Synchronization of home shopping carts with advertisements

• US 9,953,346 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mangalvedkar, Amit M., Perumal, Sivananthan, Shanmugam, Dhandapani
• Primary Examiner(s): ZIMMERMAN, JEFFREY P
• Application Number:
  US13/483,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20130325568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,155 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1441- 1473, 705 261- 271
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

Advertisement content is received at a processor that manages inventory of a smart home appliance from an advertising distribution device within a home network. A determination is made to add an advertised item of the advertisement content to a spoke shopping cart based upon commodity data of the managed inventory of the smart home appliance. The advertised item is added to the spoke shopping cart.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

by a processor of a smart home appliance that comprises an inventory area within which inventory commodity items are stored and managed, and that performs automated appliance-specific inventory management of the inventory area of the smart home appliance using at least one integrated inventory sensor of the smart home appliance;

subscribing, using commodity data of the inventory commodity items sent according to a publish/subscribe mechanism, with an in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within a home network to receive advertisements specific to at least one product category of the inventory commodity items managed within the inventory area of the smart home appliance and that are configured programmatically within the smart home appliance for replenishment according to a configured reordering threshold;

programmatically monitoring, using a communication interface that provides communication capabilities with the at least one integrated inventory sensor, consumption of the inventory commodity items in the at least one managed product category within the inventory area according to inventory measurements provided by the at least one integrated inventory sensor;

receiving, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category selectively distributed by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device according to the publish/subscribe mechanism;

recognizing a purchase opportunity of an advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold;

determining purchase availability location information of a store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the purchase availability location information is specified using global positioning satellite (GPS) information of the store from which to acquire the advertised item;

determining whether to add the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to a locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart based upon the determined purchase availability location information;

adding, responsive to an affirmative determination regarding the purchase availability location information, the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart; and

determining travel routing details by which to travel during a shopping trip to a physical location address of the store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the travel routing details comprise GPS information along a travel route to the store from which to acquire the advertised item.

2. The method of claim 1, where receiving, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category comprises receiving the subscribed advertisement content as a push operation from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device as part of a subscription established with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device.

3. The method of claim 1, where:

recognizing the purchase opportunity of the advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold comprises;

comparing the received subscribed advertisement content with current inventory commodity items referenced by the received subscribed advertisement content and with factors configured within at least one inventory rule and that specify the programmatically-configured reordering threshold; and

adding the advertised item to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart in further response to determining that at least one of;

a configured discount within an inventory rule for a current inventory commodity item is met by the advertised item within the received subscribed advertisement content; and

the current inventory commodity item advertised by the advertised item is at least one of close to expiration, expired, and below one of a configured threshold weight and a configured threshold quantity configured within the inventory rule.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

by the processor of the smart home appliance;

receiving a subscription acknowledgement from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device in accordance with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device further subscribing, on behalf of the smart home appliance, to receive the advertisements specific to the at least one product category from an advertising server located outside of the home network; and

where receiving, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category comprises receiving filtered advertisement content from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device selectively published by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device to the smart home appliance in accordance with the specified at least one product category.

5. The method of claim 1, where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device comprises one of a set-top-box (STB) and a wireless device, and where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device manages a plurality of subscriptions to advertisement content for different product categories requested by a plurality of smart home appliances.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

by the processor of the smart home appliance;

receiving a shopping cart consolidation request to send the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to a hub shopping cart device that consolidates appliance-specific spoke shopping carts received from multiple smart home appliances into a hub shopping cart useable by a consumer to shop; and

sending the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to the hub shopping cart device in response to the shopping cart consolidation request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

by the processor of the smart home appliance;

recognizing, within the received subscribed advertisement content, an additional purchase opportunity of a new commodity item type within one of the at least one managed product category; and

providing the new commodity item type for which the additional purchase opportunity is recognized for consideration by the consumer within the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart.

8. A system, comprising:

a memory;

at least one integrated inventory sensor;

an inventory area within which inventory commodity items are stored and managed;

a communication interface that provides communication capabilities with the at least one integrated inventory sensor; and

a processor of a smart home appliance, that performs automated appliance-specific inventory management of the inventory area of the smart home appliance using the at least one integrated inventory sensor of the smart home appliance, programmed to;

subscribe, using commodity data of the inventory commodity items sent according to a publish/subscribe mechanism, with an in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within a home network to receive advertisements specific to at least one product category of the inventory commodity items managed within the inventory area of the smart home appliance and that are configured programmatically within the smart home appliance for replenishment according to a configured reordering threshold;

programmatically monitor, using the communication interface that provides the communication capabilities with the at least one integrated inventory sensor, consumption of the inventory commodity items in the at least one managed product category within the inventory area according to inventory measurements provided by the at least one integrated inventory sensor;

receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category selectively distributed by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device according to the publish/subscribe mechanism;

recognize a purchase opportunity of an advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold;

determine purchase availability location information of a store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the purchase availability location information is specified using global positioning satellite (GPS) information of the store from which to acquire the advertised item;

determine whether to add the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to a locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart based upon the determined purchase availability location information;

add, responsive to an affirmative determination regarding the purchase availability location information, the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart within the memory; and

determine travel routing details by which to travel during a shopping trip to a physical location address of the store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the travel routing details comprise GPS information along a travel route to the store from which to acquire the advertised item.

9. The system of claim 8, where in being programmed to receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category, the processor is programmed to receive the subscribed advertisement content as a push operation from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device as part of a subscription established with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device.

