Weight based upselling

This application is a continuation application of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/981,265, filed on Nov. 4, 2004, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/058,674, filed on Mar. 29, 2008.

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, systems, and products for weight based upselling.

2. Description Of Related Art

Online shopping on the Internet and the World Wide Web has become commonplace. Customers have become accustomed to price shopping to get the best deal on the products they buy. Other than picking the method of shipping (ground, second day, next day, and so on), customers generally do not think of minimizing the shipping costs when ordering. In fact, many shippers will charge a flat rate for package up to a certain amount of weight. If the package weights less than the maximum weight allowed for the flat rate, this extra shipping space is wasted and the customer\'s effectively overpays the shipping cost for an order.

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for weight based upselling that reduce the risk of wasting shipping costs by offering a customer an additional purchase of an item whose weight can be included in the unused portion of the shipping cost—so that the item can be shipped to the customer at no additional cost for the shipping. That is, methods, systems, and products are disclosed for weight based upselling that include receiving a purchase request for an item from a customer; determining a weight of the item; identifying, in dependence upon the weight of the item, a shipping weight range and a shipping cost for the item, where the shipping weight range includes a maximum shipping weight; calculating a difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; and offering the upsell item to the customer, including offering to ship both the item and the upsell item for only the identified shipping cost.

In typical embodiments, receiving a purchase request for an item includes receiving a purchase request in an electronic commerce server through an electronic data communications medium, and offering the upsell item to the customer includes offering the upsell item to the customer from the electronic commerce server through the electronic data communications medium. In other embodiments, receiving a purchase request for an item includes receiving a purchase request for an item by telephone, and offering the upsell item to the customer includes offering the upsell item to the customer by telephone. In typical embodiments, the purchase request includes an item identifier. In such embodiments, determining a weight of the item includes selecting an item record in dependence upon the item identifier and reading the weight of the item from the item record. In such embodiments, the item record typically includes data elements describing the item, including the weight of the item.

In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range and a type code matching a type code associated with the item. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range and at least one demographic code matching at least one demographic code associated with the customer. In typical embodiments, selecting an upsell item in dependence upon the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range also includes selecting an upsell item having a weight not greater than the difference between the weight of the item and the maximum shipping weight in the shipping weight range; and an item type matching an item type associated with the customer through a purchase history.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a diagram illustrating a system for weight based upselling according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of exemplary automated computing machinery for weight based upselling.

FIG. 3 sets forth a data structure diagram illustrating exemplary data structures and relations among them useful in systems for weight based upselling.

FIG. 4 sets forth a flow chart illustrating a method for weight based upselling.

FIG. 5 depicts a graphical user interface (‘GUI’) of an exemplary computer software application program, more particularly, a browser.

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Previous Patent Application:
Total value bidding
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Using visual images transferred from wireless computing device display screens
Industry Class:
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or cost/price determination

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