System, program product, and method of electronic communication network guided navigation

• US 7,983,963 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2008
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Overstock.com Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Overstock.com Incorporated
• Inventors: Byrne, Patrick, Peterson, Samuel Jacob, Atkinson, Geoffrey, Lewis, Thayne, Moore, Seth Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel; Vanel
• Application Number:
  US12/345,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20090171813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 705 26- 27, 707/5, 707/E17.108, 707/1, 709223-224
• US Class Current: 705/27.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

Systems, program product, and methods of electronic communication network guided navigation which allow users to obtain more relevant product search results much more quickly, are provided. An example of a system can allow a user to enter or start a product search request for a relatively broad term in a search engine and quickly start looking for relevant information by assisting the user in narrowing the product search results in a more efficient guided search. The results can be displayed to a user in a row of boxes, which focus the user on categories of potential intentions or meanings behind the product search request term or terms so that the user'"'"'s intent can be quickly ascertained and the user directed to results more closely aligned with or coinciding with the user'"'"'s intent behind the product search request.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of facilitating a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online e-commerce product provider, through an electronic communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a product search request content page of an online e-commerce website having a pre-selected format, through the communication network, the product search request content page viewable on a display of one or more user computers and including fields for entering into the product search request content page product search request criteria comprising one or more search terms;

initiating an initial product search request responsive to receipt of the one or more search terms from the one or more remote second computers;

returning a plurality of product search results responsive to the initial product search request;

accessing a plurality of general product attributes associated with the plurality of returned product search results;

determining at least one website user interaction refinement associated with a specific customer user by the online e-commerce computer, the at least one website user interaction refinement based upon a customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer user and a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with a traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user;

sorting the returned product search results responsive to the at least one website user interaction refinement to thereby form a plurality of potential refined product search results; and

generating a product search results content page including at least a subset of the plurality of potential refined product search results and at least a subset of the sorted plurality of general product attributes for display on a display of the one or more remote second computers responsive to the plurality of refined product search results and the associated general product attributes.

2. A method as defined in claim 1,

wherein the step of determining at least one web site interaction refinement includes identifying the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user, the traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user, and the customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer user;

wherein the step of sorting the returned product search results includes;

sorting the returned product search results by at least one of a plurality of presentation metrics for each respective returned product, according to the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user, and

returning the plurality of potential refined product search results sorted according to one of the plurality of presentation metrics, the one of the plurality of presentation metrics selected responsive to the customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer.

3. A method as defined in claim 1,

wherein the product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories arranged in one or more rows;

and

wherein each of the plurality of refinement categories define a column having a plurality of user-selectable subcategory rows so that when a user selects a column and a subcategory row a user search is substantially more focused and thereby assists the user in more quickly narrowing the product search results to more specific user desired product search results.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the product search results content page is a first product search results content page, and wherein the first product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories including the sorted plurality of general product attributes defining a plurality of user selectable refinements, arranged in a pre-selected pattern, the method further comprising the steps of:

appending the product search request responsive to user selection of a user selectable refinement; and

generating a second product search results content page defining an updated product search results content page including a plurality of user refined product search results for display on the display of the one or more remote second computers.

5. A method as defined in claim 4, further comprising the step of:

assigning a higher relevancy value to the user selected refinement responsive to customer user selection thereof; and

wherein the updated product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories, at least one of the plurality of refinement categories including a plurality of user selectable refinements subcategorizing attributes of the user selected refinement.

6. A method as defined in claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

globally assigning a higher relevancy value to the user selected refinement responsive to customer user selection thereof; and

updating the traffic segment purchasing expectation.

