Determining preferences of an ensemble of items

• US 10,354,311 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2014
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bread Financial Payments Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Comenity LLC (Alliance Data Systems Corporation)
• Inventors: Ainsworth, III, Richard Barber, Koltnow, Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Allen, William J
• Application Number:
  US14/508,941
• Publication Number:
  US 20160098776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,743 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261- 272
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

In a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for determining preferences of an ensemble of items. An ensemble of items is accessed, wherein the ensemble is user created, and wherein the ensemble of items is shared such that the ensemble of items is viewed by others. User activity associated with the ensemble of items is tracked. Preference information of the ensemble of items is determined based on the tracked user interaction.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for determining preferences of an ensemble of items, the method comprising:

accessing, by said computer system, a first ensemble of items, created by a first user and posted on a social network, said first ensemble of items viewable by a plurality of persons other than said first user on a display of said computer system;

accessing, by said computer system, a second ensemble of items, created by a second user and posted on the social network, said second ensemble of items viewable by a plurality of persons other than said second user on the display of said computer system;

tracking, by said computer system, an activity of the plurality of persons other than said first user and said second user, associated with said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items on the social network;

determining, by said computer system, preference information of said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items based on said activity of said plurality of persons other than said first user and said second user;

receiving, at said computer system, a retailer preference information about said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items, a value of the retailer preference information having a value that is ten times the preference information received from the plurality of persons;

ranking said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items based on said preference information of said plurality of persons,

said ranking removing access to any of said first ensemble of items or said second ensemble of items on the social network, when an undesirable ranking is obtained,

said ranking limiting a visibility of a lower ranked of said first ensemble of items or said second ensemble of items on the social network, and

said ranking increasing the visibility of a higher ranked of said first ensemble of items or said second ensemble of items on the social network; and

providing a progressive discount at a time of purchase,

the progressive discount being directly related to number of items purchased from the first ensemble of items, and

the progressive discount being directly related to number of items purchased from the second ensemble of items.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein said preference information is determined prior to an actual purchase of said first ensemble of items or said second ensemble of items.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein said activity of said plurality of persons other than said first user and said second user is selected from a group consisting of:

number of views, number of likes, and number of purchases.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein said preference information is selected from a group consisting of:

sizes of items in said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items and colors of items in said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein one or both of said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items comprise items from a single retailer.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, comprising:

providing said first ensemble of items to one or more of the plurality of persons associated with the first user on the social network; and

providing said second ensemble of items to one or more of the plurality of persons associated with the second user on the social network.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, comprising:

creating one or both of said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items on a website of a single retailer.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, comprising:

incentivizing a purchase of one or both of said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items by a retailer.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, comprising:

controlling the display of said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items by a retailer.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein said first ensemble of items and said second ensemble of items are selected from a group of:

clothing, accessories, home furnishings, and cosmetics.

11. A computer-implemented method for retailer control of ensembles of retail items, comprising:

accessing, by a computer processor, a first ensemble of retail items created by a first user and posted on a social network;

accessing, by said computer processor, a second ensemble of retail items created by a second user and posted on the social network;

receiving, at said computer processor and from the social network, preference information about said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items from a plurality of persons other than said first user and said second user;

receiving, at said computer processor, a retailer preference information about said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items, wherein a value of the retailer preference information has a value that is ten times the preference information received from the plurality of persons;

ranking, by said computer processor, said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items based on said preference information from the plurality of persons other than said first user and said second user;

controlling, by a retailer, access to said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items based on a result of said ranking,

said controlling

removing access to any of said first ensemble of retail items or said second ensemble of retail items from the social network, when an undesirable ranking is obtained,

limiting a visibility of a lower ranked of said first ensemble of retail items or said second ensemble of retail items on the social network, and

increasing the visibility of a higher ranked of said first ensemble of retail items or said second ensemble of retail items on the social network; and

providing a progressive discount at a time of purchase,

wherein a number of retail items purchased from the first ensemble of retail items or the second ensemble of retail items is directly related to a size of the progressive discount.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein said controlling further comprises:

providing recommendation significance to a higher ranked of said first ensemble of retail items or said second ensemble of retail items.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising:

incentivizing purchase of said first ensemble of retail items or said second ensemble of retail items by said retailer.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items are created on a retailer website.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein said first ensemble of retail items is displayed only to one or more of the plurality of persons associated with the first user on the social network;

and

said second ensemble of retail items is displayed only to one or more of the plurality of persons associated with the second user on the social network.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein one or both of said first ensemble of retail items and said second ensemble of retail items comprise items from a single retailer.