Abstract: Methods and apparatus, including systems and computer program products, for a services architecture design that provides enterprise services having customer relationship management functionality at the level of an enterprise application. The design includes a set of service operations, process components, and optionally deployment units. Suitable business objects are also described.

Abstract: A computing appliance is provided and includes a processor, an Internet interface, a data store containing virtual catalog items for service through a website, and software executing from a machine-readable physical medium causing the computing appliance to record the number of impressions of each of the items that has occurred over a defined period, record the number of sales of each of items that has occurred over the defined period, calculate the average sales price for each of the items for the defined period, multiply the average sales price by the number of sales calculated previously for each item, divide the total sales figure derived for each item by the total number of impressions calculated for that item over the defined period deriving a revenue contribution value for each item, and in response to a request to display items, serving the items included in the request according to highest revenue contribution value.

Abstract: A shopping list generating system includes a coupon obtaining module, a keyword generator, a recipe obtaining module, and a shopping list generator. The coupon obtaining module obtains coupon information about one or more particular coupons from a coupon database. The keyword generator generates one or more keywords according to particular coupon information about the one or more particular coupons. The recipe obtaining module obtains recipe information about one or more recipes by querying the recipe database using the one or more keywords, and the shopping list generator generates a shopping list of ingredients according to the recipe information about the one or more recipes.

Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods for allocating units to users, for example in the context of an online auction environment. In overview, the technology described herein provides for an auction process whereby a decrementing price is combined with a competitive hidden-bid process. Users participate in the auction for the purpose of obtaining a desired number of units from a stockpile of like units, such as bottles of a particular batch of wine. The users effectively have two modes of participation. The first is to purchase units at a system-defined price, which decrements at predetermined intervals. The second is to place a bid at a user-defined price, this bid being deemed as successful when the system-defined price decrements to a value of equal to or less than the user-defined price.

Abstract: A method for completing an electronic commerce transaction, involving receiving security information associated with a real identity of a buyer, receiving virtual security labels corresponding to security information associated with the real identity of a buyer, storing the security information and the virtual security labels in an isolated entity of a dedicated payment system, transferring the virtual security labels to a virtual world entity of the dedicated payment system, wherein the virtual world entity is operatively connected to a first network using which the buyer connects to the dedicated payment system, and executing the electronic commerce transaction via the first network using the virtual security labels and the security information associated with the real identity of the buyer, wherein the isolated entity is communicatively disjoined from the virtual world entity and the first network, and wherein security information associated with the real identity of the buyer is not transmitted via the fi

Abstract: A personalization network service enables developers to develop recommenders that can be made available to content site operators for providing recommendations to end users. The personalization network service may also be capable of optimizing the use and selection of the recommenders for different end users, groups or segments of end users, content sites, and the like.

Abstract: An e-commerce system, comprising an endorsement engine and interface software coupled to the endorsement engine and adapted to interact with one or more content sources connected over a network. In an embodiment, the interface software enables an endorsing user to browse the content sources and select a content item, to enter code associated with the selected content element, to view product information, to select a product for endorsement, and to enter code associated with the selected product. Upon activation of the content-specific code by a viewing user, the viewing user is connected to the selected content and is able to view the selected content, and upon activation of the product-specific code by a viewing user, the viewing user is connected to a network-connected shopping cart, and is thereby enabled to buy the product.

Abstract: An e-commerce system, comprising an endorsement engine and interface software coupled to the endorsement engine and adapted to interact with one or more content sources connected over a network and adapted to enable subscriptions from users using a protocol, is disclosed. In an embodiment, the interface software enables an endorsing user to browse the content sources and select a content item, to enter code associated with the selected content element, to view product information, to select a product for endorsement, and to enter code associated with the selected product. Upon retrieval of content by a viewing user who previously subscribed to the content source using the protocol, at least one of the content-specific code and the product-specific code is also provided to the viewing user via the protocol.

Abstract: An e-commerce system, comprising an endorsement engine, a first interface software coupled to the endorsement engine and adapted to interact with one or more content sources connected over a network and adapted to enable subscriptions from users using a protocol, and a second interface software coupled to the endorsement engine and adapted to interact with one or more merchants to receive information about products, is disclosed. In an embodiment, the first interface software enables an endorsing user to browse the content sources and select a content item, to enter code associated with the selected content element, to view product information provided by merchants, to select a product for endorsement, and to enter code associated with the selected product. Upon retrieval of content by a viewing user who previously subscribed to the content source using the protocol, at least one of the content-specific code and the product-specific code is also provided to the viewing user via the protocol.

