System and method for segmenting items in a shopping cart by carbon footprint

• US 8,738,432 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2008
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Rick A. II, Lyle, Ruthie D., Moskowitz, Paul A., Pickover, Clifford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lastra, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US12/276,757
• Publication Number:
  US 20100131343A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,010 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• 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 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Abstract

A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium being operable to provide a shopping cart for a shopper, and segment items in the shopping cart based on the carbon footprint associated with each item. Additionally, the method may include displaying substitute or complementary items in the shopping cart for selection by the user to reduce total carbon values, and awarding carbon certificates.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure comprising computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium being operable to:

provide a shopping cart for a shopper;

segment, by a processor, items in the shopping cart based on at least one environmental parameter associated with each item;

obtain an additional item that is a substitute for, or complementary to, one of the items in the shopping cart, wherein the additional item is obtained based on at least one environmental parameter of the additional item being different from the at least one environmental parameter of the one of the items in the shopping cart; and

display to the shopper an offer to substitute the additional item for the one of the items in the shopping cart.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one environmental parameter comprises a carbon footprint associated with each item, and the segmentation of the items is spatial or positional according to the carbon footprint.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one environmental parameter comprises a carbon footprint associated with each item, and the segmentation of the items is by graphical organizers according to the carbon footprint.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the segmentation of the items is based upon at least one environmental parameter selected from the group consisting of carbon footprint, green category, source, green manufacturer, hazard level, recycle features, presence of heavy metals, and contribution to one or more than one greenhouse gas.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein items in the shopping cart are at least one of:

movable from one segment to another upon application of a carbon offset;

dynamic;

searchable using a multitude of search criteria; and

designatable for automatic purchase on a pre-specified future date.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the segmentation is determined by an intelligent agent.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping cart is an electronic shopping cart linked to the Internet.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the shopping cart is an electronic shopping cart which is associated with a physical shopping cart, and the electronic shopping cart segments goods for physical goods inserted into the physical shopping cart.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the physical shopping cart is physically segmented for the classification of goods.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising visually representing at least one attribute of an item or a group of items in the shopping cart, wherein the at least one attribute comprises carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, or environmental impact.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein additional information can be obtained about an item by selecting the item, and a profile is provided specifying what characteristics are to be displayed.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the additional item in the shopping cart for selection by the user.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a weight of carbon associated with each item and assigning a carbon offset monetary value to each item.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a maximum weight of carbon to the shopping cart and calculating a total weight of carbon for the items placed in the cart.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional item has a of lower carbon weight than the one of the items in the shopping cart.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising awarding carbon offset certificates assigned to items that are renewable resources.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 1.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the segmentation of the items comprises arranging a placement of the items according to one of ascending and descending carbon footprints of the items, one of vertically and horizontally in the shopping cart;

the segmentation of the items comprises at least one of;

placing one or more low carbon content items in a low carbon content folder;

associating the one or more low carbon content items with a low carbon content icon; and

placing one or more high carbon content items in a high carbon content folder; and

the method further comprises visually representing attributes of an item or a group of items of the items in the shopping cart, the attributes comprising carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, and environmental impact.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a carbon footprint associated with at least one of a plurality of items searched for purchase;

receiving a selection of the additional item from the shopper;

adding the additional item to the shopping cart; and

removing the one of the items from the shopping cart.

21. A system implemented in hardware, comprising:

a computer infrastructure operable to implement;

a shopping cart tool configured to provide a shopping cart for a shopper;

at least one of;

an item tool configured to provide items for purchase and information about the items for purchase in a shopping cart;

a carbon footprint tool configured to determine a carbon footprint associated with an item;

an item search tool configured to search for items using at least one search criteria;

a carbon calculation tool configured to calculate the total weight of carbon for the items placed in the shopping cart; and

a carbon offset tool configured to award a carbon offset certificate for items in the shopping cart;

wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to implement;

an item segmentation tool configured to segment items in the shopping cart based on the carbon footprint associated with each item; and

an item complement tool configured to;

