Notification service for assisting users in selecting items from an electronic catalog
First Claim
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1. An electronic catalog system, comprising:
- an electronic catalog of items that are available for purchase, the electronic catalog including pages that include descriptions of the items, and providing functionality for users to select items to purchase;
a user interface through which the users can explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users;
a data repository which stores information about a plurality of groups of users, wherein each group represents a subset of a general user population, said data repository further storing preference data indicative of elections made by the users to expose their respective purchase histories to other users; and
a computer system that executes a personalization component which is responsive to a request from a first user for a catalog page that includes a description of a first item, by at least (a) determining whether the first item has been purchased by a second user who belongs to a selected group of said plurality of groups, said selected group being associated with the first user, and (b) in response to detecting that the first item has been purchased by the second user, notifying the first user during browsing of the electronic catalog that the first item has been purchased by the second user, wherein the personalization component uses said preference data to determine whether, and to whom, a given purchase is to be exposed.
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Abstract
A computer service associated with an electronic catalog of items enables users to explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users. When a first user accesses an item in the electronic catalog, the service may notify the first user of one or more other users who have purchased the item. These other users may, for example, be contacts of the first user, or members of a community of which the first user is a member. The service may also facilitate communications between these users.
73 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An electronic catalog system, comprising:
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an electronic catalog of items that are available for purchase, the electronic catalog including pages that include descriptions of the items, and providing functionality for users to select items to purchase; a user interface through which the users can explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users; a data repository which stores information about a plurality of groups of users, wherein each group represents a subset of a general user population, said data repository further storing preference data indicative of elections made by the users to expose their respective purchase histories to other users; and a computer system that executes a personalization component which is responsive to a request from a first user for a catalog page that includes a description of a first item, by at least (a) determining whether the first item has been purchased by a second user who belongs to a selected group of said plurality of groups, said selected group being associated with the first user, and (b) in response to detecting that the first item has been purchased by the second user, notifying the first user during browsing of the electronic catalog that the first item has been purchased by the second user, wherein the personalization component uses said preference data to determine whether, and to whom, a given purchase is to be exposed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of providing an electronic catalog system, comprising:
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providing access to an electronic catalog of items that are available for purchase, the electronic catalog including pages that include descriptions of the items, and providing functionality for users to select items to purchase; providing a user interface through which the users can explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users; storing, in a data repository, information about a plurality of groups of users, and preference data indicative of elections made by the users to expose their respective purchase histories to other users, wherein each group represents a subset of a general user population; and via execution of a personalization component, responding to a request from a first user for a catalog page that includes a description of a first item by at least (a) determining whether the first item has been purchased by a second user who belongs to a selected group of said plurality of groups, said selected group being associated with the first user, and (b) in response to detecting that the first item has been purchased by the second user, notifying the first user during browsing of the electronic catalog that the first item has been purchased by the second user, wherein the personalization component uses said preference data to determine whether, and to whom, a given purchase is to be exposed. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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16. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program that embodies a method of providing an electronic catalog system, the method comprising:
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providing access to an electronic catalog of items that are available for purchase, the electronic catalog including pages that include descriptions of the items, and providing functionality for users to select items to purchase; providing a user interface through which the users can explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users; storing, in a data repository, information about a plurality of groups of users, and preference data indicative of elections made by the users to expose their respective purchase histories to other users, wherein each group represents a subset of a general user population; and via execution of a personalization component, responding to a request from a first user for a catalog page that includes a description of a first item by at least (a) determining whether the first item has been purchased by a second user who belongs to a selected group of said plurality of groups, said selected group being associated with the first user, and (b) in response to detecting that the first item has been purchased by the second user, notifying the first user during browsing of the electronic catalog that the first item has been purchased by the second user, wherein the personalization component uses said preference data to determine whether, and to whom, a given purchase is to be exposed.
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Specification