Customization of an online shopping experience

• US 20070043626A1
• Filed: 08/22/2005
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Park, Sung, Kasi, Ashish, Sane, Aamod, Jackson, David, Pisupati, Chandra, Song, Deyang, Duvall, Jimmy, Lam, Con, Reeth, Timothy, Mohamed, Ali, Shkolnik, Boris, Li, Junxu, Rawlins, Sheridan
• Granted Patent: US 7,756,752 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

Modification of the presentation of page appearance, page navigation flow, and other aspects of the user experience of an online shopper navigating the virtual shopping cart and checkout pages of an online store is achieved without compromising the security of checkout processing. The modification may include customization, and various configuration and customization tools may be employed. The online shopper experiences continuity between unsecured-connection pages presenting items for purchase and secured-connection pages presented for checkout processing. In one embodiment, page navigation flow is modified using continuations implemented using a relatively small stack to save information relating to the flow. In another embodiment, a page designer enables a dynamic version of a page specification program to be generated, such as by way of a page customization interface. Partial evaluation is employed to generate a version of the program that is executed at request time.

Claims

1. A method for providing at least one checkout page for a site, comprising:

providing an interface for modifying a presentation of the checkout page;

enabling a configuration of the presentation of the checkout page, in accordance with each modification; and

generating a modified presentation of the checkout page for display over a network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the checkout page to a remote user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the checkout page to the remote user further comprises providing the checkout page over a secured connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the checkout page is one of a plurality of pages comprising an online store.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the checkout page includes a display of a virtual shopping cart.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling a configuration of a page navigation flow for the checkout page.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

generating a continuation associated with a transition to the checkout page;

generating a first stack associated with the continuation, wherein the first stack is separate from a procedure call stack; and

if a user provides an input, resuming the continuation to enable navigation to the checkout page.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface is provided to a third-party entity.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface is provided for modifying an appearance of the checkout page.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the checkout page is associated with a page specification program, further comprising:

determining at least one part of the page specification program for evaluation to a static form; and

generating a modified version of the page specification program, wherein the determined at least one part is evaluated.

11. A server for providing at least one checkout page for a site, comprising:

a network interface for communicating with a remote device that requests access to a modification interface for modifying a presentation of the checkout page;

a processor in communication with the network interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and for use in storing data and machine instructions that enable the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

providing the modification interface for modifying the presentation of the checkout page;

enabling a configuration of the presentation of the checkout page, in accordance with each modification; and

generating a modified presentation of the checkout page for display over a network.

12. The server of claim 11, wherein the checkout page includes a display of a virtual shopping cart.

13. The server of claim 11 further comprising enabling a configuration of a page navigation flow for the checkout page.

14. The server of claim 13, further comprising:

enabling a continuation associated with a transition to the checkout page to be generated;

enabling a first stack associated with the continuation to be generated, wherein the first stack is separate from a procedure call stack; and

enabling a resumption of the continuation to allow navigation to the checkout page if a user provides an input.

15. The server of claim 11, wherein the customization interface is provided to a third-party entity.

16. The server of claim 11, wherein the modification interface is provided for modifying an appearance of the checkout page.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the checkout page is associated with a page specification program, further comprising:

determining at least one part of the page specification program for evaluation to a static form; and

generating a modified version of the page specification program, wherein the determined at least one part is evaluated.

18. A client for customizing at least one checkout page for a site, comprising:

a network interface for communicating with a remote device that provides a modification interface for modifying a presentation of the checkout page;

a processor in communication with the network interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and for use in storing data and machine instructions that enable the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

requesting access to the modification interface;

configuring the presentation of the checkout page, in accordance with each modification; and

causing a modified presentation of the checkout page to be generated for display over a network.

19. The client of claim 18, wherein the checkout page includes a display of a virtual shopping cart.

20. The client of claim 18, further comprising configuring a page navigation flow for the checkout page.

21. The client of claim 20, further comprising:

enabling a continuation associated with a transition to the checkout page to be generated;

enabling a first stack associated with the continuation to be generated, wherein the first stack is separate from a procedure call stack; and

enabling a resumption of the continuation to allow navigation to the checkout page if a user provides an input.

22. The client of claim 18, further comprising configuring an appearance of the checkout page.

23. The client of claim 22, wherein the checkout page is associated with a page specification program, further comprising:

enabling a determination of at least one part of the page specification program for evaluation to a static form; and

enabling a modified version of the page specification program to be generated, wherein the at least one part is evaluated.

24. A modulated data signal for enabling at least one checkout page to be provided for a site, the modulated data signal comprising instructions that enable a computing device to perform actions, including:

providing an interface for modification of a presentation of the checkout page;

enabling a configuration of the presentation of the checkout page, in accordance with each modification; and

generating a modified presentation of the checkout page for display over a network.

25. A processor-readable medium storing processor-executable code for performing actions that enable at least one checkout page to be provided, comprising:

providing an interface for modification of a presentation of the checkout page;

enabling a configuration of the presentation of the checkout page, in accordance with each modification; and

generating a modified presentation of the checkout page for display over a network.