Distributed electronic commerce system with centralized virtual shopping carts

• US 20070271147A1
• Filed: 12/09/2005
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Crespo, Arturo, Perrochon, Louis, Lacavera, Catherine
• Granted Patent: US 7,640,193 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 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

An electronic commerce system includes a broker that enables customers to purchase items from multiple different merchants. A customer interacts with the merchants to identify items to purchase, and the merchants send descriptions of the items to the broker. The broker maintains a virtual shopping cart that stores the items received from the different merchants. The customer can purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single purchase transaction with the broker. Further, the customer can publish a reference that identifies the shopping cart and invite other customers to purchase the items in the cart via the broker.

Claims

1. An electronic commerce system comprising:

a shopping cart module for storing a virtual shopping cart adapted to contain items from a plurality of online merchants; and

a transaction module for enabling a customer to purchase the items within the shopping cart.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction module enables the customer to purchase the items from the plurality of merchants in a single transaction.

3. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of merchants are located within a plurality of different domains.

4. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the shopping cart module allows the customer to manipulate the items within the shopping cart.

5. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the shopping cart module allows the customer to selectively share the shopping cart with other customers.

6. The electronic commerce system of claim 5, wherein the shopping cart module allows the other customers to manipulate the items within the shopping cart.

7. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the shopping cart is designated by a link and wherein the shopping cart module provides the shopping cart to the other customers responsive to receiving the link from the other customers.

8. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the shopping cart module stores a plurality of shopping carts and wherein the shopping cart module deletes a stored shopping cart after an expiration of a specified time interval.

9. The electronic commerce system of claim 1, wherein the transaction module allows a customer to arrange recurring purchases of the items in the shopping cart from the plurality of merchants.

10. A method of conducting electronic commerce comprising:

storing a virtual shopping cart containing items from a plurality of online merchants; and

enabling a customer to purchase the items within the shopping cart.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the enabling step enables the customer to purchase the items from the plurality of merchants in a single transaction.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of merchants are located within a plurality of different domains.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving from the customer instructions to manipulate the items within the shopping cart; and

manipulating the items within the shopping cart responsive to the received instructions.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving from the customer an instruction to share the shopping cart; and

responsive to receiving the instruction, making the shopping cart available to other customers.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving from an other customer instructions to manipulate the items within the shopping cart; and

manipulating the items within the shopping cart responsive to the received instructions from the other customer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the shopping cart is designated by a link and wherein making the shopping cart available to other customers comprises:

receiving the link from the other customers; and

providing the shopping cart to the other customers responsive to receiving the link.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the shopping cart module stores a plurality of shopping carts and further comprising:

deleting a stored shopping cart after an expiration of a specified time interval.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

periodically and automatically purchasing the items in the shopping cart from the plurality of merchants.

19. An electronic commerce system, comprising:

a shopping cart module for storing a virtual shopping cart adapted to hold a plurality of items offered by a plurality of different online merchants; and

a transaction module for conducting a purchase transaction enabling a customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart.

20. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the items in the virtual shopping cart are offered by a plurality of different merchants in a plurality of different domains.

21. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the transaction module is adapted to enable the customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single purchase transaction.

22. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide a link to the shopping cart and wherein the transaction module is adapted to conduct the purchase transaction with the customer responsive to receiving the link from the customer.

23. The electronic commerce system of claim 22, wherein the transaction module is adapted to conduct purchase transactions with a plurality of different customers from whom it receives the link.

24. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide an interface allowing the customer to manipulate the items in the shopping cart.

25. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to store a plurality of shopping carts.

26. The electronic commerce system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of shopping carts are associated with a plurality of customers.

27. The electronic commerce system of claim 25, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to delete a stored shopping cart after an expiration of a specified time interval.

28. The electronic commerce system of claim 19, wherein the transaction module is further adapted to allow a customer to arrange recurring purchases of the items in the shopping cart from the plurality of merchants.

29. A computer program product having a computer-readable medium having computer program instructions embodied therein for supporting an electronic commerce system, the computer program instructions comprising:

a shopping cart module for storing a virtual shopping cart adapted to hold a plurality of items offered by a plurality of different online merchants; and

a transaction module for conducting a purchase transaction enabling a customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the items in the virtual shopping cart are offered by a plurality of different merchants in a plurality of different domains.

31. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the transaction module is adapted to enable the customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single purchase transaction.

32. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide a link to the shopping cart and wherein the transaction module is adapted to conduct the purchase transaction with the customer responsive to receiving the link from the customer.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the transaction module is adapted to conduct purchase transactions with a plurality of different customers from whom it receives the link.

34. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide an interface allowing the customer to manipulate the items in the shopping cart.

35. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to store a plurality of shopping carts.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the plurality of shopping carts are associated with a plurality of customers.

37. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to delete a stored shopping cart after an expiration of a specified time interval.

38. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the transaction module is further adapted to enable the customer to arrange recurring purchases of the items in the shopping cart from the plurality of merchants.

39. A broker in an electronic commerce system, comprising:

a shopping cart module adapted to store a plurality of virtual shopping carts, each shopping cart for holding a plurality of items offered by different online merchants located in different domains than the broker; and

a transaction module adapted to enable a customer to purchase items in a virtual shopping cart, the items from a plurality of different merchants in different domains.

40. The broker of claim 39, wherein the transaction module is further adapted to enable the customer to purchase the items in the virtual shopping cart in a single transaction.

41. The broker of claim 39, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide a link to the virtual shopping cart and wherein the transaction module is adapted to conduct the purchase transaction with the customer responsive to receiving the link from the customer.

42. The broker of claim 41, wherein the transaction module is adapted to enable a plurality of customers from whom it receives the link to purchase the items in the virtual shopping cart.

43. The broker of claim 41, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to provide an interface allowing a plurality of customers from whom it receives the link to manipulate the items in the virtual shopping cart.

44. The broker of claim 39, wherein the plurality of virtual shopping carts are associated with a plurality of different customers.

45. The broker of claim 39, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to delete a stored virtual shopping cart after a period of time.

46. The broker of claim 39, wherein the transaction module is further adapted to enable the customer to arrange recurring purchases of the items in the virtual shopping cart.

47. The broker of claim 39, wherein the transaction module is further adapted to receive payment information from the customer and to provide the payment information to the plurality of different merchants in the different domains.

48. The broker of claim 39, further comprising:

a communications module for receiving an item offered by a merchant;

wherein the shopping cart module holds the received item in a virtual shopping cart.

49. The broker of claim 48, wherein the communications module receives the item from the merchant offering the item responsive to the customer designating the item in an interaction with the merchant.

50. The broker of claim 48, wherein the communications module receives the item from the customer responsive to the customer designating the item in an interaction with the merchant offering the item.

51. The broker of claim 48, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to select a virtual shopping cart from among the plurality of virtual shopping carts in which to store the item responsive to the item and/or the customer.

52. The broker of claim 39, wherein the shopping cart module is further adapted to designate a virtual shopping cart as public, wherein a plurality of different customers can access a public virtual shopping cart.

53. The broker of claim 52, wherein the plurality of different customers can manipulate items within the public virtual shopping cart.

54. An electronic commerce system, comprising:

shopping cart means for storing a plurality of virtual shopping carts, each shopping cart for holding a plurality of items offered by different online merchants in different domains; and

transaction means for enabling a customer to purchase items in a virtual shopping cart, the items from a plurality of different merchants in different domains.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein the transaction means are further adapted to enable the customer to purchase the items in the virtual shopping cart in a single transaction.

56. The system of claim 54, wherein the shopping cart means are further adapted to provide a link to the virtual shopping cart and wherein the transaction means are further adapted to conduct the purchase transaction with the customer responsive to receiving the link from the customer.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein the transaction means are adapted to enable a plurality of customers from whom it receives the link to purchase the items in the virtual shopping cart.

58. The system of claim 56, wherein the shopping cart means are further adapted to provide an interface allowing a plurality of customers from whom it receives the link to manipulate the items in the virtual shopping cart.

59. The system of claim 54, wherein the plurality of virtual shopping carts are associated with a plurality of different customers.

60. The system of claim 54, wherein the shopping cart means are further adapted to delete a stored virtual shopping cart after a period of time.

61. The system of claim 54, wherein the transaction means are further adapted to periodically purchase the items in the virtual shopping cart on behalf of the customer.

62. The system of claim 54, wherein the transaction means are further adapted to receive payment information from the customer and to provide the payment information to the plurality of different merchants in the different domains.

63. The system of claim 54, further comprising:

communications means for receiving an item offered by a merchant;

wherein the shopping cart means hold the received item in a virtual shopping cart.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the communications means receive the item from the merchant offering the item responsive to the customer designating the item in an interaction with the merchant.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein the communications means receive the item from the customer responsive to the customer designating the item in an interaction with the merchant offering the item.

66. The system of claim 63, wherein the shopping cart means are further adapted to select a virtual shopping cart from among the plurality of virtual shopping carts in which to store the item responsive to the item and/or the customer.

67. The system of claim 54, wherein the shopping cart means are further adapted to designate a virtual shopping cart as public, wherein a plurality of different customers can access a public virtual shopping cart.

68. The system of claim 67, wherein the plurality of different customers can manipulate items within the public virtual shopping cart.