10. The system of claim 8, where:

in being programmed to recognize the purchase opportunity of the advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold, the processor is programmed to;

compare the received subscribed advertisement content with current commodity inventory items referenced by the received subscribed advertisement content and with factors configured within at least one inventory rule and that specify the programmatically-configured reordering threshold; and

the processor is programmed add the advertised item to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart within the memory in further response to determining that at least one of;

a configured discount within an inventory rule for a current inventory commodity item is met by the advertised item within the received subscribed advertisement content; and

the current inventory commodity item advertised by the advertised item is at least one of close to expiration, expired, and below one of a configured threshold weight and a configured threshold quantity configured within the inventory rule.

11. The system of claim 8, where the processor is further programmed to:

receive a subscription acknowledgement from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device in accordance with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device further subscribing, on behalf of the smart home appliance, to receive the advertisements specific to the at least one product category from an advertising server located outside of the home network; and

where, in being programmed to receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category, the processor is programmed to receive filtered advertisement content from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device selectively published by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device to the smart home appliance in accordance with the specified at least one product category.

12. The system of claim 8, where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device comprises one of a set-top-box (STB) and a wireless device, and where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device manages a plurality of subscriptions to advertisement content for different product categories requested by a plurality of smart home appliances.

13. The system of claim 8, where the processor is further programmed to:

recognize, within the received subscribed advertisement content, an additional purchase opportunity of a new commodity item type within one of the at least one managed product category;

provide the new commodity item type for which the additional purchase opportunity is recognized for consideration by the consumer within the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart;

receive a shopping cart consolidation request to send the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to a hub shopping cart device that consolidates appliance-specific spoke shopping carts received from multiple smart home appliances into a hub shopping cart useable by a consumer to shop; and

send the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to the hub shopping cart device in response to the shopping cart consolidation request.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code, where the computer readable program code when executed on a computer of a smart home appliance, that comprises an inventory area within which inventory commodity items are stored and managed, and that performs automated appliance-specific inventory management of the inventory area of the smart home appliance using at least one integrated inventory sensor of the smart home appliance, causes the computer to:

subscribe, using commodity data of the inventory commodity items sent according to a publish/subscribe mechanism, with an in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within a home network to receive advertisements specific to at least one product category of the inventory commodity items managed within the inventory area of the smart home appliance and that are configured programmatically within the smart home appliance for replenishment according to a configured reordering threshold;

programmatically monitor, using a communication interface that provides communication capabilities with the at least one integrated inventory sensor, consumption of the inventory commodity items in the at least one managed product category within the inventory area according to inventory measurements provided by the at least one integrated inventory sensor;

receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category selectively distributed by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device according to the publish/subscribe mechanism;

recognize a purchase opportunity of an advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold;

determine purchase availability location information of a store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the purchase availability location information is specified using global positioning satellite (GPS) information of the store from which to acquire the advertised item;

determine whether to add the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to a locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart based upon the determined purchase availability location information;

add, responsive to an affirmative determination regarding the purchase availability location information, the advertised item recognized as the purchase opportunity to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart; and

determine travel routing details by which to travel during a shopping trip to a physical location address of the store from which to acquire the advertised item, where the travel routing details comprise GPS information along a travel route to the store from which to acquire the advertised item.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, where in causing the computer to receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to receive the subscribed advertisement content as a push operation from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device as part of a subscription established with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, where:

in causing the computer to recognize the purchase opportunity of the advertised item in one of the at least one managed product category within the received subscribed advertisement content based upon the monitoring of the consumption of the inventory commodity items and the programmatically-configured reordering threshold, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to;

compare the received subscribed advertisement content with current inventory commodity items referenced by the received subscribed advertisement content and with factors configured within at least one inventory rule and that specify the programmatically-configured reordering threshold; and

the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to add the advertised item to the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart in further response to determining that at least one of;

a configured discount within an inventory rule for a current inventory commodity item is met by the advertised item within the received subscribed advertisement content; and

the current inventory commodity item advertised by the advertised item is at least one of close to expiration, expired, and below one of a configured threshold weight and a configured threshold quantity configured within the inventory rule.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, where the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to:

receive a subscription acknowledgement from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device in accordance with the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device further subscribing, on behalf of the smart home appliance, to receive the advertisements specific to the at least one product category from an advertising server located outside of the home network; and

where in causing the computer to receive, from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device within the home network responsive to subscribing, the subscribed advertisement content specific to the at least one managed product category, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to receive filtered advertisement content from the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device selectively published by the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device to the smart home appliance in accordance with the specified at least one product category.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device comprises one of a set-top-box (STB) and a wireless device, and where the in-home publish/subscribe hub advertising distribution device manages a plurality of subscriptions to advertisement content for different product categories requested by a plurality of smart home appliances.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, where the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to:

receive a shopping cart consolidation request to send the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to a hub shopping cart device that consolidates appliance-specific spoke shopping carts received from multiple smart home appliances into a hub shopping cart useable by a consumer to shop; and

send the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart to the hub shopping cart device in response to the shopping cart consolidation request.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, where the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to:

recognize, within the received subscribed advertisement content, an additional purchase opportunity of a new commodity item type within one of the at least one managed product category; and

provide the new commodity item type for which the additional purchase opportunity is recognized for consideration by the consumer within the locally-stored appliance-specific spoke shopping cart.