Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02321145 2001-O1-24
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ON-LINE PURCHASING
Technical Field
The invention relates to Internet-based retail sales, and more
particularly to a system and apparatus for purchase of grocery goods and
services
over the Internet.
Background Art
The global network of computers known as the Internet involves
communication between a first vast group of computers which are the source of
information and documents, known as "servers", and a second vast group of
computers which request such information and documents from servers, referred
to as "clients". One of the most useful systems for exchanging information
between clients and servers is the World Wide Web. Clients obtain documents
containing graphics and text formatted in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
from servers over the Internet using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) by
linking an HTML-compatible web browser to the server's Universal Resource
Locator (URL). The browser then displays the requested Web page on the client
terminal.
Internet-based purchase of goods and services over the World Wide
Web has become an important means for selling goods and services. Payment is
generally made by credit or debit card. A common method for a customer to
purchase a number of items from the same merchant or vendor without carrying
out separate credit card transactions for each item is to use a "shopping
cart"
metaphor. See for example United States patent no. 5,745,681 issued April 28,
1998 to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Items are selected by the customer and added to
the virtual shopping cart. When the customer has completed the selection of
items, the customer "checks out" by providing payment and delivery information
and the complete selection of purchases is ordered.
Sale of grocery items online and delivery of same to consumers is
rapidly increasing, due to the gradual adaptation to consumers to the idea
that
personal attendance at a grocery store to select grocery items is an
inefficient use
of time. Some of the more popular grocery delivery sites are www.webvan.com,
and www.homegrocer.com. These sites permit customers to order a selection of
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grocery items for home delivery during pre-selected times. Typically these
sites
involve selection of a generic product type, which then directs the customer
to a
list of different brands which are available and the price. The customer then
adds
the selection to her shopping cart. When finished shopping, the customer
selects
the delivery time and the total value of the purchased goods is charged to the
customer's account.
A problem with existing systems is that the customer's interface is
too complicated to encourage use of the service among those who would
generally
want to use the service. There is therefore a need for a more useful method of
ordering groceries on-line.
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention provides a method of on-line shopping
comprising
a) providing a shopping web site accessible to shoppers on the Internet via a
plurality of client computer terminals and comprising a secure server capable
of
conducting electronic commerce transactions, the secure server being adapted
to
maintain a database; b) providing to the shopper a pre-determined shopping
list
from which to remove unwanted items. According to one aspect, the pre-
determined shopping list is provided by the shopper selecting from one or more
pre-determined shopping lists, and the shopper forms a final list by adding to
or
deleting from the pre-determined shopping list. The invention may further
comprise the further steps of c) the shopper selecting from the pre-determined
list
a product type; d) displaying to the shopper available brands in that product
type;
e) the shopper selecting a quantity of one of the brands for purchase and
adding
the quantity of one of the brands to a virtual shopping cart; and f) the
shopper
checking out the purchases by providing a delivery tome and address and
payment
for purchased products.
According to another aspect, the invention provides A method of on-
line shopping comprising: a) providing a shopping web site accessible to
shoppers
on the Internet via a plurality of client computer terminals and comprising a
secure
server capable of conducting electronic commerce transactions, the secure
server
being adapted to maintain a database; b) providing to the shopper means for
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selecting product selections from either a virtual home or a virtual store
metaphor.
The shopper may be displayed a plurality of household room or area buttons,
selection of which causes to be displayed a plurality of product types
available in
the household room or area, and/or the shopper is displayed a plurality of
store
aisles or area buttons, selection of which causes to be displayed a plurality
of
product types available in the store aisles or area.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a method of on-
line shopping comprising: a) providing a shopping web site accessible to
shoppers
on the Internet via a plurality of client computer terminals and comprising a
secure
server capable of conducting electronic commerce transactions, the secure
server
being adapted to maintain a database; b) providing to the shopper a single
shopping web page from which all transactions are conducted using interactive
pull-down screens. The transactions may comprise selecting a delivery
schedule,
entering payment information,product search and product selection.
Brief Description of Drawing-s
In drawings which disclose apreferred embodiment ofthe invention,
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a computer network for
carrying out the invention; and
Fig. 2 through 18 are web pages illustrating the method of the
invention.
