Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/02—Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/04—Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem"

Definitions

• This invention relates to data automation techniques for automatically assembling packages of items, and more particularly, to affinity algorithms for grouping products or services. Still more particularly, the invention relates to web- based techniques for dynamically assembling items including, but not limited to, last-minute travel and entertainment packages for purchase by consumers.
• Modem telecommunications services have transformed the travel industry by providing consumers instant access to airline, hotel, and rental car reservation services. It is now possible to purchase last-minute airline tickets, and to make rental car and hotel reservations by visiting airline, rental car, hotel, and general travel websites on the World Wide Web. However it continues to be a daunting proposition to arrange travel at the last minute using these sites. First, the consumer typically needs to do substantial up-front planning - deciding where to go and what to do — before using these services. Next, the consumer usually needs to visit several unrelated sites in order to arrange a basic travel experience, including air, hotel, and car rental reservations.
• Third parties can satisfy both supplier demands by bundling separate components from different suppliers into packages. Individual pieces of undesirable inventory can become attractive, and more "saleable," when intelligently assembled together as a package. By packaging inventory 1 5 third parties can also offer a single package price which hides the price of each component, preventing the erosion or cannibalization of a supplier's base business.
• Packaging non-distressed, non last-minute inventory provides only partial value to consumers: they receive the convenience of a pre-packaged getaway without any level of individual or mood-based customization and without taking advantage of the low prices offered on truly last-minute inventory.
• packaging provides an acceptable conceptual solution to marketing their truly last- minute, distressed inventory, but not an effective or a practical one.
• unpackaged channels remain undesirable to suppliers because they fall to protect their base businesses from price erosion or cannibalization. It would be highly desirable to find a solution both to consumers' appetite for fully-packaged last-minute travel and to suppliers' desire to move their unsold, perishing inventory without impairing the viability of their base businesses.
• Present invention solves last-minute travel problems of both consumers and suppliers When offering items for sale through a computer system, for example on a
• Web site it is useful at times to group the items together into a package.
• Such a capability is particularly advantageous in connection with last-minute travel offerings, but could have other applications as well. Examples might include but are not limited to: products such as components of a stereo system or a selection of diverse yet related gifts; products and services together, as with appliances, carpentry, painting, flooring replacement, and cabinetmaking for a kitchen renovation; or bundles of services, such as legal services, real estate brokerage, and mortgage brokerage for a house sale.
• the problem of finding appropriate elements to group into packages and thus appropriate packages to offer for sale can be difficult to solve.
• Some elements may be good matches for each other - for example, in a stereo component system a powerful amplifier might be better paired with large speakers than small speakers - and others less so.
• the present invention solves these problems by providing a method of structuring the work of building packages, and an algorithm for generating desirable packages for sale.
• the present invention provides a system and method for grouping and selling products or services using a computer system, potentially connected to a network such as the decentralized network of the Internet.
• the computer system includes a computer with multiple terminals, potentially instantiated as a server computer or computers, and distributed client computers.
• the computer system presents a sales interface on some terminals showing products or services and groups of products and/or services that are for sale.
• the computer system presents a back end interface on some terminals, which can be used to enter new products, services and groupings of products and/or services to be offered for sale on the sales interface.
• Descriptions of the products or service offerings are entered into the computer system either by data entry operators using the back end interface or by a program reading product or service descriptions from external computer systems.
• the method groups these products or services according to an affinity algorithm. The groupings may then potentially be reviewed and approved or selected by human operators using the back end interface before being offered for sale on the sales interface.
• the present invention can provide method of offering items for sale in a group, comprising:
• An advantageous implementation provided by the invention is a computer system for offering travel arrangements over a decentralized computer network to a consumer using a web-browsing appliance.
• the computer system includes a data storage arrangement that stores descriptions of available travel components and at least one travel package template.
• a user interface element coupled to the network elicits at least one constraint from a consumer.
• a package engine dynamically generates at least one travel package based on the elicited consumer constraint, at least one travel package template, and at least one stored available travel component description.
• the package engine offers the generated travel package to the consumer by transmitting a description of the generated travel package over the decentralized computer network to the consumer's web browsing appliance.
• Such a particularly advantageous example embodiment of invention may provide the following processes.
• the affinity algorithm and associated supporting steps enables consumers to arrange their last-minute travel and entertainment plans, providing the following characteristics:
• a scalable, database-backed system automatically receives and processes distressed inventory updates from suppliers and screens available components to generate potential offers for consumers ⁇ facilitating the creation of a large volume of creative, unique offers without requiring a large number of people.
• a database that initially includes information on leisure options in sixty destination spots across North America, Europe and the rest of the world. These options might range, for example, from art museums to yearly festivals and events to hang-gliding expeditions.
• each option can be categorized in several ways - such as type (e.g., adventurous, romantic, etc.); suitability (e.g., kids, couples, group of friends, etc.); availability (e.g., seasonality, days of the'week, etc.); time required to complete; distance from city center; prices; quality ratings; etc.
• type e.g., adventurous, romantic, etc.
• suitability e.g., kids, couples, group of friends, etc.
• availability e.g., seasonality, days of the'week, etc.
• time required to complete distance from city center
• prices quality ratings
• System provides value by allowing customers to upgrade or alter individual items within a package (for example, change from standard room to a suite, or change flight departure from afternoon to evening.) • System provides value-added information particular to each package offered such as weather conditions, local maps, and recommendations for additional dining and entertainment options.
• the present invention includes a computer system that is configured to extrapolate from a relatively small amount of consumer supplied information and provide a range of travel options with minimal effort by the consumer.
• the computer system can have a process configured to record at least one of a desired travel date and a desired destination entered by the consumer and additional processes for returning extrapolative results including any one of an alternate date generation process, a nearby destination process, a regional destination process and a theme destination process.
• the alternate date generation process is configured to relax the date constraints entered by the user, such as by adding days to the requested departure and return dates to those requested by the consumer and using the dates to find or create other packages going to the same destination.
