Individual online price adjustments in real time

• US 9,659,317 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2011
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Naghmouchi, Jamin, Franke, Hubertus
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen, Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US13/034,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20120221430A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,280 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261, 705400, 705 2644
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for adjusting prices for goods and services offered using a computer network. In one embodiment, data relating to goods and services offered over the computer network by a number of entities using the computer network are stored in a database, communications are monitored, using the computer network, to identify an interest of a user, and this interest of the user and the data in the database are used to identify one of the entities to offer a specified product or service to the user. Information is obtained relating to a price for the specified product or service, and this information and the data in the database are used to determine an adjusted price for the specified product or service. In one embodiment, the information the user has about a price for the specified product or service is used to determine the adjusted price.

Claims

1. A method of a third party system operator offering goods and services from merchants to potential customers at prices determined by said third party system operator based on information the potential customers have, the method comprising:

the system operator storing, by using a computer system, in a database data relating to goods and services offered over a computer network by a number of merchants;

the system operator monitoring, by using a sessionizer and a parser of the computer system, communications of a user over the computer network, and using the computer system and data from the monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user;

filtering by the parser valid tokens out of the communications of the user over the computer network;

hashing by an indexer the filtered tokens to obtain hashed values;

sorting by the indexer the hashed values;

using, by the computer system, the stored, sorted, hashed values to create the representation of an interest of the user;

the system operator using a match engine of the computer system to match said interest of the user with one of said merchants;

the system operator, by a product price finder operating on the computer system, and before a specified product or service is offered to the user, determining information the user has about prices for the specified product or service;

the system operator, by an adjustment engine of the computer system, using said determined information the user has about prices for the specified product or service, and in accordance with a rule set for said one of said merchants, to determine a price to offer the specified product or service of said one merchant to the user;

the system operator, by the computer system, offering the specified product or service to the user over the computer network, from the one of said merchants, at said price determined by the system operator; and

the system operator sending specified data over the computer network to the one merchant, the specified data including a tag identifying the user and the price at which the specified product or service is offered to the user.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining information that the user has about prices for the specified product or service includes obtaining said information from Internet communications.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining information that the user has about prices for the specified product or service includes obtaining additional information about said prices over the Internet form one or more sources.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the database includes a respective one set of rules for each of the merchants to determine adjusted prices for goods or services offered by said each of the merchants.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising modifying one of the set of rules based on an analysis derived from statistical data created by a statistical analysis and from stored competitor price filtered from traffic of the user over the computer network using a URL/competitor finder.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the using the computer system and the data from the monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user and the data stored in the database includes:

using monitored Internet communications create the representation of the user'"'"'s interest; and

searching the database, using said representation, for a match of the user'"'"'s interest.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the using monitored Internet communications includes intercepting Internet communications between the user and one or more Web sites.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the using monitored Internet communications includes:

intercepting Internet communications associated with multiple users; and

distinguishing the Internet communications associated with each of the multiple users.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the monitoring communications includes capturing traffic, over the computer network, between a host and a multitude of users, and distinguishing the traffic associated with each of the users;

the using the computer system and the data from monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user includes finding a product having a specified match with the interest of the user; and

the using said determined information that the user has about prices for the specified product or service includes using said information to calculate a price adjustment of the identified merchant for the specified product or service.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the system operator determining information the user has about prices for the specified product or service includes the product price finder determining the information the user has about prices for a certain product the user was searching for, and forwarding results to the price adjustment engine;

the system operator using said information to determine a price to offer the specified product or service includes the price adjustment engine calculating a price adjustment to the specified product or service according to a specific adjustment rule set, said adjustment rule set being a function that respects dependencies of the price adjustment regarding price and product differentiation of products in a same category;

the system operator offering the specified product or service to the user at said determined price includes;

forwarding a price adjustment to a content manipulator;

the content manipulator feeding a rewriter;

a packetizer, receiving output from the rewriter, to create a package;

placing an adjusted price into advertisements by insertion into network traffic consumed by the user, including injecting said package into traffic to the user over the computer network; and

said user receiving the adjusted price without involvement of the identified one of the merchants.

