Custom stores

• US 7,526,437 B1
• Filed: 04/06/2000
• Issued: 04/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hilton, Shaun, Pfendt, Susan, Ridenour, Cathy, Cue, Eduardo, Halchin, Judy D., Epis, Glenn D.
• Primary Examiner(s): ZURITA, JAMES H
• Application Number:
  US09/545,034
• Time in Patent Office: 3,309 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A custom store web page uses an external administrator to provide configuration data for a custom store web page. The configuration data can include virtual bundles of products for sale.

Claims

1. A system for presenting customized information at an electronic commerce site, comprising:

a server having at least one computer processor; and

computer accessible memory operably linked to the processor, wherein the memory comprises computer instructions directing the at least one computer processor to perform the steps of;

storing information in a database relating to products offered by a vendor at an electronic commerce site;

executing an administrative application to provide an administrator with an administration interface to view said information relating to said products and to store in said database configuration data that defines a custom store having at least one of a restricted set of said products and non-standard pricing for said products; and

executing a custom store application to examine a referrer header field in an HTTP request from a customer for access to said electronic commerce site to determine whether said referrer field indicates that said customer request originated from a predetermined host and, if the referrer field indicates that the request originated from said predetermined host, generating and causing to be displayed a custom store page from said vendor'"'"'s electronic commerce site that contains the restricted set of said products and/or the non-standard pricing for said products defined by configuration data associated with said predetermined host, wherein said administration interface is secured for administration, but not for customer access.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said database stores standard prices for said products and said configuration data includes discount pricing information, and wherein said custom store application automatically calculates discounted prices from said stored standard prices for display on said custom store page.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said database stores configuration data for a plurality of different custom stores, and wherein said custom store application selects configuration data that is associated with said predetermined host to generate and return said custom store page.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said request includes an identification of the custom store to be selected.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said identification is contained in said referrer header field of the request.

6. A system for presenting customized information at an electronic commerce site, comprising:

a server having at least one computer processor; and

computer accessible memory operably linked to the processor, wherein the memory comprises computer instructions directing the at least one computer processor to perform the steps of;

storing information in a database relating to products offered by a vendor at an electronic commerce site;

executing an administrative application to provide an administrator with an administration interface to view said information relating to said products and to store in said database configuration data that defines a custom store having at least one of a restricted set of said products and non-standard pricing for said products;

executing a custom store application that is responsive to a request for customer access to said electronic commerce site that designates a custom store, for generating and causing to be displayed a custom store page from said vendor'"'"'s electronic commerce site that contains the restricted set of said products and/or the non-standard pricing for said products defined by said configuration data, wherein said administration interface is secured for administration, but not for customer access; and

executing a reconciliation application to determine whether said configuration data includes information relating to products that are no longer available from said vendor, and provide notification to the administrator if such information is included in the configuration data.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said database stores standard prices for said products and said configuration data includes discount pricing information, and wherein said custom store application automatically calculates discounted prices from said stored standard prices for display on said custom store page.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein said database stores configuration data for a plurality of different custom stores, and wherein said custom store application selects configuration data that is associated with said predetermined host to generate and return said custom store page.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said request is an HTTP request that includes an identification of the custom store to be selected in a referrer header field.

10. A method for presenting customized information at an electronic commerce site, comprising the following steps:

storing information in a computer database relating to products offered by a vendor at an electronic commerce site;

displaying said information relating to said products on a computer interface for administration;

storing via said interface, configuration data in said database that defines a custom store having at least one of a restricted set of said products and non-standard pricing for said products; and

in response to an HTTP request for customer access to said electronic commerce site, determining whether a referrer header field of said request indicates that said request originated from a predetermined host and, if the referrer field indicates that the request originated from said predetermined host, generating and causing to be displayed a custom store page from said vendor'"'"'s electronic commerce site that contains the restricted set of said products and/or the non-standard pricing for said products defined by configuration data associated with said predetermined host, wherein said computer interface is secured for administration, but not for customer access.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said database stores standard prices for said products and said configuration data includes discount pricing information, and further including the step of automatically calculating discounted prices from said stored standard prices for display on said custom store page.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said database stores configuration data for a plurality of different custom stores, and further including the step of selecting configuration data that is associated with said predetermined host to generate and return said custom store page.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said request includes an identification of the custom store to be selected.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said identification is contained in said referrer header field of the request.

15. A method for presenting customized information at an electronic commerce site, comprising the following steps:

storing information in a computer database relating to products offered by a vendor at an electronic commerce site;

displaying said information relating to said products on a computer interface for administration;

storing via said interface, configuration data in said database that defines a custom store having at least one of a restricted set of said products and non-standard pricing for said products;

in response to a request for customer access to said electronic commerce site, determining whether said request designates a custom store, and generating and causing to be displayed a custom store page from said vendor'"'"'s electronic commerce site that contains the restricted set of said products and/or the non-standard pricing for said products defined by said configuration data; and

determining whether said configuration data includes information relating to products that are no longer offered by said vendor, and providing notification via said interface if such information is included in the configuration data, wherein said interface is secured for administration, but not for customer access.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said database stores standard prices for said products and said configuration data includes discount pricing information, and further including the step of automatically calculating discounted prices from said stored standard prices for display on said custom store page.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said database stores configuration data for a plurality of different custom stores, and further including the step of selecting configuration data that is associated with said predetermined host to generate and return said custom store page.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said request is an HTTP request that includes an identification of the custom store to be selected in a referrer header field.