System and method for personalized add-on purchase

Abstract

A system and method for identifying and promoting product items, in which current personal information of a consumer is used to identify and promote additional products items for purchase that have been specifically selected for the consumer at completion of a current order based upon current personal information of the consumer. The recommended product items may then be ordered with minimum additional effort on the part of the consumer, using information from the completed order. This results in a high likelihood of the recommended product items being of interest to, and therefore being purchased by, the consumer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a system for using personal information of a consumer to identify and recommend product items for purchase following placement of a prior order, the method comprising:
 in a computer system configured to communicatively couple with communication devices of a plurality of consumers,
 for each of the plurality of consumers, maintaining corresponding personal information comprising shopping behavior information, purchase history information, order fulfillment information, and means of payment information; 
 responsive to a specific request of one of the plurality of consumers, adding one or more product items to a first order for the one of the plurality of consumers; 
 responsive to an explicit request to place the first order of the one of the plurality of consumers, selecting a first set of product items from a plurality of additional product items according to a respective value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers; 
 communicating product information for each of the first set of product items to a communication device of the one of the plurality of consumers, for display; and 
 responsive to the one of the plurality of consumers, processing at least one of the first set of product items as a second order for the one of the plurality of consumers, according to one or both of order fulfillment information and means of payment information for the one of the plurality of consumers. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign the value corresponding to each of a plurality of additional product items.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information of others of the plurality of consumers to determine a level of similarity with the one of the plurality of consumers.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the second order is processed according to one or both of the order fulfillment information and the means of payment information chosen by the one of the plurality of consumers for the first order. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein processing the second order comprises:
 updating the personal information of the one of the plurality of consumers according to the first order; and   communicating product information for each of a second set of product items to the communication device of the one of the plurality of consumers, for display.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein communicating product information for each of the second set of product items comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign a respective value to each of a second plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers; and   selecting the second set of product items from the second plurality of additional product items, according to the values assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method uses a shopping cart model. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions executable by at least one processor of a computer system configured to communicatively couple with communication devices of a plurality of consumers, the plurality of instructions to cause the at least one processor to perform the actions of a method of operating a system for using personal information of a consumer to identify and recommend product items for purchase following placement of a prior order, the actions comprising:
 for each of the plurality of consumers, maintaining corresponding personal information comprising shopping behavior information, purchase history information, order fulfillment information, and means of payment information;   responsive to a specific request of one of the plurality of consumers, adding one or more product items to a first order for the one of the plurality of consumers;   responsive to an explicit request to place the first order of the one of the plurality of consumers, selecting a first set of product items from a plurality of additional product items according to a respective value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers;   communicating product information for each of the first set of product items to a communication device of the one of the plurality of consumers, for display; and   responsive to the one of the plurality of consumers, processing at least one of the first set of product items as a second order for the one of the plurality of consumers, according to one or both of order fulfillment information and means of payment information for the one of the plurality of consumers.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 8 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign the value corresponding to each of a plurality of additional product items.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 8 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information of others of the plurality of consumers to determine a level of similarity with the one of the plurality of consumers.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 8 , wherein the second order is processed according to one or both of the order fulfillment information and the means of payment information chosen by the one of the plurality of consumers for the first order. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 8 , wherein processing the second order comprises:
 updating the personal information of the one of the plurality of consumers according to the first order; and   communicating product information for each of a second set of product items to the communication device of the one of the plurality of consumers, for display.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , wherein communicating product information for each of the second set of product items comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign a respective value to each of a second plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers; and   selecting the second set of product items from the second plurality of additional product items, according to the values assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 8 , wherein the method uses a shopping cart model. 
     
     
         15 . A system for using personal information of a consumer to identify and recommend product items for purchase following placement of a prior order, the system comprising:
 at least one processor for communicatively coupling with communication devices of a plurality of consumers, the at least one processor operable to, at least:
 for each of the plurality of consumers, maintaining corresponding personal information comprising shopping behavior information, purchase history information, order fulfillment information, and means of payment information; 
 responsive to a specific request of one of the plurality of consumers, adding one or more product items to a first order for the one of the plurality of consumers; 
 responsive to an explicit request to place the first order of the one of the plurality of consumers, selecting a first set of product items from a plurality of additional product items according to a respective value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers; 
 communicating product information for each of the first set of product items to a communication device of the one of the plurality of consumers, for display; and 
 responsive to the one of the plurality of consumers, processing at least one of the first set of product items as a second order for the one of the plurality of consumers, according to one or both of order fulfillment information and means of payment information for the one of the plurality of consumers. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign the value corresponding to each of a plurality of additional product items.   
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 analyzing the personal information of others of the plurality of consumers to determine a level of similarity with the one of the plurality of consumers.   
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the second order is processed according to one or both of the order fulfillment information and the means of payment information chosen by the one of the plurality of consumers for the first order. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein processing the second order comprises:
 updating the personal information of the one of the plurality of consumers according to the first order; and   communicating product information for each of a second set of product items to the communication device of one of the plurality of consumers, for display.   
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 19 , wherein communicating product information for each of the second set of product items comprises:
 analyzing the personal information corresponding to the one of the plurality of consumers to assign a respective value to each of a second plurality of additional product items, wherein the value assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items is representative of a likelihood of purchase of the respective product item by the one of the plurality of consumers; and   selecting the second set of product items from the second plurality of additional product items, according to the values assigned to each of the second plurality of additional product items.