Method and system to provide a personalized shopping channel VIA an interactive video casting system

• US 20020056109A1
• Filed: 02/22/2001
• Published: 05/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Digeo Incorporated (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Digeo Incorporated (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tomsen, Mai-lan
• Application Number:
  US09/792,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20020056109A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/60
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8166 involving executable data, e.g. software arrangements for executing specific programs G06F9/44; broadcasting computer programmes in broadcast systems H04H20/91; involving the movement of software or configuration parameters H04L67/34

Abstract

A personalized shopping channel is made available via an interactive video casting system. The personalized shopping channel can provide links or access to shopping sites based on user preferences. For example, user profile information is correlated with merchant data or product data to select merchants or products that are relevant to the user. This allows the personalized shopping channel to conveniently provide the user with access to these types of merchants, while filtering out less relevant merchants.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining information related to a user of an interactive video casting system;

correlating the obtained user information with merchant data to associate merchants to the user; and

personalizing a shopping channel, available via the interactive video casting system, to present the merchants associated to the user, while excluding other merchants.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the interactive video casting system comprises an interactive television system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the personalized shopping channel comprises a web site.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the personalized shopping channel comprises a television channel, the method further comprising providing television programming on the television channel that presents information related to the merchants associated to the user.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the information related to the merchants associated to the user comprises a merchant list.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the information related to the merchants associated to the user comprises links to sites of those merchants.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing user control to allow activation or deactivation of the personalization of the shopping channel, wherein deactivation of the personalization allows presentation of merchants different from the merchants associated to the user.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing at least some of the obtained information related to the user in a profile, wherein correlating the obtained user information with the merchant data includes correlating the information in the profile with the merchant data.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining information related to the user includes obtaining information explicitly provided by the user.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the information explicitly provided by the user comprises one of a survey information, poll information, profile information, calendar information, or wish list information.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining information related to the user includes obtaining implicit data related to the user.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the implicit data includes one of a transaction history information, viewing habit information, o r click stream usage information.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein personalizing the shopping channel to present the merchants associated to the user includes presenting the merchants according to user-specified personalization of the shopping channel.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

correlating the obtained user information with product data to associate products to the user; and

personalizing the shopping channel to present the products associated to the user, while excluding other products.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a cross-sell or up-sell promotion in conjunction with presenting the merchants associated to the user in the personalized shopping channel.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein personalizing the shopping channel includes using a collaborative filter technique.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the shopping channel is capable of being personalized according to different styles of shopping of the user.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the shopping channel is capable of being personalized according to information related to a plurality of different users.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

placing at least some of the obtained information related to the user in a plurality of different profiles;

correlating the information in the different profiles with merchant data to associate merchants to each of the different profiles; and

personalizing a plurality of shopping channels to correspond to each profile.

20. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions to;

correlate information, related to a user of an interactive video casting system, with merchant data to associate merchants to the user; and

personalize a shopping channel, available via the interactive video casting system, to present the merchants associated to the user, while excluding other merchants.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the instructions to correlate the information related to the user includes instructions to correlate implicit data related to the user.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the instructions to correlate the information related to the user includes instructions to correlate data explicitly provided by the user.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the machine-readable medium further includes instructions stored thereon to allow the user to access shopping sites of the merchants via the personalized shopping channel.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the interactive video casting network comprises an interactive television network.

26. The system of claim 24, further comprising another storage unit capable to store the information related to the user.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the information related to the user is explicitly provided by the user to the interactive video casting network or to the communication network, via the client terminal.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the information related to the user includes implicit data related to user transactions with the interactive video casting network or with the communication network.

29. The system of claim 24 wherein the personalized shopping channel includes links to sites of the merchants associated to the user, the merchant sites communicatively coupleable to the video casting network via the communication network.

30. The system of claim 26 wherein the personalized shopping channel is capable to provide television programming, associated to the user based on the correlation of the user information to the merchant data, to the client terminal, wherein the television programming includes product supplemental information corresponding to the merchants associated to the user.

24. A system, comprising:

an interactive video casting network coupleable to a communication network to provide a shopping channel to a user; and

a server coupleable to the interactive video casting network, the server including;

a storage unit having merchant data stored therein capable of being correlated to information obtained from and related to the user;

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage unit, the processor capable to trigger correlation of the merchant data in the storage unit to the information related to the user to associate merchants to the user, and to trigger personalization of the shopping channel to present the merchants associated to the user along with exclusion of other merchants; and

a communication interface communicatively coupled to the processor to provide the personalized shopping channel to a client terminal of the user.

31. A method, comprising:

obtaining information related to a user of an interactive video casting system;

personalizing a shopping channel available via the interactive video casting system, based on the obtained information related to the user, to present merchants associated to the user, while excluding other merchants;

responsive to a first command received from a user input device, presenting supplemental information related to one of the merchants presented in the personalized shopping channel; and

responsive to a second command received from the user input device, initiating a transaction related to the supplemental information presented in the personalized shopping channel.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the supplemental information is presented in a first screen, and wherein the transaction is initiated in a second screen.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the supplemental information presented in the first screen includes advertising information.