UNIVERSAL SHOPPING CART AND ORDER INJECTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. 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:
- 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 information relating to a product;
determining whether said information is at least one of;
outdated and missing;
determining whether said information is from an affiliated merchant or unaffiliated merchant when said information is said at least one of;
outdated and missing;
receiving additional information from said affiliated merchant when said information is from an affiliated merchant;
screen scraping additional information from said unaffiliated merchant when said information is from an unaffiliated merchant;
displaying said information 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;
determining whether said selected product in said universal shopping cart is from an affiliated web site;
transmitting raw data in a data file for an order for said selected product in said universal shopping cart directly to a processor associated with said affiliated website when said selected product is from said affiliated web site; and
, injecting said order at an unaffiliated website when said unaffiliated website is associated with said selected product in said universal shopping cart, wherein said order is injected to said unaffiliated website according to pattern matching.
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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
20 Claims
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1. 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 information relating to a product;
determining whether said information is at least one of;
outdated and missing;
determining whether said information is from an affiliated merchant or unaffiliated merchant when said information is said at least one of;
outdated and missing;
receiving additional information from said affiliated merchant when said information is from an affiliated merchant;
screen scraping additional information from said unaffiliated merchant when said information is from an unaffiliated merchant;
displaying said information 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;
determining whether said selected product in said universal shopping cart is from an affiliated web site;
transmitting raw data in a data file for an order for said selected product in said universal shopping cart directly to a processor associated with said affiliated website when said selected product is from said affiliated web site; and
,injecting said order at an unaffiliated website when said unaffiliated website is associated with said selected product in said universal shopping cart, wherein said order is injected to said unaffiliated website according to pattern matching. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification