Claims:1. An electronic shopping cart system integrated with a computer network connecting a plurality of servers together, is being accessible by a user, comprising:
a. a first server associated with a first website
b. accessing one or more of a plurality of websites and configured to maintain a shopping cart order
2. The integrated shopping cart system of claim 1, wherein the computer network is the World Wide Web.
3. The integrated shopping cart system of claim 1, wherein the items include products and services.
4. The integrated shopping cart system of claim 1, wherein the item information includes any of item identification information, cost information, and description information.
5. The integrated shopping cart system of claim 1, wherein the order fulfillment information includes any of item identification information and shipping information.
, Description:Technical Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an online shopping system for a user to order and purchase items and more particularly to a system and method for providing an electronic shopping system having an integrated shopping cart functionality.
Background of the Invention
The websites generally have a product display and purchase functionality integrated therein. A website is, in general terms, a server application running on a computer which accepts connections from client programs. Client programs, such as browsers, allow a remote user to access the information stored on the website. The information can include a broad range of multimedia data including textual, graphical, audio, and animation information. A common client application is in the form of a web browser, which, via mouse, keyboard or command line input, allows a user to access and “navigate” around the website. Internet-based retail has become extremely popular over the last several years. Both business-to-business and business-to-consumer retail channels have benefited from the advances made in e-commerce technology, enhanced transaction security and improved data bandwidth.
Online retailing can be traced through three generations of commerce-enabling software. Initially, simple HTML forms were utilized by retail websites to facilitate online transactions between users and the proprietor of a website. Users were free to indicate their orders on these HTML forms. However, the forms were generally only suitable for indicating a few items of interest. When more than a few items were indicated, the HTML forms became difficult to manage and inefficient, since the order form was separate (on a different HTML form page) from the item description.
The next generation in online retailing involved “shopping cart” software. An electronic shopping cart is simply a computer software program that operates as an online retail website's catalog and ordering process. Typically, the shopping cart functions as the interface between the website and the user, allowing users to select merchandise, review the merchandise that has been selected, make any modifications or additions to the selected merchandise and purchase the selected merchandise. Shopping cart software is like a physical shopping cart, such as that commonly found in a grocery store, in the sense that selected items for purchase may be commonly grouped together in the shopping cart and purchased with a single transaction. In an online environment, a user can select an item of interest for purchase as the user browses through a website and can choose to “place” the selected item in the shopping cart. The software remembers the selected items during the user's browsing and even maintains a running total of the purchase price.
while electronic shopping carts are useful and have resulted in increasing the simplicity of online retailing, conventional shopping cart software is limited as an electronic commerce tool. This limitation resulted in the development of the third generation of online retailing software, “storefront” or “store building” software. Websites constructed with this software include conventional shopping cart functionality and also allow the website proprietor to add, delete, or temporarily hide products on the website, change product prices, set up sales and promotions, provide secure transaction features, manipulate graphics, and integrate the online operations with existing physical accounting and inventory systems.
Unfortunately, electronic shopping carts have been predominantly localized to distinct websites. They have not been implemented to function across different websites. As such, electronic commerce is stifled, because the user cannot commonly gather all of the desired products and services across any website in an integrated shopping cart and purchase all of the selected items with a single transaction. Instead users are generally forced to conduct separate transactions at each website, each having their own electronic shopping cart in which users can “place” and purchase selected items from that website. It is desirable, then, to provide an integrated shopping cart that can be implemented across any website. It is to this end that the present invention is directed.
Object of the Invention
The present object of the invention is to determine System and Method for Integrated electronic shopping cart in a website.
Summary of the Invention
In accordance with the invention, integrated shopping cart functionality is provided on a first website so that products/services from different affiliated websites can be integrated into the shopping cart at the first website and the e-commerce functionality of the first website can be utilized to purchase the selected products/services.
Advantageously, the first website is benefited by this integrated shopping cart functionality in that an increased number of users may access the first website since the proprietor of the first website may offer various products/services from a multitude of different affiliated websites, for example by providing URL links to the affiliated websites that a user may access in order to select items from the affiliated websites. These items can be integrated into the shopping cart at the first website and purchased with a single transaction. Increased user traffic is expected at the first website since a user's shopping interests can be fulfilled at a single website.
Additionally, affiliated websites are benefited by this integrated shopping cart functionality since the e-commerce functionality of the integrated shopping cart is performed by a server that is associated with the first website. Therefore, affiliated websites need not include their own e-commerce functionality. Instead, they may take advantage of the e-commerce functionality of the first website and still receive the benefits of the sale of their offered products/services to the user. Maintenance costs and overhead costs with respect to including an e-commerce software engine are therefore reduced and often eliminated as a result.

