Customized solicitations of product suggestions and product recommendations

• US 8,386,336 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2011
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fox, Eric B., Sriram, Siddharth, Ahmed, Syed Waqas
• Primary Examiner(s): ALLEN, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US13/075,825
• Time in Patent Office: 699 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/26.7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0253 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

An online merchant can use a product review to customize a solicitation of a product suggestion. If a customer reviews a product unfavorably, the customer might be solicited to suggest alternate products to the reviewed product. If a customer reviews a product favorably, the customer might be solicited to suggest accessories or other products related to the reviewed product. The products suggested by the customer might then be utilized to recommend the suggested products to other customers. Information provided by a customer in a product review or other data might also be utilized to customize a product recommendation for the customer. If a customer reviews a product unfavorably, a recommendation might be provided to the customer for an alternate, or substitutable, product for the reviewed product. If a customer reviews a product favorably, a recommendation might be provided to the customer for related products or accessories to the reviewed product.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing a product recommendation, the method comprising executing instructions in a computer system to perform the operations of:

receiving a review of a first product from a customer;

determining, by a processor, whether the review of the first product was favorable or unfavorable;

in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable, soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product;

in response to determining that the review of the first product was unfavorable, soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product; and

storing data identifying the second product or the third product for use in recommending the second product or the third product to another customer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second product is an accessory to the first product.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur after the review of the first product is received from the customer.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providing a recommendation to the customer of a product related to the first product in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the product related to the first product is an accessory product for the first product.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the recommendation is provided contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising providing a recommendation to the customer of a product that is substitutable for the first product in response to determining that the review of the first product was unfavorable.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the recommendation is provided contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a review of a first product from a customer;

determine whether the review of the first product was favorable or unfavorable;

in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable, solicit a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product;

in response to determining that the review of the first product was unfavorable, solicit a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product; and

store data identifying the second product or the third product for use in recommending the second product or the third product to another customer.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the second product is an accessory to the first product.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur after the review of the first product is received from the customer.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to provide a recommendation to the customer of a product related to the first product in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the product related to the first product is an accessory product for the first product.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the recommendation is provided contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to provide a recommendation to the customer of a product that is substitutable for the first product in response to determining that the review of the first product was unfavorable.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the recommendation is provided contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

19. A system for providing a product recommendation, the system comprising:

a merchant system comprising one or more application server computers; and

an online shopping module executing on the one or more application servers configured to

receive a review of a first product from a customer,

determine by a processor whether the review of the first product was favorable or unfavorable,

in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable, solicit a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product,

in response to determining that the review of the first product was unfavorable, solicit a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product, and

store data identifying the second product or the third product for use in recommending the second product or the third product to another customer.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second product is an accessory to the first product.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a second product related to the first product and soliciting a suggestion from the customer of a third product substitutable for the first product occur after the review of the first product is received from the customer.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the online shopping module is further configured to provide a recommendation to the customer of a product related to the first product in response to determining that the review of the first product was favorable.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the product related to the first product is an accessory product for the first product.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the recommendation is provided contemporaneously with receiving the review of the first product from the customer.