user interest. Infobits used to represent user- specific interests are described in more detail in PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2008/084175. Referring to FIG. 6, infobits 46 are calculated and then displayed to the user for a recipe 38 or a shopping list 42. Specific products are specified or quantities of generic items (e.g., "two cups flour" or "100 grams cheddar cheese") can be used. A serving size may be specified by the recipe 38 (e.g., six servings) or, in the case of a shopping list 42, the serving size may be omitted if the user prefers to see combined nutritional information or infobits for the entire shopping list. Nutritional information is then determined and infobits 46 are calculated based on one or more product nutritional databases 50 and generic food item nutritional databases 54. For example, nutritional information 58 can be obtained for a specific quantity of a generic food item such as one egg, one cup of flour and 100 grams of celery. Infobits 46 and nutritional information 58 relevant to the recipe 38 or shopping list 42 are displayed according to expressed user preferences. For example, the user may request infobits 46 relating to cholesterol and sodium content. Product Recommendations Refinements

Recommendations for products and coupons can be refined according to the user's purchasing history and other available data. Referring to FIG. 7, ratings and reviews for products in an initial shopping list 62 are considered along with the expressed interests, age, location information and other demographic data for the user. Ratings and reviews can include ratings and reviews 66 from users in one or more shared website communities, or ratings and reviews 70 within the community of all website users. Interests include data determined from survey responses indicating particular preferences or reasons for a user to prefer certain products or categories of products. In one embodiment, access to purchase history databases 74A and 74B (generally 74) is used as part of the recommendation process to provide improved recommendations and coupons. Purchase history databases 74 may be maintained by retailers (either stored by request or permission of the user), through alternative programs such as loyalty programs that maintain purchase histories correlated to user identification, or through direct entry into a database. The improved product recommendations generated in this way can include products that may be preferred to those on the initial shopping list 62 or may remain as generic "placeholder" product recommendations.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A method for recommending a product for purchase to a user, the method comprising: providing a shopping list comprising a plurality of items to be purchased including at least one generic item; determining from a product database storing product information for a plurality of products at least one product that matches a generic item in the shopping list; filtering the products determined to match the generic item based on at least one user interest to determine a recommended product for the generic item; and displaying the recommended product for the generic item to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the recommended product is displayed to the user on a client device.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting at least one of a coupon, an advertisement and a research solicitation to the user matched to one of the items in the shopping list.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein presenting comprises displaying a coupon to the user on a client device.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising optically scanning the coupon displayed on the client device at a point-of-sale location.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein filtering the products determined to match the generic item comprises filtering based on at least one of: point-of-sale data, purchasing history data, predefined product interests, demographic information and location information.

7. The method of claim 2 further comprising determining a device capability of the client device and wherein the display of the recommended product is responsive to the determined device capability.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the shopping list comprises a recipe selected by the user and wherein the recipe comprises a plurality of recipe items not requiring user entry.

9. A method of recommending a product for purchase to a user, the method comprising: for a generic item in a shopping list comprising a plurality of generic items, determining from a product database storing product information for a plurality of products at least one product that matches the generic item; ranking the products determined to match the generic item according to a product rating; determining at least one recommended product based on the ranking of the respective products determined to match the generic item; and displaying to the user the at least one recommended product for the generic item.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein, when more than one recommended product is displayed for the generic item, the recommended products are displayed in a ranked order according to the product rating.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the shopping list comprises a recipe and wherein the generic products comprise ingredients.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising adding a recommended product to a shopping list.

13. A method of using a collaborative shopping list, the method comprising: specifying a first user and a second user authorized to create and access collaborative shopping lists comprising items to be purchased; assigning access privileges to the first and second users, the access privileges of each of the first and second users comprising at least one of the ability to create, view, edit and delete a collaborative shopping list; creating, by the first user, the collaborative shopping list; and editing, by a second user, the collaborative shopping list.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein editing, by the second user, comprises one of adding an item, deleting an item and modifying an item in the collaborative shopping list.

15. A system for recommending a product for purchase to a user, the system comprising: a database storing product information for a plurality of products; a processor in communication with the database; a memory in communication with the processor and configured for storing computer-readable instructions for execution by the processor, wherein the computer-readable instructions cause the processor to perform the steps of: determining from the product database at least one product that matches a generic item in a shopping list comprising a plurality of items to be purchased and the generic item; filtering the products determined to match the generic item based on at least one user interest to determine a recommended product for the generic item; and presenting information regarding the recommended product for the generic item to the user.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein presenting information regarding the recommended product comprises sending the information to a client device for display to the user.

17. A method of presenting user-specific information for items in a shopping list to a user, the method comprising: calculating at least one of nutritional information and an infobit for at least one item in a shopping list based on information stored in at least one of a database of product nutritional information and a database of generic food item nutritional information; and presenting the calculated nutritional information or infobit to the user according to predefined user preferences.