COLLABORATIVE SHOPPING ACROSS MULTIPLE SHOPPING CHANNELS USING SHARED VIRTUAL SHOPPING CARTS

• US 20130211953A1
• Filed: 02/13/2012
• Published: 08/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maplebear Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Abraham, Subil M., Hariharan, Rajaraman, Kannan, Ramakrishnan, Thomas, Mathews
• Granted Patent: US 10,296,962 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A system for collaborative shopping comprising shopping devices interconnected by a network and respectively used by shoppers in a collaborative shopping session, and virtual shopping carts respectively associated with the shopping devices for sharing information on items of interest among the shoppers and enabling the shoppers to collaborate on the shopping.

Claims

1. A system for collaborative shopping, comprising:

a plurality of shopping devices interconnected by a network, the shopping devices being used by shoppers in a collaborative shopping session; and

a plurality of virtual shopping carts respectively associated with the shopping devices for sharing information on items of interest among the shoppers and enabling the shoppers to collaborate on the shopping.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the virtual shopping carts is managed by a collaborative shopping system comprising a service provider, a service consumer, and a shopping cart controller.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the collaborative shopping system further comprises a memory for shopper preferences and a multi-channel controller for interfacing with different shopping channels.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the shopping devices comprise a personal shopping assistant (PSA) coupled to input and output interface devices comprising at least one of a camera, a payment device, a Bluetooth device, a scanner, and a display.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the PSA device maintains a PSA shopping cart.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the shared information comprises at least one of a shopping list, a price list, and an item comparison list.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the shopping devices comprise at least one of a computer, a portable shopping assistant, a mobile phone, and a web-based device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to one of the items being added to one of the virtual shopping carts, said one of the items is added to the other virtual shopping carts in the collaborative shopping session.

9. A computer-implemented method for collaborative shopping, comprising:

establishing a plurality of virtual shopping carts respectively associated with a plurality of shopping devices used by shoppers in a collaborative shopping session, wherein the shopping devices are interconnected by a network;

sharing information on items of interest among the shoppers based on shopper preferences; and

collaborating by the shoppers on shopping decisions through the virtual shopping carts.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual shopping carts comprise the items of interest and contents of the virtual shopping carts are periodically synchronized.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the shoppers use different shopping channels.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the shoppers include an in-store shopper who uses a physical shopping cart, and content in the physical shopping cart is periodically synchronized with contents of the virtual shopping carts.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the in-store shopper is alerted in response to the in-store shopper being physically near one of the items of interest.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the shopping devices comprise at least one of a computer, a portable shopping assistant, and a mobile phone.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein in response to one of the items being added to one of the virtual shopping carts, said one of the items is added to the other virtual shopping carts in the collaborative shopping session.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the shopping decisions comprise at least one of selecting an item to purchase, selecting a payment method, and selecting a shipping method.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code configured to establish a plurality of virtual shopping carts respectively associated with a plurality of shopping devices used by shoppers in a collaborative shopping session, wherein the shopping devices are interconnected by a network;

computer readable program code configured to share information on items of interest among the shoppers based on shopper preferences; and

computer readable program code configured to enable the shoppers to collaborate on shopping decisions through the virtual shopping carts.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the virtual shopping carts comprise the items of interest and the computer readable program code comprises computer readable program code configured to periodically synchronize contents of the virtual shopping carts.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the shoppers include an in-store shopper who uses a physical shopping cart, and the computer readable program code comprises computer readable program code configured to synchronize content of the physical shopping cart with contents of the virtual shopping carts.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the shopping devices comprise at least one of a computer, a portable shopping assistant, a mobile phone, and a web-based device.