Best Mode(sl For Carrying Out the Invention
With reference to Figure l, one or more users have access to the
Internet network 10 via remote client computer terminals 12 using Internet
browser software. The grocer web site 14 consisting of a web server 16
accessible
to the Internet and secure servers 18, 20, 22 and 24 which are protected from
the
Internet access by firewall 26. A user at terminal 12 accesses the web site 14
by
pointing his or her browser at the grocery store web site URL. Firewall 26
reduces
the possibility that hackers can access a sensitive server to modify or
intercept
signals, or alter account information. Servers 18, 20, 22 and 24 may be
adminis-
tration services, transportation management systems, warehouse management
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systems and mufti-level marketing administration respectively. Various local
workstations 32 are networked to servers 18 through 24 to carry out customer
service operations, for example. A telecommunication connection is also
established with bank or other financial computers 28, 30 to carry out
electronic
commerce transactions. Database storage for the various servers is shown at
34.
In the present invention, the shopper addresses her browser to the
grocer web site (e.g. www.quick.com) and is displayed a single web page on
which all transactions take place. Thus, for simplicity and efficiency of the
process, the shopper does not move between different web pages, nor is there a
"back" arrow or scroll bars. Fig. 2 illustrates the home page 40 which is
displayed
to the customer when web site 14 is accessed by the customer's browser.
Shopping page 40 is divided into a product search section 42, product
selection
section 44 and shopping list section 46. It has a number of slide-down screen
tabs
50, 51 and a section 48 for displaying a rotating advertising box promoting
product specials, including an image 49 of the product. There is a box 52 in
which
the shopper can enter a search term, a shopping list menu button 53, and a
display
54 of the total value of the order. When a shopper first displays the page a
sign-in
screen 56 as shown in Fig. 3 is super-imposed on page 40. The shopper enters a
user name and password if previously registered, or selects the delivery area
if a
new user, and screen 56 then drops away from the home shopping page 40.
As indicated above, in the present invention, rather than moving
back and forth between different web pages to select delivery times, enter
payment
information etc. as in prior systems, the various steps in the shopping
process are
all carried out on a single page, using pull-down screens on which
intermediate
steps are taken. Such pull-down screens differ from prior pull-down menus in
existing graphical user interfaces in that users enter information from their
keyboard on the pull-down screens, rather than simply selecting an option with
a
mouse-click. For example, by clicking tab 57, a rectangular screen 60
descends,
superimposed on page 40, as shown in Fig. 4, and the tab 57 changes to the
"close" tab 62. The shopper enters address information for up to three
delivery
addresses in box 61 and selects a delivery time in chart 63 from among
available
times. By clicking the "close" tab 62, the screen 60 ascends to the original
hidden
position and the information is communicated to web site 14. At any point
during
the shopping process before checking out, the shopper can complete the
delivery
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information as shown in Fig. 4 by pulling down the delivery screen. Check-out
is not possible without that information. Similarly, at any point during the
process
before check-out, the shopper can complete the personal profile and payment
information as shown in Fig. 5 by clicking the "About you" tab 55. The shopper
then enters name, address, username and password information and credit card
information on superimposed screen 64. As further described below, the credit
card information is taken as security in case a customer orders a delivery
time but
does is not available to accept delivery. Actual payment for the groceries is
made
in person to the delivery person at time of delivery of the groceries. By
clicking
the "close" tab 65, the screen 60 ascends to the original hidden position and
the
information is communicated to web site 14.
I. Shopping list Creation
A shopper may first create a shopping list prior to initiating the
shopping process. By clicking on button 53, a pull-down menu 66 (Fig. 6) gives
the shopper a choice of preparing a new shopping list, or retrieving a
previously
saved list from another file or a previous order. If a new list is created,
the
shopper is presented with a super-imposed card 68 shown in Fig. 7. The system
has pre-made lists of typical grocery items required for a man, woman, boy,
girl,
baby, cat and dog. The shopper selects which of these types of persons/pets is
desired to be shopped for. Fig. 8 shows a selection for a man, woman and baby,
and the pre-made list of items 69 is retrieved for such persons and combined,
removing duplications, and displayed in the shopping list section 46 as shown
in
Fig. 8. The shopper can preview the list and add additional items to the pre-
made
list 69 by adding such items in box 70 (Fig. 9, where "butter" has been
added), or
the shopper can create a completely customized list in box 70.
Once the shopping list 69 has been finalized, the shopper clicks on
the "go shopping" button, the card 68 disappears and the products listed in
the list
69 are linked to the product descriptions in the database as shown in Fig. 10
and
unwanted items can be removed from the shopping list by a mouse click. Once
the list 69 is finalized, the shopper proceeds to the product selection step.