• the alternate date generation process may search forward and backwards of the requested dates for other weekends, holidays or similarly themed dates if the requested dates fall on a weekend.
• the nearby destination generation process is configured to find other destinations that are sufficiently near to the airport of the consumer requested destination to be convenient or practical alternative travel options.
• the nearby destination generation process may be configured to determine distances from the airport to the other destinations that are not in the same city as the destination requested, but fall within a predetermined radius, such as 100 miles.
• Other criteria may be used to determine what qualifies as "nearby,” including finding destinations that are accessible from the same airport as the consumer selected destination with relatively low cost or minimal hassle (such as a direct train ride).
• the regional destination process is configured to determine which region the consumer selected destination falls within, such as by extracting data on the selected state of the destination or by comparing the destination to predetermined, stored regions, such as the Southwest or the Caribbean. Further, the regional destination process can be configured to search and find, or construct, other packages that are within the same region (e.g., within the same state) for consideration by the consumer.
• the theme destination process is configured to sense or extract a theme from the limited information entered by the consumer. For example, the theme destination process can extract from one, or both, of the consumer selected destination (e.g., Florida) and date (e.g., Spring break) that the consumer is interested in traveling to other beaches.
• the theme destination process is configured to use this information to construct, or search for, other packages having the same theme (e.g., other beach destinations such as Cancun, Mexico).
• Themes can be extracted from the consumer selections in several ways, such as by generating or finding a package that is an exact match to the consumer selected date and destination, and executing a reverse affinity algorithm to determine a trend in the affinity ratings of the different elements of the exactly matching package. The trend in the affinity rating can then be set as a consumer constraint to determine an appropriate package schema which is, in turn, used to construct packages with the same theme.
• different destinations or packages may be associated by operators with certain themes and the theme destination process is configured to search for the theme of the consumer selected destination and return other packages having the same theme.
• all of the extrapolated results can be further screened for duplication, price and popularity for the purposes of pruning the search results and the packages presented on a single screen for easy viewing and purchase by the consumer.
• elements of the packages, or the packages themselves may be stored in a cache for quick access, searching and retrieval.
• the consumer can quickly receive a range of extrapolated travel packages from the entry of a minimum of information.
• Figure 1 is an overall block diagram of an example system 20 provided by the present invention
• Figures 2A-2S show example screen formats the server computer may present to customers;
• FIG. 3 is a block functional diagram of a presently preferred exemplary embodiment of a computer system 20 provided by this invention.
• Figure 3 A is a flowchart of an example high-level operations process
• Figure 3B is a more detailed example flowchart of a package creation process
• Figure 3 C shows an example package schema structure
• Figures 4A-4C show example item entry operations
• Figure 5 shows an example package schema entry
• Figure 6 shows an example affinity algorithm flowchart
• Figures 7A-7D show example management control operations
• Figures 8A-8C show example operations for providing additional incentive characteristics to render a package more appealing
• Figures 9A and 9B show an example matching process
• Figure 10 shows an example consumer packaging offering including optional elements
• Figures 1 IA- 1 ID show example order execution operations
• Figure 12 shows a schematic of another embodiment of a computer system of the present invention configured to find or generate several travel packages based on extrapolations of consumer selections;
• Figure 13 shows a schematic of an alternative date generator of the computer system of Figure 12
• Figure 14 shows a schematic of a nearby destination generator of the computer system of Figure 12;
• Figure 15 shows a schematic of a regional destination generator of the computer system of Figure 12
• Figure 16 shows a schematic of a theme package generator of the computer system of Figure 12;
• Figure 17 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of Figure 12 for storing a departure city
• Figure 18 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of Figure 12 for storing a destination region
• Figure 19 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of Figure 12 for storing a destination city
• Figure 20 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of Figure 12 for storing a departure date
• Figure 21 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of
• Figure 22 shows a screen format generated by the computer system of Figure 12 for presenting exact match search results and several types of extrapolative search results.
• Figure 1 shows an example computer system 20 providing a preferred example embodiment of this invention.
• the Figure 1 computer system 20 includes a front end 100 interface and a back end interface 200 supported by a computer arrangement 300.
• front end 100 is used to interact with consumers 50(l)-50(N) via associated consumer appliances 52(1)-52(N).
• Consumer appliances 52 in one example embodiment include a display 54 and a user input device such as a keyboard 56, a pointing device, speech recognition or any other device capable of accepting inputs from a human being and providing responsive output signals.
• consumer appliances 52 comprise personal computers equipped with conventional web browsing software, but any appliance capable of interacting with consumers 50 by presenting options for selection and receiving selection responses can be used.
• consumer appliances 52 are coupled to a computer arrangement 300 via telecommunications paths 60.
• Telecommunications paths 60 coupling consumer appliances 52 with computer arrangement 300 may comprise any type of digital or analog telecommunications signal path, but in the preferred embodiment include or comprise a decentralized digital computer network such as the Internet.
• Telecommunications paths 60 allow consumers 50 to interact on a real-time, dynamic basis with computer arrangement 300 from the consumers' homes, offices or other locations.
• computer arrangement 300 communicates with consumers 50 by transmitting information such as html web pages, audio, video and/or multimedia information to consumer appliances 52. This transmitted information is displayed on displays 54 or otherwise rendered so that consumers 50 can perceive the information. Consumers 50 may respond to the received information by providing user inputs via user input devices 56.
• a database 400 stores information that is analyzed by an affinity algorithm to dynamically generate packages to be offered to the consumer for sale.
• Back end interface 200 in this example includes operator appliances 62(1)- 62(M) respectively operated by human operators 64(1)-64(M).
• Back end 200 in the preferred embodiment also includes other interfaces 66 to be discussed below, hi this example, back end interface 200 is used to receive, define and input information, which may then be offered by system 20 to consumers 50.