Abstract: A Dynamic property buying and selling system is described. The system is comprised of networked hardware, software, processes and methods that enable an auction like system to inform buyers, sellers and interested third parties of current market information and dynamics. The described system may be used in real estate and other markets to complete early stages of a negotiation process as well as enable buyers and sellers to test for market information. Third party observers may use the system to investigate and report on market information and test economic theories regarding the market of interest. An integrated expert system is useful to buyers, sellers and third party observers in providing answers to queries regarding correlation of auction parameters and optimization of parameters for particular desired outcomes. Controls are integrated into the system to help ensure reliability and accuracy of the results and information by blocking observed detrimental activity.

Abstract: A social network for shopping may be provided in which a user may provide a listing of an item they would like and the identity of a seller the item may be retrieved from. Another user may agree to pick up the item from the seller and deliver the item, perhaps for a small fee. The listing of the item may be posted on a website, sent to other users by a web feed such as RSS, sent by a text message, instant message, email, or communicated in any other manner to one or more users, etc. Alternatively, a user may post the identity of a seller that they are going to and ask if any users would like any items picked up from the seller and delivered to them, perhaps for a small fee.

Abstract: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a registration system having a controller to register a purchase of media content housed in a physical medium with one or more media sources to authorize a consumer of the purchased media content to electronically access from the one or more media sources at least a portion of media content that is similar to or a replica of the purchased media content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system and method for providing electronic meal information to a user. At least one database stores recipe information, recipe attribute information process information and time information for recipes. A web site linked to the Internet includes a prompt for a user to submit at least one characteristic of a meal and another prompt for available ingredient information. Recipe information is generated by a selection of at least some of the stored electronic recipe information that corresponds to the characteristic of the meal and the available ingredients. An electronic list of ingredients is generated that includes the difference between ingredients for the meal, and the at least one ingredient that the user has available for the meal.

Abstract: An auction system and method, which identifies at least one lot to be auctioned, having a plurality of units within the lot and associated auction parameters; transmits a remaining quantity of units within the lot from a central server to a plurality of remote locations; receives bid identifications for remaining units within the lot at the contemporaneous offering price from the plurality of remote locations; and decrements the offering price over time. The decrement may be adaptive to a bid activity pattern, and the bid activity pattern may be stored in a database. A local server may be provided to communicate between the central server and remote locations while changing the format of the information communicated. The packets preferably include compressed information, and preferably include quantity remaining information for a plurality of auction lots.

Abstract: The invention provides methods of acquiring actual real-time shopper behavior data during product selection of purchasable items by a shopper in a store. More specifically, disclosed herein are methods of using a communications multi-network, a First Moment of Truth device and a data collection device to track actual real-time shopper behavior data relating to the presumed locations of shoppers in a store, the time spent and location of time spent by a shopper while considering a purchasable item and products chosen for purchase.

Abstract: A computer-based online system having a memory, for managing a plurality of registries of baby care product selections, wherein each of the plurality of registries is uniquely associated with a respective one of a plurality of users, and wherein each baby care product selection corresponds to a baby care product selected at the online system or one of a plurality of retailers.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a system and method for presenting large numbers of items on a display screen. According to one aspect of the present invention, information is harvested from a plurality of sites and over a plurality of times and aggregated into a single item set. According to another aspect of the present invention, this information is supplemented by data derived from sorting and classification tasks performed by humans. According to another aspect of present invention, this information is used to derive similarities between items and to derive a hierarchical classification of items into a hierarchical set of categories. According to another aspect of the present invention, one or more series of catalog displays are created which display these items arranged by different criteria and at different scales.

Abstract: A system, method and computer program product for instant redirection of an online consumer from a referring website to a vendor website is disclosed. The method includes administering, via a single administrator, a plurality of referring websites in a plurality of goods and service provider categories and associating a single URL (uniform resource locator) for a client's website with at least one zip code as predetermined by the client. The method also includes automatically determining a zip code for the consumer visiting one of referring websites and comparing the zip code predetermined by the client with the consumer's zip code for a match. The method further includes instantly redirecting the consumer's browser to the client's website via the single URL when there is a match and otherwise directing the consumer's browser to a self-maintaining goods and service provider directory for a specific zip code.

Abstract: Processing purchasing items is provided. A broadcast television signal is received at a television system. The broadcast television signal contains data indicating that an item in the broadcast television signal is being offered for sale. A visual cue is presented in association with the item being presented in the television system in response to receiving the data. In response to receiving a user input to purchase the item, a purchase request process is sent to a seller of the item to purchase the item using personal information needed to purchase the item stored in the television system.

Abstract: A method for testing versions for remote manufacturing of software media from a network is described. An interface to a user is provided for creation of a physical on demand product. A product version is created for the physical on demand product that includes an electronic copy of a product and information about the product. Approval of the created product version is requested from quality assurance. A test order capability is provided to the user after approval from quality assurance such that the user may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine. The delivery of the test order is processed based upon who is requesting the test order. A software system that performs the testing method described above for the creation of compact discs (CDs) or digital video discs (DVDs) containing full product files (executables, binaries, music, video, etc.) also is described.