Claims:We Claim:
1. A computer system supporting an online personal market for a user, comprising:
a. a user account module configured to allow the user to register and create a user account;
b. a vendor selection module configured to allow the user to add and remove one or more vendors to the online personal market;
c. a social module configured to allow the user to establish social interaction and networking with other users;
d. a shopping module configured to allow the user to shop one or more products or services from the one or more vendors;
e. an account management and utility module configured to allow the user to manage the online personal market;
f. an analytics module configured to collect and analyze actions of the user; and
g. a vendor module configured to allow the one or more vendors to create one or more vendor accounts and access the online personal market.
2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein a blueprint module configured to provide one or more templates to the user for creating the online personal market.
3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein a news and communication module configured to provide news and communications to the user.
4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the user account module is to allow the user to create one or more sub-accounts.
5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the vendor selection module is to recommend at least a first vendor for the user to add to the online personal market.
, Description:Technical Field of the Invention
The disclosed subject matter relates to electronic, mobile and digital commerce, and systems and methods for providing web-based and mobile applications for interactive bespoke shopping through buyer's markets and networks, as opposed to traditional seller's markets.
Background of the Invention
In the past, markets have been created by sellers for consumers. Shoppers physically traveled to an organized market, or a congregation of vendors at a crossroads, such as a village center, a main street, shopping center or mall. The market is organized typically by location and character. Examples of organized markets include a fish market near the water, business attire downtown, grocery centers and strip malls in neighborhoods, and mainstream fashion in suburban malls. Purchasers have the convenience of choice, but there are physical limitations. Shoppers are rarely interested in visiting every vendor within a given market. Therefore, a shopper must physically work her way through vendors and inventory she is not interested in viewing, every time she shops at a market. Ideally, one would visit a market that has all the merchants and service providers one wants and none of the ones she does not need.
An alternative shopping method is destination shopping, where shoppers can make a specific visit to pre-determined vendors. In this targeted approach, the shopper avoids unnecessary shops and limits the inventory she sees to the targeted vendor. However, the shopper may need to make multiple stops at various locations in order to obtain what she needs, such as one stop at the home improvement warehouse, another at the pet warehouse and a third at the members-only grocery warehouse. Destination shopping is either restricted by vendor or extremely time consuming as requiring significant travel from one vendor to another.
To date, regardless of the form, seller's markets are the current shopping paradigm. Merchants present inventory and a marketplace hosts a collection of merchants or service providers. Vendors seek to attract purchasers by creating a destination for shopping and services. The vendors congregate in a convenient location. The format, whether it is a port, a main street, a flea market, a strip center, a mall, or a stand-alone category killer warehouse, is designed to attract targeted purchasers to the market. The attraction is based on location, convenience, social experience and discovery. Commonly known as a mousetrap, the concept is to generate consumer traffic and encourage repeat shopping in the convenient location. It's a seller's market. Seller's markets have had physical limitations. Inventory management has required the stocking of the most popular items. Slow moving items are expensive to ship, and display, particularly as real estate and transportation costs rise. The popular items, brands and stores are repeated from mall to mall or retailer to retailer such that many malls and stores have common or similar tenants and inventory. Many consumers are anxious for differentiation.
Online shopping has expanded shopping options. Online shopping enables a shopper to view an expansive choice and avoid the limitations of physical markets. However, in its present form online shopping still has significant limitations and inconveniences. Market based online shopping can be overwhelming, confusing and time consuming. Rather than physically working one's way through a land-based market, a shopper must scroll through or drill down through an expansive online market. The shopper must work through extended unwanted material to find the vendors or products of interest. Open online markets can be too extensive or misdirected.
The alternative is destination online shopping. One can go directly to specific vendors one knows and likes, where the search is limited and more interesting to the shopper. The drawback is the single vendor approach. One must recall which vendors one needs for each purchase. Browsing can be limited or extremely time-consuming, depending on the supplier. One may miss alternative vendors that may be of interest. With the human brain able to store and recall quickly only a limited number of options, shoppers are likely to forget, have difficulty recalling or miss options that may be of value to them. Vendor websites lack social components.
Object of the Invention
The object of the present invention is systems and methods are described for providing digital personal market and shopping network.
Summary of The Invention
Disclosed subject matter includes, in one aspect, a computer system supporting an online personal market for a user, which includes a user account module configured to allow the user to register and create a user account, a vendor selection module configured to allow the user to add and remove one or more vendors to the online personal market, a social module configured to allow the user to establish social interaction and networking with other users, a shopping module configured to allow the user to shop one or more products or services from the one or more vendors, an account management and utility module configured to allow the user to manage the online personal market, an analytics module configured to collect and analyze actions of the user, and a vendor module configured to allow the one or more vendors to create one or more vendor accounts and access the online personal market. In some embodiments, the computer system further includes a blueprint module configured to provide one or more templates to the user for creating the online personal market. In some embodiments, the computer system further includes a news and communication module configured to provide news and communications to the user. Disclosed subject matter includes, in another aspect, a computer-based method for supporting an online personal market for a user, which includes registering the user and creating an online user account for the user, adding and removing one or more vendors to the online personal market, providing access to online social interaction and networking between other users and the user, providing online shopping access for the user to shop one or more products or services from the one or more vendors, providing the user an online ability to manage the online personal market, collecting and analyzing online actions of the user associated with the online personal market, and creating one or more vendor accounts for the one or more vendors and allowing the one or more vendors to access the online personal market.
Brief Description of Drawings
FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified rendering of a user-defined or bespoke shopping network platform according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter;
Detailed Description of Invention
In exemplary embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, systems and methods can be provided to create, manage and support a web-based interactive buyer bespoke shopping network. In what follows, such exemplary systems and methods will be sometimes described with reference to Buyer Bespoke Shopping Network (BBSN.) It is noted that all of the features, elements, systems and methods described hereinbelow are exemplary in nature, and so intended, and not limiting, regardless of whether they are described as being exemplary or not. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the disclosed subject matter is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the disclosed subject matter will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure.
In the interest of clarity, not all the routine features of the implementations described herein and shown are described or fully described. Not all components of systems and methods herein must be enabled in order for other components to function. It will be appreciated that there may be varying orders of priority or emphasis, depending on business goals or constraints or a person's knowledge base, and consequently, options or undertakings for implementation may vary from one developer to another.
The interface of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter of systems and methods is inherently flexible, dynamic and inclusive as it constructs an application through which a user can aggregate a bespoke shopping network from a multitude of resources. In accordance with the disclosed subject matter, the components, process steps and/or data structures may be implemented using various types of operating systems or devices or third-party services to perform select components or features of the process and method herein described. A BBSN platform and/or certain systems and methods therein can be delivered via the internet to computers, tablets, phones, mobile and other future browsing, shopping or purchasing devices.
FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified overview of a buyer's market according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. The systems and methods are designed with the user as the central shopping destination. The system enables and facilitates links to vendors, including but not limited to retailers, brands, services, malls and other groups of vendors, merchants, service providers, curators, non-profits, shopping utilities, and social connections. The systems and methods allow the user to choose the components and features relevant and valuable to the user. The systems and methods may include various links or forms of connecting with vendors, including but not limited to external links, scraping and linking, embedding entire website, dynamically embedded components, API and other options.