WO2002042977A2 - Sharing information about purchases - Google Patents
Sharing information about purchases Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2002042977A2 WO2002042977A2 PCT/US2001/043301 US0143301W WO0242977A2 WO 2002042977 A2 WO2002042977 A2 WO 2002042977A2 US 0143301 W US0143301 W US 0143301W WO 0242977 A2 WO0242977 A2 WO 0242977A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- user
- users
- computer
- information
- purchase
- Prior art date
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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
Definitions
- the present invention is directed to the field of shopping information systems.
- the World Wide Web (“the Web”) is a system for publishing information, in which users may use a Web browser application to retrieve information, such as Web pages, from Web servers and display it. Search engines, subject indices, and links between Web pages and Web sites facilitate the exploration of information published on the Web.
- the Web has increasingly become a medium used to shop for products. Indeed, thousands and thousands of different products may be purchased on the Web.
- a user who plans to purchase a product on the Web can visit the Web site of a Web merchant that sells the product, view information about the product, give an instruction to purchase the product, and provide information needed to complete the purchase, such as payment and shipping information.
- Web merchants Like other types of merchants, Web merchants generate revenue and profits by selling products to customers. Thus, aspects of a Web merchant's Web site that directly facilitate the sale of products contribute to the Web merchant's level of profitability. For instance, the one-click purchase system developed by Amazon.com, by making it easier for customers to complete their purchase of products, contributes to the level of profitability of Web merchants employing this system.
- aspects of a Web merchant's Web site may also contribute to the Web merchant's level of profitability.
- Principal among these other aspects of a Web merchant's Web site are aspects that motivate more customers and potential customers (hereafter "users") to visit the Web merchant's Web site more often, and to "remain” there, viewing content, for longer periods of time.
- the extent to which a Web site motivates users in this way is sometimes referred to as the Web site's level of "stickiness.”
- a Web merchant that has a particularly sticky Web site is often able to improve profitability in a number of ways.
- any aspects of a Web merchant's Web site that increase the stickiness of the Web page can improve profitability for the Web merchant.
- Figure 1 is a high-level block diagram showing the environment in which the facility typically operates.
- Figure 2 is a display diagram showing a first portion of a shared purchases Web page for a sharing user whose nickname is "jj.”
- Figure 3 is a display diagram showing a subsequent portion of the shared purchases Web page shown in Figure 2.
- Figure 4 is a display diagram showing a "Friends and Favorites"
- Figure 5 is a display diagram showing a product description Web page.
- Figure 6 is a display diagram showing a display produced in response to an order by the user Steve for a product.
- Figure 7 is a display diagram showing a display usable by a user to share and offer feedback on past purchases.
- Figure 8 is a display diagram showing a display showing a page for a user "Ryan" referencing the friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- Figure 9 is a display diagram showing the contents of the friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- a purchase sharing software facility enables users, referred to as
- sharing users to selectively share information about their purchases with other users.
- the facility enables a sharing user to select for sharing products that the sharing user has purchased. For example, the sharing user may select a product for sharing at the time the product is purchased, or at a later time.
- the user may optionally select or define a group of users with which information about the selected purchase will be shared.
- the user may also choose to share information about the selected purchase with all users, or to share different amounts of information about the selected purchase with different groups of users, or to share information about different groups of users in different contexts.
- the sharing user may also optionally add information to the information that is shared for a particular shared purchase. For example, the sharing user may add a rating of the purchased product, or a review or other discussion of the product.
- information about the purchase is provided to any users that are in the group or groups of users designated by the sharing user to receive it. For example, when a user in this group visits a web page containing a description of the purchased product, the facility may display a visual indication that the sharing user purchased the product. The indication may either be accompanied by additional details about the sharing user's purchase of the product, or may include a link to additional details. Additional details may include the date on which the sharing user purchased the product and the sharing user's feedback on the product. Information about the shared purchase may also be provided to users in the designated group when they visit a page containing information about the sharing user, or may be transmitted to those users in messages of various types. In addition to the additional details mentioned above, the information about the purchase displayed on this page may also include information about the product, including its name, a description, an image, and controls for purchasing the product or adding it to a wish list.
- the facility provides a "friends best sellers list" to users.
- the friends best sellers list identifies products purchased by one or more users that have a purchase information sharing relationship with the current user.
