Weight Based Upselling
Weight based upselling, including receiving a purchase request for an item from a customer; determining a weight of the item; identifying, in dependence upon the weight of the item, a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, where the shipping weight range includes a maximum shipping weight; calculating a difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; and offering the upsell item to the customer, including offering to ship both the item and the upsell item for only the identified shipping cost.
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This application is a continuation application of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/981,265, filed on Nov. 4, 2004, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/058,674, filed on Mar. 29, 2008.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, systems, and products for weight based upselling.
2. Description Of Related Art
Online shopping on the Internet and the World Wide Web has become commonplace. Customers have become accustomed to price shopping to get the best deal on the products they buy. Other than picking the method of shipping (ground, second day, next day, and so on), customers generally do not think of minimizing the shipping costs when ordering. In fact, many shippers will charge a flat rate for package up to a certain amount of weight. If the package weights less than the maximum weight allowed for the flat rate, this extra shipping space is wasted and the customer's effectively overpays the shipping cost for an order.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONMethods, systems, and products are disclosed for weight based upselling that reduce the risk of wasting shipping costs by offering a customer an additional purchase of an item whose weight can be included in the unused portion of the shipping cost—so that the item can be shipped to the customer at no additional cost for the shipping. That is, methods, systems, and products are disclosed for weight based upselling that include receiving a purchase request for an item from a customer; determining a weight of the item; identifying, in dependence upon the weight of the item, a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, where the shipping weight range includes a maximum shipping weight; calculating a difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; and offering the upsell item to the customer, including offering to ship both the item and the upsell item for only the identified shipping cost.
In typical embodiments, receiving a purchase request for an item includes receiving a purchase request in an electronic commerce server through an electronic data communications medium, and offering the upsell item to the customer includes offering the upsell item to the customer from the electronic commerce server through the electronic data communications medium. In other embodiments, receiving a purchase request for an item includes receiving a purchase request for an item by telephone, and offering the upsell item to the customer includes offering the upsell item to the customer by telephone. In typical embodiments, the purchase request includes an item identifier. In such embodiments, determining a weight of the item includes selecting an item record in dependence upon the item identifier and reading the weight of the item from the item record. In such embodiments, the item record typically includes data elements describing the item, including the weight of the item.
In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range and a type code matching a type code associated with the item. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range and at least one demographic code matching at least one demographic code associated with the customer. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; and an item type matching an item type associated with the customer through a purchase history.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.
The present invention is described to a large extent in this specification in terms of methods for weight based upselling. Persons skilled in the art, however, will recognize that any computer system that includes suitable programming means for operating in accordance with the disclosed methods also falls well within the scope of the present invention. Suitable programming means include any means for directing a computer system to execute the steps of the method of the invention, including for example, systems comprised of processing units and arithmetic-logic circuits coupled to computer memory, which systems have the capability of storing in computer memory, which computer memory includes electronic circuits configured to store data and program instructions, programmed steps of the method of the invention for execution by a processing unit.
The invention also may be embodied in a computer program product, such as a diskette or other recording medium, for use with any suitable data processing system. Embodiments of a computer program product may be implemented by use of any recording medium for machine-readable information, including magnetic media, optical media, or other suitable media. Persons skilled in the art will immediately recognize that any computer system having suitable programming means will be capable of executing the steps of the method of the invention as embodied in a program product. Persons skilled in the art will recognize immediately that, although most of the exemplary embodiments described in this specification are oriented to software installed and executing on computer hardware, nevertheless, alternative embodiments implemented as firmware or as hardware are well within the scope of the present invention.
Weight Based UpsellingMethods, systems, and products for weight based upselling are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, beginning with
The system of
In the system of
The merchant may receive purchases requests in electronic form, as paper purchase forms forwarded through the mail, by telephone, and in other ways as will occur to those of skill in the art.
In the system of
-
- a mobile telephone (110) connected for electronic data communications to ecommerce server (108) in merchant (102) through wireless connection (114) and Wide Area Network (‘WAN’) (112);
- a laptop computer (126) connected for electronic data communications to ecommerce server (108) in merchant (102) through wireline connection (116) and Wide Area Network (‘WAN’) (112);
- a personal computer (103) connected for electronic data communications to ecommerce server (108) in merchant (102) through wireline connection (122) and Wide Area Network (‘WAN’) (112); and
- a personal digital assistant (‘PDA’) (126) connected for electronic data communications to ecommerce server (108) in merchant (102) through wireless connection (120) and Wide Area Network (‘WAN’) (112).
