Sales promotion using product comparison

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed regarding an e-commerce system that promotes sales of products based on product comparisons. Some embodiments may present a marketing message that justifies a price difference between presented products based on attribute differences between the presented products.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 retrieving a plurality of attributes and a selling price for a first product in response to a request received from a computing device;   identifying a second product that is similar to the first product but has at least one attribute different than a corresponding attribute of the first product and a selling price that is different than the selling price for the first product; and   presenting a comparison of the first product and the second product via the computing device and a marketing message that attempts to justify a price difference between the selling price of the first product and the selling price of the second product based on the at least one attribute of the second product that is different than the corresponding attribute of the first product.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the selling price of the second product is higher than the selling price of the first product. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one attribute has been determined to influence sales of products in a category of products to which the first product and the second product belong. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the selling price of the second product is lower than the selling price of the first product. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 said presenting comprises presenting the comparison a tabular format that lists a plurality of attributes for the first product and the second product;   a single listed attribute of the plurality of attributes is different between the first product and the second product; and   the presented marketing message justifies a price difference between the selling price of the first product and the selling price of the second product based on the single listed attribute that is different.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 said presenting comprises presenting the comparison in a tabular format that lists a plurality of attributes for the first product and the second product;   at least two listed attributes of the plurality of attributes are different between the first product and the second product; and   the presented marketing message justifies a price difference between the selling price of the first product and the selling price of the second product based on the at least two listed attributes that are different.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein said identifying a second product that is similar to the first product comprises comparing attributes of the first product to attributes of a plurality of products stored in an electronic product database and ranking at least a subset of the plurality of products based upon said comparing attributes of the first product. 
     
     
         8 . A computing device, comprising
 an electronic database comprising product listings for a plurality of products, wherein each product listing includes a plurality of attributes for a respective product of the plurality of products;   a network interface configured to receive a request for a product of the plurality of products from a requesting computing device; and   a processor configured to:
 retrieve a plurality of attributes and a selling price for the requested product from the electronic database in response to the received request; 
 identify a plurality of other products from the electronic database that are similar to the requested product but have at least one attribute different than a corresponding attribute of the requested product and a selling price that is different than the selling price for the requested product; 
 generate a comparison of the first product to the plurality of other products, the comparison including a marketing message for each of the other products that justifies a price difference between the selling price of the requested product and the selling price of a respective other product based on at least one attribute of the respective other product that is different than the corresponding attribute of the requested product; and 
 cause said comparison to be delivered to the requesting computing device via the network interface. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the selling price of at least one of the plurality of other products is higher than the selling price of the requested product. 
     
     
         10 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one attribute has been determined to influence sales of products in a category of products to which the requested product and the plurality of other products belong. 
     
     
         11 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the selling price of at least one of the plurality of other products is lower than the selling price of the requested product. 
     
     
         12 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the processor is further configured to generate the comparison in a tabular format that lists a plurality of attributes for the requested product and the plurality of other products such that for each other product the comparison includes a single listed attribute that is different between the respective other product and the requested product; and   the presented marketing message for each other product justifies a price difference between the selling price of the requested product and the selling price of the respective other product based on the single listed attribute that is different.   
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the processor is further configured to generate the comparison in a tabular format that lists a plurality of attributes for the requested product and the plurality of other products such that for each other product the comparison includes a plurality of listed attributes that are different between the requested product and the respective other product; and   the presented marketing message for each other product justifies a price difference between the selling price of the requested product and the selling price of the respective other product based on the plurality of listed attributes that are different.   
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify the plurality of other products that is similar to the requested product by comparing attributes of the requested product to attributes of the plurality of products stored in the electronic database and ranking at least a subset of the plurality of products based upon said comparing. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, that in response to being executed, result in a computing device:
 retrieving a plurality of attributes and a selling price for a first product;   identifying a second product that is similar to the first product but has at least one attribute different than a corresponding attribute of the first product and a selling price that is different than the selling price for the first product; and   generating a comparison of the first product and the second product and a marketing message that attempts to justify a price difference between the selling price of the first product and the selling price of the second product based on the at least one attribute of the second product that is different than the corresponding attribute of the first product.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing device selecting the second product based on the selling price of the second product being higher than the selling price of the first product. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing device selecting the second product based on at least one attribute that has been determined to influence sales of products in a category of products to which the first product and the second product belong. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing device selecting the second product based on the selling price of the second product being lower than the selling price of the first product. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing device:
 generating the comparison in a tabular format that lists a plurality of attributes for the first product and the second product of which at least one listed is different between the first product and the second product; and   generating the presented marketing message such that the presented marketing message justifies a price difference between the selling price of the first product and the selling price of the second product based on the single listed attribute that is different.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions further result in the computing device comparing attributes of the first product to attributes of a plurality of products stored in an electronic product database and ranking at least a subset of the plurality of products based upon said comparing.