Method and system for providing cooperative purchasing over social networks

• US 20060085259A1
• Filed: 10/20/2005
• Published: 04/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dizpersion Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dizpersion Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Carswell, Ian B., Nicholas, Frank C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,977,613 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering

Abstract

The invention provides methods for facilitating a cooperative purchasing service. One method includes: providing a conditional purchase opportunity including a purchase threshold, providing information associated with the a conditional purchase opportunity to at least one display node, receiving a contingent purchase input from a user having a social network user profile, and associating the conditional purchase opportunity with the user profile. A further method includes: requesting cooperative purchase feed formatted content associated with a social network user account, receiving cooperative purchase feed formatted content including a cooperative purchase offer in response to the request, and providing the a cooperative purchase offer including a social network identifier, at a social network user interface. A further method includes: providing a feed formatted cooperative purchasing opportunity, receiving a request to send the cooperative purchasing opportunity to a associate, and Indexing the cooperative purchasing opportunity to an associate feed based on the request.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating cooperative purchasing of a product or service, the method comprising:

Providing at least one conditional purchase opportunity including at least one purchase threshold;

Providing information associated with the at least one conditional purchase opportunity to at least one display node;

Receiving a contingent purchase input from at least one user having a user profile on a social network; and

Associating the conditional purchase opportunity with the user profile.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Providing the associated conditional purchase opportunity as feed formatted content.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

Displaying the feed formatted content on a social network interface associated with the user profile.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the displaying includes providing a progress indicator based on a plurality of the contingent purchase inputs.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the feed formatted content is displayed based on relationships in the social network.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the feed formatted content is displayed based on a lead buyer designation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Providing a conditional purchase opportunity invitation to at least a second user based on at least one relationship in the social network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the conditional purchase opportunity invitation is provided to the second user based on a recommendation input from the user.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing the conditional purchase opportunity to at least a second user in the social network responsive to the receiving of the contingent purchase input.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Receiving at least a second contingent purchase input based on the association; and

Determining a user commission based on the association and the contingent purchase inputs.

11. A method for facilitating cooperative purchasing of a product or service, the method comprising:

Requesting cooperative purchase feed formatted content associated with at least one social network user account;

Receiving cooperative purchase feed formatted content including at least one cooperative purchase offer in response to the request; and

Providing the at least one cooperative purchase offer including a social network identifier, at a social network interface.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a contingent purchase input including the social network identifier from a user at a cooperative purchase server.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

tracking the contingent purchase input based on the social network identifier at the cooperative purchase server.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

determining commission based on the tracked contingent purchase input and the social network identifier

15. The method of claim 11 wherein cooperative purchase feed formatted content including at least one purchase offer is received at a plurality of social network servers, and wherein each social network server provides the at least one cooperative purchase offer including a distinct social network identifier.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein contingent purchase input is tracked based on the social network identifiers.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

determining commission based on the tracked contingent purchase input and the social network identifiers.

18. A method for operating a cooperative purchasing service, the method comprising:

Providing at least one feed formatted cooperative purchasing opportunity to a user;

Receiving a request to send the cooperative purchasing opportunity to at least one associate from the user; and

Indexing the cooperative purchasing opportunity to an associate feed based on the request.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving a request to purchase from the associate;

and

Determining a commission based on the purchase request.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a request to purchase from the associate;

indexing the associate to a user associate purchase feed based on the request to purchase.