Abstract: A method and system for reserving future purchases of goods or services using plural electronic options. The purchased electronic options are automatically exercised upon completion of an electronic purchase transaction for a desired good or service associated with the purchased electronic option and a final purchase price automatically adjusted based on exercising the electronic option. The final purchase price is adjusted based on electronic option terms as well as other factors including reward points, loyalty points, etc.

Abstract: A preference-information gathering system is capable of gathering information on every commodity and/or every service, which are each of interest to a user, as user's preference information. The preference-information gathering system includes a user portable terminal (102) capable of storing a user identifier uniquely identifying the user, an information searching apparatus (104) and a preference-information management apparatus (114) for managing the information on preferences with the user. The information searching apparatus (104) has a search-information inputting unit (108) for requesting a user to enter search information to be used in a process to search for information desired by the user and a user-identifier acquisition unit (110) for acquiring a user identifier.

Abstract: Described is a method and a corresponding system for designing interior and exterior environments and for selling real world goods that appear as virtual objects within an augmented reality-generated design. The method includes the steps of generating a digitized still or moving image of a real world environment; providing in a programmable computer a database of virtual objects; parsing the image with a programmable computer to determine if the image contains any real world markers corresponding to the virtual objects in the database; retrieving corresponding virtual objects from the database and superimposing the images contained in the virtual objects in registration upon their corresponding real world markers in the image; and enabling users to retrieve the attributes of the real world objects depicted in the augmented reality image.

Abstract: An aggregation of functionality related to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a wholesaler web system is provided by presenting on a client computing device a webpage in which a single product is directly associated with a single access point. The single access point provides a means by which plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product are made available to a consumer. A listing of the plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product is displayed within the webpage in response to an activation of the single access point by the consumer. In response to a selection by the consumer from the displayed listing the wholesaler web system initiates a performance of the one of the plural wholesaler web system functions so selected.

Abstract: A software system with a “single page buy” capability—both product information and purchase information on a single webpage. The software does the backend work needed to display both, in order to simplify the user experience. In one embodiment, commerce is “atomized” by pushing out the capability to purchase throughout the Internet—to ads on 3rd party sites, references in blogs, articles, etc. In one embodiment, a gliding product display is provided. The ad has a banner-type ad dimension, with product icons scrolling or gliding across it.

Abstract: Systems, computer-implemented methods and computer program products for generating customized shopping lists for recurring purchases of the same item based upon item-level electronic transaction data. Item-level electronic transaction data is analyzed to determine purchase intervals of items and estimate when the consumer will purchase the items again. Segregated, customized shopping lists are generated such that shopping lists have identified items when it is estimated that the consumer will need to purchase the items again. Multiple shopping lists may be segregated by merchant such that consumers have two more different lists of items for different merchants for a given estimated date. For example, a consumer may be provided with a first shopping list for a grocery store such as SAFEWAY, a second shopping list for a warehouse club store such as COSTCO, and a third shopping list for a big box store or superstore such as TARGET.

Abstract: A method and system of providing custom background-downloads, where content is selected for background downloading to a subscriber based on an analysis of the current time, the subscriber's current location, and online transaction history records regarding a plurality of subscribers over time, each record indicating content that was a subject of the transaction. A custom content server may determine the subscriber's current location and the current time, and the server may then select transaction history records reflecting transactions that occurred in the past at a similar location and time (possibly just records for transactions involving the subscriber currently at issue). The server may then select one or more pieces of available content based on their similarity to the content indicated by the selected transaction records. And the server may background-download the selected content to the subscriber. The invention can be used to provide custom-channel definitions or custom content-catalogs, for instance.

Abstract: Managing online content via user supplied and/or refined tagging is disclosed. In some embodiments, a selection of an item available from an online store is received, and one or more tags to be associated with the item are received from a member of an online community comprising users of the online store. In some embodiments, an indication of a degree of usefulness of a tag is received from a member of an online community, and an attribute of the tag is updated to reflect the indication.

Abstract: Implementations of methods of the present disclosure include managing an electronic gift registry by establishing an electronic gift registry for a registrant, accessing information about multiple different products that are available to be added to the registrant's gift registry, enabling display of a graphical user interface that presents indications of at least some of the different products that are available to be added to the registrant's gift registry, enabling the registrant to add to the registrant's electronic gift registry the different products for which indications are presented within the graphical user interface by interacting with the graphical user interface, and enabling the registrant to designate one or more products that the registrant has added to the registrant's electronic gift registry as products that, once purchased by a gift giver, are not to be shipped until after receiving a future authorization from the registrant to ship the products.