obtain an additional item that is a substitute for, or complementary to, one of the items placed in the shopping cart for selection by the shopper, wherein the additional item is obtained based on a carbon footprint of the additional item being different from the carbon footprint of the one of the items placed in the shopping cart; and

display to the shopper an offer to substitute the additional item for the one of the items placed in the shopping cart.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a computer infrastructure operable to implement the shopping cart tool, the item tool, the carbon footprint tool, the item search tool, the item complement tool, the carbon calculation tool, the carbon offset tool, and the item segmentation tool.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein:

the segmentation of the items comprises arranging a placement of the items according to one of ascending and descending carbon footprints of the items, one of vertically and horizontally in the shopping cart;

the segmentation of the items comprises at least one of;

placing one or more low carbon content items in a low carbon content folder;

associating the one or more low carbon content items with a low carbon content icon; and

placing one or more high carbon content items in a high carbon content folder; and

the item segmentation tool is further configured to visually represent attributes of an item or a group of items of the items in the shopping cart, the attributes comprising carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, and environmental impact.

25. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer program product including at least one component that when executed by a processor is operable to:

provide a shopping cart for a shopper, and

segment items in the shopping cart based on the carbon footprint associated with each item to at least one of;

segment the items spatially or positionally according to carbon footprint;

segment the items by graphical organizers according to carbon footprint;

segment the items based upon an additional environmental parameter selected from the group consisting of green category, source, manufacturer, hazard level, recycle features, presence of heavy metals, and contribution to one or more than one greenhouse gas; and

visually represent at least one attribute of an item or a group of items in the shopping cart, wherein said at least one attribute comprises carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, or environmental impact; and

obtain an additional item that is a substitute for, or complementary to, one of the items in the shopping cart, wherein the additional item is obtained based on the additional item having a carbon footprint or an additional environmental parameter that is different from the carbon footprint or the additional environmental parameter of the one of the items in the shopping cart; and

display to the shopper an offer to substitute the additional item for the one of the items in the shopping cart.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein:

the segmentation of the items comprises arranging a placement of the items according to one of ascending and descending carbon footprints of the items, one of vertically and horizontally in the shopping cart;

the segmentation of the items comprises at least one of;

placing one or more low carbon content items in a low carbon content folder;

associating the one or more low carbon content items with a low carbon content icon; and

placing one or more high carbon content items in a high carbon content folder; and

the at least one component is further operable to visually represent attributes of the item or the group of items of the items in the shopping cart, the attributes comprising carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, and environmental impact.

27. A method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

provide a shopping cart for a shopper,

segment items in the shopping cart based on the carbon footprint associated with each item to at least one of;

segment the items spatially or positionally according to carbon footprint;

segment the items by graphical organizers according to carbon footprint;

segment the items based upon an additional environmental parameter selected from the group consisting of green category, source, manufacturer, hazard level, recycle features, presence of heavy metals, and contribution to one or more than one greenhouse gas; and

visually represent at least one attribute of an item or a group of items in the shopping cart, wherein said at least one attribute comprises carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, or environmental impact;

and at least one of;

assign a weight of carbon associated with each item and assign a carbon offset monetary value to each item;

assign a maximum weight of carbon to the shopping cart and calculate the total weight of carbon for the items placed in the cart;

award carbon offset certificates assigned to items that are renewable resources,

wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to;

obtain an additional item that is a substitute for, or complementary to, one of the items in the shopping cart, wherein the additional item is obtained based on the additional item having a carbon footprint or an additional environmental parameter that is different from the carbon footprint or the additional environmental parameter of the one of the items in the shopping cart; and

display to the shopper an offer to substitute the additional item for the one of the items in the shopping cart.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein:

the segmentation of the items comprises arranging a placement of the items according to one of ascending and descending carbon footprints of the items, one of vertically and horizontally in the shopping cart;

the segmentation of the items comprises at least one of;

placing one or more low carbon content items in a low carbon content folder;

associating the one or more low carbon content items with a low carbon content icon; and

placing one or more high carbon content items in a high carbon content folder; and

the computer infrastructure is further operable to visually represent attributes of the item or the group of items of the items in the shopping cart, the attributes comprising carbon footprint, organic, inorganic, and environmental impact.