Brief Description of Drawings
FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of an integrated shopping cart software module in accordance with the invention
Detailed Description of Invention:
In Fig. 1 the integrated shopping cart software module may include a session initiation software sub-module for initiating a communication session between an affiliated website server n and the first website server. The session initiation sub-module allows the first website server to transmit request information to an affiliated website server n, such as passing website identifier information to the affiliated website server n. The request information may be transmitted according to known communication protocols, such as an HTTPS POST (encrypted) command, an HTTP POST command, an HTTP GET command, an HTTPS GET (encrypted) command, or any other similar command protocol.
For the affiliated website server n to identify the first website server, a vendor identifier assigned to the first website server is transmitted by the sub-module to the affiliated website server n. In accordance with the invention, a vendor identifier can be assigned to each website to which the integrated shopping cart system functionality is provided. The vendor identifier may include a sequence of numbers, letters and special characters such that a vendor can be properly identified by the system. Additionally, a product identifier is transmitted by the software sub-module to the affiliated website server n so that an associated product or service can be selected for purchase from the affiliated website. Optionally, one or more session identifiers may be transmitted by the software sub-module so that communication sessions between the servers n can be tracked and maintained, as well as a user identifier for a vendor. The user identifier enables the system to determine whether a user is logged onto a vendor’s account management system and redirect the user to the appropriate website if necessary. This may also be accomplished via cookie functionality.

The integrated shopping cart software module may also include an add-to-cart software sub-module for informing the first website of an addition to the user's shopping cart. In accordance with the invention, the add-to-cart software sub-module may transmit selected product/service information to the first website server so that the selected product/service may be properly added to the user's shopping cart at the first website.
Several parameters may be transmitted by the sub-module to the first website server so that the selected product/service can be properly added to the shopping cart at the first website. For example, parameters include, but are not limited to, a reference parameter that indicates a user's order, line item number that indicates a particular location in the shopping cart at which to add the item, quantity, weight, inventory number, line item description, total line item price, session identifier information, and user identifier information.
The reference parameter identifies a selected product or service from an affiliated website to be added to the shopping cart at the first website. The line item parameter identifies a location in the shopping cart from which to add the selected product/service information. Quantity and weight parameters are self-explanatory and identify the quantity of the selected product/service and the weight of the selected item. The inventory number parameter is also self-explanatory and allows a vendor's inventory information to be updated and maintained. The line item description parameter associates an indicated textual string, graphic, or other identification information with the selected product/service so that the product/service in the shopping cart can be identified by the user. The total line item price parameter indicates the total cost of the selected product or service (generally a function of quantity and weight and base price information) so that a proper shopping cart total can be calculated by the system. The information may be transmitted, for example, via HTTPS as an XML message from the affiliated website server n to the first website server. Other transmission protocols, such as FTP, e-mail, HTTP, and HTTPS (among others) could be used without departing from the invention.

The communication flow between the first website server and the affiliated website server n is as follows. Upon a user selecting a product/service from an affiliated website to be added to the shopping cart at the first website, the affiliated website server n contacts the first website server such as via the HTTPS secure communication protocol. Upon connecting with the first website server., the affiliated website server. n sends a message, such as an XML message that may include the parameter information indicated above, to the first website server. Upon receiving the message, the first website server. may acknowledge receipt of the message and the user may be redirected to a predetermined or dynamic URL on the first website server. so that the user can return to the first website in order to either perform additional selecting of items from the first or other affiliated websites or so that the user can conclude an order.
As described, the first website server. may acknowledge receipt of the message transmitted from the affiliated website. n. The acknowledge message may be transmitted as an XML message, or any other communication format, from the first website server to the affiliated website server n and may include the reference parameter information as well as status information, such as whether the selected item was successfully added to the shopping cart at the first website.
The integrated shopping cart software module may also include a modify-product-in-cart software sub-module for informing an affiliated website server n of a request by the user at the first website to modify an item in the shopping cart at the first website. The request information may be transmitted by the first server to the affiliated website server n according to known communication protocols, such as an HTTPS POST command. Several parameters may be transmitted by the first server to the affiliated website server n so that the affiliated website server n can identify the product/service in the shopping cart requested by the user to be modified. For example, as described above, parameters may include a vendor identifier, reference parameter, line item number and action information (such as a modify an item request). Optionally, session identifier information may be transmitted by the first server as well as a user identifier for a vendor. The modify software sub-module may also be used to recall and modify a previously identified order request or a previously saved work. For example, a user accessing the affiliated website may initiate an order by choosing an item to be added to the shopping cart yet may leave the website prior to fulfilling the order. In such a case, the previously chosen items may be recalled and the order or saved work may be modified accordingly.
The integrated shopping cart software module 50 may also include a create-another-item software sub-module 54 for informing the affiliated website server n of a request by the user at the first website to create another item for purchase. The request information may be transmitted by the first server to an affiliated website server n according to known communication protocols, such as an HTTPS POST command. Several parameters may be transmitted by the first server to the affiliated website server n so that another item can be created by the user from the affiliated website. For example, as described above, parameters may include the vendor identifier, reference parameter, product identifier, and action information (such as a select another item request). Optionally, session identifier information, line item number information, and a user identifier may be transmitted by the first server.
The integrated shopping cart software module 50 may also include an order fulfilment software sub-module 55 for informing the affiliated website server n of a request by a user at the first website to fulfil the user's shopping cart order. The request information may be transmitted by the first server to the affiliated website server n according to known communication protocols, such as HTTPS via an XML message transmitted by the first server to the affiliated website server n. The integrated shopping cart software module 50 may also include a ship notification software sub-module 57 for informing the first website server of the fulfilment of an order by the affiliated website server n, thereby allowing the first website server to process electronic payment of a user's order.