Systems and methods for searching in an electronic commerce environment

Abstract

A method of searching an electronic commerce website includes searching a plurality of user profiles based upon a user-supplied search query for an item, establishing an interactive online session between the user and the at least one search facilitator, and providing for the at least one search facilitator to present one or more suggested item listings to a user through the electronic commerce website. The searching identifies at least one search facilitator profile among the plurality of user profiles. The search facilitator profile represents a search facilitator who can assist the user in locating the item within the electronic commerce website.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of searching for an item within an electronic commerce platform, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing system of the electronic commerce platform, a search query for an item and a request for advanced search results from a user of a client computing system;   responding to the request for advanced search results by generating a first web page having a first user interface configured to enable the computing system to interrogate the user;   transmitting the first web page to the client computing system;   interrogating the user, based on the search query, for additional information about the item through the first user interface;   responding to the request for advanced search results by searching a plurality of user profiles in a database of the electronic commerce platform based upon the search query and the additional information, the plurality of user profiles comprising profiles of users other than the user;   identifying one or more search facilitator profiles among the plurality of user profiles, the one or more search facilitator profiles representing one or more search facilitators who can assist the user in locating the item;   generating, subsequent to identifying the one or more search facilitators, a second web page including a second user interface configured to enable the computing system to establish an interactive session between the user and at least one of the one or more search facilitators;   transmitting the second web page to the client computing system; and   establishing, by execution of instructions by a processor of an interactive session component of the electronic commerce platform, an interactive session between the user and the at least one of the one or more search facilitators through the second user interface, the interactive session to enable the user and the at least one of the one or more search facilitators to communicate with each other.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing, by the computing system, for the at least one of the one or more search facilitators to present representations of one or more suggested items to the user through a third web page that is transmitted to the client computing system, the one or more suggested items to be selected by the at least one of the one or more search facilitators. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the representations of the one or more suggested items is included in a curated list. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein interrogating the user for additional information about the item includes presenting to the user, within the first user interface, one or more open-ended questions based on the search query and receiving, through the first user interface, one or more responses to the one or more open-ended questions from the user, the one or more responses including the additional information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein interrogating the user for additional information about the item includes presenting to the user, within the first user interface, one or more poll questions based on the search query and receiving, through the first user interface, one or more responses to the one or more poll questions from the user, the one or more responses including the additional information. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive session is at least one of a live chat, a live poll, and a live survey. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more search facilitators is a respective one of a plurality of users of the electronic commerce platform. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more search facilitators includes one or more people who each have prepared a curated list having items related to at least one of the search query and the additional information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the computing system, a search based on the search query, and further comprising generating, by the computing system, a set of search results based on the performed search, the set of search results including representations of one or more listed items that are related to the item being searched for. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the set of search results is included within at least one of the first web page and the second web page. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting at least one of the search query and the additional information to the at least one of the one or more search facilitators. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one of the search query and the additional information is transmitted to one or more of the search facilitators that are selected by the user. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing for the at least one of the one or more search facilitators to receive compensation for providing assistance to the user in obtaining the item. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the compensation is a percentage of a payment made by the user to obtain the item. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a third web page to the client computing system, the third web page including a list of resources, the list of resources including an identification of the one or more search facilitators. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising receiving a selection from the user of the one or more search facilitators from the list of resources. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for operating an electronic commerce platform, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a computer of the electronic commerce platform, causing the computer to perform a method comprising acts of:
 receiving, by a computing system of the electronic commerce platform, a search query for an item and a request for advanced search results from a user of a client computing system;   responding to the request for advanced search results by generating a first web page having a first user interface configured to enable the computing system to interrogate the user;   transmitting the first web page to the client computing system;   interrogating the user, based on the search query, for additional information about the item through the first user interface;   responding to the request for advanced search results by searching a plurality of user profiles in a database of the electronic commerce platform based upon the search query and the additional information, the plurality of user profiles comprising profiles of users other than the user;   identifying one or more search facilitator profiles among the plurality of user profiles, the one or more search facilitator profiles representing one or more search facilitators who can assist the user in locating the item;   generating, subsequent to identifying the one or more search facilitators, a second web page including a second user interface configured to enable the computing system to establish an interactive session between the user and at least one of the one or more search facilitators;   transmitting the second web page to the client computing system; and   establishing, by execution of instructions by a processor of an interactive session component of the electronic commerce platform, an interactive session between the user and the at least one of the one or more search facilitators through the second user interface, the interactive session to enable the user and the at least one of the one or more search facilitators to communicate with each other.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the act of interrogating includes presenting, within an interface of the client computing system, one or more questions to the user, the one or more questions to be manually generated based on at least one of the search query and one or more user-supplied responses to each of one or more previously presented questions, and wherein the additional information is received from the user in response to presenting the one or more questions to the user. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the act of interrogating includes presenting, within an interface of the client computing system, one or more questions to the user, the one or more questions generated based on heuristics rules applied to at least one of the search query and one or more user-supplied responses to each of one or more previously presented questions, and wherein the additional information is received from the user in response to presenting the one or more questions. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the additional information about the item includes at least one of a size of the item, a color of the item, a quantity of the item, a texture of the item, a material of the item, a method of construction of the item, a method of manufacture of the item, a purpose for the item, a use of the item, a theme of the item, a style of the item, and a location of the item.