Abstract: Provided are a method, a system, and a non-transitory computer-readable record medium for comparing common features of products and providing a comparison result. A product comparison method includes recognizing at least two comparable products from at least one image; displaying at least one common attribute of the at least two comparable products through a user interface; and based on the user interface receiving a user input that selects one of the at least one common attribute, as a selected attribute, providing a result of comparison between the at least two comparable products with regard to the selected attribute.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for generating a search results interface for sharing user content for subsequent media searches of a physical object. In one example, a system comprises machine readable instructions stored in the a memory of a client device. The instructions cause the client device to at least transmit to a computing device a request for an image search of an object. The request comprises an image of the object. An image result is received from the computing device in response to the request for the image search. The instructions cause the client device to display an image search results interface. The image search results interface includes an image result from the image search and an upload user interface component. The upload user interface component is configured to display an input interface for uploading user content associated with the object in the image result.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for providing a vehicle recommendation to a user may include: obtaining one or more vehicle images via a device associated with the user; identifying one or more user-selected images of the one or more vehicle images based on user interaction with the one or more vehicle images performed by the user via a user interface; identifying one or more first-level attributes from the one or more user-selected images; obtaining one or more vehicle identifications from the one or more user-selected images; determining one or more second-level attributes based on the one or more vehicle identifications; determining a value of each of the one or more first-level attributes and the one or more second-level attributes; determining the vehicle recommendation based on the value; and transmitting, to the device associated with the user, a notification indicating the vehicle recommendation.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for catalog item selection based on visual similarity are disclosed. A similarity detection system selects candidate items for an unavailable item in a catalog. The candidate items are selected from one or more item categories in which the unavailable item is classified. The system determines respective similarity scores for at least some of the candidate items with respect to the unavailable item. For a particular candidate item, the similarity score is determined based at least in part on a visual similarity between an image of the unavailable item and an image of the particular candidate item. The system selects, from the candidate items, a set of visually similar items to the unavailable item based at least in part on the similarity scores. The visually similar items are available to the user.

Abstract: The present invention aims to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and the like capable of reducing labor of associating an item for sale with a category. The information processing device acquires an image specified by a user. The information processing device extracts a feature value of the specified image. The information processing device acquires category information corresponding to an item for sale represented by the specified image. The information processing device searches for images similar to the specified image, based on the extracted feature value. The information processing device causes at least one of the found images to be displayed as a search result. The information processing device, when the user has selected any one image from the displayed search result, makes a storage unit store the acquired category information in association with sale item identification information corresponding to the selected image.

Abstract: Systems and methods electronically obtain data regarding a plurality of sources and corresponding amounts of resources received from the sources for a plurality of relationship instances each associated with one or more respective domains of a plurality of domains. For each relationship instance of the plurality of relationship instances: the system electronically identifies a rate to calculate an amount of resource due to one or more respective domains associated with the relationship instance based on a source of a resource received for the relationship instance and the one or more respective domains and calculates an amount of resources due to at least one respective domain associated with the relationship instance based on the identified rate. For each domain of the plurality of domains, the system aggregates a total amount of resources due to the domain based on the calculated amount of resources due for each relationship instance associated with the domain.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to extraction of rationales for studied outcome. A method comprises: grouping features as expert to align with a set of operating practices; generating interpretable features using operating rules, combining with statistical dependence analysis to bin selected features to generate favorite practice actions; grouping features as expert that combine a subset of the interpretable features to align with a set of operating practices.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for determining the appropriateness of medical interventions. In one embodiment, a machine learning system for determining the appropriateness of a selected medical intervention includes health-related data sources, the health-related data sources providing at least one data file of a first type, and a second data file of a second type. A machine learning module is configured to receive the first and second data files, perform a normalization procedure on at least one of the first and second data files, and apply at least one previously trained machine learning model to the normalized data files to produce a prediction output. The prediction output may include a confidence level associated with an appropriateness of the selected medical intervention.

Abstract: Accessing measurements associated with garments and leveraging the measurements to determine fit characteristics associated with the garments is described. The fit characteristics may be leveraged to provide information about how a garment fits relative to another garment to streamline online shopping transactions. Fit characteristics may correspond to scores that are determined based at least in part on one or more measurements of a garment. Individual measurements may be standardized and/or weighted. The individual measurements may be combined to determine a score representative of a fit characteristic. Fit characteristics associated with two or more garments may be compared and a user interface may be caused to be displayed to compare garments. The user interface may summarize fit characteristic comparisons via textual descriptions, graphical representations, etc. Users may leverage fit characteristics and resulting user interfaces to comparison shop between various garments.

Abstract: A method for searching for apparel online includes storing multiple apparel cut patterns and determining a distance between points of the multiple apparel cut patterns. The method also includes retrieving a reference apparel item cut pattern from the multiple apparel cut patterns based on user input corresponding to a reference apparel item. The method further includes identifying a search apparel cut pattern from the multiple apparel cut patterns based on the determined distance and generating an overlay of a visual representation of the search apparel cut pattern and corresponding to a visual representation of the reference apparel cut pattern. The method still further includes displaying the overlay and information of a search apparel item corresponding to the search apparel cut pattern.

Abstract: A cloud service broker apparatus and method thereof are provided. The cloud service broker apparatus includes a controller configured to provide a brokerage service between a plurality of cloud service providers and a cloud service user by dividing a cloud service requested by the cloud service user into a plurality of cloud service segments and distributing each of the cloud service segments to each of the clouds.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides embodiments of a method of providing a virtual window treatment decorating interface that comprises receiving, at a processor, window data pertaining to at least one window of a premises, providing a user interface for selection of a window treatment for the at least one window, rendering one of the at least one window in the user interface, the rendering being generated based on the window data, receiving a selection of a window treatment to be applied to the rendered window, and rendering the window treatment onto the rendered window in the user interface. Preferably, the method includes setting dimensions of the rendered window and window treatment to correspond to professional measurement data of the window to provide an accurate virtual visualization of the window with the selected treatment.

Abstract: Devices and methods for detecting credit card skimmers are provided herein. A device can include a printed circuit board having a pattern of electrical traces on its surface, and a computer readable medium comprising instructions that cause a processor to direct an electrical voltage to a trace and detect an electrical current between two points of the trace. A gap can be disposed between the two points across which a voltage is applied in order to detect a magnetic reader. A count of the detected magnetic readers within a credit card reading device may be indicative of the presence of a credit card skimmer.

Abstract: Systems and methods for analyzing image data depicting properties are disclosed. According to certain aspects, an electronic device may analyze image data depicting a property to identify a set of attributes of the property. The electronic device may identify, based on the set of attributes, an architectural style of the property. Further, the electronic device may identify at least one additional property having the same architectural style. Data indicative of the at least one additional property may be presented to a user for viewing and assessment.

Abstract: Text input data may be aggregated and mapped to create composite text input data for electronic records. A semantic event may be automatically detected, triggered by a semantic rule and associated semantic tag. The detected semantic event may be flagged, and a text mining result database may be updated by adding an entry to the database. An indication associated with the event may be transmitted, and a back-end application computer server may establish a hierarchy for multiple elements of the electronic records. The computer server may determine a weight variable and response variable for each element in the hierarchy and apply a hierarchical credibility weighting methodology to the elements from level 1, representing the least granular level in the hierarchy, to level n, representing the most granular level in the hierarchy, calculated recursively from level n, to determine a final estimated credibility for the electronic records.

Abstract: A device that automates a design of an engagement ring. The handheld device comprises a display for displaying a series of questions to a customer and an input device that is capable of receiving at least one answer to the series of questions. The device also includes a microprocessor; and a memory that stores instructions, which cause the microprocessor to: input the at least one answer into an algorithm; identify on behalf of the customer a plurality of engagement rings that best matches the at least one answer; generate an information box in the display, in response to the selection of a specific engagement ring from the plurality of engagement rings; receive the customer's feedback on the specific engagement ring; and generating a recommended engagement ring to the customer.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention disclose a query result bottom retrieval method and apparatus. The query result bottom retrieval method includes: acquiring, from a resource library and based on a user input target query, query resources associated with the user input target query; acquiring comparative scoring characteristics of each of the query resources, the comparative scoring characteristics including base relevance characteristics; inputting the comparative scoring characteristics of each of the query resources into a pre-trained rank model, to acquire relevance scoring values corresponding to the query resources and output by the rank model, the rank model being a GBRank model; and ranking the query resources based on the relevance scoring values, and selecting, according to the ranking result, a set number of target resources as a bottom retrieval result corresponding to the target query.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes a computing device receiving postings from users of an online social networking system. A postings may include location data along with one or more tags that may describe the content of the posting. The computing device may identify regions and subregions from which the postings originated, and may determine a distribution of the tags according to two data dimensions: the ubiquity of the tags across the regions, and the ubiquity of the tags across the subregions. Based on the distribution, the computing device may create a neighborhood characterization to accurately describe one or more subregions. The computing device may also determine applications for the neighborhood characterization.

Abstract: Systems and methods for analyzing image data depicting portions of properties are disclosed. According to certain aspects, an electronic device may analyze image data depicting a portion of a property to identify a set of elements and a set of characteristics associated therewith. The electronic device may access a desired set of characteristics and may calculate a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements to achieve the desired set of characteristics.

Abstract: User interfaces associated with devices and applications for distributing digital media content are described. A user interface may be provided that includes a favorites selection button allowing a user to identify selected media tracks and/or associated artists to be played more frequently. A ban selection button may be also provided allowing a user to selectively ban media tracks and/or associated artists. Additional controls may be provided including controls and interfaces for creating user customized stations to customize content delivery based on user specified preferences stored in a user profile.

Abstract: An online system receives tracking requests from client devices interacting with a website. The online system analyzes user interactions with websites using the tracking requests. The online system predicts an accurate label for the web page that caused the tracking request to be generated. The online system uses the accurate label for generating reports describing user interactions with the website. The online system determines a quality of tracking requests generated by the website based on various factors including a number of web pages of the website that generate tracking requests, the type of information provided by the tracking requests, and so on. The online system generates reports describing the quality of the tracking requests. The online system uses a metric indicating the quality of tracking requests of the website to determine whether to use predicted labels instead of labels provided by tracking requests for generating reports of the website.

Abstract: Improved techniques for media item sharing are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a classification module to assign a media item to a content category, a correlation module to determine context information for the media item, and an estimation module to determine a set of relevance values for a set of contacts based at least in part on a sharing history and to generate a set of suggested recipients for the media item based at least in part on the set of relevance values and the set of contacts. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer readable storage medium, for identifying entities based on value. In one aspect, the method may include actions for receiving a query that specifies a location. Additional actions may include identifying candidate entities that are identified as responsive to the query and that are associated with the location, selecting a subset of the candidate entities, and determining a representative value of an attribute that is associated with each candidate entity of the subset of the candidate entities. Other actions may include in response to determining that the current value of the attribute that is associated with the particular candidate entity of the subset deviates more than a threshold amount from the representative value, adjusting a ranking score for the particular candidate entity, and ranking the particular candidate based at least on the ranking score for the particular candidate entity.

Abstract: A computer implemented system for e-commerce includes a server hosting a system management domain, and a number of domains. A first domain provides a first website displaying a plurality of products for purchase using a first shopping cart provided by the system management domain. A second domain provides a second website displaying a plurality of products for purchase using a second shopping cart provided by the system management domain. The system management domain may display on the first website a link pointing to a product displayed by the second website when certain conditions exist. When the link is followed to the second website, the first shopping cart is used for purchases at the second website.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a Domain Name Service (DNS) server pre-fetches domain information regarding a domain that includes certificate information for the domain. The DNS server receives a DNS request that includes a security request for the domain in metadata of a Network Service Header (NSH) of the DNS request. The DNS server retrieves the certificate information for the domain from the pre-fetched information regarding the domain, in response to receiving the security request. The DNS server sends, to a Transport Layer Security (TLS) proxy, a DNS response for the domain that includes the certificate information in metadata of an NSH of the DNS response.