- the friends best seller list is sorted in decreasing order of the number of other users having the purchase information sharing relationship that purchased each product.
- the facility adds to the online shopping model a sense of "entertainment” or “shared activity” typically missing from online shopping. In the process, it both directly facilitates the sale of products, and indirectly contributes to the Web merchant's level of profitability by significantly increasing the stickiness level of the Web merchant Web site.
- FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram showing the environment in which the facility typically operates.
- the block diagram shows several client computer systems, such as client computer systems 110, 120, and 130.
- Each of the client computer systems has a Web client computer program for browsing the World Wide Web, such as Web clients 111 , 121 , and 131.
- the client computer systems are connected via the Internet 140 to a server computer system 150 hosting the facility.
- server computer system 150 hosting the facility.
- client computer systems could be connected to the server computer system by networks other than the Internet, however.
- the server computer system 150 contains a memory 160.
- the memory 160 preferably contains merchant software 161 incorporating both the facility 162 and purchase sharing data 163 preferably used by the facility.
- the memory preferably further contains a Web server computer program 164 for delivering Web pages in response to requests from Web clients. While items 161-164 are preferably stored in memory while being used, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these items, or portions of them, maybe be transferred between memory and a persistent storage device 172 for purposes of memory management and data integrity.
- the server computer system further contains one or more central processing units (CPU) 171 for executing programs, such as programs 161-164, and a computer-readable medium drive 173 for reading information or installing programs such as the facility from computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or a DVD.
- CPU central processing units
- programs 161-164 programs 161-164
- computer-readable medium drive 173 for reading information or installing programs such as the facility from computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or a DVD.
- Figures 2-5 show examples of how the facility displays to a user information about purchases made by other users.
- Figure 2 is a display diagram showing a first portion of a shared purchases Web page for a sharing user whose nickname is "jj.” This Web page lists some or all of the purchases made by the user jj that this user has elected to share.
- Display 200 which shows a first portion of this Web page contains information about two shared purchases 210 and 220. In each case, the information about the purchase includes the name of the purchased product, which is typically a link to another page containing more extensive information about the product, as is product name 211.
- the information about a product may also include such information as a picture of the product, the type of the product, the name of the product, the manufacturer of the product, the price of the product, a description of the product, purchase terms of the product, an artist who created the product, purchase terms for the product, as well as information of a variety of other types.
- the information about a purchased product may contain various other controls, such as an add to cart button like button 212 for adding the product to a shopping cart, or an add to wish list button for adding the product to a wish list like button 213.
- Various other controls may also be included, such as a one-click purchase button (not shown) for immediately purchasing the product without further interaction.
- Figure 3 is a display diagram showing a subsequent portion of the shared purchases Web page shown in Figure 2.
- the display 300 shows additional products purchased and shared by the user jj.
- the display shows information about three additional products 310, 320, and 330.
- Information about product 320 includes feedback from the user jj, including a rating 324 in a star rating system assigned by the user jj, and a description 325 authorized by the user jj. This information is generally generated by the purchasing user to assist those users who review the shared purchase in determining whether they are interested in purchasing the purchased product.
- This feedback on the product is different from the other kinds of information about a product that the merchant can provide, in that (a) it is clearly from the identified user, as opposed to a professional marketer, and (b) it reflects the individual style of the user that prepares it.
- Figure 4 is a display diagram showing a "Friends and Favorites"
- the Friends and Favorites Web page for the user Steve contains an indication 410 that the user jj has recently performed additional activity that is shared with her trusted friends and favorite people.
- the indication includes a link 411 that can be traversed to the shared purchaser's Web page for the user jj shown in Figures 2 and 3. In this way, users who have a purchase information sharing relationship with the user jj can discover and read about the user jj's recent purchases and/or recently-shared purchases.
- FIG. 5 is a display diagram showing a product description Web page.
- Display 500 in addition to a variety of other types of information about the product and controls for purchasing the product, includes a display 510 of other users who have purchased the product.
- the display 510 contains an indication 511 that jj has purchased the product.
- the indication 511 is a link to the portion of the shared purchases Web page for the user jj that contains information about this product.
- the indication 511 could contain additional information, such as any of the information shown on the shared purchases Web page for the purchasing user.
- Shared purchase information may be conveyed in a variety of other ways, including displaying purchase information on various other Web pages, sending users various types of electronic messages, or sending a postal letter to users, for example.