• System 20 reduces the complexity for the customer 50. That complexity is instead managed by system 20's workflow and systems.
• the key elements of system 20's Web architecture allow efficient gathering of inventory information, quick authoring of packages, attractive presentation of products, robust fulfillment of customer orders, and responsive customer service. To accomplish this, a scalable database-backed system is provided, leveraging existing systems wherever this is possible and economical.
• system 20 provides an online service to break the compromise for consumers between high quality, good value solutions and last minute planning.
• System 20 can present consumers 50 with an interactive user interface via appliances 52 that creates a last minute entry point for consumers focused on last-minute leisure.
• Figure 2A shows an example homepage displayed by system 20 presenting a menu of five example options.
• System 20 in this particular example focuses on the last minute, offering solutions in a rolling seven-day window, and organizes and packages offers by "mood occasion" (e.g., Romantic or Artsurous).
• System 20 offers a finite list of tailored options, and is a one-stop proposition from idea to fulfillment. Everything shown is guaranteed available.
• System 20 does all the hard work for consumers - starting with thinking up good ideas about what to do. The typical frustration of coming up with ideas, calling around for availability, putting the pieces together, etc. is entirely avoided.
• System 20 develops and provides ideas and full solutions (e.g., a romantic escape from San Francisco this weekend, a wacky evening in New York on Thursday).
• System 20's offers are creative, unique, very high quality, and tailored to a customer's needs.
• System 20 enters the consumer's decision process several steps upstream from where the travel and entertainment industry currently competes.
• System 20's entry point is when the consumer is thinking "I'd like to do something fun this weekend or this evening” or “Joan just had a baby, I should send her a gift” rather than "Let's see if we can get cheap tickets to Miami on Friday” or "I wonder where is the best place to buy a toy.”
• System 20's consumer offers are designed by time (e.g., today, tomorrow, this weekend) and type of experience (e.g., adventurous, romantic, rest and relax, etc.), not just by destination or event (e.g., airline tickets to Miami, hotel rooms in Key Biscayne, or tickets to the Dolphins game).
• System 20 develops and provides ideas and full solutions (e.g., a romantic escape from San Francisco this weekend, a wacky evening in New York on Thursday). System 20 is able to shift share (because it enters the decision process before competitors); stimulate demand (because it generates ideas and suggestions); and reduce drop-off from idea to fulfillment (because it offers a complete, easy-to-navigate, one-stop solution).
• ideas and full solutions e.g., a romantic escape from San Francisco this weekend, a wacky evening in New York on Thursday.
• System 20 is able to shift share (because it enters the decision process before competitors); stimulate demand (because it generates ideas and suggestions); and reduce drop-off from idea to fulfillment (because it offers a complete, easy-to-navigate, one-stop solution).
• FIG. 2A For example, from the Figure 2A example home page, the consumer might select the "escape” option to bring up the Figure 2B display.
• This example Figure 2B display includes particular options such as “day trip,” “short weekend,” “long weekend,” and “vacation.” If the consumer selects the "short weekend” option, then a display of the type shown in Figure 2C can be presented in this particular example to elicit one or more constraints from the consumer.
• figure 2C allows the consumer to select a departure city (e.g., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or other city) via a pull-down selection, as well as a "mood” selection.
• the example Figure 2C mood selection is intended to elicit "mood” information from the consumer, i.e., "what kind of short weekend escape are you in the mood for?"
• Example mood selections might include:
• the Figure 2C example also allows the user to select logistical information such as how many people are traveling, the number of rooms required, etc.
• system 20 accesses its stored database of "cultural" package schema and, based on available inventory and consumer constraints', dynamically creates a finite number of packages based on an affinity algorithm analysis.
• An example resulting display is shown in Figure 2D. hi this example Figure 2D display, a number of options are listed including, for example, a "Remember the King” weekend escape visit to attend an Elvis Presley (rock singer) tribute weekend; an “art and pampering" weekend in Washington D. C; and an "afternoon tea and symphony” weekend in Boston.
• the preferred example system 20 does not make an attempt to display an exhaustive list of all possible romantic weekend escapes, but rather displays a shorter list of weekend escapes that are - based upon the current database state - guaranteed to be available if the consumer immediately purchases the package.
• each of the package displays includes a one-line description along with a hypertext link, which the consumer may select to learn more about the proposed package. For example, if the consumer selects the "Remember the King" hypertext link, then a more detailed descriptive display (an example of which is shown in Figure 2E) may be displayed. This more descriptive display outlines the various components within the package, including transportation, hotel, car rental, restaurant, entertainment and/or other components of the package and may give the consumer the option of requesting upgrades and/or adding on optional components.
• the consumer may select a "buy it" button to bring up a procurement selection confirmation display of the type shown in Figure 2F, for example, hi this particular example, the Figure 2F selection configuration display shows the unit price, additional pricing information and the total cost, hi the Figure 2F example, the consumer may also enter a "promotional code" within a data entry field to obtain the benefit of a promotional special if one is available. If the consumer agrees to purchase the package, he or she may select the "continue checkout” button of the Figure 2F display to obtain a further Figure 2G "checkout” example display.
• the Figure 2G display may display pertinent identification and payment information the consumer has previously inputted to system 20 during a registration process, and requests further confirmation.
• system 20 may display an "order confirmation" display similar to the example display shown in Figure 2H that confirms the package order, provides an order confirmation number and gives the consumer an option of obtaining a full itinerary (see Figure 21 for an example).
• order confirmation display similar to the example display shown in Figure 2H that confirms the package order, provides an order confirmation number and gives the consumer an option of obtaining a full itinerary (see Figure 21 for an example).
• computer 20 automatically generates output signals to procure the necessary tickets electronically or otherwise.
• system 20 updates its inventory database on a real-time, dynamic basis so that the next consumer is not offered inventory that is no longer available, and may send further confirmations and/or reminders to the consumer via e-mail or by other means.
