System and method for assisting customers in choosing a bundled set of commodities using customer preferences
First Claim
1. A method for assisting a customer in choosing a combination of commodities, wherein the commodities are organized into N categories, wherein a combination is composed of one commodity selected from each category, and each commodity category has at least two commodity options, and wherein N is an integer greater than one, the method comprising:
- (a) ranking, using a computer, the options within each commodity category based, in part, on at least one optimization parameter;
(b) creating, with the computer, at least N combinations of commodity options by;
for each commodity category K of the N commodity categories, creating a corresponding combination K by;
(i) selecting a highest ranked option for the Kth commodity category;
(ii) automatically selecting any options in other commodity categories that are linked to the option selected in step(b)(i), wherein the other commodity categories includes any commodity category except the Kth commodity category;
(iii) selecting a valid option for each of the remaining commodity categories, wherein a remaining commodity category is any commodity category that has not had an option selected in steps (b)(i) or (b)(ii) for the Kth combination, wherein K is an integer running from 1 to N;
(c) calculating a total cost of each combination of commodity options; and
(d) presenting the at least N combinations of commodity options to the customer, whereby the customer selects a combination of commodity options for purchase.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for assisting a customer in choosing a combination of commodities based on preferences of the customer. A combination is a set of related commodities, wherein bundling discounts may be applied to particular bundles of related commodities. Combination options are created by optimizing the categories within the combination in parallel, and then selecting the best value options from each category into a grouping. The effective cost of a grouping is calculated as a total of the effective costs of each option within the grouping. The effective costs consider weighted values of performance features in addition to the actual cost of a commodity. The groupings are ranked and presented to the user, so that the user may select a grouping as combination of commodities for purchase.
101 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method for assisting a customer in choosing a combination of commodities, wherein the commodities are organized into N categories, wherein a combination is composed of one commodity selected from each category, and each commodity category has at least two commodity options, and wherein N is an integer greater than one, the method comprising:
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(a) ranking, using a computer, the options within each commodity category based, in part, on at least one optimization parameter; (b) creating, with the computer, at least N combinations of commodity options by; for each commodity category K of the N commodity categories, creating a corresponding combination K by; (i) selecting a highest ranked option for the Kth commodity category; (ii) automatically selecting any options in other commodity categories that are linked to the option selected in step(b)(i), wherein the other commodity categories includes any commodity category except the Kth commodity category; (iii) selecting a valid option for each of the remaining commodity categories, wherein a remaining commodity category is any commodity category that has not had an option selected in steps (b)(i) or (b)(ii) for the Kth combination, wherein K is an integer running from 1 to N; (c) calculating a total cost of each combination of commodity options; and (d) presenting the at least N combinations of commodity options to the customer, whereby the customer selects a combination of commodity options for purchase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer-readable medium encoded with a plurality of instructions for controlling a computing system to perform an operation for assisting a customer in choosing a combination of commodities, wherein the commodities are organized into N categories, wherein a combination is composed of one commodity selected from each category, and each commodity category has at least two commodity options, and wherein N is an integer greater than one, the operation comprising:
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(a) ranking the options within each commodity category based, in part, on at least one optimization parameter; (b) creating at least N combinations of commodity options by; for each commodity category K of the N commodity categories, creating a corresponding combination K by; (i) selecting a highest ranked option for the Kth commodity category; (ii) automatically selecting any options in other commodity categories that are linked to the option selected in step(b)(i), wherein the other commodity categories includes any commodity category except the Kth commodity category; (iii) selecting a valid option for each of the remaining commodity categories, wherein a remaining commodity category is any commodity category that has not had an option selected in steps (b)(i) or (b)(ii) for the Kth combination, wherein K is an integer running from 1 to N; (c) calculating a total cost of each combination of commodity options; and (d) presenting the at least N combinations of commodity options to the customer, whereby the customer selects a combination of commodity options for purchase. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification