Service for selectively and proactively notifying users of changes in states of items in an electronic catalog
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of monitoring changes to states of items in an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
- generating user activity data reflective of actions performed by a user with respect to an item in an electronic catalog of items;
programmatically analyzing the user activity data to determine that the user'"'"'s actions represent a non-conversion event;
storing information about the non-conversion event, including an identifier of the user, an identifier of the item, and state data descriptive of a state of the item at a time of the non-conversion event; and
subsequent to the non-conversion event, and in response to a change in the state of the item, using the stored information about the non-conversion event, including said identifier of the user, said identifier of the item, and said state data descriptive of the state of the item at the time of the non-conversion event, to generate a state-change notification message to notify the user of the change in state, wherein using the stored information to generate the state change notification message comprises (a) determining whether to generate a state change notification message to notify the user of the change in state, and (b) when said determination is positive, generating the state change notification message for transmission to the user;
wherein the above recited steps of the method are performed via execution of software by one or more processors, and the state change notification message is provided without requiring the user to subscribe to be notified in connection with said item.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic catalog system includes automated processes for detecting and handling specific types of browsing events, such as non-conversion events in which users browse but fail to purchase specific items. In one embodiment, when a user engages in a threshold level of browsing activity with respect to an item without making a purchase of that item or a substitute item, and a favorable change in the item'"'"'s state thereafter occurs (e.g., the price is reduced or the item becomes available), the user is automatically notified of the state change. In another embodiment, when a user transitions away from an item or item category after engaging in a threshold level of browsing activity, a determination is made whether to present to the user a time-limited purchase incentive that is tied to that item or item category.
59 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method of monitoring changes to states of items in an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
-
generating user activity data reflective of actions performed by a user with respect to an item in an electronic catalog of items; programmatically analyzing the user activity data to determine that the user'"'"'s actions represent a non-conversion event; storing information about the non-conversion event, including an identifier of the user, an identifier of the item, and state data descriptive of a state of the item at a time of the non-conversion event; and subsequent to the non-conversion event, and in response to a change in the state of the item, using the stored information about the non-conversion event, including said identifier of the user, said identifier of the item, and said state data descriptive of the state of the item at the time of the non-conversion event, to generate a state-change notification message to notify the user of the change in state, wherein using the stored information to generate the state change notification message comprises (a) determining whether to generate a state change notification message to notify the user of the change in state, and (b) when said determination is positive, generating the state change notification message for transmission to the user; wherein the above recited steps of the method are performed via execution of software by one or more processors, and the state change notification message is provided without requiring the user to subscribe to be notified in connection with said item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A computer system, comprising:
-
a monitoring component that monitors browsing actions of users of an electronic catalog of items to generate user activity data; an analysis component that analyses the user activity data to identify non-conversion events in which a user accesses an item in the catalog but does not complete a transaction associated with the item; a database that stores information about the non-conversion events detected by the analysis component, including identifiers of associated users and items; and a notification component that is responsive to a change in the state of a catalog item by using the stored information about non-conversion events to identify a user that failed to complete a transaction associated with the item, and by outputting a notification message to notify the user of the state change when said state change is positive, said notification component operative to provide said notification message without requiring the user to subscribe to be notified in connection with the item; wherein the monitoring component, analysis component, and notification component comprise computer hardware that executes software. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification