Patent ID: 9218613
Filing Date: 2015-12-22
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A system for facilitating the sale of a product or service via interactive text messaging communication with a customer's mobile computing device capable of sending and receiving text messages, comprising: a customer's computing device which is associated with a mobile device number, and a merchant's internet server, which comprises a microprocessor, memory, and a communications interface, programmed to perform the following method: display a selectable icon in a merchant's webpage stored in the memory of the merchant's internet server, wherein when the icon is selected by a customer from the customer's computing device: cause the microprocessor to display on the customer's computing device a screen prompting a customer to enter customer identification information and a mobile number, and a submit button, which, when selected by the customer, transmits the customer identification information and the mobile number to the merchant's internet server, the customer identification information and the mobile number being written to a customer database residing in the merchant internet server's memory to then be used for interacting with the customer via text messaging; display on a merchant's webpage a graphical user interface including one or more of a plurality of data fields, which include events determined by a merchant inviting responses from a customer, the events and responses corresponding to a product or service being sold on a merchant's website, for which a customer wishes to be timely notified via a text message sent to the customer's mobile computing device; receive a customer's selection of the event corresponding to a product or service being sold on the merchant website from the customer's mobile computing device and storing the event in the memory of the merchant's internet server; determine when an event has occurred; generate a text message including text indicating that an event has occurred and display a universal resource locator (URL), which when selected by the customer causes an immediate purchase of the product or service being sold on the merchant's website, when the merchant's internet server determines that the event has occurred; cause the communication interface of the merchant's server to transmit the text message to the customer's mobile computing device using the customer's mobile number, immediately after the merchant's server determines that the event has occurred; receive, at the customer's mobile computing device, the merchant's generated text message which displays the URL, which when selected by a customer causes an immediate purchase of the product or service being sold on the merchant's website; and transmit the customer's immediate purchase of the product or service being sold on a merchant website from the customer's mobile computing device when the customer selects the URL in the received text message or transmit a customer's text message to the merchant requesting additional information or making an offer corresponding to the product or service being sold on the merchant website.