• system 20 is also capable of showing the consumer individual components of a travel package should the consumer be in the market for only airline tickets, hotel accommodations, or the like.
• the consumer might be presented with a display along the lines of the example shown in Figure 2 J that bypasses the "mood" selector and package generator, and instead gives the consumer direct access to the database inventory of flights available during the selected time frame.
• the user Upon selecting further options, the user might be presented with a list of available destination cities, and could access the available flight information from the database. Similar selections might be available for hotel rooms, car rentals and other travel accommodations. (The price of the "just show me" tickets, hotels, etc.
• the consumer could select a "local flavor” option to cause system 20 to dynamically develop packages that do not involve travel.
• selecting the "local flavor” selection could bring up, once again, a screen eliciting consumer constraints such as the time frame the consumer is interested in doing something (e.g., today, tomorrow, this weekend, or over the next week) (see Figure 2K).
• a "mood" selection display similar to that shown in Figure 2C can be presented to elicit the consumer's "mood” and upon receiving the consumer's response, system 20 may then generate and display a list of available "local flavor" packages available for selection and purchase.
• selecting the "Wrapped and Ready” option could bring up a display of the type shown in example Figure 2L eliciting a category of gifts.
• system 20 displays an example of the type shown in Figure 2M presenting a finite list of gifts within the selected category for the user to select and possibly purchase.
• the consumer can obtain more detail (e.g., including an image if one is available) by selecting an associated hypertext link, and purchase the gift by clicking on the "buy it" button of Figure 2M.
• the consumer can select the "red carpet” option to display a list of "hard to get” individual items (like “just show me”) or packages (like “escape") available on auction (see Figure 2N). Selecting the "hotel rooms” option of Figure 2N could bring up a display similar to that shown in the Figure 20 example.
• the consumer may be given an option to "bid” on a particular offering, thereby entering an auction.
• the consumer may be presented with a screen of the type shown in Figure 2P and given an opportunity to submit a bid.
• the Figure 2P screen informs the consumer that the supplier of the particular inventory has set an "auction clearing" price upon which the consumer will automatically win the auction, but the preferred example does not disclose that price in order to bid the supplier's base price from deteriorating.
• selecting the "Beck and Call” option may resulting in presenting the consumer with a list of various service provider categories such as that shown in Figure 2Q.
• This example screen allows the user to select a service category and be presented with services from service providers within that category which the consumer may select to purchase as described above.
• System 20 may also offer packages available for "rewards" (within the constraints of local regulations) as shown in Figure 2R, as a way of thanking loyal customers.
• a registration process is also provided upon registering with system 20, this registration process eliciting appropriate identification information, payment method, password and the like.
• System 20 may also offer functionality such as read and post messages, chat rooms and the capability to write reviews on packages and trips taken.
• System 20 offers suppliers a substantially better channel for mobilizing distressed last minute inventory versus all other emerging options such as Internet e-saver fares, sites that promote "cheap tickets", sites that enable planning ahead, and sites whose proposition is an exhaustive listing of destinations and/or events that facilitates substitution of planned demand.
• suppliers also attain higher than normal price realization on high demand items that are sold via auction - such as hotel rooms in New York between October and December, or same day dinner reservations at a hot new restaurant.
• System 20 prevents yield dilution/demand cannibalization because it creates new demand rather than fulfills existing demand (e.g., a romantic weekend can be designed around available inventory rather than having to be to a particular destination where that consumer has already decided to go). Furthermore, system 20 prevents sales from cannibalizing suppliers' regular demand. Consumers cannot plan ahead and use system 20 to get cheaper prices because system 20 only has a rolling seven-day window. Moreover, consumers cannot expect to get exactly the cheap ticket they want at the last minute because system 20 makes offers by type of experience (e.g., romantic), not by destination. For example, escapes to London will not always be offered, so consumers who know they want to go to London will need to use suppliers' traditional channels.
• type of experience e.g., romantic
• System 20 limits brand erosion because it bundles the base inventory with other elements into one composite offer and price; eliminates the need to offer "the cheapest tickets" in order to make a sale; reduces suppliers visibility as it is an arms-length entity distant from a supplier's brand and main business; and is technically capable of quickly accepting and processing last-minute inventory.
• System 20 as described can provide a new kind of "one-stop" last-minute travel portal, or some or all of the functions described above can be integrated with other types of travel portal web sites or other platforms. For example, such functions may be very attractive to build a third party package creation/delivery platform for other businesses to use or access via links from their web sites or other platforms. As one example, a more conventional travel website or other platform could include a "last minute travel” button or function that can invoke some or all of the activities described above.
• Example embodiment package authoring arrangement, travel and entertainment database(s) organized by type of experience, supplier relationships and interfaces, business-operations engine (back end) geared to last minute window, and other aspects could be used and/or integrated by such other platforms (e.g., via hypertext links) to create last-minute travel or other types of packages for customers. More Detailed Description of Example System 20
• FIG. 3 shows a more detailed diagram of the functions provided by system 20.
• system 20 includes a front end interface 100 and a back end interface 200 each of which may be supported by one or a number of computers within computer arrangement 300.
• the tasks performed by system 20 include five separate processes.
• Item entry is a process performed at the back end interface 200
• An affinity algorithm used in the computer 300 to group items into packages; 4. A package selection process is performed at the back end interface 200, and selects packages to be presented at the front end interface 100; and
• the sales and purchase process is performed at the front-end interface, inside the computer 56, and potentially at the back end interface 200.
• computer arrangement 300 maintains a database 400 including the following elements.
• Database 400 interacts with the following major functions performed by front end interface 1 00: • web site 102
• Front end interface 100 may also provide additional communications capabilities relative to consumers 50 via e-mail confirmations 114 and/or customer outreach e- mail 116.
• Back end interface 200 in this example includes a variety of functions that may be performed within the third party operator of system 20 as well as a variety of functions which may be performed outside of that third party provider.
• the functions within the third party may include a package authoring interface 202, a customer service interface 204 and an operator interface 206.
