Method and system for efficient order placement

• US 9,361,640 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2007
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Donsbach, Aaron M., Frost, Keith L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US11/865,442
• Time in Patent Office: 3,172 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/26.1, 705/26.62, 705/26.8, 707/737
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for providing efficient product ordering of products, such as groceries or any other product or item. The customer enters keywords (or generic terms) that describe a desired item on a first portion of a display screen and search result items associated with each of the keywords on the list automatically appear on a second portion of the display screen. When the customer selects the desired items from the second portion of the display screen, the selected items automatically appear on a third portion of the display screen. The customer can then click a “Check Out” button on the same screen and have the products shipped to him/her.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a shopping list to a computing device for display on a first portion of a web page displayed on a display screen of the computing device, wherein the shopping list includes a plurality of keywords provided by a customer;

obtaining a plurality of groups of search results items relating to at least two of the plurality of keywords;

grouping, by at least one computer processor, each of the groups of search results items into clusters of items determined to be similar within each of the groups;

identifying, by the at least one computer processor, a representative item from each of the clusters of items determined to be similar;

providing a set of representative items to the computing device for display within a viewer on a second portion of the web page, wherein the set comprises at least some of the representative items from each of the clusters of items determined to be similar;

receiving an interaction with a link associated with the viewer, wherein the interaction is provided by the customer;

determining a price range based at least in part on the interaction with the link;

updating the set of representative items based at least in part on the interaction with the link, wherein the updated set of representative items includes representative items having prices within the price range; and

providing the updated set of representative items to the computing device for display within the viewer on the second portion of the web page without reloading the web page in its entirety.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the representative items of the updated set corresponding to one of the clusters of items determined to be similar; and

providing a plurality of the search results items associated with the selected one of the representative items corresponding to the one of the clusters of items determined to be similar to the computing device for display in the viewer on the second portion of the web page.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of search results items provided to the computing device for display in the viewer on the second portion of the web page; and

providing the selected item to the computing device for display on a third portion of the web page.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the link is a price selector.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the keywords is indicative of at least one consumable item selected from the group consisting of:

a grocery item, a health item, a beauty item, an office supply, a pet care item, an auto care item and an industrial supply.

6. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving information regarding a plurality of different keywords entered on a first portion of a first information page from a first server, wherein each of the different keywords is entered on the first portion by a customer;

obtaining a plurality of groups of search results items by at least one computer processor, wherein at least one of the search results items in each of the groups is associated with a corresponding one of the different keywords;

providing the at least one of the search results items in each of the groups to the computing device for display on a second portion of the first information page;

grouping each of the groups of search results items into categories of items determined to be similar within each of the groups;

receiving information regarding an interaction with a filtering link associated with one of the categories, wherein the interaction with the filtering link is entered by the customer; and

obtaining updated search results items for the one of the categories by the at least one computer processor without interacting with a second information page or a second server;

providing the updated search results items for the one of the categories to the computing device for display on the second portion of the first information page,

wherein providing the at least one of the search results items in each of the groups to the computing device for display on the second portion of the first information page comprises;

providing a representative item from each of the categories to the computing device for display on the second portion of the first information page without reloading the first information pale in its entirety.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the representative items as a selected representative item by the customer; and

providing a plurality of specific items associated with the selected representative item to the computing device for display on the second portion of the first information page.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of specific items as a selected item by the customer; and

providing the selected item to the computing device for display on a third portion of the information page.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 6,

wherein the filtering link is one of:

a brand selector;

a price range selector;

or

an attribute selector.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the interaction with the filtering link is one of:

a selection of a brand via the brand selector;

a selection of at least one of a minimum price or a maximum price via the price range selector;

or

a selection of at least one of an age, a gender, a size or an ingredient via the attribute selector.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a plurality of different keywords;

providing at least some of the plurality of different keywords to a computing device for display in a first window of a first information page on a display screen;

obtaining, by at least one computer processor, a plurality of groups of search results items relating to each of the plurality of different keywords;

grouping, by the at least one computer processor, the groups of the search results items into categories of items determined to be similar within the groups;

identifying, by the at least one computer processor, a representative item from at least one of the categories of items determined to be similar;

providing at least some of the categories to the computing device for display in a second window of the first information page on the display screen;

receiving a selection of at least one of the categories as a selected category;

providing a set of search results items associated with the selected category to the computing device for display in a third window of the first information page on the display screen;

receiving an interaction with a filter associated with the third window;

updating the set of search results items in response to the interaction with the filter; and

providing the updated set of search results items associated with the selected category to the computing device for display in the third window without reloading the first information page in its entirety.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a selection of at least one of the updated set of search results items as a selected item; and

providing the selected item to the computing device for display in the third window.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the different keywords, the categories, and the selected item are provided for display in the first information page on the display screen at the same time.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the different keywords, the updated set of search results items and the selected item are provided for display in the first information page on the display screen at the same time.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,

wherein the filter is at least one of a price selector, a brand selector or an attribute selector.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of different keywords is indicative of at least one consumable item selected from the group consisting of:

a grocery item, a health item, a beauty item, an office supply, a pet care item, an auto care item and an industrial supply.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the at least some of the categories are provided for display in at least one of a text cloud or a plurality of item viewers, and

wherein at least one of the item viewers corresponds to one of the keywords.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of item viewers comprises a slide show viewer.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,

wherein providing the at least some of the categories to the computing device for display in the second window of the first information page on the display screen comprises:

providing a representative item from the search results items corresponding to each of the categories to the computing device for display on the display screen.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim from 9, wherein providing the at least some of the categories to the computing device for display in the second window of the first information page on the display screen further comprises:

providing a plurality of tabs to the computing device for display in association with the second window, wherein each of the plurality of tabs corresponds to one of the at least some of the categories, and

wherein receiving the selection of the at least one of the categories as the selected category further comprises;

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of tabs as a selected tab, wherein the selected tab corresponds to the selected category.

18. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of keywords to a computing device for display in a web page on a screen, wherein each of the keywords is received from a customer;

obtaining a plurality of groups of search results items relating to each of the keywords;

grouping each of the groups of the search results items into categories of items determined to be similar within each of the groups;

identifying, by the at least one computer processor, a representative item from at least one of the categories of items determined to be similar;

providing at least some of the categories to the computing device for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords;

receiving a selection of at least one of the categories as a selected category from the customer;

providing a set of specific items from the search results items associated with the selected category to the computing device for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords;

receiving an interaction with a filter associated with the selected category;

updating the set of specific items in response to the interaction with the filter;

providing the updated set of specific items from the search results items associated with the selected category to the computing device for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords without reloading the web page in its entirety;

receiving a selection of at least one specific item of the updated set of specific items as a selected item from the customer; and

providing information regarding the selected item to the computing device for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords.

19. A computer system comprising:

at least one memory configured to at least store specific computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the specific computer-executable instructions to at least;

receive a plurality of keywords entered in a window of a web page on a screen by a customer;

obtain a plurality of groups of search results items relating to each keyword of the plurality of keywords;

group each of the groups of the search results items into categories of items determined to be similar within each of the groups;

identify, by the at least one computer processor, a representative item from at least one of the categories of items determined to be similar;

provide at least some of the categories for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords;

receive a selection of at least one of the categories as a selected category by the customer;

provide a first plurality of specific items from the search results items associated with the selected category for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords;

receive a selection of at least one of a brand, a price range or an attribute by the customer; and

in response to the selection of the at least one of the brand, the price range or the attribute, provide a second plurality of specific items from the search results items associated with the selected category for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords without reloading the web page in its entirety,

wherein each of the second plurality of specific items is one of the first plurality of items, and

wherein each of the second plurality of items is one of the brand, has a price within the price range or has the attribute.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the specific computer-executable instructions to at least:

receive a selection of at least one of the specific items as a selected item by the customer; and

provide the selected item for display in the web page on the screen concurrently with the keywords in response to the selection of the at least one of the specific items as the selected item.