Markup languages useful to implement purchase requests in electronic form in systems for weight based upselling according to embodiments of the present invention include, for example, the HyperText Markup Language (‘HTML’), the Wireless Markup Language (‘WML’), and the eXtensible Markup Language (‘XML’). Data communications protocols useful to transmit purchase requests in electronic form from client computers to ecommerce servers in systems for weight based upselling according to embodiments of the present invention include, for example, the HyperText Transfer Protocol (‘HTTP’), the Wireless Access Protocol (‘WAP’), the Transmission Control Protocol (‘TCP’), and the Internet Protocol (‘IP’).
In the system of
The merchant of
Systems for weight based upselling according to embodiments of the present invention are generally implemented with automated computing machinery, that is, with computers. In the system of
The computer (152) of
The computer (152) of
The exemplary computer (152) of
The example computer of
A merchant may determine the weight of an item, identify a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, calculate the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight, and select an upsell item—all by use of the data store illustrated at reference (450) in
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
The exemplary data structures of
For further explanation,
The method of
In the method of
In the method of
For further explanation,
The browser of
In this example, a customer has accessed the web site at www.mystore.com and navigated the browser to the network address represented by the URL: http://www.mystore.com/shopping (308) which represents a shopping screen in a web site on a web server, an electronic commerce server, implemented to present and operate an online store with weight based upselling according to embodiments of the present invention. The web page so accessed has a site search feature (310) in which the customer entered the query ‘home gyms.’ The ecommerce server at www.mystore.com/shopping responded with three descriptions of home gyms (320, 322, 324), and the customer selected one (324) with a mouseclick, thereby transmitting a purchase request to the ecommerce server and adding item (324) to an online shopping cart. The customer can review the contents of the online shopping cart, purchase items in the cart, and make payment arrangements and shipping arrangements by activating the CHECKOUT button (326) near the bottom of the browser screen.
The ecommerce server, upon receiving the purchase request, after the customer selected item (324), retrieved the weight of the item, that is, the third home gym, from its inventory item records, item records that may be implemented, for example, as described above regarding reference (220) on
The ecommerce server then selected an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range. That is, the ecommerce server selected an upsell item whose weight would not cause the combined weight of the home gym plus the upsell item to exceed the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range for the same shipping cost. In addition, the ecommerce server selected the item according to a demographic. In this example, the demographic is an expression of interest by the customer. That is, the server treats the customer's purchase request as an expression of interested in the item purchased for a home gym and looks up the item identifier for the item just purchased in a demographic link table like the one illustrated at reference (250) on
It will be understood from the foregoing description that modifications and changes may be made in various embodiments of the present invention without departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in this specification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the language of the following claims.
Claims
1-8. (canceled)
9. A system for weight based upselling, the system comprising:
- means for receiving a purchase request for an item from a customer including means for receiving a purchase request in an electronic commerce server through an electronic data communications medium, wherein the purchase request includes an item identifier;
- means for determining a weight of the item including means for selecting an item record in dependence upon the item identifier, wherein the item record includes data elements describing the item, including the weight of the item, and means for reading the weight of the item from the item record;
- means for identifying, in dependence upon the weight of the item, a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, wherein the shipping weight range includes a maximum shipping weight;
- means for calculating a difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range;
- means for selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range including means for selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range, a type code matching a type code associated with the item, at least one demographic code matching at least one demographic code associated with the customer, and an item type matching an item type associated with the customer through a purchase history; and
- means for offering the upsell item to the customer, including means for offering to ship both the item and the upsell item for only the identified shipping cost including means for offering the upsell item to the customer from the electronic commerce server through the electronic data communications medium.
10-16. (canceled)
17. A computer program product for weight based upselling, the computer program product comprising:
- a recording medium;
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a purchase request for an item from a customer including means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a purchase request in an electronic commerce server through an electronic data communications medium, wherein the purchase request includes an item identifier;
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining a weight of the item including means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting an item record in dependence upon the item identifier, wherein the item record includes data elements describing the item, including the weight of the item, and means, recorded on the recording medium, for reading the weight of the item from the item record;
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for identifying, in dependence upon the weight of the item, a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, wherein the shipping weight range includes a maximum shipping weight;
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for calculating a difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range;
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range including means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range, a type code matching a type code associated with the item, at least one demographic code matching at least one demographic code associated with the customer, and an item type matching an item type associated with the customer through a purchase history; and
- means, recorded on the recording medium, for offering the upsell item to the customer, including means, recorded on the recording medium, for offering to ship both the item and the upsell item for only the identified shipping cost including means, recorded on the recording medium, for offering the upsell item to the customer firm the electronic commerce server through the electronic data communications medium.
18-24. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 23, 2008
Publication Date: Apr 16, 2009
Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (ARMONK, NY)
Inventors: Mark Joseph Hamzy (Round Rock, TX), Edward Scott Rozmiarek (Round Rock, TX)
Application Number: 12/342,251
International Classification: G06Q 30/00 (20060101);