7. A method as defined in claim 1,

wherein the product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories comprising at least a portion of the sorted plurality of general product attributes defining a plurality of refinements;

wherein the plurality of refinements are sorted and ordered responsive to the at least one website user interaction refinement;

wherein attributes defining the customer user lifecycle stage include one or more of the following;

general purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, categorical purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, recency of purchases, temporal timeline between purchases, length of affiliation with the e-commerce product provider, number of positive reviews given for products, number of negative reviews given for products, and involvement in a community page for the online e-commerce website, for the specific customer user;

wherein attributes defining the traffic segment purchasing expectation include one or more of the following;

one or more demographic attributes of the traffic segment, a frequency of selection of previous product search results by one or more customer users or categories of customer users defining clicks, a frequency of sales of specific product items from an online website, price points purchased, an amount of sales of the specific items from an online website, an amount of profit from sales of the specific items from an online website, a number of previous clicks of a customer user visiting an online website, a customer user'"'"'s email address, a customer user'"'"'s IP address, a customer user'"'"'s web browser identification, a customer user'"'"'s website membership account number, a customer user'"'"'s geographic location, one or more customer user'"'"'s preferences, a customer user'"'"'s previous purchasing patterns of visiting an online website, a customer user'"'"'s previous visits to a content page, number of visits between purchases, number of visits before first purchase, time since last visit, average time spent on site, number of products detail views, additions to online shopping cart, number of visits with repeat view of same product, and number of contacts with customer service, a customer user'"'"'s time zone, a customer user'"'"'s language settings, a customer user'"'"'s purchasing method preference, and a customer user'"'"'s prior user selectable refinements; and

wherein the method further comprises the step of advancing at least one more relevant user selectable refinement to a more visually optimal display position within the product search results content page responsive to selection of a user selectable refinement by the customer user.

8. A method as defined in claim 1,

wherein the product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories arranged in a preselected pattern;

wherein each of the plurality of user refinement categories define a column having a plurality of user-selectable subcategory rows;

wherein each of the plurality of refinement categories include a plurality of refinement links, each refinement link associated with one of the general product attributes in the at least a subset of the sorted plurality of general product attributes;

wherein the plurality of refinement categories define a guided navigation tool configured so that when a user selects a portion of the guided navigational search tool, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby provided with significantly fewer product search results than the results generated without use of the guided navigational search tool;

wherein the guided navigational search tool can include one or more rows;

wherein the one or more rows and plurality of columns are arranged in the preselected pattern;

wherein the plurality of columns and the one or more rows of the guided navigational search tool can further define a table format displayed to a user on the one or more remote second computers; and

wherein a portion of the guided navigational search tool that a user selects can include either or both of a column and a subcategory row within the guided navigational tool so that when selected, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby able to provide the user with significantly fewer product search results than the results generated without use of the guided navigational tool.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

positioning the plurality of product search results in a pre-selected repository to define a plurality of predetermined product search results so that subsequent product search requests access the pre-selected repository prior to accessing a searchable database including a plurality of product attributes;

wherein the step of initiating an initial product search request is initiated to a plurality of searchable databases if the one or more search terms have not been previously stored in the pre-selected repository, or if a pre-selected time threshold has been met since the last time that the one or more search terms have been previously searched in the plurality of searchable databases; and

wherein the plurality of searchable databases includes a product attributes database containing the plurality of general product attributes associated with the one or more search terms to enhance search efficiency.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

aggregating predetermined product search results determined by one or more previous product search requests of a plurality of search engines having access to a plurality of computers and databases; and

assessing the aggregated predetermined product search results to return the plurality of product search results.

11. A computer implemented method of facilitating a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online e-commerce product provider, through an electronic communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a product search request comprising one or more search terms;

generating a product search results content page including a plurality of potential refined product search results by the online e-commerce computer responsive to the product search request and at least one user interaction refinement, the product search results content page being accessible and readily viewable by a user and also including a plurality of user selectable refinement categories arranged in one or more rows and each of the plurality of user refinement categories defining a column having a plurality of user-selectable subcategory rows so that when a user selects a column and a subcategory row defining a user selectable refinement, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby assists the user in more quickly narrowing the product search results to more specific user desired product search results;

updating the product search results content page to include a plurality of user refined product search results responsive to user selection of the user selectable refinement;

assigning a higher relevancy value to one or more of the following;

a user selected refinement category row element or a user selected refinement category column associated with the user selectable refinement responsive to user selection thereof; and

responsive to the higher relevancy value, assigning an enhanced visual position within the product search results content page to the one or more of the following;

a user selected refinement category row element or a user selected refinement category column associated with the user selectable refinement.

