SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRIORITIZING LOCAL SHOPPING OPTIONS

• US 20130282520A1
• Filed: 11/27/2012
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Tapley, John, Higgins, Krystal Rose, Giger, Matt Lee, Goldman, David W.
• Granted Patent: US 9,117,238 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Systems and methods to provide a prioritized shopping system are discussed. For example, a method can include receiving a list of target items, receiving busyness data for a plurality of local merchants, developing a prioritized shopping plan, and communicating the prioritized shopping plan to a mobile device. Each target item in the list of target items can represents a product or service that a user has indicated an interest in purchasing. The prioritized shopping plan is based at least in part on the busyness data and the list of target items. Busyness data provides an indication of traffic levels within at least a portion of the plurality of local merchants.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a list of target items, each target item in the list of target items represents a product or service that a user has indicated an interest in purchasing from a local merchant;

receiving busyness data for a plurality of local merchants, at least a portion of the plurality of local merchants selling at least one target item from the list of target items;

developing a prioritized shopping plan based at least in part on the busyness data and the list of target items; and

communicating the prioritized shopping plan to a mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving inventory data associated with at least a merchant of the plurality of local merchants; and

wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes determining an inventory level of at least a portion of the target items in the list of target items.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining, based on the inventory level of one of the target items, a low inventory level condition of the one of the target items at the merchant; and

wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes prioritizing the one of the target items with the low inventory level condition.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the busyness data, a hotspot within the plurality of local merchants, the hotspot indicates a location with high traffic levels; and

wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes avoiding the hotspot.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining the hotspot includes determining a time period during which the hotspot occurs at a merchant of the plurality of merchants.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes prioritizing shopping efficiency in purchasing at least a portion of the target items in the list of target items.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes prioritizing obtaining at least one item with the list of target items.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the developing the prioritized shopping plan includes prioritizing obtaining all of the target items in the list of target items.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the busyness data includes aggregating crowd-sourced data representative of traffic levels within at least a portion of the plurality of local merchants.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the busyness data includes receiving at least a portion of the data types in the following group of data types:

check-in data;

tweets;

status updates;

security camera feeds;

cell phone usage data;

traffic camera feeds;

point of sale (POS) data; and

sensor grid data.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the machine to receive inventory data associated with at least a merchant of the plurality of local merchants;

and

wherein the instructions that cause the machine to develop the prioritized shopping plan further include instructions to determine an inventory level of at least a portion of the target items in the list of target items.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, further including instructions that cause the machine to determine, based on the inventory level associated with one of the target items, a low inventory level condition of at least one of the target items in the list of target items;

and

wherein the instruction that cause the machine to develop the prioritized shopping plan further include instructions to prioritize the one of the target items with the low inventory level condition.

11. A system comprising:

a network; and

a server coupled to the network and including one or more processors to execute a plurality of modules, the plurality of modules including,

a user profile module to manage a list of target items, each target item in the list of target items representing a product or service a user has indicated an interest in purchasing;

a merchant module to manage busyness data for a plurality of local merchants, at least a portion of the plurality of local merchants selling at least one target item from the list of target items;

a routing module to generate a prioritized shopping plan based at least in part on the busyness data and the list of target items; and

wherein the server communicates over the network to a mobile device the prioritized shopping plan.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the merchant module manages inventory data associated with at least a merchant of the plurality of local merchants;

wherein the merchant module maintains inventory levels of at least a portion of the target items in the list of target items; and

wherein the routing module generates the prioritized shopping plan based at least in part on the inventory levels.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the merchant module determines, based on the inventory levels, a low inventory level condition of at least one target item in the list of target items;

and

wherein the routing module generates the prioritized shopping plan based at least in part on prioritizing the one of the target items with the low inventory level condition.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the merchant module maintains, based at least in part on the busyness data, a hotspot within the plurality of local merchants, the hotspot indicates a location with high traffic levels;

and

wherein the routing module avoids the hotspot in generating the prioritized shopping plan.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the merchant module maintains a time period during which the hotspot occurs at a merchant of the plurality of merchants.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the routing module prioritizes shopping efficiency in purchasing at least a portion of the target items in the list of target items when generating the prioritized shopping plan.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the routing module prioritizes obtaining at least one item with the list of target items when generating the prioritized shopping plan.

18. A machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive a list of target items, each target item in the list of target items represents a product or service that a user has indicated an interest in purchasing from a local merchant;

receive busyness data for a plurality of local merchants, at least a portion of the plurality of local merchants selling at least one target item from the list of target items;

develop a prioritized shopping plan based at least in part on the busyness data and the list of target items; and

communicate the prioritized shopping plan to a mobile device.