METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING ON-LINE PURCHASING

• US 20020198784A1
• Filed: 01/06/2000
• Published: 12/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walgreen Co. (Walgreens Boots Alliance Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Joseph A. Pugh
• Inventors: VARADAN, VIJAY, SHAAK, KAREN, GRAMLING, ALEX DANIEL
• Granted Patent: US 7,162,437 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

On-line purchasing of products from an electronic commerce (e.g., a Web page) seller is improved by providing samples to users at little or no cost in exchange for feedback that is provided to other users considering purchasing the product. A subset of products available for purchase from an electronic commerce site are provided for a sampling program to users. A predetermined number of users are allowed to sample the product. Feedback from the users are solicited and tracked to provide additional information to the seller and/or potential purchasers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting, in electronic format, information related to a set of products that can be ordered electronically;

offering, without charge and via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to a requester;

providing the requestor with a predetermined quantity of a selected product from the subset of products in response to the requestor selecting one of the subset of products; and

requesting, from the requester, feedback related to the product selected.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the requestor is a previously registered user of a World Wide Web site.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein requesting feedback related to the selected product comprises:

causing a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requester with the selected product; and

tracking feedback provided by the requester.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein requesting feedback related to the selected product comprises:

causing a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requester; and

tracking feedback provided by the requester.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the feedback is in an electronic format.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

tracking products purchased by the requester; and

offering, via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to a requester without charge based, at least in part, on the products purchased by the requester.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing previously submitted feedback related to a specific product in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the previously submitted feedback is provided in the form of an electronic link that is provided in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product, wherein selection of the electronic link presents one or more sections of previously provided feedback.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the previously submitted feedback is provided in the form of an electronic link that is provided in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product, wherein selection of the electronic link presents one or more sections of previously provided feedback.

3. The method of claim I wherein providing the requestor with a predetermined quantity of a selected product comprises:

causing the predetermined quantity of the selected product to be sent to a location previously provided by the requestor automatically in response to the requestor selecting the selected product; and

recording the selection of the selected product by the requestor for use in requesting feedback related to the selected product.

10. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause on or more electronic systems to:

present, in electronic format, information related to a set of products that can be ordered electronically;

offer, without charge and via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to a requestor;

cause to be provided to the requestor a predetermined quantity of a selected product from the subset of products in response to the requestor selecting one of the subset of products; and

request, from the requester, feedback related to the product selected.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the requestor is a previously registered user of a World Wide Web site.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the sequences of instructions that cause the one or more electronic systems to provide the requestor with a predetermined quantity of a selected product comprises sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more electronic systems to:

cause the predetermined quantity of the selected product to be sent to a location previously provided by the requestor automatically in response to the requester selecting the selected product; and

record the selection of the selected product by the requestor for use in requesting feedback related to the selected product.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the sequences of instructions that cause the one or more electronic devices to request feedback related to the selected product comprises sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more electronic systems to:

cause a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requester with the selected product; and

track feedback provided by the requester.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the sequences of instructions that cause the one or more electronic devices to request feedback related to the selected product comprises sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more electronic systems to:

cause a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requestor; and

track feedback provided by the requestor.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the feedback is in an electronic format.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 further comprising sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more electronic systems to:

track products purchased by the requester; and

offer, via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to a requestor without charge based, at least in part, on the products purchased by the requestor.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 10 further comprising sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more electronic systems to provide previously submitted feedback related to a specific product in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product.

20. The network of claim 19 wherein the user is a previously registered user of a World Wide Web site.

21. The network of claim 19 wherein the first electronic device causes the predetermined quantity of the selected product to be sent to a location previously provided by the user automatically in response to the user selecting the selected product, and records the selection of the selected product by the user for use in requesting feedback related to the selected product.

22. The network of claim 19 wherein the first electronic device causes a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requestor with the selected product and tracks feedback provided by the requestor.

23. The network of claim 19 wherein the first electronic device causes a feedback questionnaire to be sent to the requestor tracks feedback provided by the requestor.

24. The network of claim 19 wherein the feedback is in an electronic format.

25. The network of claim 19 further wherein the first electronic device tracks products purchased by the requestor and offers, via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to a requestor without charge based, at least in part, on the products purchased by the requestor.

26. The network of claim 19 wherein the first electronic device provides previously submitted feedback related to a specific product in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product.

27. The network of claim 26 wherein the previously submitted feedback is provided in the form of an electronic link that is provided in association with the electronically presented information related to the specific product, wherein selection of the electronic link presents one or more sections of previously provided feedback.

19. A network comprising:

first electronic device to present, in electronic format, information related to a set of products that can be ordered electronically; and

a second electronic device coupled to the first electronic device, the second electronic device running an application that allows a user to access the information presented by the first electronic device,

the first electronic device to offer, without charge and via the electronic format, a subset of the set of products to the user and to provide the user with a predetermined quantity of a selected product from the subset of products in response to the requester selecting one of the subset of products, and further wherein the first electronic device requests, from the user, feedback related to the product selected.