12. A method as defined in claim 11,

wherein the at least one user interaction refinement includes information representing at least portions of a traffic segment purchasing expectation matrix comprising a plurality of traffic segments referenced to a plurality of products, the information refined by a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with a traffic segment classification for a specific user, and further refined by a user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific user.

13. A method as defined in claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

updating the traffic segment purchasing expectations responsive to at least one of the following;

selection of a user selectable refinement by the specific user and an actual purchase of one or more products from the online e-commerce product provider within a preselected time period; and

updating the consumer lifecycle stage for the specific user responsive to at least one of the following;

an actual subsequent purchase of one or more products and additional time of user association with the e-commerce product provider.

14. Guided navigational search program product stored on a tangible computer medium, the guided navigational search program product including instructions that when executed by an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online retail or wholesale website defining an online e-commerce website featuring a plurality of goods, services, or goods and services collectively defining products, cause the computer to perform operations to facilitate a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with the online e-commerce computer through an electronic communication network, the operations comprising:

receiving a product search request comprising one or more search terms;

providing data over the communication network to display a product search results content page on a remote user computer, the product search results content page including a plurality of potential refined product search results generated responsive to the one or more search terms and at least one website user interaction refinement associated therewith, and including a plurality of refinement categories each displaying a plurality of user selectable refinement links, each user selectable refinement link indicating an associated one of a plurality of user selectable refinements and positioned so that when a user selects one of the plurality of user selectable refinement links, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby assists the user in more quickly narrowing the product search results to more specific user desired product search results; and

providing data over the communication network to update the product search results content page to include a plurality of user refined product search results responsive to user selection of one of the plurality of user selectable refinement links.

15. Program product as defined in claim 14,

wherein the plurality of refinement categories are arranged in one or more rows;

and

wherein each of the plurality of refinement categories define a column having a plurality of user selectable subcategory rows, each user selectable subcategory row comprising one of the plurality of user selectable refinement links.

16. Program product as defined in claim 14,

wherein the updated product search results content page includes a plurality of refinement categories, at least one of the plurality of refinement categories including a plurality of user selectable refinements subcategorizing attributes of the refinement attribute associated with the user selected refinement link.

17. Program product as defined in claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

assigning a higher relevancy value to the user selectable refinement associated with the user selected refinement link responsive to user selection thereof; and

assigning an enhanced visual position within the product search results content page to the user selectable refinement represented by the user selected refinement link responsive to the higher relevancy value.

18. Program product as defined in claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

initiating an initial product search request responsive to receipt of the one or more search terms;

returning a plurality of initial product search results responsive to the initial product search request;

accessing a plurality of general product attributes associated with the plurality of returned product search results and the at least one website user interaction attribute; and

sorting the plurality of general product attributes responsive to the at least one website user interaction refinement to thereby generate the displayed plurality of refinement categories and the plurality of potential refined product search results.

19. Program product as defined in claim 18,

wherein the plurality of user selectable refinements comprise at least a portion of the sorted plurality of general product attributes;

and

wherein the plurality of potential refined product search results and the plurality of user selectable refinements are sorted and ordered for display on the product search results content page responsive to the at least one website user interaction refinement;

wherein the at least one user interaction refinement includes information representing at least portions of a traffic segment purchasing expectation matrix comprising a plurality of traffic segments referenced to a plurality of products, the information refined by a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with a traffic segment classification for a specific user, and further refined by a user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific user;

wherein attributes defining the user lifecycle stage include one or more of the following;

general purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, categorical purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, recency of purchases, temporal timeline between purchases, length of affiliation with the e-commerce product provider, number of positive reviews given for products, number of negative reviews given for products, and involvement in a community page for the online e-commerce website, for the specific user;

wherein attributes defining the traffic segment purchasing expectation include one or more of the following;

