User interface and methods for enabling users to efficiently track item selections in an electronic catalog
First Claim
1. A method for enabling users to track item selections during browsing of an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
- maintaining, on a computer system, a record of catalog items, and associated item quantities, selected by a user for purchase from the electronic catalog; and
responding, by said computer system, to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least;
identifying a plurality of catalog items in the selected item category;
determining, based on said record, whether any of the plurality of catalog items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase,in response to determining that at least one catalog item in the selected item category is currently selected by the user for purchase, merging item quantity information obtained from said record with catalog data to generate, for presentation to the user, an item category page which identifies the plurality of items of the selected item category and which indicates, for at least one such item that is currently selected for purchase, a quantity thereof currently selected for purchase, such that the item category pages reflects one or more item selections previously made by the user in the item category; and
transmitting said item category pages over a network to a computing device of the user for presentation to the users in the response to the user'"'"'s selection of the item category.
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Abstract
An electronic commerce system provides various features for assisting customers in browsing and generating orders from an electronic catalog. One such feature enables customers to efficiently keep track of the items and item quantities currently selected for purchase. For example, when a customer requests a page corresponding to a particular item category, the system may supplement the category page with an indication of which of the items on the page (if any) are currently selected for purchase. This may be accomplished by supplementing the page with selection quantity values that are displayed in customer-editable fields. Search results pages may be supplemented in a similar manner. Another feature enables the customer to save, under a user-specified name, a record of the items and item quantities currently selected for purchase, and to subsequently make this record active (e.g., to generate a repeat order).
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for enabling users to track item selections during browsing of an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
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maintaining, on a computer system, a record of catalog items, and associated item quantities, selected by a user for purchase from the electronic catalog; and responding, by said computer system, to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying a plurality of catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of the plurality of catalog items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase, in response to determining that at least one catalog item in the selected item category is currently selected by the user for purchase, merging item quantity information obtained from said record with catalog data to generate, for presentation to the user, an item category page which identifies the plurality of items of the selected item category and which indicates, for at least one such item that is currently selected for purchase, a quantity thereof currently selected for purchase, such that the item category pages reflects one or more item selections previously made by the user in the item category; and transmitting said item category pages over a network to a computing device of the user for presentation to the users in the response to the user'"'"'s selection of the item category. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11)
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7. A method for enabling users to track item selections during browsing of an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
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maintaining, on a computer system, a record of catalog items, and associated item quantities, selected by a user for purchase from the electronic catalog; responding, by said computer system, to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying a plurality of catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of the plurality of catalog items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase; and in response to determining that at least one catalog item in the selected item category is currently selected by the user for purchase, merging item quantity information obtained from said record with catalog data to generate, for presentation to the user, a catalog page which identifies the plurality of items of the selected item category and which indicates, for at least one such item that is currently selected for purchase, a quantity thereof currently selected for purchase; and providing an option, via a user interface of the computer system, for the user to store said record of selected items and item quantities under a user-specified name, and to subsequently use the user-specified name to restore an active status of the record.
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8. A method for enabling users to track item selections during browsing of an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
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maintaining, on a computer system, a record of catalog items, and associated item quantities, selected by a user for purchase from the electronic catalog; responding, by said computer system, to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying a plurality of catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of the plurality of catalog items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase; and in response to determining that at least one catalog item in the selected item category is currently selected by the user for purchase, merging item quantity information obtained from said record with catalog data to generate, for presentation to the user, a catalog page which identifies the plurality of items of the selected item category and which indicates, for at least one such item that is currently selected for purchase, a quantity thereof currently selected for purchase; and persistently storing said record of selected items and item quantities on the computer system in association with a name specified by the user; and subsequently, in response to a request initiated by the user via a user interface of the computer system while the record is inactive, making said record active.
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12. An electronic commerce system, comprising:
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a database which contains electronic catalog data of an electronic catalog of items; and a computer system coupled to the database and to a publicly-accessible computer network, said computer system providing a user interface for browsing and making purchases from the electronic catalog, said computer system programmed, via executable code, to maintain a record of items and associated item quantities currently selected by a user for purchase, and to respond to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of said items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase; generating, for presentation to the user, a category page which identifies said items in the selected item category, and which indicates quantities thereof currently selected for purchase as determined based on said record, such that the category page reflects one or more item selections previously made by the user in the item category; and transmitting said category page over a network to a computing device of the user for presentation in response to the user'"'"'s selection of the item category. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22)
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19. An electronic commerce system, comprising:
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a database which contains electronic catalog data of an electronic catalog of items; and a computer system coupled to the database and to a publicly-accessible computer network, said computer system providing a user interface for browsing and making purchases from the electronic catalog, said computer system programmed, via executable code, to maintain a record of items and associated item quantities currently selected by a user for purchase, and to respond to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of said items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase; and generating, for presentation to the user, a category page which identifies said items in the selected item category, and which indicates quantities thereof currently selected for purchase as determined based on said record; wherein the user interface provides an option for the user to store the record of currently selected items and item quantities in association with a user-specified name, and to subsequently use the user-specified name to cause the computer system to restore an active status of the record.
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20. An electronic commerce system, comprising:
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a database which contains electronic catalog data of an electronic catalog of items; and a computer system coupled to the database and to a publicly-accessible computer network, said computer system providing a user interface for browsing and making purchases from the electronic catalog, said computer system programmed, via executable code, to maintain a record of items and associated item quantities currently selected by a user for purchase, and to respond to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of said items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase; and generating, for presentation to the user, a category page which identifies said items in the selected item category, and which indicates quantities thereof currently selected for purchase as determined based on said record; wherein the computer system is further programmed to; persistently store said record of currently selected items and item quantities in association with a name specified by the user; and subsequently, in response to a request initiated by the user via said user interface while the record is inactive, make said record active.
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23. Physical computer storage which stores executable program code that directs a computer system to perform a method that comprises:
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maintaining a record of catalog items, and associated item quantities, selected by a user for purchase from an electronic catalog; and responding to selection by the user of an item category of the electronic catalog by at least; identifying a plurality of catalog items in the selected item category; determining, based on said record, whether any of the plurality of catalog items in the selected item category are currently selected by the user for purchase, and generating, for presentation to the user, a category page which identifies said items in the selected item category and which indicates, based on said record, quantities thereof currently selected by the user purchase, such that the category page reflects one or more item selections previously made by the user in the item category; and transmitting said category page over a network to a computing device of the user for presentation in response to the user'"'"'s selection of the item category. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification