UNIVERSAL SHOPPING CART AND ORDER INJECTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of processing product orders, via a network, to allow consumers to order products from a plurality of merchants from a web page comprising a consistent user interface, comprising the steps of:
- retrieving a universal shopping cart;
searching a local database for information relating to a product prior to searching a plurality of websites for said information;
displaying said information from said plurality of websites within said web page comprising a consistent user interface;
receiving a product selection command from a consumer indicative of selecting a product;
adding said selected product to said universal shopping cart; and
injecting a product order to one of said plurality of merchants associated with said selected product in said universal shopping cart.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A universal shopping cart is provided that obtains and orders products and services from different merchants located on the Internet. The consumer completes all of their shopping on the shopping site and is not directed to another merchant'"'"'s site to complete an order. The universal shopping cart provides a monitoring service that allows the consumer to monitor a product for specified criteria. The order injection system places orders for products contained within the universal shopping cart from affiliated and non-affiliated merchants. Specific ordering details required from merchants external to the shopping site are hidden from the consumer. For external merchant sites that require a consumer account before allowing the product to be purchased, the shopping site creates a new consumer account without intervention from the consumer. Once the products are ordered, the consumer may keep track of the ordered products from the shopping site.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of processing product orders, via a network, to allow consumers to order products from a plurality of merchants from a web page comprising a consistent user interface, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving a universal shopping cart;
searching a local database for information relating to a product prior to searching a plurality of websites for said information;
displaying said information from said plurality of websites within said web page comprising a consistent user interface;
receiving a product selection command from a consumer indicative of selecting a product;
adding said selected product to said universal shopping cart; and
injecting a product order to one of said plurality of merchants associated with said selected product in said universal shopping cart. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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13. A method of ordering products from a shopping site having a web page comprising a consistent user interface that provides information on a plurality of product types from a plurality of merchants, said method comprising:
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accessing said shopping site;
selecting one of said plurality of product types;
searching a local database for information relating to said at least one selected product type prior to searching a plurality of websites for said information;
selecting at least one of said merchants that sells at least one product that belongs to said selected product type;
adding said at least one selected product corresponding to said selected product type and said selected merchant to a universal shopping cart; and
repeating said steps of selecting at least one of said product types, selecting said at least one merchant, and adding said at least one selected product until a check out command is received from said consumer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of providing a web page comprising a consistent user interface to allow a consumer to order products via a network, comprising:
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providing a search component for searching a local database for information relating to at least one product prior to searching a plurality of websites for said information;
providing a window for said consumer to browse said information from a plurality of merchants, said plurality of merchants including a non-affiliated merchant;
providing a universal shopping cart link for retrieving a universal shopping cart;
providing product selection links for selecting and adding selected products to said universal shopping cart; and
providing a universal shopping cart check out link for checking out said universal shopping cart without directing said consumer to a selected site of said merchant.
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22. An apparatus for processing product orders from a consumer via a network to provide a web page comprising a consistent user interface for said consumer to view product information and order products from a plurality of merchants, comprising:
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a network interface unit for interfacing said network;
a memory unit for storing a universal shopping cart service program and a universal shopping cart database; and
a processing unit operative to process product orders from said consumer according to said universal shopping cart service program by;
searching a local database for said product information relating to at least one of said products prior to searching a plurality of websites for said product information;
displaying said product information from said merchants within said web page comprising a consistent user interface;
storing at least one selected product selected by said consumer to said universal shopping cart database;
injecting at least one product order to said merchant associated with said at least one selected product in said universal shopping cart database; and
,storing reputation information on said consumer on a reputation server, wherein said universal shopping cart service program further comprises displaying reputation information of said consumer to said merchant.
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23. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components for providing a web page comprising a consistent user interface comprising:
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a search component for searching a local database for information relating to at least one product prior to searching a plurality of websites for said information;
a user interface component for displaying said product information;
product order processing component for injecting at least one product order to said merchant associated with at least one product selected by a consumer without directing said consumer to said site of said merchant, wherein said injecting includes populating an order form of said merchant related to said product order.
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Specification