one or more demographic attributes of the traffic segment, a frequency of selection of previous product search results by one or more users or categories of users defining clicks, a frequency of sales of specific product items from an online website, price points purchased, an amount of sales of the specific items from an online website, an amount of profit from sales of the specific items from an online website, a number of previous clicks of a user visiting an online website, a user'"'"'s email address, a user'"'"'s IP address, a user'"'"'s web browser identification, a user'"'"'s website membership account number, a user'"'"'s geographic location, one or more user'"'"'s preferences, a user'"'"'s previous purchasing patterns of visiting an online website, a user'"'"'s previous visits to a content page, number of visits between purchases, number of visits before first purchase, time since last visit, average time spent on site, number of products detail views, additions to online shopping cart, number of visits with repeat view of same product, and number of contacts with customer service, a user'"'"'s time zone, a user'"'"'s language settings, a user'"'"'s purchasing method preference, and a user'"'"'s prior user selectable refinements; and

wherein the operations further comprise advancing at least one more relevant user selectable refinement to a more visually optimal display position within the product search results content page responsive to user selection of a user selectable refinement.

20. Program product as defined in claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

positioning the plurality of product search results in a pre-selected repository to define a plurality of predetermined product search results so that subsequent product search requests access the pre-selected repository prior to accessing a searchable database including a plurality of product attributes;

wherein the operation of initiating an initial product search request is initiated to a plurality of searchable databases if the one or more search terms have not been previously stored in the pre-selected repository, or if a pre-selected time threshold has been met since the last time that the one or more search terms have been previously searched in the plurality of searchable databases; and

wherein the plurality of searchable databases includes a product attributes database containing the plurality of product attributes associated with the one or more search terms to enhance search efficiency.

21. Program product as defined in claim 14,

wherein the plurality of refinement categories are arranged in a preselected pattern;

wherein each of the plurality of refinement categories include a subset of the plurality of user selectable refinements; and

wherein the plurality of refinement categories define a guided navigation tool configured so that when a user selects a portion of the guided navigational search tool defining at least one of the user selectable refinements, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby provided with significantly fewer product search results than the results generated without use of the guided navigational search tool.

22. Guided navigational search program product stored on a tangible computer medium, the guided navigational search program product including instructions that when executed by an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online retail or wholesale website of an e-commerce product provider defining an online e-commerce website featuring a plurality of goods, services, or goods and services collectively defining products, cause the computer to perform operations to facilitate a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with the online e-commerce computer through an electronic communication network, the operations comprising:

returning a plurality of product search results;

identifying a customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for a specific customer user;

selecting one of a plurality of presentation metrics responsive to the customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer;

returning the plurality of potential refined product search results sorted according to the selected one of the plurality of presentation metrics; and

generating a product search results content page including at least a subset of the plurality of potential refined product search results for display on a display of the one or more remote second computers.

23. Program product as defined in claim 22, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user, and a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user to thereby determine at least one website user interaction refinement; and

sorting the returned product search results responsive to the at least one website user interaction refinement to thereby form a plurality of potential refined product search results, the operation of sorting the returned product search results including sorting the returned product search results by the at least one of the plurality of presentation metrics for each respective returned product according to the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user responsive to the traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with the specific customer user.

24. Guided navigational search program product stored on a tangible computer medium, the guided navigational search program product including instructions that when executed by an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online retail or wholesale website of an e-commerce product provider defining an online e-commerce website featuring a plurality of goods, services, or goods and services collectively defining products, cause the computer to perform operations to facilitate a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with the online e-commerce computer through an electronic communication network, the operations comprising:

returning a plurality of product search results;

identifying a traffic segment classification associated with a specific customer user, and a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user;

sorting the returned product search results according to the traffic segment classification associated with the specific customer user responsive to the traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with the specific customer user to thereby return a plurality of potential refined product search results; and

generating a product search results content page including at least a subset of the plurality of potential refined product search results for display on a display of the one or more remote second computers.

25. Program product as defined in claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer user;

selecting one of a plurality of presentation metrics responsive to the customer user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific customer; and

returning the plurality of potential refined product search results sorted according to the selected one of the plurality of presentation metrics.

