Systems and methods for providing interactive assistance on purchase decision-making

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing interactive assistance on purchase decision-making are provided. These systems and methods are preferably adapted to enable a purchase decision to be made by preferably interactively assisting the purchase decision-making process until a final purchase selection is made or indicated.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method of providing computerized interactive assistance for computers, the method comprising:
 receiving, by at least one computer processor of at least one computer in electronic communication with a plurality of other computers via a computer network, from a user an indication of a total amount of money available for purchases by the user;   perform the following plurality of steps:
 presenting, by the at least one computer processor, to the user, at a graphical user interface of an electronic display device in electronic communication with the at least one computer processor, a plurality of categories of goods and/or services; 
 receiving, by the at least one computer processor, from the user via at least one input device of the electronic display device a selection of at least one of the categories; 
 based at least in part on the selection, by at least one computer processor, presenting to the user at the graphical user interface a question and a plurality of possible answers to the question; 
 receiving, by the at least one computer processor, from the user via the at least one input device a selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question; 
 presenting, by the at least one computer processor, to the user at the graphical user interface a set of potential goods and/or services based at least in part on:
 a) the selected at least one of the possible answers to the question and 
 b) the indicated total amount of money available for purchases by the user less a cumulative total of purchase prices of any goods and/or services that were previously selected by the user, 
 in which information about the set of potential goods and/or services, including a purchase price of said potential goods and/or services, is received via an electronic communication network from one or more computers of one or more sellers and/or service providers; and 
 
 receiving, by the at least one computer processor, from the user via the at least one input device a selection of a good and/or service from the set of potential goods and/or services; 
 automatically detecting, by the at least one computer processor, that total goods and/or services exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detecting, automatically presenting, by the at least one computer processor, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a warning indication regarding potential to exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user which prevents the user from selecting goods and/or services that would exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user; 
 automatically detecting, by the at least one computer processor, that total goods and/or services does not exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detecting, automatically presenting, by the at least one computer processor, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a request to obtain user electronic payment information and to relay the electronic payment information to a computer of a provider of the total goods and/or services and to cause to generate electronic commands to cause to execute a direct electronic transaction for a purchase of the total goods and services; and 
 iteratively performing, by the at least one computer processor, the plurality of steps at least one more time. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to shopping for merchandise, further comprising:
 after iteratively performing the plurality of steps at least one more time:
 causing to be transacted a purchase of at least one good or service selected by the user by the user from a provider of the at least one good or service; and 
 responsive to causing the purchase to be transacted, charging a commission fee to the provider of the at least one good or service. 
 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to accommodation, further comprising:
 after iteratively performing the plurality of steps at least one more time:
 causing to be transacted a purchase of at least one good or service selected by the user by the user from a provider of the at least one good or service; and 
 presenting at the graphical user interface a summary of (1) purchase recommendations and (2) selections by the user, and (3) transactions. 
 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to travel. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the selection of at least one of the categories during the initial performance of the plurality of steps and the selection of at least one of the categories during the performance of the plurality of steps at least one more time together comprise the selection of categories related to at least two of accommodation, travel, and shopping,   wherein the act of receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the categories comprises receiving a selection of a purchase category;   
       further comprising:
 responsive to the act of receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the categories, transmitting at least one electronic message to a respective at least one seller or service provider associated with the selected purchase category, the at least one electronic message comprising a query associated with the selected category. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 presenting, at the graphical user interface, the user with an opportunity to counteroffer a price of at least one of the goods and/or services that the user has selected, in which the act of providing the user with an opportunity to enter a counteroffer price comprises providing the user with an opportunity to enter a counteroffer price at the graphical user interface; 
 receiving, from the user via the input device, a counteroffer price. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 providing a vendor of the counteroffered good and/or service an opportunity to accept the user's counteroffer, in which the act of providing a vendor of the counteroffered good and/or service comprises transmitting the counteroffer price to a computer of the vendor via an electronic communication network. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the method further comprises:
 in response to a user selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question, presenting a second question and a plurality of possible answers to the second question to the user; and 
 receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the possible answers to the second question. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the set of potential goods and/or services is presented to the user based at least in part on the user's selection of at least one of the possible answers to the second question,
 wherein the act of presenting at a graphical user interface a plurality of categories of goods and/or services comprises displaying a web site that is hosted on an Internet web page server. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 2  wherein, during the performance of the plurality of steps at least one more time, the set of potential goods and/or services is presented to the user based at least in part on the user's selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question during the initial performance of the plurality of steps. 
     