Abstract: Various embodiments are described herein that provide one or more of a systems, methods, software, and data structures within an Internet marketplace context that are useful to promote products that may be associated with an event occurrence. Some embodiments further utilize collaborative filtering to augment event-based product recommendations.

Abstract: In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A server system receives, as sent by a computing device, a request to purchase a product. The request is initiated by user selection of an element provided for display by a third-party application program. The server system sends, for receipt by a transaction processing system, a charge request to charge an account of a user of the computing device for purchase of the product. The server system determines, after the charge request has been sent for receipt by the transaction processing system, to cancel the charge request. The server system sends, for receipt by the transaction processing system, a request to cancel the charge request. The server system sends, for receipt by the computing device, an indication that purchase of the product has been cancelled.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for an online transferring system where a conveying user may transfer a virtual object, representative of a real object, to a receiving user using an electronic ID of the receiving user and have a real object delivered to a shipping address of the receiving user without knowledge of the shipping address by the conveying user. The system includes an electronic data store having a set of identifying information for a receiving user. The set of identifying information includes an electronic ID and a physical contact address. The system includes a communication system for communication between the conveying user and the receiving user. The communication system provides the electronic ID to the conveying user without providing the physical contact address to the conveying user. The system includes a virtual object, representative of a real-world object, associated with the conveying user.

Abstract: Various embodiments of a system and method for message-based purchasing are described. The system and method for message-based purchasing may include a message-based purchase service configured to determine that a selection has been performed through a network-based interface. Such selection may be indicative of one or more items offered for sale via the network-based interface. The message-based purchase service may be configured to, in response to the selection of one or more items, send to a communication device, a message indicating a code corresponding to the selection. The message-based purchase service may receive from the communication device through a communication channel that does not include the network-based interface, a message including the code. The message-based purchase service may be configured to, in response to determining that the message received from the communication device includes the code, generate a purchase request for the one or more previously selected items.

Abstract: An aggregation of functionality related to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a wholesaler web system is provided by presenting on a client computing device a webpage in which a single product is directly associated with a single access point. The single access point provides a means by which plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product are made available to a consumer. A listing of the plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product is displayed within the webpage in response to an activation of the single access point by the consumer. In response to a selection by the consumer from the displayed listing the wholesaler web system initiates a performance of the one of the plural wholesaler web system functions so selected.

Abstract: Computer-implemented systems and methods for generating marketplace listings using a camera enabled mobile device are described in which a request is received via a camera enabled mobile device to list one or more sale items. An image taken by the camera enable mobile device and depicting the one or more sale items is received. Image recognition is performed on the received image to identify the one or more sale items. Based on the identification of the one or more sale items depicted in the image, a set of descriptive data is automatically generated. The one or more sale items are listed on a marketplace using the image and the automatically generated set of descriptive data.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for determining categories of items to include in a search results page. Representative is a system comprising at least one computing device with a search engine and a network page build process that are executable therein. The search engine identifies a plurality of items to display in a network page in response to a request for search, wherein the items are classified in a plurality of categories. The network page build process applies one or more rules to determine one or more of the categories for which corresponding ones of the items are to be displayed in a network page.

Abstract: An interactive system generates personalized item recommendations for users based partly or wholly on ratings assigned by the users to particular items. The system includes an item rating user interface that enables a user to view, prior to rating an item, information regarding the types of items that will be recommended to the user if the user assigns a particular rating or type of rating to the item. The user interface thereby enables users to refrain from performing rating actions that will tend to result in low utility or “poor quality” recommendations from the users' perspectives.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for assisting a user in one or more activities during online shopping. The method facilitates tracking of at least one activity of the user during online shopping. Thereafter, the method identifies a suitable promotion for the user based on the tracked activity. Subsequently, the method displays the promotion in a predefined format on a portion of the browser.

Abstract: The disclosed system and method includes a global computer network facility which provides a platform allowing artists to quickly and easily promote their music. A method and system of uploading songs establishes unique characteristics of each song with audio-analytical tools, and stores the analyzed songs on an online cloud computing storage facility. The artist-users can efficiently promote their music directly to the right suited audience in a fair fashion, providing a platform for all artists, including lesser known and popular artists. Simultaneously, the system allows listeners to readily access their entire music library from any mobile device via syncing music to devices with the invention's client application. At the same time, listener-users are automatically prompted with new or recommended music based on audio/acoustical characteristics of the song that they are currently listening to.

Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes a computer-implemented method for supplier update of a procurement system. The method includes providing a customizable procurement entity to a supplier, receiving a modified procurement entity from the supplier, wherein the modified procurement entity comprises an update made by the supplier to the customizable procurement entity, reviewing and approving the modified procurement entity, and publishing the modified procurement entity to the procurement system.