11. A system for a third party system operator to offer goods and services from merchants to potential customers at prices determined by said third party system operator based on information the potential customers have, comprising one or more processing units configured for:

storing, by the system operator, in an Agreement Database data relating to goods and services offered over a computer network by a number of merchants;

monitoring, by the system operator, by using a sessionizer and a parser of a computer system, communications of a user over the computer network, and using the computer system and data from the monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user;

filtering by the parser valid tokens out of the communications of the user over the computer network;

hashing by an indexer the filtered tokens to obtain hashed values;

sorting by the indexer the hashed values;

using, by the computer system, the stored, sorted, hashed values to create the representation of an interest of the user;

using, by the system operator, a match engine of the computer system to match said interest of the user with one of said merchants;

functioning as a Product Price Finder for determining, by the system operator and before a specified product or service is offered to the user, information the user has about prices for the specified product or service;

functioning as a Price Adjustment Engine for using, by the system operator, said determined information the user has about prices for the specified product or service, and in accordance with a rule set for said one of the merchants, to determine a price to offer the specified product or service of said one merchant to the user;

offering, by the system operator, the specified product or service to the user over the computer network, from said one of the merchants, at said price determined by the system operator; and

sending, by the system operator, specified data over the computer network to the one merchant, the specified data including a tag identifying the user and the price at which the specified product or service is offered to the user.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the Product Price Finder determines information the user has about prices for the specified product or service, and uses the information the user has to determine the price for the specified product or service.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the Product Price Finder determining information about prices for the specified product or service includes obtaining said information from said computer network communications and from one or more Web sites.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the database includes a respective one set of rules for each of the merchants to determine adjusted prices for goods or services offered by said each of the merchants.

15. An article of manufacture comprising:

one or more tangible program storage hardware devices tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by one or more processing units to perform method steps for a third party system operator to offer goods and services from merchants to potential customers at prices determined by said third party system operator and based on information the potential customers have, said method steps comprising;

storing, by the system operator, by using a computer system, in a database data relating to goods and services offered over a computer network by a number of merchants;

monitoring, by the system operator, by using a sessionizer and a parser of the computer system, communications of a user over the computer network, and using the computer system and data from the monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user;

filtering by the parser valid tokens out of the communications of the user over the computer network;

hashing by an indexer the filtered tokens to obtain hashed values;

sorting by the indexer the hashed values;

using, by the computer system, the stored, sorted, hashed values to create the representation of an interest of the user;

using, by the system operator, a match engine of the computer system to match said interest of the user with one of said merchants to offer a specified product or service to the user;

by the system operator and a product price finder, and before the specified product or service is offered to the user, determining information the user has about prices for the specified product or service;

using, by the system operator and an adjustment engine, said determined information the user has about prices for the specified product or service, and in accordance with a rule set for said one of the merchants, to determine a price to offer the specified product or service of said one merchant to the user;

offering, by the system operator, the specified product or service to the user over the computer network, from said one of the merchants, at said price determined by the system operator; and

the system operator sending specified data over the computer network to the one merchant, the specified data including a tag identifying the user and the price at which the specified product or service is offered to the user.

16. The article of manufacture according to claim 15, wherein the determining information about prices for the specified product or service includes determining information the user has about a price for the specified product or service, and using said determined information the user has to determine the price for the specified product or service.

17. The article of manufacture according to claim 15, wherein the database includes a respective one set of rules for each of the merchants to determine adjusted prices for goods or services offered by said each of the merchants.

18. The article of manufacture according to claim 15, wherein the using the computer system and the data from the monitored communications to create a representation of an interest of the user and the data stored in the database includes:

using the monitored Internet communications to create the representation of the user'"'"'s interest; and

searching the database, using said representation, for a match of the user'"'"'s interest.