System and methods for demand-driven transactions

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for automatically generating offers for expressions of interest are disclosed. In one aspect, a computer system comprising a network interface, computer memory, a computer processor, and a computer readable storage medium that stores program instructions configured for execution by the computer processor receives an expression of interest from a user device operated by a user. The computer system further analyzes the expression of interest to extract one or more expression characteristics. The computer system further retrieves, from memory, consumer data associated with the user, external data associated with the expression of interest, and internal data associated with one or more past offers previously generated by the computer system. The computer further generates a suggested offered based on the one or more expression characteristics and the retrieved consumer data, external data, and internal data. The computer further transmits the suggested offer to the user device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A user-driven method for obtaining responses to expressions of interest, the method comprising:
 by a computer system comprising computer hardware:
 receiving expressions of interest from users, the expressions of interest comprising expression characteristics, each expression of interest being associated with more than one good or service; 
 organizing the expressions of interest based on the expression characteristics to produce aggregated expressions of interest; 
 determining relationships between the aggregated expressions of interest; 
 modifying an ontology based on the relationships such that the ontology is adapted to identify an intent of a user and one or more related intents that are related to the intent of the user based on an expression of interest of the user; 
 receiving the expression of interest from the user; 
 determining the intent of the user and at least one related intent of the user using the expression of interest of the user and the ontology; 
 identifying one or more entities associated with the intent of the user and one or more entities associated with the at least one related intent of the user, wherein the identified entities are capable of providing goods or services associated with the expression of interest of the user; and 
 programmatically presenting the intent of the user and the at least one related intent of the user to the identified one or more entities capable of providing goods or services associated with the expression of interest of the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expressions of interest comprise at least one or more of the following: a desired transaction, an articulated demand, a proposal to provide information, goods, or services, a request for advice, or a search query. 
     
     
         3 . A consumer-driven method for initiating transactions, the method comprising:
 by a computer system comprising computer hardware:
 receiving expressions of interest from consumers for one or more of a good, a service, a desire to engage in an activity, or a demand, the expressions of interest comprising a plurality of demand attributes, each expression of interest being associated with more than one good or service; 
 programmatically organizing the expressions of interest based on the demand attributes to produce aggregated expressions of interest determining relationships between the aggregated expressions of interest; 
 modifying an ontology based on the relationships such that the ontology is adapted to identify an intent of a user and one or more related intents that are related to the intent of the user based on an expression of interest of the user; 
 receiving the expression of interest from the user; 
 determining the intent of the user and at least one related intent of the user using the expression of interest of the user and the ontology; 
 identifying one or more suppliers associated with the intent of the user and the at least one related intent of the user, wherein the identified suppliers are capable of providing goods or services associated with the expression of interest of the user; and 
 enabling the identified suppliers to contact the user regarding the expression of interest of the user by at least performing the following:
 outputting the expression of interest of the user for presentation to said identified suppliers; and 
 providing functionality for the identified suppliers to contact the user regarding the expression of interest of the user. 
 
   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said outputting comprises storing the expressions of interest in a memory location or supplying the expressions of interest to a minimum specified number of suppliers. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the expressions of interest comprise requests for information or an incentive with respect to the good or service transaction. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the requested incentive comprises at least one or more of the following: a positive incentive, a negative incentive, a discount, an option, a service item, preferential treatment, or points in a rewards program. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the demand attributes comprise one or more of the following:
 a time period in which the good or service is desired;   a description of the good or service;   a list of one or more preferred suppliers;   a location of each of the consumers;   a desired discount on the good or service;   a desired price on the good or service; or   a desired quantity of the good or service.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said organizing comprises providing an application programming interface (API) or a software development kit (SDK) that enables suppliers to access the expressions of interest or providing a user interface for searching the expressions of interest. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving a response from the one or more suppliers;   presenting the response to the consumers; and   receiving acceptances from the consumers to consummate the good or service transaction.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said providing functionality for the matched supplier's to respond comprises providing functionality for matched suppliers to provide one or more of the following: an incentive type, a location, a good or service, an attribute of a good or service, or a proposed price. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said identifying one or more suppliers further comprises identifying related demand attributes and programmatically matching the related demand attributes with said one or more suppliers. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the related demand attributes are one or more of semantically related, syntactically related, or lexicographically related to said demand attributes. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said identifying one or more suppliers further comprises ranking said related demand attributes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said ranking is based upon a type of relationship between said demand attribute and said related demand attributes, and wherein said type of relationship comprises one or more of a statistical relationship, a semantic relationship, a syntactic relationship, a linguistic relationship, or a user-identified relationship. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising receiving responses of one or more of the suppliers and sending the responses to the consumer. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising ranking the responses, and wherein sending the responses comprises sending at least a portion of the ranked responses. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising generating a suggested expression of interest based on the received expressions of interest. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein generating the suggested expression of interest comprises generating the suggested expression of interest based on knowledge and usage data associated with the received expressions of interest. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable medium comprising specific executable instructions that when executed by a computing device comprising computer hardware cause the computing device to:
 receive expressions of interest from consumers for one or more of a good, a service, a desire to engage in an activity, and a demand, the expressions of interest comprising a plurality of demand attributes, each expression of interest being associated with more than one good or service;   programmatically organize the expressions of interest based on the demand attributes to produce aggregated expressions of interest determine relationships between the aggregated expressions of interest;   modify an ontology based on the relationships such that the ontology is adapted to identify an intent of a user and one or more related intents that are related to the intent of the user based on an expression of interest of the user;   receive the expression of interest from the user;   determine the intent of the user and at least one related intent of the user using the expression of interest of the user and the ontology;   identify one or more suppliers associated with the intent of the user and the at least one related intent of the user, wherein the identified suppliers are capable of providing goods or services associated with the expression of interest of the user; and   enable the identified suppliers to contact the user regarding the expression of interest of the user by executing instructions that further cause said computing device to interest by at least performing the following:
 output the expression of interest of the user for presentation to said identified suppliers, and 
 provide functionality for the identified suppliers to contact the user regarding the expression of interest of the user. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions to provide functionality for the identified suppliers to respond comprises instructions to provide functionality for identified suppliers to provide one or more of the following: an incentive type, a location, a good or service, an attribute of a good or service, or a proposed price.