• External sources, computers or the like communicating with database 400 via back end interface 200 may include:
• computer arrangement 300 supporting the various functionality shown in Figure 3 may include a conventional http web server such as an AOL server or the like, and one or more further computers, such as, for example, a dual-processor Sun E450 running Solaris and an Oracle 81 database engine with a Cybercash payment interface.
• Computer reservation system 208 may be interfaced with via, for example, a Sabre or Worldspan CRS interface running on a separate NT workstation.
• a variety of different conventional computer arrangements can be used to implement suitable computer arrangement 300.
• system 20 can handle 800,000 page loads per day (approximately 4 million "hits" by common definitions), each requiring about five database transactions. During peak load periods, this will be approximately 100 DB transactions per second.
• the system can be scaled to about 50 times this capacity by separating the HTTP server from the database engine and replicating it in an array of load-balanced PC servers running Linux and sharing an IP address. Network hardware from Cisco Systems can accomplish load balancing.
• the back- end 200 can be scaled by using Sun Enterprise servers, which can accept up to 64 CPUs.
• FIG. 3 A in the flowchart of example high-level operations from supplier to sale within system 20.
• partners/suppliers e.g., airlines, hotel chains, and the like
• non-partner suppliers supply information concerning available travel related items via electronic data, e-mail, html or in other forms via interfaces 208, 216 and/or supplier databases 210.
• One example interface 216 may, for example, involve screen scraping of pertinent data from conventional, publicly-available legacy web-based or other computer interfaces from standard travel service providers (e.g., airline reservation systems, hotel reservation systems, etc.).
• standard travel service providers e.g., airline reservation systems, hotel reservation systems, etc.
• the various items are deposited into database 400 along with attribute information.
• Package offering interface 202 is used to create package schema which are also added to the database 400. hi the manner described in detail below, packages are dynamically generated and offered to consumers 50 via web site 102. Upon purchase, system 20 purchases the various component items within a given package on behalf of the consumer 50 via automatic and/or manual fulfillment processes (blocks 250, 252), and then e-mails or otherwise communicates confirmation to the consumer buyer (blocks 254, 256) via e-mail confirmation block 114 shown in Figure 3.
• Figure 3B shows an overall more detailed process by which system 20 performs the "packages created” step 202 of Figure 3 A.
• a human and/or computer 300 describes each of the items in inventory in terms of attributes and qualities within an n-dimensional affinity space (block 260). These items and their associated attributes and qualities are then stored into database 400 for later access.
• a human creates package schema (i.e., models or templates) of packages of items a consumer might wish to purchase (block 262).
• package schema may include mandatory element schema (e.g., airline tickets and hotel) as well as optional element schema (e.g., show tickets).
• Each schema in this example includes an associated affinity space subset description (i.e., an n- dimensional hypercube or other bounding box describing the subset of affinity space that will satisfy the particular element requirement).
• an associated affinity space subset description i.e., an n- dimensional hypercube or other bounding box describing the subset of affinity space that will satisfy the particular element requirement.
• the author of the package schema could specify a restaurant with an "expense" range of between 3 and 9, and with food quality greater than 6 on some given quality and expense continuum.
• Another, more simple example is that a particular hotel chain could be specified as the only hotel inventory that can be used to satisfy a particular element schema.
• a particular package schema 500 can have any number of associated element schema 510 and associated affinity descriptions.
• the created package schema are stored into database 400.
• computer 300 elicits the consumer's mood and other constraints (Figure 3B, block 264). This eliciting process may occur through the consumer navigating screens of a web site, filling in html forms, or other means.
• system 20 selects a subset of created package schema meeting the consumer's constraints (block 266). Then, for each mandatory element schema within the selected subset of package schema, system 20 determines (using an affinity algorithm in the affinity descriptions described above) which items "fit" or match (block 268).
• matches can be ordered or otherwise selected based on distance in affinity space.
• Blocks 266, 268 in one preferred embodiment are performed dynamically in real-time to produce a candidate set of packages which may then be presented to a consumer 50 and offered for sale (block 270).
• An optional human approval process may be interposed (block 272) to approve presented packages and/or created package schema, in order to make sure that the packages presented to the consumer are reasonable and make good business sense for the third party who is operating system 20 (block 232).
• computer system 300 Upon selection of a particular package by consumer 50 (block 274), computer system 300 confirms available, locks the items in the database 400 and decrements the count of all selected items within database 400 and completes and confirms the transaction with the consumer (block 276).
• One of the functions performed by system 20 is to input items (for example, travel inventory) into database 400 so it is available for creating packages.
• Item entry can be performed via the operator interface 206 and operator appliances 62 shown in Figure 2.
• items can be entered automatically by computer via various interfaces from a computer reservation system 208 and other supplier databases 210, and/or via e-mail or html supplier interfaces 206.
• Figures 4A-4C One example item entry process is shown in Figures 4A-4C.
• an operator 64 at the back end 200 views available item descriptions from an external inventory list, perhaps held in an external computer system ( Figure 4A). These items may be products or services.
• the operator 64 selects items to enter into the server computer system according to some criteria.
• the items are described by the operator as having certain attributes; the attributes may simply be arbitrary text strings describing some aspect of the items.
• An example is an item that is a reservation for a hotel room; one attribute might be "hotel in New Jersey;” another attribute might be “double occupancy room;” still another attribute might be "Hyatt Regency New La.”
• an affinity space is an n-dimensional space with real coordinates, each dimension describing some quality of an item.
• an affinity space for restaurants might include the qualities "service,” “romance,” impressiveness,,” and “food quality.” Then a particular restaurant could be described as a point in 4-dimensional space, the first dimension being "service.” the second being "romance,” etc. More positive numbers denote more of the quality in question; less positive numbers denote less of the quality in question.
• Affinity coordinates can be discrete or continuous, and can if specify a range of values and/or a true/false condition.
• affinity coordinate is a binary (yes/no) value specifying whether a hotel is or is not romantic, whether a restaurant is or is not expensive, etc.
• affinity coordinate can specify a range of values (e.g., romance on a scale of 0 to 10).
• this operation may be performed by a program using some method to parse the external item descriptions into item descriptions with attributes and coordinates in the affinity space. For example, such a program might recognize the string "deluxe service” in an external item description (e.g., Zagat's guide) as corresponding to a value of 9 for the first coordinate, "service,” in the affinity space.
• an external item description e.g., Zagat's guide
• the item descriptions may be accompanied by the programs or data so that these can be stored and provided to the customer directly from the computer 300.
• the operations shown in Figures 4A-4C and described above generate a database of available inventory of items along with affinity coordinates and attributes associated with each item in the inventory.
• the preferred example system 20 uses additional pre-stored information in the form of package schema 500 to dynamically assemble individual inventory components into a package.
• a package schema consists of a package description in some form, possibly including text, images, animations, etc., along with a vector of package element schemata.
• Each element schema consists of a field stating whether this element is mandatory or optional, a list of required attributes, and a description of a subset of the affinity space; for example a closed n-dimensional rectangle in an n-dimensional affinity space, or a half-hyperplane, etc.
• the package schema describes then the items that can be used to make up a package.
• Each package schema 500 can include any number of element schema.
• Figure 5 shows examples of two different package schemas 500a, 500b.
• the package schema includes a field 502a(l) indicating that the element is optional, a list 502b(2) of required attributes including rental car, and "Route 1, Maine"; and affinity constraints 502c(l) indicating a quality coordinate of greater than 5 and a seats coordinate of greater than 3.
• the required attributes field 502a(2) indicates that the element is mandatory; the required attributes 502b(2) include "restaurant” and "Route 1,
• affinity constraints 502c(2) include a service coordinate of greater than 6, a romance coordinate of less than 10, and impressiveness coordinate of between 3 and 11 and a food quality coordinate of greater than 6.
• the package schema 500 are inputted to computer system 300 by a human operator 64 using appliance 62.
• a human operator 64 using appliance 62.
• automatic or other techniques can be used.
• computer 300 executes an affinity algorithm to find items entered into the computer that can be used to make up a package defined by a schema 500.
• the affinity algorithm is used to match or otherwise satisfy the previously entered schema 500 based on items previously entered and available in database 400.
• One possible affinity algorithm 600 (shown schematically in Figure 6) is:
• the Figure 6 example flow diagram shows an example affinity algorithm including an initialization block 602 in which computer 300 initializes a candidate set to empty and initializes a package set to all package schema.
• the algorithm 600 then takes a package schema from the package schema set (block 604) and takes an element schema from the package schema (block 606).
• the example algorithm 600 next initializes an item set to all items (block 608), takes an item from the item set (block 610) and asks the questions: "does the item have all required attributes and do item affinity coordinates match the element schema?" (block 612). If the block 612 condition is satisfied ("yes" exit), then algorithm 600 determines whether more element schema remain in the package schema (decision block 614).
• decision block 6 1 8 tests whether more items remain in the item set (block 618). If more elements remain ("yes" exit to decision block 618), then control returns to block 610 to take an additional item from the item set and perform the block 612 test. If no more items remain in the item set, on the other hand ("no" exit to decision block 618), then control returns to block 620. Once all package schemata in the package schema set have been processed ("no" exit to decision block 620), then algorithm 600 returns a candidate set for possible presentation to the consumer (block 622).
• algorithm 600 may be speeded by maintaining a hash table of items keyed by attribute.
• the inner loop over all items in the computer system reduces to a hash table lookup for each required attribute, and the formation of the intersection of the sets of items having that attribute.
• Package selection is the process by which packages from a candidate set are selected for sale.
• the example package selection process is both hierarchical and flexible at the same time. Under normal circumstances, two levels of management control are used to fully control this process.
• the 1st level called here local content manager, executes a selection of certain packages out of the universe of available packages. These packages are chosen using a set of criteria. This set of criteria can be large, but common examples would include experience gleaned from past consumer behavior and inventory characteristics such as seasonality or unexpected supply due to some event.
• An example 1st level of selection process is shown in Figures 7A-7D.
• a local content manager defines a package template using a package offering interface 202 via appliance 62.
• an operator 64 may use the package offering interface 202 to define a package with possible offering information such as "round trip flight to Memphis, four nights at the Royalton Hotel.”
• computer system 20 returns with possible combinations of round trip flights and hotel reservations that fit the constraints (see Figure 7B).
• An operator 64 may then select offerings of interest (Figure 7C), and put the selected offerings on a queue 700 for approval (block 7D).
• a second more senior level decides whether the distribution and content of the presented packages is reasonable on a more global scale (eastern US, national or possibly international). This level controls the actual release of the proposed or selected packages. At this level or higher, additional incentive characteristics can be added to render a package more appealing. The reason to make a package more appealing could be due to many factors including promotional ideas, customer requests or preferences coming from feedback, satisfying some kind of performance criteria or other requirements present at a given time in a given region (for instance when flights are available at less convenient times, or the consumer would arrive too early to check into a given Hotel). This is shown in Figure 8A-8C.
• a regional director 64r looks at the offerings in queue 700 and selectively modifies the offerings by, for example, changing default margins, adding coupons, adding a rebate, etc. (Figure 8B).
• a regional director 64 authorizes (approves) of the posting of offerings. After release, the package becomes visible and hence available for sale at the front end. hi a way the actions of the Regional Director, for instance, could be viewed as adding additional coordinates on new dimensions. For example, in the n- dimensional case restaurant A and B are closest and C is further from both, but restaurant B only takes reservations Monday through Wednesday and patrons are always given less desirable reservation times.
• the Regional Director knows this so he assigns a high rating to restaurant A and C but a low one to restaurant B for this additional axis (call it 'customer flexibility'), hi this now n+1 dimensional affinity space restaurant A and C are actually closer and B is more distant.
