Method and apparatus for providing a shopping list service

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed that provides an Internet wish list for deferred purchasing. A user clicks on an add to wish list button located on locations, such as, a product page, a banner ad, or search results to add an item to the wish list. A reminder system is used to remind a user to purchase an item at a future time. The shopping list service may be integrated at a high level of integration and a low level of integration. On a low level of integration a proxy platform is used to add functionality to a website.

1 . An apparatus for providing an Internet shopping list service comprising:
 a shopping list capable of containing items from at least two websites, retained on a computer memory;   a computer for adding and subtracting at least one item on said shopping list;   buttons for adding and subtracting said item onto, and off of, said shopping list;   a connection for connecting said computer onto said Internet;   a reminder for providing information to a user at a future time about said item on said shopping list; and   at least one promotional item capable of being added to said shopping list;   wherein a user purchases said item from said shopping list.   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus for providing an Internet shopping list service comprising:
 a shopping list means capable of containing items from at least two websites, retained on a computer memory means;   a computer means for adding and subtracting at least one item on said shopping list means;   button means for adding and subtracting said item onto, and off of, said shopping list means;   a connection means for connecting said computer means onto said Internet;   a reminder means for providing information to a user at a future time about said item on said shopping list means; and   at least one promotional item capable of being added to said shopping list means;   wherein a user purchases said item from said shopping list means.   
     
     
         3 . An apparatus for providing an Internet shopping list service comprising:
 a shopping list capable of containing items from at least two websites, retained on a computer memory;   a computer for adding and subtracting at least one item on said shopping list;   buttons for adding and subtracting said item onto, and off of, said shopping list; and   a connection for connecting said computer onto said Internet.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a reminder for providing information to a user at a future time about said item on said shopping list.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein said reminder is a calendar. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein said calendar automatically purchases a shopping list item on a predetermined date. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 at least one promotional item capable of being added to said shopping list.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein a user purchases said item from said shopping list. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said shopping list records information comprising any of:
 the URL of said item, name of said item, description of said item, price of said item, related items, and the date said item was added to said shopping list.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein said URL is periodically checked for validity. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein said URL of said item is referenced by the stock keeping unit of said item. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein shopping data is recorded, said data comprising any of:
 number of users creating wish lists, average number of products added per wish list, total number of products wished for, average number of products wished for per list, the link which led to the creation of the wish list, number of click-throughs generated by the wish list, number of public lists, number of shared lists, average number of recipients per shared list, number of guest viewers of all wish lists, number of removed products per list, number of purged lists, top twenty most popular products, number of anonymous wish lists created, number of anonymous wish lists saved and the number of Jot-It-Down buttons.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a merging means for merging multiple shopping lists into a single shopping list.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said shopping list has a theme comprising any of:
 an anniversary, a wedding and a birthday.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said wish list is shared by means comprising any of:
 distribution through email, communication of a link, and viewing a user profile.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said button for adding an item to said wish list is located on any of:
 a banner ad, a decision guide, a promotional browser window, a personal shopper's toolbar and a product page.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said button adds multiple items to said wish list in a single activation. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said shopping list is accessed by means comprising any of:
 a logon site and an automatic logon through an Internet service provider.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein said button is associated with said item by a proxy platform. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a buy button.   
     
     
         21 .- 44 . (canceled)