METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE USING MULTIPLE ROLES

• US 20070078727A1
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joel Spiegel, Maryam Mohit
• Original Assignee: Joel Spiegel, Maryam Mohit
• Inventors: Mohit, Maryam, Spiegel, Joel
• Granted Patent: US 7,912,756 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A computer system for conducting electronic commerce. The system provides multiple electronic shopping carts for each user. Each electronic shopping cart has an indication of items currently within the electronic shopping cart and billing and shipment information. The system generates a display that identifies each of the electronic shopping carts and sends the generated display to a user computer system. The system then receives a selection of one of the identified electronic shopping carts from the user computer system and receives a selection of an item from the user computer system. In response to receiving the selection of the item, the system adds the item to the selected electronic shopping cart. The system then receives an indication to checkout the items in the selected electronic shopping cart from the user computer system. In response to receiving the indication to checkout, the system ships the items in the selected electronic shopping cart in accordance with the shipment information of the selected electronic shopping cart and bills for the items in the selected electronic shopping cart in accordance with the billing information for the selected electronic shopping cart. The system thus allows a user to select each of the electronic shopping carts for adding items to each electronic shopping cart.

Claims

1-84. -84. (canceled)

85. A method in a computing system for conducting electronic commerce, comprising:

establishing an account for an organization, the established account including payment information usable to obtain payment for electronic commerce activities of any of a plurality of people associated with the organization; and

for each of the plurality of people associated with the organization;

establishing an electronic commerce context for the person;

storing in connection with the electronic commerce context information relating exclusively to the person'"'"'s electronic commerce activities; and

using the stored information in connection with the person'"'"'s electronic commerce activities.

86. The method of claim 85 wherein the organization is a family, and each of the plurality of people associated with the organization is a member of the family.

87. The method of claim 85 wherein available electronic commerce activities include browsing within a set of items, and wherein information is stored for a person of the plurality that restricts the items of the set that may be browsed by the person.

88. The method of claim 85 wherein available electronic commerce activities include ordering items among a set of items, and wherein information is stored for a person of the plurality that restricts the items of the set that may be purchased by the person.

89. The method of claim 85 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has ordered, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used, to the exclusion of information stored for other people of the plurality, to select items to recommend to the person.

90. The method of claim 85 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has browsed, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used, to the exclusion of information stored for other people of the plurality, to select items to recommend to the person.

91. The method of claim 85 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has ordered, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used to display a list of items including only items that the person has ordered.

92. The method of claim 85 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality specifying shipping information for the person, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the shipping information specified by the stored information is used to ship items ordered by the person.

93. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method for conducting electronic commerce, the method comprising:

establishing an account for an organization, the established account including payment information usable to obtain payment for electronic commerce activities of any of a plurality of people associated with the organization; and

for each of the plurality of people associated with the organization;

establishing an electronic commerce context for the person;

storing in connection with the electronic commerce context information relating exclusively to the person'"'"'s electronic commerce activities; and

using the stored information in connection with the person'"'"'s electronic commerce activities.

94. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein the organization is a family, and each of the plurality of people associated with the organization is a member of the family.

95. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein available electronic commerce activities include browsing within a set of items, and wherein information is stored for a person of the plurality that restricts the items of the set that may be browsed by the person.

96. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein available electronic commerce activities include ordering items among a set of items, and wherein information is stored for a person of the plurality that restricts the items of the set that may be purchased by the person.

97. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has ordered, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used to select items to recommend to the person.

98. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has browsed, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used, to the exclusion of information stored for other people of the plurality, to select items to recommend to the person.

99. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality identifying items that the person has ordered, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the stored information is used, to the exclusion of information stored for other people of the plurality, to display a list of items including only items that the person has ordered.

100. The computer-readable medium of claim 93 wherein information is stored for each person of the plurality specifying shipping information for the person, and wherein, for each person of the plurality, the shipping information specified by the stored information is used to ship items ordered by the person.