Abstract:
A computer system is described which comprises a server computer connected to the Internet, the server computer receiving, over the Internet, both a product review and a product inquiry from a user on one or more remote computers, the product being reviewed being different from the product being inquired, a database containing product information pertaining to the inquired product, the product information including a first price of the inquired product, a processing unit calculating a second price from the first price and a factor derived from the product review, a computer program residing in the server computer placing the second price on a webpage pertaining to the inquired product, the computer program also sending the webpage to the user&#39;s remote computer.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce (E-commerce) conducted over the Internet, and, more particularly, to linking online purchase to product review. 
         [0002]    According to surveys, large number of people reported that a positive recommendation from a friend, family member, or someone they trust is the biggest influence on whether they buy a product or service. With the advance of the Internet, particularly the social media, the spread of recommendations has become much easier. As a result, product review has become a very powerful marketing tool for businesses. 
         [0003]    The Internet has also made it easy for manufacturers to sell goods directly to end users, because manufacturers can disseminate product information and communicate with customers easily through the Internet. 
         [0004]    As such, what is desired is a review system and method that facilitate manufacturer&#39;s selling direct to end users. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    A computer system is described which comprises a server computer connected to the Internet, the server computer receiving, over the Internet, both a product review and a product inquiry from a user on one or more remote computers, the product being reviewed being different from the product being inquired, a database containing product information pertaining to the inquired product, the product information including a first price of the inquired product, a processing unit calculating a second price from the first price and a factor derived from the product review, a computer program residing in the server computer placing the second price on a webpage pertaining to the inquired product, the computer program also sending the webpage to the user&#39;s remote computer. 
         [0006]    The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates an E-commerce system. 
           [0008]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate exemplary webpages of an E-commerce website. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates a method for generating price information for a particular buyer. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  illustrates a method for calculating review credits. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates a server system  500  that hosts the E-commerce website of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a flow-chart illustrating a process of a user initiating a product review on the E-commerce website. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating a process of a manufacturer initiating a product for sale on the E-commerce website 
       
    
    
       [0014]    The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification are included to depict certain aspects of the invention. A clearer conception of the invention, and of the components and operation of systems provided with the invention, will become more readily apparent by referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodiments illustrated in the drawings, wherein like reference numbers (if they occur in more than one view) designate the same elements. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in combination with the description presented herein. 
       DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    The present invention relates to the E-commerce conducted over the Internet that utilizes product reviews to facilitate vender&#39;s selling direct to end users. 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates an E-commerce system which includes an E-commerce website  100  residing in a server, a remote terminal belongs to an exemplary buyer  112 , a remote terminal belongs to an exemplary vendor  124 , and a remote terminal belongs to an exemplary reviewer  136 , all connected to the Internet  150 . The buyer  112  can purchase products from the vendor  124  through the E-commerce website  100 . The reviewer  136  can post reviews of products either from the vendor  124  or elsewhere on the E-commerce website  100 . In some embodiments, the buyer  112  and the reviewer  136  can be the same person. 
         [0017]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate exemplary webpages of the E-commerce website  100 . Referring to  FIG. 2A , a first exemplary webpage includes a product image area  201  which, for instance, displays a camera  203  for sale. The first exemplary webpage also includes a specification tab  212 , a review tab  214 , and a forum tab  216 . When the specification tab  212  is selected, product information  222  pertaining to the for-sale camera  203  will be displayed in a region  220 . In addition, a box  225  containing pricing information and a “buy” button  227  are also displayed in the region  220 . 
         [0018]    When the review tab  214  is selected, the region  220  will display reviews pertaining to the for-sale camera  203 . In embodiments, a review has to be verified before being posted in the review tab  214 . The verification process may include checking if the reviewer has indeed owned the reviewed product. In one embodiment, the E-commerce website  100  may require the reviewer to upload a photo picture of the reviewed product. The photo picture can be uploaded directly from a camera with web access and can be logged into the same reviewer&#39;s account. In another embodiment, the E-commerce website  100  may require the reviewer to enter the product&#39;s identification information including the serial number. 
         [0019]    When the forum tab  216  is selected, the region  220  will display forum entries pertaining to the for-sale camera  203 . In embodiments, the forum entries are displayed right away without going through verification process, so that instantaneous communication among people who are interested in the for-sale camera  203  can happen. 
         [0020]    In addition, the first exemplary webpage also includes a chat button  232 . Upon clicking the chat button  232 , a chat session with an expert representing the for-sale camera  203  can be initiated. In one embodiment, the chat session is conducted between the E-commerce website  100  and a webpage viewer&#39; terminal. In another embodiment, the E-commerce website  100  opens a communication channel between the vendor&#39;s terminal and a webpage viewer&#39;s terminal, so that the chat session is conducted between the vendor&#39;s personnel and the webpage viewer. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 2B , a second exemplary webpage is provided to depict the review tab  214  in more details. The region  220  under the review tab  214  now includes a reviewer&#39;s area  240  and a vendor&#39;s area  250 . The reviewer&#39;s area  240  displaying a reviewer&#39;s rating  242  of the for-sale camera  203  and a reviewer&#39;s comment  245 . In embodiments, the reviewer&#39;s comment  245  includes both pros and cons of the reviewed product. The vendor&#39;s area  250  displays a vendor&#39;s rating  252  of the product review including the reviewer&#39;s rating  242  and the reviewer&#39;s comment  245  for their accuracy, etc. In other embodiments, the region  200  under the review tab  214  may also include an expert&#39;s area (not show) displaying the expert&#39;s rating and comments. The expert may not be associated the vendor and may belong to a media organization. Both the vendor and expert need to pre-register with the E-commerce website and go through appropriate verification processes before posting reviews. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  illustrates a method for generating price information for a particular buyer. In embodiments, the pricing information box  225  of  FIG. 2A  initially displays a manufacturer&#39;s suggested retail price (MSRP)  302 , which is previously entered into a database in a server that hosts the E-commerce website  100  by a vendor  124  of a selected product. A potential buyer of that product can earn review credits  314  by reviewing other products he or she already owns. An actual price  326  can be obtained by subtracting the review credits  314  from the MSRP  302 . A potential buyer needs to set up an account to store review credit  314  in a database in a server that hosts the E-commerce website 100 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  illustrates a method for calculating review credit for a product reviewer. Review credit  402  is calculated from the product price  413  the reviewer paid for the product, a number of existing reviews  415  for the same product, quality of the review  417  and vendor&#39;s rating of the review  422 . In some embodiments, reviewing more expensive items, i.e., higher product price  413  may get the reviewer higher review credit  402 . If a product has already been reviewed by numerous reviews, i.e., the number of existing reviews  415  is high, the review credit  402  may not gain much. Quality of the review  417  matters, too. For instance, providing cons, in addition to pros, of the reviewed product, is perceived as higher quality and hence boosting the review credit  402 . Then vender&#39;s rating of the review  422  will proportionally affect the review credit  402 . As an example, calculating the review credit  402  can be formulated as (product price  413 /A)×(B/(number of existing reviews  415 ))×(quality of the review  417 )×(C/(vendor&#39;s rating of the review  422 )), wherein A, B and C are coefficients assigned to the product price  413 , number of existing review  415 , and vendor&#39;s rating of the review  422 , respectively. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  illustrates a server system  500  that hosts the E-commerce website  100  of the present invention. The server system  500  includes a store  512  for storing product information database  521 , product review database  532 , and forum content database  543 . The product information database  521  includes specifications of all the products either for sale or being reviewed on the E-commerce website  100 , as well as associated vendor information. The product review database  532  includes not only all the reviews but also the associated reviewer&#39;s information and review credit earned by each reviewer. The product information database  521 , the product review database  532  and the forum content database  543  are interlinked. For instance, when entering a product, all its associated reviews and forum content can be extracted from the product review database  532  and forum content database  543 , respectively. 
         [0025]    Referring again to  FIG. 5 , the server system  500  also include a central processing unit (CPU)  550  for managing the aforementioned store  512  and for calculating the actual price  326  of  FIG. 3  and the review credit  402  of  FIG. 4 . The CPU  550  may also track number of reviews submitted by a reviewer, and allow only one review per product per reviewer. In some embodiments, separate processing units may be employed to perform the aforementioned operations. 
         [0026]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a process of a user initiating a product review on the E-commerce website  100 . The process begins with a user initiating a product review in step  610  by, for instance, clicking a button on a webpage in his or her terminal which in turn sends a request for entering review to the E-commerce website  100 . Step  610  also involves the user providing identification information or credential through a log-in process. In step  620 , the E-commerce website  100  checks the user&#39;s credential. If the user&#39;s credential does not meet predetermined criteria, the product review request will be rejected in step  630 . The predetermined criteria may include the user&#39;s name, contact information, age, gender, and proof of possessing the reviewed product, etc. If the user&#39;s credential meets the predetermined criteria, the E-commerce website  100  will register the user, upload the product review and assign review credit to the user in step  640 . The E-commerce website  100  then creates a product entry in the database  512  in step  650 , and places the product information and the review on appropriate webpages in step  660 . The product information and the review can be displayed upon request of corresponding webpages. Furthermore, the E-commerce website  100  informs the manufacturer of the reviewed product of such review in step  670 . The E-commerce website  100  may also invite the manufacturer to list the reviewed product for sale on the E-commerce website  100  if it has not done so already in step  680 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating a process of a manufacturer initiating a product for sale on the E-commerce website  100 . The process begins with a manufacturer initiating a product for sale in step  710  by logging into the E-commerce website  100  and entering the product information therein. The product information may include description, images and MSRP of the product. The E-commerce website  100  then checks the product information and the manufacturer&#39;s credential in step  720 . If either the product or the manufacturer does not meet certain criteria, the E-commerce website  100  will reject the product for sale in step  730 . If both the product and the manufacturer meet the criteria, the E-commerce website  100  will create a product entry in the database  512  in step  740 . The E-commerce website  100  also checks if the manufacturer has enrolled in a marketing plan for the product in step  750 . The marketing plan may include promotional activities such as blasting promotional emails to users on a mailing list of the E-commerce website  100 , and displaying product advertisement on related webpages. If the manufacturer has enrolled in the marketing plan, appropriate promotional activities will be executed in step  760 . Notwithstanding the marketing plan enrollment, once the product entry is created, the product information will be placed in a desired webpage for being displayed to the public. In embodiments, there may be multiple similar products from different vendors listed for sale on the E-commerce website  100 . The E-commerce website  100  may be programmed to determine a sequence of the product listing according to seniority of a listing, rating by customers or price of the products, or a combination of the above factors. 
         [0028]    The above illustration provides many different embodiments or embodiments for implementing different features of the invention. Specific embodiments of components and processes are described to help clarify the invention. These are, of course, merely embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention from that described in the claims. 
         [0029]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in one or more specific examples, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.