Item discovery tools and methods for shopping in an electronic commerce environment
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method performed on an e-commerce computer system, the method comprising:
- identifying a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of;
assigning, by the e-commerce computer system, a score to each of the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the each of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website; and
identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users;
forming an association between a first user and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the first user, the image survey including;
prompting, through a user interface of a user computing system, the first user to select a first image from a first group of images, each of the images in the first group of images representing one or more merchandise items, each of the images in the first group of images being stored in an image database of the e-commerce computer system and displayed to the first user through the user interface, each of the images in the first group of images representing an item identified as preferred by at least one tastemaker by a preferred item identification engine operating on the e-commerce computer system,prompting, through the user interface, the first user to select a second image from a second group of images, each of the images in the second group of images representing one or more merchandise items identified as preferred by a tastemaker who was also identified to prefer the merchandise item represented by the first image, each of the images in the second group of images being stored in the image database and displayed to the first user through the user interface, andreceiving, through a computer network, by the e-commerce computer system, an image selection of the first image and an image selection of the second image from the first user through the user interface;
determining, by the e-commerce computer system, a shopping preference of the first user based, at least in part, on the association formed between the first user and the tastemaker, the shopping preference of the first user including information about the one or more merchandise items represented by the first image and the one or more merchandise items represented by the second image;
identifying, by the e-commerce computer system, a second user having a shopping preference that is substantially similar to the shopping preference of the first user, the shopping preference of the second user including information, stored in a user preference database of the e-commerce computer system, about one or more preferred merchandise items of the second user;
generating, by the e-commerce computer system, at least one shopping recommendation based on the shopping preference of the second user utilizing a recommendation engine of the e-commerce computer system; and
presenting the at least one shopping recommendation to the first user through the user interface.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-implemented method includes prompting a first user to select one or more images representing merchandise items, receiving one or more image selections from the first user through the user interface, and determining a shopping preference of the first user based, at least in part, on the image selections. The shopping preference of the first user includes information about the merchandise items represented by the image selections. The method further includes identifying a second user having a shopping preference that is substantially similar to the shopping preference of the first user. The shopping preference of the second user includes information about one or more preferred merchandise items of the second user. The method further includes generating at least one shopping recommendation based on the shopping preference of the second user, and presenting the shopping recommendation to the first user.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method performed on an e-commerce computer system, the method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of; assigning, by the e-commerce computer system, a score to each of the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the each of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website; and identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users; forming an association between a first user and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the first user, the image survey including; prompting, through a user interface of a user computing system, the first user to select a first image from a first group of images, each of the images in the first group of images representing one or more merchandise items, each of the images in the first group of images being stored in an image database of the e-commerce computer system and displayed to the first user through the user interface, each of the images in the first group of images representing an item identified as preferred by at least one tastemaker by a preferred item identification engine operating on the e-commerce computer system, prompting, through the user interface, the first user to select a second image from a second group of images, each of the images in the second group of images representing one or more merchandise items identified as preferred by a tastemaker who was also identified to prefer the merchandise item represented by the first image, each of the images in the second group of images being stored in the image database and displayed to the first user through the user interface, and receiving, through a computer network, by the e-commerce computer system, an image selection of the first image and an image selection of the second image from the first user through the user interface; determining, by the e-commerce computer system, a shopping preference of the first user based, at least in part, on the association formed between the first user and the tastemaker, the shopping preference of the first user including information about the one or more merchandise items represented by the first image and the one or more merchandise items represented by the second image; identifying, by the e-commerce computer system, a second user having a shopping preference that is substantially similar to the shopping preference of the first user, the shopping preference of the second user including information, stored in a user preference database of the e-commerce computer system, about one or more preferred merchandise items of the second user; generating, by the e-commerce computer system, at least one shopping recommendation based on the shopping preference of the second user utilizing a recommendation engine of the e-commerce computer system; and presenting the at least one shopping recommendation to the first user through the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 30)
