Product recommendation based on geographic location and user activities

• US 9,858,610 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal Mart Stores Inc (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Goulart, Valerie
• Primary Examiner(s): Stopp, Courtney L
• Application Number:
  US14/473,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20160063597A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,222 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Example systems and methods for recommendation based on geographic location and user activities are described. In one implementation, a method may receive geographic information associated with a user. The method may also retrieve a circumstance parameter associated with the geographic information and identify one or more items based on the graphic information and the circumstance parameter.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for recommending items, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of a server, a signal from a mobile computing device associated with a user including a network IP address associated with the mobile computing device;

comparing, by the one or more processors of the server, the network IP address, as received, associated with the mobile computing device with pre-compiled databases of IP networks and corresponding geographic usage to determine geographic information about the user, the geographic information indicating a geographic location of the user;

accessing, by the one or more processors, a social media website and retrieving from the social media website a circumstance parameter associated with the geographic location of the user, the circumstance parameter comprising;

a local social event associated with the geographic location; and

activity information associated with the geographic information indicating a user activity of the user and associated with the geographic location;

identifying, by the one or more processors, a plurality of items based at least in part on the geographic location and the circumstance parameter;

retrieving, by the one or more processors, a user profile of an account of the user, the user profile comprising user preference data associated with the plurality of items and generating a list of recommended items from the plurality of items;

generating, by the one or more processors, a ranked list of the list of recommended items based on the user preference data; and

coordinating displaying, by the one or more processors, the ranked list of the list of recommended items on the mobile computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing, by the one or more processors of the server, the network IP address, as received, associated with the mobile computing device with the pre-compiled databases of IP networks and the corresponding geographic usage to determine the geographic information about the user, the geographic location of the mobile computing device within a radius is represented by global positioning system (GPS) coordinates or a street address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises a frequency or duration of visits to the geographic location by the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises geographic relatedness indicating a relationship between the user and the geographic location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity information further comprises shopping, reading, driving, working, or entertaining.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the circumstance parameter including a trending topic associated with the geographic location including accessing, by the one or more processors of the server, the social media website and selecting the trending topic based on an amount of instances of the trending topic in social media associated with the geographic location or an intensity rate of exchange of the trending topic in the social media associated with the geographic location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises weather information associated with the geographic location in a predetermined period of time.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

generating, by the one or more processors of the server, the ranked list of the list of recommended items further comprises;

analyzing user activity history to generate a pattern of behavior associated with the user;

determining an additional user having a similar pattern of behavior within a predetermined period of time;

identifying a particular item of the plurality of items that is purchased by the additional user; and

increasing a rank of the particular item in the list of recommended items.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving, by the one or more processors of a server, a signal from a mobile computing device associated with a user including a network IP address associated with the mobile computing device;

comparing, by the one or more processors, the network IP address, as received, associated with the mobile computing device with pre-compiled databases of IP networks and corresponding geographic usage to determine geographic information of the user, the geographic information indicating a geographic location of the user;

accessing, by the one or more processors, a social media website and retrieving from the social media website a circumstance parameter associated with the geographic location of the user, the circumstance parameter comprising;

a local social event associated with the geographic location; and

activity information associated with the geographic information indicating a user activity of the user and associated with the geographic location;

identifying, by the one or more processors, a plurality of items based at least in part on the geographic location and the circumstance parameter;

retrieving, by the one or more processors, a user profile of an account of the user, the user profile comprising user preference data associated with the plurality of items and generating a list of recommended items from the plurality of items;

generating, by the one or more processors, a ranked list of the list of recommended items based on the user preference data; and

coordinating displaying, by the one or more processors, the ranked list of the list of recommended items on the mobile computing device.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises a frequency or duration of visits the geographic location by the user, and wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises geographic relatedness indicating a relationship between the user and the geographic location.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the activity information further comprises shopping, reading, driving, working, or entertaining.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprise a trending topic associated with the geographic location.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the acts further comprise:

selecting the trending topic based on an amount of instances of the trending topic in social media associated with the geographic location or an intensity rate of exchange of the trending topic in the social media associated with the geographic location.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises weather information associated with the geographic location in a predetermined period of time.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein generating, by the one or more processors of the server, the ranked list of the list of recommended items further comprises:

analyzing user activity history to generate a pattern of geographic behavior associated with the user;

determining an additional user having a similar pattern of geographic behavior within a predetermined period of time;

identifying a particular item of the plurality of items that is purchased by the additional user; and

increasing a rank of the particular item in the list of recommended items.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a memory configured to store data and one or more sets of instructions; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to execute the one or more sets of instructions and perform operations comprising;

receiving a signal from a mobile computing device associated with a user including a network IP address associated with the mobile computing device;

comparing the network IP address, as received, associated with the mobile computing device with pre-compiled databases of IP networks and corresponding geographic usage to determine geographic information of the user, the geographic information indicating a geographic location of the user;

accessing a social media website and retrieving from the social media website a circumstance parameter associated with the geographic location of the user, the circumstance parameter comprising;

a local social event associated with the geographic location; and

activity information associated with the geographic information indicating a user activity of the user and associated with the geographic location;

identifying a plurality of items based at least in part on the geographic location and the circumstance parameter;

retrieving, by the one or more processors, a user profile of an account of the user, the user profile comprising user preference data associated with the plurality of items and generating a list of recommended items from the plurality of items;

generating, by the one or more processors, a ranked list of the list of recommended items based on the user preference data; and

coordinating displaying the ranked list of the list of recommended items on the mobile computing device.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises a frequency or duration of visits the geographic location by the user, and wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises geographic relatedness indicating a relationship between the user and the geographic location.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the circumstance parameter further comprises a trending topic associated with the geographic location.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

selecting the trending topic based on an amount of instances of the trending topic in social media associated with the geographic location or an intensity rate of exchange of the trending topic within the social media associated with the geographic location.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein generating, by the one or more processors, the ranked list of the list of recommended items further comprising:

analyzing user activity history to generate a pattern of behavior associated with the user;

determining an additional user having a similar pattern of behavior within a predetermined period of time;

identifying a particular item of the plurality of items that is purchased by the additional user; and

increasing a rank of the particular item in the list of recommended items.