Abstract: A computing device can determine visual words for images in a first set of images associated with a description that includes a term. Each visual word can describe pixels in an image. The device can determine visual words for images in a second set of images that are associated with a description that does not include the term. The device can determine a set of visual words that are associated with the term. The device can determine regions in images corresponding to visual words in the set of visual words. The device can associate the respective determined regions for the images with the term in a database. When a search query is received that includes an image that is determined to be associated with the term, the database can be utilized to determine images responsive to the query by identifying images that are also associated with the term.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for recommending a merchant based on transaction data is provided. The method is implemented using an analyzer computing device in communication with one or more memory devices. The method includes generating a profile indicating a stage of life of a cardholder, based at least in part on first transaction data stored in the one or more memory devices. The first transaction data is associated with one or more purchases made by the cardholder through a payment network. The method additionally includes retrieving, from the one or more memory devices, second transaction data associated with a plurality of sales from a first merchant, determining a transaction volume associated with the first merchant, and generating a recommendation for the cardholder to purchase goods from the first merchant, based at least in part on the determined transaction volume and the profile.

Abstract: A system for charging a vehicle includes a forward model for modeling vehicle charging data for a plurality of vehicles, and a charge exchange market which, based on the forward model, facilitates an agreement for transmitting power to a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles via a dynamic power grid including a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles. A system of managing power consumption in the vehicle includes, an optimizing unit for optimizing a plurality of parameters to determine a power to be consumed by the vehicle based on a plurality of power source signatures for a plurality of power sources, and an operating mode setting unit for setting an operating mode for powering the vehicle based on the determined power.

Abstract: Systems and methods for facilitating the identification and registration of available Internet domain names in response to user input and/or other external criteria. In embodiments, a domain name platform is provided for interfacing with a user, generating lists of available top level and second level domain combinations, and facilitating registration of those domains. In embodiments, information beyond user input may be considered in generating lists of available domain names. In alternate embodiments, a computer system is disclosed for implementing the system. In further embodiments, machine-usable storage media is disclosed containing instructions for implementing the system.

Abstract: A clothing search system provides a clothing search to users using a component-based image search. Retailer catalogs are analyzed to determine clothing components within clothing images. Features associated with the components are determined. When a user requests a clothing search, the clothing search system selects clothing based on the components and features requested by the user. The user may also provide an image to the clothing search system. The clothing search system determines components and features of the image and identifies clothing with matching components.

Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes receiving a photo showing a taggable object, wherein the taggable object is a purchasable object that has not yet been identified. First purchase data is collected related to past purchases of a first user associated with the photo. The first purchase data is compared to the taggable object to determine whether one or more purchased items potentially match the taggable object. A set of potential matches is generated, by a computer processor, based at least in part on comparing the first purchase data to the taggable object. The taggable object is tagged in the photo with an identifier representing at least one of the potential matches.

Abstract: Systems and methods for custom-fitting a service solution to consumer requirements are provided. A method for custom-fitting a service solution to consumer requirements, comprises acquiring a request for the service solution from a consumer via a conversational interface, and issuing a query to a service knowledge base to obtain a set of service knowledge representation items from the service knowledge base and analyzing each service knowledge representation item to determine whether a custom-fit service solution can be developed.

Abstract: Systems and methods for custom-fitting a service solution to consumer requirements are provided. A method for custom-fitting a service solution to consumer requirements, comprises acquiring a request for the service solution from a consumer via a conversational interface, and issuing a query to a service knowledge base to obtain a set of service knowledge representation items from the service knowledge base and analyzing each service knowledge representation item to determine whether a custom-fit service solution can be developed.

Abstract: A method and system for matching a consumer to a desired product is disclosed. Each of the products is initially described using a defined list of characteristics. Each of the characteristics is defined on a scale, and the consumer provides a value on the scale when describing the desired product. The consumer creates a search by entering values for the characteristics describing the product that are important to that consumer. Each of the entered values in the search is compared against the list defining a particular product. The matching routine ranks each of the products that most closely match the search by the consumer. The search results are further filtered according to the present location of the consumer. The filtered results are presented to the consumer to provide a list of products that best match the desired product and that are located proximate to the consumer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for identifying parts of a vehicle. A method and apparatus is also provided for generating keywords and logic structures to access a part number database. A method and apparatus is further provided for use of the keywords and logic structure to access the part number database. Vehicle identifiers such as VIN numbers are utilized to determine vehicle parts so that vehicle parts for a vehicle may be determined from the vehicle identifier of that vehicle.

