MANAGING PRODUCTS AT A PHYSICAL MARKETPLACE

• US 20170109811A1
• Filed: 10/16/2015
• Published: 04/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Weber, Dirk
• Granted Patent: US 10,643,269 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

In various example embodiments, a system and method for managing products at a physical marketplace is described. A method includes receiving an image and a category of a product for sale by a merchant at a physical marketplace, including the image in a list of images for the category, providing the list of images to customers of the physical marketplace, retrieving additional information regarding the product in response to a request by one of the customers, and generating a listing for the product using the image, the category, and the additional information received from the merchant.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an intake module, using at least one processor of a machine, to receive an image of a product and a category of the product for sale by a merchant at a physical marketplace, the product available during a time when the marketplace is accessible by a general population of people;

a product module to include the image in a list of images for the category, the list of images representing products available at the physical marketplace, the product module further to provide the list of images to customers of the physical marketplace; and

a listing module to request additional information regarding the product from the merchant in response to a request by one of the customers, the request based on a selection, by the customer, of the product in the list of images, the listing module further to generate a listing for the product using the image, the category, and the additional information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the product module further transmits the additional information to the customer that requested the additional information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the listing module further converts the listing to a listing at a networked marketplace in response to the physical marketplace closing.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the listing module requests further information from the merchant to complete the listing at the networked marketplace.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the listing module further notifies the customer that the product is available at the networked marketplace.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the product module indicates a physical location of the product at the physical marketplace in response to the customer selecting the image of the product from the list of images.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the listing module receives an offer from the consumer to purchase the product and transmits the offer to the merchant.

20. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise indicating a physical location of the product at the physical marketplace in response to the customer selecting the image of the product from the list of images.

8. A method comprising:

receiving an image of a product and a category of the product for sale by a merchant at a physical marketplace, the product available during a time when the marketplace is accessible by a general population;

including the image in a list of images for the category, the list of images representing products available at the physical marketplace;

providing the list of images to customers of the physical marketplace;

retrieving, using the processor of a machine, additional information regarding the product in response to a request by one of the customers, the customer identifying the product by selecting the image of the product in the list of images;

generating a listing for the product using the image, the category, and the additional information received from the merchant.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting the additional information to the customer that requested the additional information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising converting the listing to a listing at a networked marketplace in response to the physical marketplace closing.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising requesting further information from the merchant to complete the listing at the networked marketplace.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising notifying the customer that the product is available at the networked marketplace.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising indicating a physical location of the product at the physical marketplace in response to the customer selecting the image of the product from the list of images.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving an offer from the consumer to purchase the product and transmitting the offer to the merchant.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein retrieving the additional information comprises retrieving the additional information from a remote server.

16. A machine-readable medium storing executable instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:

receiving an image of a product and a category of the product for sale by a merchant at a physical marketplace, the product available during a time when the marketplace is accessible by a general public;

including the image in a list of images for the category, the list of images representing products available at the physical marketplace;

providing the list of images to customers of the physical marketplace;

requesting additional information regarding the product from the merchant in response to a request by one of the customers, the customer identifying the product by selecting the image of the product in the list of images;

generating a listing for the product using the image, the category, and the additional information received from the merchant.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting the additional information to the customer that requested the additional information.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise converting the listing to a listing at a networked marketplace in response to the physical marketplace closing.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise notifying the customer that the product is available at the networked marketplace.