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2. Product Selection
The shopper clicks on one of the product types in the shopping list
("eggs" in Fig. 11 ) to select a product for purchase. This causes the product
type
to be entered in the search box 52 and a search of the database is conducted
for all
product brands having that search term and the located product brands 72 are
displayed in product selection window 44. An image 73 of each particular brand
available under the selected product type is shown with the product trademark
or
brand, generic description, size and price. As shown in Fig. 12, clicking on
the
product image 73 causes a panel 75 to be superimposed on which the shopper can
select to see details of the brand (ingredients etc.) and can select the
desired
quantity. By then clicking on the "OK" button, the item is added to the
customer's
shopping cart, as indicated by icon 76 in Fig. 13.
Products can also be selected for display and purchase in the product
selection column by the "specials" tab or from the promotional box 48.
Referring
to Fig. 14, clicking on tab 51 causes slide-down panel 74 to descend and the
customer product specials to be shown in section 42. Selecting one of the
specials
causes that particular brand to be displayed in the product selection section
44 as
described above. Clicking on the product image 73 again causes panel 75 to be
superimposed on page 40, on which the shopper can select to see details of the
brand and can select the desired quantity. Again, by then clicking on the "OK"
button, the item is added to the customer's shopping cart, and the selected
items
77 are added to list 69 (see Fig. 15) along with quantity and price, and the
total
price 54 of the order is adjusted.
3. Product Search
A shopper can search for particular product types where the shopper
wishes to look for specific products rather than work from a shopping list.
The
shopper can enter a product type in the search box 52. The server searches for
the
term and if it locates a corresponding term in the database, displays in
section 44
the specific brands which are listed in the database. The shopper can then
select
one of the specific product brands for purchase.
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Alternatively, the shopper can browse through available products by
selecting either house icon 56 or store icon 58 (Fig. 2). By clicking on house
icon
56, a series of buttons 80 (Fig. 16) are presented to the shopper with images
representing the different rooms or areas of a house: e.g. kitchen, supply
cupboard, laundry room, work bench, bathroom, medicine chest, baby's room etc.
Then by clicking on a particular button, 82 for example representing the
bathroom,
a second series of buttons 84 (Fig. 17) are presented to the shopper each with
an
image a different product type available in that room or area of the house
(bathroom in this example). So in the case of the bathroom, there will be
buttons
representing toothpaste, soap, shampoo etc. Selecting one of the buttons 84
causes
a product search to be done on the database for that word and the specific
product
brands which match that description are displayed in section 42 as described
above. Once the shopper selects a particular brand, the shopper can view
details
and select a quantity and add to the shopping cart as above.
The store icon 58 similarly allows the shopper to browse through
aisles of a store with products organized as they would be in a brick-and-
mortar
store. As with the house icon, by clicking on store icon 58, a series of
buttons 80
are presented to the shopper with images representing the different aisles or
areas
of a grocery store: e.g. baked goods, dairy products, fruits and vegetables,
etc.
Then by clicking on a particular button, 82 for example representing dairy
products, a second series of buttons 84 are presented to the shopper each with
an
image a different product type available in that aisle or area of the store
(dairy
products in this example). So in the case of the dairy products there will be
buttons
representing milk, eggs, butter, cream etc. Selecting one of the buttons 84
causes
a product search to be done on the database for that word and the specific
product
brands which match that description are displayed in section 42 as described
above. Once the shopper selects a particular brand, the shopper can view
details
and select a quantity and add to the shopping cart as above.
4. Check Out
Once the shopper has added all the desired items to the shopping
cart, the shopper pulls down the check-out screen 78 (Fig. 18). The customer
is
prompted as shown in Fig. 18 to fill out the customer profile and payment
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information, and delivery information if that has not already been done. Once
that
information is complete and the customer selects the "check-out" button 78,
the
order is processed for delivery. The customer pays for the goods on delivery,
unless the customer is not at home for delivery in which case the groceries
are
returned to the warehouse and the customer's account is charged a penalty
charge
for proceeding and attempted delivery. Thus, actual payment for the groceries
is
made in person to the delivery person at time of delivery of the groceries,
and the
credit card information is kept for security purposes.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the
foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the
practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.
Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with
the
substance defined by the following claims.