Abstract: A system for normalizing, codifying categorizing divergent color systems into a universal color language. A server connected to a communications network receives, processes, codifies and categorizes divergent color data from a merchant system. A middleware engine of the server receives a data feed comprising a plurality of color swatches or images from the merchant system, and normalizes the data feed into a common format. A server processor extracts image data comprising a plurality of product images from the normalized data feed, identifies and converts at least one dominant product color in each product image to a digital value based on color component intensity values, and assigns a hexadecimal code of the universal color language to each product image that is closest to the digital value of each product image. A product categorization engine categorizes each product image into one of a plurality of product categories.

Abstract: A system and method for the generation and presentation of candidate domain names and/or candidate name assets are presented. The method includes receiving, by at least one server communicatively coupled to a network, a request to access or purchase access to a software application, the request being received from a user. Keywords associated with at least one of the user, a website of the user, and a business of the user are generated and a candidate domain name relevant to the keywords is generated. A user interface is displayed including the candidate domain name. The user interface enables the user to register the candidate domain name. A plurality of candidate domain names may be generated and organized into carousels or stacks according to a common theme. The candidate domain names may be displayed on a user interface and arranged thereon according to a relevance score of the domain name bundles.

Abstract: A method for identifying replacement parts includes receiving a sequence of images of a test part. A set of features of the test part is extracted from the sequence of images. The features include at least one of a dimension, a shape, a texture, a color, a material, a thread count, a spectral characteristic, a histogram threshold, scale invariant features, and keypoint features. The set of features of the test part are compared with a database of a plurality of replacement parts. The database stores a set of features of each of the plurality of replacement parts. At least one replacement part is identified in the database, which has a set of features similar to the set of features of the test part. The identified replacement parts are filtered based on priority. A priority list of replacement parts is developed, and is communicated to a user.

Abstract: A comprehensive platform for merchandising intellectual property (IP) and conducting IP transactions is disclosed. A standardized data collection method enables IP assets to be characterized, rated and valuated in a consistent manner. Project management, workflow and data security functionality enable consistent, efficient and secure interactions between the IP Marketplace participants throughout the IP transaction process. Business rules, workflows, valuation models and rating methods may be user defined or based upon marketplace, industry or technology standards.

Abstract: A search query analysis device (1) according to the present invention is provided with a search query sorting unit (13) that sorts a plurality of search queries input by a user into a plurality of search query groups in chronological order, and specifies a purchase search query group that includes a search query input immediately before a product purchase of the user and first search query groups input before the purchase search query group, among the plurality of search query groups, a keyword extraction unit (12) that extracts a keyword group from a description of a purchased product purchased by the user, and a search query group extraction unit (14) that computes a similarity between the first search query groups and the keyword group, and extracts a first search query group whose similarity is less than a threshold.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving a set of parameters for selecting a physician from an administrator of a matching-engine system. The matching-engine system stores the parameters in a data store of the matching-engine system. The matching-engine system receives from a user a search query with a location of the user and a user-specified symptom or treatment. The matching-engine system determines a base-concept of a medical diagnosis or medical procedure based on the search query. The matching-engine system may identify a set of physicians to be recommended to the user based on the parameters, and a performance-score and experience-score associated with the base-concept for each physician. The matching-engine system may send a search-results page to the user listing the recommended physicians.

Abstract: A method and system classifies a venue by analyzing venue data from a venue website. The method includes receiving preliminary venue related data. The method includes scanning the venue website to retrieve venue data, wherein scanning the venue website includes retrieving the venue data from HTML pages, text documents, PDF documents, and images. The method includes retrieving verifiable venue data from the venue data. The verifiable venue data is a subset of the venue data. The method includes analyzing the verifiable venue data by comparing the verifiable venue data to the preliminary venue-related data and determining a probability level for the venue URL from the comparison. If the probability level for the venue URL is equal or greater than a first probability level, the venue website data is further analyzed to extract attributes and attribute counts in a robust and context-sensitive way.