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14. An e-commerce computer system including a non-transient computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions when executed by the e-commerce computer system causing the e-commerce computer system to perform a method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of; assigning a score to each of the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the each of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website; and identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users; mapping each of a plurality of merchandise items listed in a database to at least one of the plurality of tastemakers; forming an association between a survey subject and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the survey subject, the image survey including; generating a first webpage having a first plurality of user-selectable images each representing one of a first subset of the plurality of merchandise items, providing the first webpage to the survey subject through a user interface of a user computing system connected to the e-commerce website over a communications network, receiving, through the user interface, a first image selection from the survey subject, the first image selection representing one of the plurality of merchandise items selected by the survey subject, generating a second webpage having a second plurality of user-selectable images each representing one of a second subset of the plurality of merchandise items, providing the second webpage to the survey subject through the user interface of the user computing system, and receiving, through the user interface, a second image selection from the survey subject, the second image selection representing one of the plurality of merchandise items selected by the survey subject; generating a third webpage having a list of recommended users including at least one of the tastemakers that is mapped to the merchandise item associated with the first image selection and the merchandise item associated with the second image selection; and providing the third webpage to the survey subject through the user interface of the user computing system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A non-transient computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a computer causing the computer to perform a method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of; assigning a score to each of the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the each of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website; and identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users; forming an association between a first user and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the first user, the image survey including; prompting, through a user interface, the first user to select one or more images representing merchandise items, the one or more images being stored in an image database, the one or more images each representing an item identified as preferred by at least one tastemaker by a preferred item identification engine operating on the e-commerce system, and receiving, by the computer, one or more responses from the first user through the user interface; determining a shopping preference of the first user based, at least in part, on the association formed between the first user and the tastemaker, the shopping preference of the first user including information about the merchandise items represented by the one or more image selections; identifying a second user having a shopping preference that is substantially similar to the shopping preference of the first user, the shopping preference of the second user including information, stored in a user preference database, about one or more preferred merchandise items of the second user; generating at least one shopping recommendation based on the shopping preference of the second user; and presenting the at least one shopping recommendation to the first user through the user interface.
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28. A non-transient computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a computer causing the computer to perform a method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of; assigning a score to the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website; and identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users; mapping each of a plurality of merchandise items listed in a database to at least one of the plurality of tastemakers; forming an association between a survey subject and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the survey subject, the image survey including; generating a first webpage having a first plurality of user-selectable images each representing one of a first subset of the plurality of merchandise items, providing the first webpage to the survey subject through a user interface of a user computing system connected to the e-commerce website over a communications network, receiving, through the user interface, a first image selection from the survey subject, the first image selection representing one of the plurality of merchandise items selected by the survey subject, generating a second webpage having a second plurality of user-selectable images each representing one of a second subset of the plurality of merchandise items, providing the second webpage to the survey subject through the user interface of the user computing system, and receiving, through the user interface, a second image selection from the survey subject, the second image selection representing one of the plurality of merchandise items selected by the survey subject; generating a third webpage having a list of recommended users including at least one of the tastemakers that is mapped to the merchandise item associated with the first image selection and the merchandise item associated with the second image selection; and providing the third webpage to the survey subject through the user interface of the user computing system.
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29. A system, comprising:
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a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to identify a plurality of tastemakers from a plurality of users of an e-commerce website, the plurality of tastemakers selected responsive to acts of assigning a score to each of the plurality of users of the e-commerce website based upon an activity of the each of the plurality of users on the e-commerce website and identifying as tastemakers a first group of the plurality of users who are assigned a higher score than a second group of the plurality of users, the processor being further configured to form an association between a first user and a tastemaker by presenting an image survey to the first user, the image survey including prompting through a user interface, a first user to select one or more images each representing one or more merchandise items, the one or more images each representing an item identified as preferred by at least one tastemaker by a preferred item identification engine operating on the e-commerce system, the one or more images being stored in the memory and to be displayed to the first user through the user interface, and receiving one or more image selections from the first user through the user interface, the processor being further configured to determine a shopping preference of the first user based, at least in part, on the association formed between the first user and the tastemaker, the shopping preference of the first user including information about the one or more merchandise items represented by the one or more image selections, the processor being further configured to identify a second user having a shopping preference that is substantially similar to the shopping preference of the first user, the shopping preference of the second user including information, stored in the memory, about one or more preferred merchandise items of the second user, the processor being further configured to generate at least one shopping recommendation based on the shopping preference of the second user, and the processor being further configured to present the at least one shopping recommendation to the first user through the user interface.
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Specification