     
         12 . A system of providing computerized interactive assistance for computers, the system comprising:
 at least one computer processor of at least one computer in electronic communication with a plurality of other computers via a computer network; and   at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one computer processor, configure the at least one computer processor to:
 receive from a user an indication of a total amount of money available for purchases by the user; 
 perform the following plurality of steps:
 present to the user, at a graphical user interface of an electronic display device in electronic communication with the at least one computer processor, a plurality of categories of goods and/or services; 
 receive from the user via at least one input device of the electronic display device a selection of at least one of the categories; 
 based at least in part on the selection, present to the user at the graphical user interface a question and a plurality of possible answers to the question; 
 receive from the user via the at least one input device a selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question; 
 present to the user at the graphical user interface a set of potential goods and/or services based at least in part on:
 a) the selected at least one of the possible answers to the question; and 
 b) the indicated total amount of money available for purchases by the user less a cumulative total of purchase prices of any goods and/or services that were previously selected by the user; 
 in which information about the set of potential goods and/or services, including a purchase price of said potential goods and/or services, is received via an electronic communication network from one or more computers of one or more sellers and/or service providers; and 
 
 receive from the user via the at least one input device a selection of a good and/or service from the set of potential goods and/or services; 
 automatically detect that total goods and/or services exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detecting, automatically present, by the at least one computer processor, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a warning indication regarding potential to exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user which prevents the user from selecting goods and/or services that would exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user; 
 automatically detect that total goods and/or services does not exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detection, automatically presenting, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a request to obtain user electronic payment information and to relay the electronic payment information to a computer of a provider of the total goods and/or services and to cause to generate electronic commands to cause to execute a direct electronic transaction for a purchase of the total goods and services; and 
 iteratively perform the plurality of steps at least one more time. 
 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to shopping for merchandise, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one computer processor, further configure the at least one computer processor to:
 after iteratively performing the plurality of steps at least one more time:
 cause to be transacted a purchase of at least one good or service selected by the user by the user from a provider of the at least one good or service; and 
 responsive to causing the purchase to be transacted, charge a commission fee to the provider of the at least one good or service. 
 
 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to accommodation, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one computer processor, further configure the at least one computer processor to:
 after iteratively performing the plurality of steps at least one more time:
 cause to be transacted a purchase of at least one good or service selected by the user by the user from a provider of the at least one good or service; and 
 present at the graphical user interface a summary of (1) purchase recommendations and (2) selections by the user, and (3) transactions. 
 
 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the plurality of categories comprise at least one category related to travel. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the selection of at least one of the categories during the initial performance of the plurality of steps and the selection of at least one of the categories during the performance of the plurality of steps at least one more time together comprise the selection of categories related to at least two of accommodation, travel, and shopping,   wherein the act of receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the categories comprises receiving a selection of a purchase category;   
       further comprising:
 responsive to the act of receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the categories, transmitting at least one electronic message to a respective at least one seller or service provider associated with the selected purchase category, the at least one electronic message comprising a query associated with the selected category. 
 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:
 provide the user with an opportunity to counteroffer a price of at least one of the goods and/or services that the user has selected, in which the act of providing the user with an opportunity to enter a counteroffer price comprises providing the user with an opportunity to enter a counteroffer price at the graphical user interface;   receiving, from the user via the input device, a counteroffer price.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:
 responsive to receiving the counteroffer price, provide a vendor of the counteroffered good and/or service an opportunity to accept the user's counteroffer, in which the act of providing a vendor of the counteroffered good and/or service comprises transmitting the counteroffer price to a computer of the vendor via an electronic communication network.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:
 in response to a user selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question, present a second question and a plurality of possible answers to the second question to the user; and 
 receive from the user a selection of at least one of the possible answers to the second question. 
 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the set of potential goods and/or services is presented to the user based at least in part on the user's selection of at least one of the possible answers to the second question, wherein the act of presenting at a graphical user interface a plurality of categories of goods and/or services comprises displaying a web site that is hosted on an Internet web page server. 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one computer processor of at least one computer in electronic communication with a plurality of other computers via a computer network for providing computerized interactive assistance for computers, configure the at least one computer processor to:
 receive from a user an indication of a total amount of money available for purchases by the user;   perform the following plurality of steps:
 present to the user, at a graphical user interface of an electronic display device in electronic communication with the at least one computer processor, a plurality of categories of goods and/or services; 
 receive from the user via at least one input device of the electronic display device a selection of at least one of the categories; 
 based at least in part on the selection, present to the user at the graphical user interface a question and a plurality of possible answers to the question; 
 receive from the user via the at least one input device a selection of at least one of the possible answers to the question; 
 present to the user at the graphical user interface a set of potential goods and/or services based at least in part on:
 a) the selected at least one of the possible answers to the question; and 
 b) the indicated total amount of money available for purchases by the user less a cumulative total of purchase prices of any goods and/or services that were previously selected by the user, 
 in which information about the set of potential goods and/or services, including a purchase price of said potential goods and/or services, is received via an electronic communication network from one or more computers of one or more sellers and/or service providers; and 
 
 receive from the user via the at least one input device a selection of a good and/or service from the set of potential goods and/or services; 
 automatically detect that total goods and/or services exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detection, automatically present, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a warning indication regarding potential to exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user which prevents the user from selecting goods and/or services that would exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user; 
 automatically detect that total goods and/or services does not exceed the total amount of money available for purchases by the user, and in response to the detection, automatically presenting, to the user an update at the graphical user interface with a request to obtain user electronic payment information and to relay the electronic payment information to a computer of a provider of the total goods and/or services and to cause to generate electronic commands to cause to execute a direct electronic transaction for a purchase of the total goods and services; and 
 iteratively perform the plurality of steps at least one more time.