COMPETITIVE SALES ENVIRONMENT IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20090319390A1
• Filed: 06/24/2008
• Published: 12/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Katz, Neil A., Seaman, James W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,732,035 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

The invention provides a method, system, and program product for providing a competitive sales environment in a virtual world. In one embodiment, the invention comprises receiving a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar, querying a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information, identifying at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information, notifying the at least one vendor of the request, and making available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

Claims

1. A method of providing a competitive sales environment in a virtual world, the method comprising:

receiving a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar;

querying a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information;

identifying at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information;

notifying the at least one vendor of the request; and

making available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

soliciting from the consumer avatar additional information using a virtual customer service representative (CSR);

accepting additional information from the consumer avatar; and

providing the additional information to a CSR avatar.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a vendor customer service representative (CSR) avatar soliciting additional information from the consumer avatar.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting a secondary product or service on behalf of the consumer avatar.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the secondary product or service is requested by a customer service representative (CSR) avatar.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining, based on the request for product or service information, a secondary product or service relevant to the request for product or service information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying an existing sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein modifying includes adding at least one of the following to the existing sales environment:

a customer service representative (CSR) avatar, a vendor'"'"'s logo, a vendor'"'"'s product, and a representation of a vendor'"'"'s product or service.

10. A system for providing a competitive sales environment in a virtual world, the system comprising:

a system for receiving a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar;

a system for querying a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information;

a system for identifying at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information;

a system for notifying the at least one vendor of the request; and

a system for making available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a system for soliciting from the consumer avatar additional information using a virtual customer service representative (CSR);

a system for accepting additional information from the consumer avatar; and

a system for providing the additional information to a CSR avatar.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a system for allowing a vendor customer service representative (CSR) to solicit additional information from the consumer avatar.

13. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a system for requesting a secondary product or service on behalf of the consumer avatar.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a system for determining, based on the request for product or service information, a secondary product or service relevant to the request for product or service information.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a system for creating a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

16. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a system for modifying an existing sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

17. A program product stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, provides a competitive sales environment in a virtual world, the program product comprising:

program code for receiving a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar;

program code for querying a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information;

program code for identifying at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information;

program code for notifying the at least one vendor of the request; and

program code for making available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

18. The program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code for soliciting from the consumer avatar additional information using a virtual customer service representative (CSR);

program code for accepting additional information from the consumer avatar; and

program code for providing the additional information to a CSR avatar.

19. The program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code for requesting a secondary product or service on behalf of the consumer avatar.

20. The program product of claim 17, further comprising at least one program code selected from a group consisting of:

program code for creating a sales environment based on the request for product or service information; and

program code for modifying a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

21. A method for deploying an application for providing a competitive sales environment in a virtual world, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

receive a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar;

query a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information;

identify at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information;

notify the at least one vendor of the request; and

make available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.