Local product information

• US 7,945,484 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2006
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gold, Jonathan A., Tam, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen; Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US11/536,597
• Time in Patent Office: 1,692 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/28, 705/500, 705/26.1, 705/26.4, 705/26.41, 705/26.43, 705/26.44, 705/26.61, 705/26.9
• US Class Current: 705/26.41
• 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 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method and system for providing information obtained from both online stores and offline stores and for offering more purchasing options to customers. A customer can specify a particular item with detailed aspects for an information search, along with location information to define a local geographic area. The gathered local price information is presented to the customer over a network connection. The customer can purchase the item from either online stores or offline stores over a network connection.

Claims

1. A system for enabling a user to search local product information of a selected item, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

an information search component configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more computer processors, locate one or more offline stores where the selected item is available;

an information find control component configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more computer processors, start an information search for the selected item in response to a user interaction, wherein the starting of the information search includes collecting information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores; and

an information display component configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more computer processors, display the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information search component contacts a directory service provider to obtain information about offline stores that satisfy a user specified condition, the obtained information being utilized to identify the located one or more offline stores where the selected item is available.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the user-specified condition is a condition relating to a geographic location.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising:

a mapping component configured to provide map information about the one or more offline stores within the geographic location.

5. The system of claim 4 further comprising:

an image view component configured to present images in a filmstrip-type view, the images being correlated with the one or more offline stores.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the image view component displays images correlated with the geographic location.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a classification search component configured to enable the user to search the one or more offline stores based on a classification of the selected item.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a criteria search component configured to search the one or more offline stores based on a search criteria provided by the user, the search criteria corresponding to attributes of the selected item.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a sponsor link component configured to provide advertising information.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an alternative item component configured to suggest an alternative item if the selected item is not available,

wherein the information relating to the alternative item is reused to provide a suggestion to another user who subsequently wants to purchase the selected item.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more components configured to identify at least one online store where the selected item is available, and to collect additional information about the selected item from one or more of the at least one online stores.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the user interaction includes a request received from the user for information about the selected item, wherein the collecting of the additional information about the selected item from the one or more online stores is performed in response to the received request, and wherein the display of the collected information about the selected item by the information display component includes displaying the collected additional information.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores is pricing information for the selected item.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the collecting of the information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores includes using interactive voice recognition functionality.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the located one or more offline stores include multiple offline stores, and wherein the system further comprises one or more components configured to evaluate the collected information to determine a likelihood of selection by the user of each of the multiple offline stores for purchase of the selected item.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the display of the collected information includes displaying information about the multiple offline stores in order of the determined likelihood of selection.

17. The system of claim 15 further comprising one or more components configured to, after the displaying of the collected information about the selected item, receive input from the user to select one of the located offline stores, and to enable the user to complete a purchase of the selected item from the selected one offline store.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the one or more components are further configured to enable the user to complete the purchase of the selected item from the selected one offline store by providing information to the user for use in contacting the selected one offline store, and wherein the displaying of the collected information about the selected item and the providing of the information to the user for use in contacting the selected one offline store uses a user interface provided to the user by the system.

19. A computer-implemented method for enabling a user to search local product information of a selected item, the method comprising:

automatically locating one or more offline stores where the selected item is available, the automatic locating being performed by one or more configured computer systems;

automatically starting an information search for the selected item in response to a user interaction, wherein the starting of the information search is performed by the one or more configured computer systems and includes collecting information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores; and

initiating displaying the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores to the user, the initiating of the displaying being performed by the one or more configured computer systems.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the user interaction includes a request received from the user for information about the selected item, wherein the received request includes a user-specified condition, and wherein the locating of the one or more offline stores wherein the selected item is available is performed after the user interaction and includes contacting a directory service provider to obtain information about offline stores that satisfy the user-specified condition.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the user-specified condition is a condition relating to a geographic location of the located offline stores.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the user-specified condition is a condition relating to a price of the selected item.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information includes providing map information to the user about the one or more offline stores.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information includes presenting images in a filmstrip-type view, the images being correlated with the one or more offline stores.

25. The method of claim 19 further comprising suggesting an alternative item to the user if the selected item is not available at one or more identified offline stores distinct from the located offline stores.

26. The method of claim 19 further comprising identifying at least one online store where the selected item is available, and collecting additional information about the selected item from one or more of the at least one online stores.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the user interaction includes a request received from the user for information about the selected item, wherein the collecting of the additional information about the selected item from the one or more online stores is performed in response to the received request, and wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information about the selected item includes displaying the collected additional information.

28. The method of claim 19 wherein the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores is pricing information for the selected item.

29. The method of claim 19 wherein the collecting of the information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores includes using interactive voice recognition functionality.

30. The method of claim 19 wherein the located one or more offline stores include multiple offline stores, and wherein the method further comprises evaluating the collected information to determine a likelihood of selection by the user of each of the multiple offline stores for purchase of the selected item.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information includes displaying information about the multiple offline stores in a manner that indicates the determined likelihood of selection of each of the multiple offline stores.

32. The method of claim 30 further comprising, after the initiating displaying of the collected information about the selected item, receiving input from the user to select one of the located offline stores, and providing further information to the user regarding the selected one offline store.

33. A non-transitory computer-accessible medium having stored software instructions that when executed configure one or more computer systems to perform a method that enables a user to search local product information of a selected item, the method comprising:

automatically locating one or more offline stores where the selected item is available, the automatic locating being performed by one or more configured computer systems;

automatically starting an information search for the selected item in response to a user interaction, wherein the starting of the information search is performed by the one or more configured computer systems and includes collecting information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores; and

initiating displaying the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores to the user, the initiating of the displaying being performed by the one or more configured computer systems.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the user interaction includes a request received from the user for information about the selected item, wherein the received request includes a user-specified condition, and wherein the locating of the one or more offline stores wherein the selected item is available is performed after the user interaction and includes contacting a directory service provider to obtain information about offline stores that satisfy the user-specified condition.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the user-specified condition includes a condition relating to a geographic location of the located offline stores and a condition relating to a price of the selected item.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information includes at least one of providing map information to the user about the one or more offline stores and of presenting images in a filmstrip-type view, the images being correlated with the one or more offline stores.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the method further comprises identifying at least one online store where the selected item is available, and collecting additional information about the selected item from one or more of the at least one online stores.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the user interaction includes a request received from the user for information about the selected item, wherein the collecting of the additional information about the selected item from the one or more online stores is performed in response to the received request, and wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information about the selected item includes displaying the collected additional information.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the collected information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores is pricing information for the selected item.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the collecting of the information about the selected item from the one or more offline stores includes using interactive voice recognition functionality.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the located one or more offline stores include multiple offline stores, wherein the method further comprises evaluating the collected information to determine a likelihood of selection by the user of each of the multiple offline stores for purchase of the selected item, and wherein the initiating displaying of the collected information includes displaying information about the multiple offline stores in a manner that indicates the determined likelihood of selection of each of the multiple offline stores.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 41 wherein the method further comprises, after the initiating displaying of the collected information about the selected item, receiving input from the user to select one of the located offline stores, and providing further information to the user regarding the selected one offline store.