• the Regional Director meanwhile might not be familiar with all the original n coordinates, but he is able to contribute by adding his knowledge in the form of an additional coordinate. Additionally some extra coordinate on a new dimension could be also derived from customer feedback. So we can now view this affinity space as having n+2 dimensions.
• Example Sales and Purchase The Sales and Purchase process represents the final step.
• the candidate sets of packages have already been authorized for presentation to potential customers on the front end of the system.
• the sales process begins when a consumer presents a set of interests (such as time of travel, departing city, type or mood of trip). The gathering of these coordinates is performed through a multi- level user interface that matches his choice of coordinates with a possible subset of the presentable packages. This intersection could be large or zero, but on average is expected to be a reasonably small number.
• the consumer has now set up a list of constraints. These constraints are mapped directly onto the relevant axis of this affinity space. The result is usually represented by a set packages that fit either entirely (or partially) the subspace delimited by the consumers preferences. An example of this is process is displayed in Figures 9A.
• a consumer 50 uses appliance 52 to specify a type of trip, a departure city and a mood (see example displays described above in connection with Figures 2B and 2C, for example) ( Figure 9A).
• Computer 300 converts the consumer's mood, departure city and type of trip preferences into coordinates in the affinity space, and returns a set of offerings that are within the space delimited by those requirements ( Figure 913).
• the Figure 9B process is performed dynamically in real-time based upon inventory currently available within database 400 in the preferred embodiment.
• These return package offerings maybe displayed on the consumer's appliance 52 (see, for example, Figure 2D).
• FIG. 10 shows an example process in which a consumer 50 may select optional items (e.g., car rental, show tickets, etc.).
• the consumer is first apprised of his order by visual display (see, e.g.,
• the system 20 of the present invention is configured to provide a range of candidate packages without the input of mood criteria by the consumer and with a minimal number of selections by the consumer 50.
• the system may be modified to have logic or processes 700, 702 and 704 for storing consumer inputs, as shown in Figure 12.
• Process 700 includes storing consumer 50's input of a departure city and a destination region or state via the consumer appliance 52, such as by using drop down menus on the web pages illustrated in Figures 17 and 18.
• Process 702 records consumer selection of a destination city, such as by using the web pages illustrated in Figure 19.
• Process 704 includes storing selection of a date pair, including a departure date (as shown in Figure 20) and a return date (as shown in Figure 21).
• this embodiment is illustrated as storing a location and a date, it should be noted that the system 20 may be configured to record more information, such as consumer mood or other information as described in the embodiments above, or less information, such as just a destination and no date at all.
• this embodiment has the advantage of storing relatively limited information and still returning a range of options based on an extrapolation using a small amount of information, as opposed to the limiting process of most conventional systems wherein additional information is used to reduce the scope of products offered.
• the system 20 also includes a process 706 to generate exact matches of the recorded consumer selections and a process 708 to generate extrapolative matches.
• Process 706 includes logic and/or steps for finding exact matches for the date or date pair and the destination, wherein both of these inputs are used as consumer constraints for selecting a subset of schema meeting the constraints or as mandatory element schema for fitting using the affinity algorithm, as is illustrated in Figure 3B by processes 260, 262, 264, 266 and 268.
• the process 706 of generating exact matches could also have no affinity criteria but might simply be configured to list matching preexisting packages stored on database 400 meeting the required date and destination of the consumer, hi another option, the exact matches might be ordered by price or popularity and truncated after a number of results (e.g., 3, 4, 5) so as to be of a manageable size.
• a number of results e.g. 3, 4, 5
• Exact match is a relative term. The term is meant to connote that a package has the elements that meet the criteria requested by a consumer. Obviously, there will be parts of the package that do not exactly meet all criteria "exactly” as requested by the consumer. To clarify this, the term “substantially matching” is sometimes used herein. Exact match is used to contrast with packages determined through the system by extrapolation. Exact matches are those travel packages are those packages that most closely resemble the request by a consumer, while extrapolated matches are those packages that may match the consumer's request based on data or characteristics provided as part of the consumer's request.
• this extrapolative embodiment may be configured to merely match the consumer constraints (e.g., date and destination) to a selection of already constructed packages or package elements held in a cache associated with database 400.
• consumer constraints e.g., date and destination
• a caching system is described in commonly owned U.S. Patent Application No. 10/635,273, filed August 6, 2003 and entitled SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR STORING AND RETRIEVING PRODUCT AVAILABILITY INFORMATION FROM A STORAGE CACHE which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
• Application No. 10/635,273 filed August 6, 2003 and entitled SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR STORING AND RETRIEVING PRODUCT AVAILABILITY INFORMATION FROM A STORAGE CACHE which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
• 10/635,273 discloses caching the availability of packages and package elements using a fall-off function that instructs the cache to update availability information for check-in, flight dates, etc. that occur sooner more frequently than dates that occur farther out.
• the caching system can also update more or less often based on other factors such as popularity of particular destinations or times of year. Regardless, use of such a caching system accelerates the generation of the exact matches by process 706 and extrapolative matches by process 708 by providing a quickly accessible collection of packages and package elements.
• the possible extrapolative matching processes that can be included in process 708 are an alternate date generation process 710, a nearby destination generation process 712, a regional destination generation process 714 and a theme package generation process 716, as shown in Figure 12. It should be noted that other types of extrapolative processes could also be employed to expand further the travel options available to the consumer without excessive searching or entry of increasing amounts of information.
• the alternate date generation process 710 uses the same city or airport destination selected by the consumer but varies the date range.
• the alternate date generation process 710 may be configured to implement the steps 718, 720 of adding or subtracting N days (wherein N equals some integer) to or from the arrival or departure dates. If a weekend is selected by the consumer, then in an additional, or alternative, step 722 a selected number of preceding and/or succeeding date pairs could be used as the alternate dates.