- Figures 6-7 show examples of how a purchasing user may share information about the purchase of a product.
- Figure 6 is a display diagram showing a display produced in response to an order by the user Steve for a product.
- the display 600 shows the name 601 of the product, as well as a share button 602 that the user may click in order to designate the product for purchase sharing.
- the display 600 may in some embodiments include additional controls for specifying a group of users with which to share information about the purchase, and for providing feedback (at least preliminary feedback) about the product as part of the shared information.
- Figure 7 is a display diagram showing a display usable by a user to share and offer feedback on past purchases.
- the display 700 contains a row for each of a number of past purchases, such as rows 710, 720, 730, and 740. Any of these purchases may be shared with either all users, or users with whom this user has special purchase information sharing relationships.
- the user uses radio button 701 to select either all users or users with whom the user has purchase information sharing relationships ("trusted friends").
- the user may designate other groups with which to share purchase information, including groups earlier defined by the user, groups dynamically defined by the user, groups defined by someone other than the user, groups that other users themselves opt into, and groups automatically generated, such as groups in which all of the users share some set of characteristics, including such characteristics as items purchased, shopping pattern, geographical location, or any other information collected from or about users.
- the user checks the checkbox for the purchase, and optionally may add feedback about the purchase. For example, to share information about the purchase of the Modern Information Retrieval book shown in row 710, the user checks checkbox 711 , and may also type comments in comments field 713, and select one of the product rating radio buttons 714. If the user wishes to share all of the products in the list, the user may click share all button 750 rather than checking each of the checkboxes.
- Instructions for sharing purchases may be issued in a variety of other ways.
- a user may set a persistent "always share” flag in order to share information about each purchase as purchases are made.
- this flag may be toggled on and off by the user in order to set the default behavior for automatically sharing each purchase as it is made.
- such a flag may be permanently set for "celebrity shoppers" with whom the merchant reaches an agreement to shop at the merchant and share information about their purchases with other users.
- embodiments of the facility support sharing information about purchases made from other merchants, as well as purchases made by people other than the sharing user.
- the facility preferably enables a user, when viewing information about a particular product, to indicate that the user already owns the product.
- the facility preferably prompts the user to indicate whether the user's purchase of the product should be shared with other users.
- Additional embodiments of the invention enable a user to share information about a product purchased on that user's behalf by someone else. For example, where a first user purchases a product as a gift for a second user, the second user may determine whether information about that purchase should be shared with other users. The second user may make this determination by any of the mechanisms described above.
- the facility may send the second user an email message indicating that the item has been purchased for the second user in soliciting a determination by return email of whether information about the purchase should be shared with other users.
- the "always share" flag is set for the second user, or where the product was purchased by the first user from a publicly-viewable wish list generated by the second user, such purchases are automatically shared with other users.
- Figure 8 is a display diagram showing a display showing a page for a user "Ryan" referencing the friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- the display 800 includes information 801 about this friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- the information includes a link 802 to the friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- FIG. 9 is a display diagram showing the contents of the friends best sellers list for the user Ryan.
- the display 900 includes friends best sellers list 901.
- the friends best sellers list includes information about each of a number of products purchased by other users with which the user Ryan has a purchase information sharing relationship.
- information 910 relates to a "The Matrix DVD" product purchased by users with whom the user Ryan has a purchase information sharing relationship.
- a count 911 of the number of such users that have purchased this product is a count 911 of the number of such users that have purchased this product.
- the list 901 preferably sorted in the descending order of this count. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above- described facility could be adapted or extended in various ways. For example, the facility may be implemented and/or operated by parties other than a Web merchant.
- the facility may also display information about purchases made from a variety of different Web merchants, and from merchants other than Web merchants.
- a facility may utilize a wide variety of different ways to authorize the sharing of purchase information, to define and select groups of users with whom different types and quantities of purchase information is shared, and to actually share purchase information. While the foregoing description makes reference to preferred embodiments, the scope of the invention is defined solely by the claims that follow and the elements recited therein.