Abstract: A mattress purchase system and method established based on physiological responses and subjective evaluation data is implemented via a computer device to assist customers in selecting and purchasing most suitable mattress products. The mattress purchase system includes a mattress database, a physiological responses database, an integrated operation processing unit, an adjustment parameter selector module, and a display interface used to output and display body parameter values, preliminary data of appropriate mattress sequence and the final suggested mattress data. The mattress purchase system enables customers to select the most suitable mattresses quickly and accurately, and improves the performance of salesman with better practicability.

Abstract: The present invention is digital signage comprising: an article information database in which a feature of an article and article information for the article associated with each other are stored; feature extracting means for extracting a feature from a wearing image that is an image of a customer wearing an article; comparison means for comparing the extracted feature with features stored in the article information database and identifying the article the customer is wearing; article information retrieving means for retrieving article information for the identified article from the article information database; and output control means for outputting the retrieved article information and the wearing image.

Abstract: Systems and methods according to the invention make feature-based and visual search possible. They allow users to provide us a visual representation that we can apply against available items of creation and return items that are like the visual representation in terms of features and other parameters that user can specify. More generally, the invention relates to searching items using visual representations. In particular it provides visual features of an item of creation and methods for recognizing images in terms of those features, and converting the deduced knowledge in a form that is searchable against a database of items of creation. Thus, for example, one aspect of this invention provides for creation of the framework in which an item of creation can be represented visually. This framework can be of many types. A canvas, if we are to draw an image akin to what an artist draws.

Abstract: A method and system of providing for ratings and recommendations made by knowledgeable third parties as to the competency and fitness of a service provider for the particular project for which the service buyer is currently seeking service providers, together with the aggregation of that data with other data (including other ratings for the particular project, ratings made by service buyers after project completion, and all such data with respect to all projects for the service provider), facilitates the matching of highly qualified service providers with projects/jobs. In addition, because the system harnesses the collective wisdom of all peer raters and expert raters and uses methodologies to encourage the proliferation of accurate and useful ratings data with respect to service providers, the system is able to utilize the power of the Internet to collect and aggregate these opinions and ratings/rankings in a manner not easily replicable through offline methods.

Abstract: A system and method of processing service queries includes receiving a first request for services from a client, the first request for services includes a service query including identifiers for an action, one or more candidate services, a services template, and an aggregation; parsing the services query to identify the action, the candidate services, the services template, and the aggregation; determining one or more combinations of candidate services based on types of the candidate services; applying the services template to each of the combinations of candidate services to determine results for each of the combinations of candidate services; aggregating the results based on the aggregation; selecting a preferred combination of candidate services based on the applied aggregation; and forwarding the results corresponding to the preferred combination to the action.

Abstract: A portable electronic device is disclosed that includes a housing with a display; a memory in the housing that stores machine instructions and data, which can include an access code to a restricted database of vehicle components of an identified component manufacturer; a user interface enabling a user to select options; a device for importing a VIN or code containing the VIN; and communications circuitry. The communications circuitry includes signal transmitting and signal receiving capability. The signal receiving capability receives a VIN or code containing the VIN from the device for importing a VIN, and the signal transmitting capability sends the VIN and an access code to a restricted access database to lookup vehicle component information. The signal receiving capability receives the vehicle component information from the restricted access database, and an information processor processes the vehicle component information for presentation on the display.

Abstract: Techniques for generating a globally applicable taxonomy of e-commerce goods are described. According to various exemplary embodiments described herein, a taxonomy management system is configured to analyze item listing titles and user search queries in order to identify a set of globally applicable product types that serve as universal descriptors of the underlying things or objects that are the subject of an item listing or the likely user intended subject of a user search query. Such globally applicable product types are agnostic as to any specific product inventory or product category structure of an e-commerce website. After the taxonomy management system identifies product types, the taxonomy management system may incorporate the identified product types into a global product taxonomy that identifies the globally applicable product types.

Abstract: Techniques for providing users with packaging and/or shipping materials may include receiving an optical image of an object having starting and shipping locations or keywords associated with the object; comparing with an optical recognition program, the optical image of the object to images of objects within a database of objects to identify the object, or the keywords in the search bar with words used in a description of objects in a database of objects to identify the object; assigning packaging and/or shipping information to the identified object; and ordering the packaging and/or shipping materials for the identified object and optionally supplying the packaging and/or shipping materials to the user at the starting location. Various related processes, systems and apparatuses are also provides.