26. A system for facilitating a guided navigational search by one or more users of one or more remote user computers in communication with an online retail or wholesale store computer defining an online e-commerce computer associated with an online e-commerce product provider through an electronic communication network, the system comprising:

a first computer;

one or more second computers positioned remote from the first computer and in communication with the first computer through an electronic communication network defining an internet;

guided navigational search program product stored on a tangible computer medium that is readable by the first computer to facilitate a guided navigational search by one or more users of the one or more remote second computers, the guided navigational search program product comprising a set of instructions that when executed by the first computer, causes the first computer to perform the following operations;

initiating an initial product search request as received from one or more remote second computers for one or more search terms,

generating a product search results content page including a plurality of potential refined product search results responsive to either the plurality of product search results produced in response to the initial product search request and at least one website user interaction refinement or responsive to a plurality of predetermined product search results stored in a pre-selected repository, for display on a display of the one or more remote second computers in communication with the internet and being accessible by a user thereof, the product search results content page also including a plurality of user selectable refinement categories each displaying a plurality of user selectable refinement links and arranged in a pre-selected pattern defining a guided navigational tool so that when a user selects a portion of the guided navigational tool, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby assists the user in more quickly narrowing the product search results to more specific user desired product search results, and

updating the product search results content page to include a plurality of user refined product search results responsive to user selection of a portion of the guided navigational tool.

27. A system as defined in claim 26,

wherein the pre-selected pattern of the guided navigational search tool comprises one or more rows;

wherein each of the plurality of user refinement categories define a column having a plurality of user-selectable subcategory rows;

wherein the portion of the guided navigational search tool that a user selects comprises either a column or a subcategory row within the guided navigational tool so that when selected, a user search is substantially more focused and thereby provided with significantly fewer product search results than the results generated without use of the guided navigational tool;

wherein the operations further include receiving one or more search terms entered by a user onto a product search request content page as viewed on a display of one or more of the remote second computers through the internet and being displayed in a pre-selected format to a user on the display; and

wherein the internet comprises a world wide web of a plurality of computers in communication with one or more of the remote second computers.

28. A system as defined in claim 27,

wherein the plurality of user-selectable subcategory rows are sorted and ordered responsive to one or more of the at least one website user interaction refinements;

and

wherein the at least one user interaction refinement includes information representing at least portions of a traffic segment purchasing expectation matrix comprising a plurality of traffic segments referenced to a plurality of products, the information refined by a traffic segment purchasing expectation associated with a traffic segment classification for a specific user, and further refined by a user lifecycle stage with the e-commerce product provider for the specific user,

wherein attributes defining the user lifecycle stage include one or more of the following;

general purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, categorical purchasing history with the e-commerce product provider, recency of purchases, temporal timeline between purchases, length of affiliation with the e-commerce product provider, number of positive reviews given for products, number of negative given reviews for products, and involvement in a community page for the online e-commerce website, for the specific user;

wherein attributes defining the traffic segment purchasing expectation include one or more of the following;

one or more demographic attributes of the traffic segment, a frequency of selection of previous product search results by one or more users or categories of users defining clicks, a frequency of sales of specific items from an online website, price points purchased an amount of sales of the specific items from an online website, an amount of profit from sales of the specific items from an online website, a number of previous clicks of a user visiting an online website, a user'"'"'s email address, a user'"'"'s IP address, a user'"'"'s web browser identification, a user'"'"'s website membership account number, a user'"'"'s geographic location, one or more user'"'"'s preferences, a user'"'"'s previous purchasing patterns of visiting an online website, a user'"'"'s previous visits to a content page, number of visits between purchases, number of visits before first purchase, time since last visit, average time spent on site, number of products detail views, additions to online shopping cart, number of visits with repeat view of same product, and number of contacts with customer service, a user'"'"'s time zone, a user'"'"'s language settings, a user'"'"'s purchasing method preference, and a user'"'"'s prior user selectable refinements; and

wherein the operations further comprise advancing at least one more relevant user selectable refinement to a more visually optimal display position within the product search results content page responsive to user selection of a user selectable refinement link.

29. A system as defined in claim 27,

wherein the system further comprises one or more searchable product databases in communication with the first computer;

wherein the operations include positioning the plurality of product search results in a pre-selected repository to define a plurality of predetermined product search results so that subsequent product search requests access the pre-selected repository of the plurality of predetermined product search results prior to accessing the one or more searchable product databases; and

wherein the product search request is initiated to the one or more searchable databases either if one or more search terms have not been previously stored in the pre-selected repository or if a pre-selected time threshold has been met since the last time that the one or more search terms have been previously searched in the one or more searchable product databases.