• These alternate dates are then set as consumer constraints (step 724) used to select subset schema (step 726) meeting the alternative date constraints and the same destination, and these schema are applied to select the appropriate packages and package elements (step 727).
• the number of packages displayed may be truncated by showing preference, in step 728, to more popular packages, packages better fitting the affinity algorithm (e.g., by using algorithm 268), less expensive packages, etc.
• the alternative dates calculated by steps 718, 720 and/or 722, or by some other extrapolative algorithm could be used to search and identify cached packages on database 400 that match the alternative date criteria and the consumer selected destination.
• the nearby destination generation process 712 includes steps for relaxing the consumer constraint on the destination location to require the same airport for arrival but to allow construction or selection of packages having destinations within a reasonable range of the same airport, as shown in Figure 14.
• the airport of the selected location is identified and then an algorithm is applied to determine (step 730), based upon factors such as linear distance, travel time, travel expense, popularity or operator constructed groupings or clusters, which destinations are reasonably close, convenient and/or interesting enough to the airport of the consumer selected destination to qualify as "nearby destinations.”
• the algorithm could include mapping the location of the airport and determining destination locations within a limited 100, 200 or 300 mile radius of the airport location. Regardless of how they are determined, these nearby destinations are then set as consumer constraints (step 732) used to select subset schema (step 726) meeting the same selected date and nearby destination constraints, and the schema are applied to select the appropriate packages and package elements (step 727).
• the limiting step of 728 can also be applied to truncate the packages based on the affinity algorithm results, popularity, price, elimination of duplicates or other criteria.
• the nearby destinations determined in step 730 could be used to search and identify all cached packages stored on database 400 that match the nearby destination criteria and the consumer selected date.
• the regional destination generation process 714 includes steps for relaxing the consumer constraint on the destination location even further wherein the same airport is no longer required, only the same region.
• Regions could include areas as large as several countries (e.g., the Caribbean), a collection of states (e.g., New England, the South or Mid Atlantic) or destinations within a single state or county.
• these regions will be set into grouping selected by experienced operators 64 who are conversant with the motivations of the consumers or unifying characteristics of the region (e.g., tropical climate and beaches of the Caribbean or the Florida Keys).
• regions may be determined algorithmically using distance, travel time, convenience, weather or other factors to determine new regions dynamically or independent of human intervention.
• these regional destinations are then set as consumer constraints (step 736) used to select subset schema (step 726) meeting the alternative date constraints and the same destination, and these schema are applied to select the appropriate packages and package elements (step 727).
• the limiting step of 728 can also be applied to truncate the packages based on the affinity algorithm results, popularity, price or other criteria.
• the nearby destinations determined in step 734 could be used to search and identify all cached packages stored on database 400 that match the regional destination criteria and the consumer selected date.
• the present invention could also include processes for determining a range of additional, nearby or regional departure airports by relaxing the departure city criteria. Additional details on an exemplary system for relaxing destination or departure airport criteria — in this case to determine alternative departure and destination airports within a region - is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patent Application No. 09/275,887 filed March 25, 1999 and entitled METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING NON-OBVIOUS SAVINGS IN THE PURCHASE OF GOODS AND SERVICES which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
• the theme destination generation process 716 includes a step 738 for extracting a theme from the results of the exact match generation process 706, as shown in Figure 16.
• each available package cached on the database 400 may have already been separated by one of the operators 64 into groups belonging to each of several themes, such as Beach, Big City, Casino, Golf, Family, Offbeat, Historical, Music & Food, and Outdoor & Adventure. These groupings are recorded as part of the data associated with existing packages on the database 400, such as when reviewing available items from external systems, as shown in Figures 4 A, 4B and 4C.
• each of the packages on the database 400, or the package schema used to construct the offering (as shown in Figures 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D) maybe grouped into one of the theme categories on a list stored on the database 400.
• the theme assigned to the package upon determination of the appropriate package by the exact match generation process 706, the theme assigned to the package is determined from its associated schema used to construct the package or the package is compared to the list of packages in each theme on the database 400 to find a matching theme.
• the other packages with the same theme are determined either by building other packages meeting the same schema (e.g., by repeating steps 726, 727 and 728 with the schema having the theme as a constraint) or by merely obtaining the remaining packages that are associated with the theme and stored in the cache.
• the theme of a package constructed using the exact match generation process 706 may be extracted by essentially reversing the affinity algorithm illustrated in Figure 6.
• a package that has been received as a whole from a supplier can be broken down into individual items and then each element compared to existing elements stored on database 400 and having affinity ratings associated therewith.
• the affinity ratings of the elements in the package can then be analyzed to determine trends and which are used to identify themes. For example, if on average the highest average affinity rating for all of the elements is "golf then in step 740 packages could be selected or constructed that have similarly high golf affinities or themes.
• the theme may be determined directly from the information provided by the consumer, such as from the date and location. For example, if the date is during Mardi Gras and the location is New La, the theme might be "Big Parties” which also includes packages to Savannah, GA on St. Patrick's Day. Of course it should be noted that other ways of determining themes may be used to extrapolate off of limited consumer supplied information and still fall within the purview of the present invention.
• the consumer enters a "from” or departure city as New York City in the drop down menu, as shown in Figure 17. Then, the consumer uses another drop down menu to select a region or state for the destination, in this case Florida, as shown in Figure 18.
• the destination is then more specifically identified by a city selection, Boca Raton, in a third drop down menu on the same screen, as shown in Figure 19.
• Dates are selected from drop down menus including a departure date of Friday, September 3 rd in Figure 20 and a return date of Sunday, September 5 th in Figure 21 so as to form a single date pair.
• the consumer hits a search button to generate the results.
• the system 20 displays the available packages, as shown in Figure 22.
• Figure 22 illustrates a single screen with the exact match, in this case a flight to Boca Raton departing September 3 rd and returning September 5 th , exactly as requested.

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