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Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP01997770A EP1337956A2 (en) | 2000-11-20 | 2001-11-20 | Sharing information about purchases |
AU2002216674A AU2002216674A1 (en) | 2000-11-20 | 2001-11-20 | Sharing information about purchases |
JP2002545426A JP2004514991A (en) | 2000-11-20 | 2001-11-20 | How to share information about purchases |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/718,445 | 2000-11-20 | ||
US09/718,445 US7478054B1 (en) | 1999-11-19 | 2000-11-20 | Sharing information about purchases |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2002042977A2 true WO2002042977A2 (en) | 2002-05-30 |
WO2002042977A8 WO2002042977A8 (en) | 2002-07-11 |
Family
ID=24886106
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2001/043301 WO2002042977A2 (en) | 2000-11-20 | 2001-11-20 | Sharing information about purchases |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1337956A2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2004514991A (en) |
AU (1) | AU2002216674A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2002042977A2 (en) |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP2007317177A (en) * | 2006-04-28 | 2007-12-06 | Nec Corp | Network advertisement distribution system, network advertisement distribution device, method and program |
US7831548B1 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2010-11-09 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Systems and methods that use search queries to identify related lists |
US7966334B1 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2011-06-21 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Information retrieval systems and methods that use user-defined lists to identify related offerings |
US8775261B2 (en) | 2006-04-28 | 2014-07-08 | Nec Corporation | Network advertisement delivery system |
JP2014206989A (en) * | 2007-07-12 | 2014-10-30 | クゥアルコム・インコーポレイテッドQualcomm Incorporated | Virtual group shopping mall |
Families Citing this family (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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JP4782032B2 (en) * | 2007-02-06 | 2011-09-28 | 日本電信電話株式会社 | Information providing system, information providing method, information providing apparatus, and information providing program |
US20080243991A1 (en) | 2007-03-29 | 2008-10-02 | Ryan Thomas A | Content Purchase and Transfer Management for Reader Device |
AU2011296351B2 (en) * | 2010-08-31 | 2015-10-01 | Apple Inc. | Networked system with supporting media access and social networking |
JP5543659B1 (en) * | 2013-12-16 | 2014-07-09 | グリー株式会社 | GAME SERVER, PROGRAM, AND GAME SERVER CONTROL METHOD |
JP5439617B1 (en) * | 2013-04-19 | 2014-03-12 | グリー株式会社 | GAME SERVER, PROGRAM, AND GAME SERVER CONTROL METHOD |
JP2014216004A (en) * | 2013-10-11 | 2014-11-17 | 株式会社タカマツヤ | Customer management server and customer management system |
JP5934169B2 (en) * | 2013-11-19 | 2016-06-15 | ヤフー株式会社 | Shopping management apparatus, shopping management method and program |
JP5676035B2 (en) * | 2014-05-08 | 2015-02-25 | グリー株式会社 | Server control method, program, and server |
JP6496506B2 (en) * | 2014-09-02 | 2019-04-03 | 株式会社日本総合研究所 | Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program |
-
2001
- 2001-11-20 EP EP01997770A patent/EP1337956A2/en not_active Ceased
- 2001-11-20 WO PCT/US2001/043301 patent/WO2002042977A2/en active Application Filing
- 2001-11-20 JP JP2002545426A patent/JP2004514991A/en active Pending
- 2001-11-20 AU AU2002216674A patent/AU2002216674A1/en not_active Abandoned
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
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No Search * |
Cited By (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7831548B1 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2010-11-09 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Systems and methods that use search queries to identify related lists |
US7966334B1 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2011-06-21 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Information retrieval systems and methods that use user-defined lists to identify related offerings |
US8060466B1 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2011-11-15 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Service for accepting and selectively exposing user-created lists of items |
US8452727B2 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2013-05-28 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Service for accepting and selectively exposing user-generated lists |
US8892506B2 (en) | 2001-10-24 | 2014-11-18 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Service for accepting and selectively exposing user-generated lists |
JP2007317177A (en) * | 2006-04-28 | 2007-12-06 | Nec Corp | Network advertisement distribution system, network advertisement distribution device, method and program |
US8775261B2 (en) | 2006-04-28 | 2014-07-08 | Nec Corporation | Network advertisement delivery system |
JP2014206989A (en) * | 2007-07-12 | 2014-10-30 | クゥアルコム・インコーポレイテッドQualcomm Incorporated | Virtual group shopping mall |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2002042977A8 (en) | 2002-07-11 |
AU2002216674A1 (en) | 2002-06-03 |
EP1337956A2 (en) | 2003-08-27 |
JP2004514991A (en) | 2004-05-20 |
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