System and method for providing product recommendations

• US 7,313,536 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2003
• Issued: 12/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WW Grainger Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WW Grainger Incorporated
• Inventors: Westphal, Geoffry A.
• Primary Examiner(s): ZURITA, JAMES H
• Application Number:
  US10/452,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20050171855A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,667 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A dynamic merchandising system for presenting product recommendations to customers. The system and method generally creates for each of a plurality of products in a plurality of purchase orders a list of purchased-with products, i.e., products that were purchased with each of the plurality of products in each of the plurality of purchase orders. At the same time that the purchased-with product lists are created, or in another step, the same plurality of purchase orders are examined and, using the concept of “self organizing lists,” the lists of purchased-with products are ordered in a meaningful manner. The ordering of the products in a purchased-with list may then be considered when recommending products.

Claims

1. A computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for use in providing a product recommendation, the instructions performing steps comprising:

(a) using data obtained from a plurality of purchase orders to;

i) create a list of purchased-with products wherein each product within the list of purchased-with products was purchased-with a uniquely identified product; and

ii) affect positioning of each product within the list of purchased-with products relative to remaining products within the list of purchased-with products each time data representative of that product occurs during at least one simultaneous examination of an assemblage of the data obtained from the plurality of purchased orders such that a position of a product within the list of purchased-with products resulting upon conclusion of the at least one examination indicates, relative to the remaining products with the list of purchased-with products, a frequency with which the product was purchased-with the uniquely identified product;

(b) in response to a selection which indicates that the uniquely identified product is of interest to a consumer, causing at least one product from the list of purchased-with products to be selected as a function of its resulting position within the list of purchased-with products relative to remaining products within the list of purchased-with products; and

(c) providing the selected at least one product to the consumer as the product recommendation.

2. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the list of purchased-with products comprises an array of string data.

3. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the plurality of purchased orders comprises a plurality of data records each having a first data field having data representative of a purchase order number and a second data field having data representative of one product with the purchase order referenced by the purchase order number in the first data field such that no record has the same data in both the first data field and second data field.

4. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein a plurality of uniquely identified products are contained within the plurality of purchase orders and wherein step (a) is repeated for each of the plurality of uniquely identified products to thereby created a plurality of lists of purchased-with products, each of the plurality of lists of purchased-with products being associated with one of the plurality of uniquely identified products and wherein, in response to a selection which indicates that one of the plurality of uniquely identified products is of interest to the consumer, causing at least one product from the list of purchased-with products that is associated with the selected one of the plurality of uniquely identified products to be selected as a function of its resulting position within the list of purchased-with products that is associated with the selected one of the plurality of uniquely identified products relative to remaining products within the list of purchased-with products that is associated with the selected one of the plurality of uniquely identified products and providing the selected at least one product from the list of purchased-with products that is associated with the selected one of the plurality of uniquely identified products to the consumer as the product recommendation.