Abstract:
A collaborative shopping group can be established within a social networking web site. This initially established group can consist of individuals with whom the establishing user has a social networking affiliation. After an initial establishment of the collaborative shopping group, each individual within the group is able to add additional individuals to the collaborative shopping group. A shared shopping cart can be established for the collaborative shopping group. A set of different members of the collaborative shopping group can individually and independently add items from a set of different e-commerce sites to the shared shopping cart. An e-commerce purchase of items in the shared shopping cart can be completed. The completed e-commerce purchase can receive a transaction discount greater than or equal to a sum of discounts that would have resulted from discrete purchases of the items of the shared shopping cart by the individuals of the collaborative shopping group.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of online shopping systems and, more particularly, to a collaborative online shopping system. 
         [0002]    Shopping has been a social experience for centuries—from ancient marketplaces to today&#39;s outlet malls. However, much of this social interaction has been lost in the shift to Web-based or online shopping systems. In the attempt to interject more social interaction, many online shopping systems have introduced features such as wish lists, recommendation lists, user-submitted product feedback, shopping carts that are viewable by others, and universal shopping carts that aggregate products from a defined group of retailers. While these attempts provide their own benefit to online shopping, the online shopping systems lack the automated social communication aspect popularized by social networking Websites such as FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, and ORKUT, where information is automatically made available from one account holder to other account holders based on established relationships 
         [0003]    For example, two friends, Shopper A and Shopper B, both have accounts for shopping at the same online retailer. Both shoppers have a stored shopping cart with a couple of product items, intending to make their purchases when the value of their respective shopping carts qualifies for a discounted shipping rate. Unless Shopper A and Shopper B explicitly share information about their stored shopping carts, which must occur outside of the shopping Website (e.g., lists the contents in an email or telephone call), neither will be aware that the combination of their two shopping carts qualifies for discounted shipping. Simply, the online shopping system does not “know” that Shopper A knows Shopper B or that either shopper may be interested in combining their purchases. 
         [0004]    Newer attempts, such as that described in Great Britain Patent No. 2458388A, have focused on simulating the shopping experience in virtual marketplaces. Three-dimensional (3D) models of the shoppers are able to communicate and perform many typical shopping actions in a virtual representation of a store. However, such a graphics-intensive system incurs additional overhead for both the host system and the shopper&#39;s system to support the 3D modeling of the shoppers and virtual environment. 
         [0005]    Although this system allows multiple users to aggregate selected product items into a single purchase with a single vendor and even split costs, it does not support a social network structure between the shoppers or the use of a universal shopping cart. Nor does this system support the ability for one shopper to apply a coupon or promotion code to the purchase to be shared among the shoppers, a very common reason shoppers combine purchases or purchase additional items. Further, a shopper viewing another shopper&#39;s shopping cart, any actions that the viewing shopper may want to take such as creating a copy of the shopping cart for their own purposes must be reiterated manually. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0006]    One aspect of the invention, a collaborative shopping group can be established within a social networking web site. This initially established group can consist of individuals with whom the establishing user has a social networking affiliation. After an initial establishment of the collaborative shopping group, each individual within the group is able to add additional individuals to the collaborative shopping group. A shared shopping cart can be established for the collaborative shopping group. A set of different members of the collaborative shopping group can individually and independently add items from a set of different e-commerce sites to the shared shopping cart. Each of the different e-commerce sites can have a unique URL and can be independently owned and operated from the social networking site and from each other. An e-commerce purchase of items in the shared shopping cart can be completed. The completed e-commerce purchase can receive a transaction discount greater than or equal to a sum of discounts that would have resulted from discrete purchases of the items of the shared shopping cart by the individuals of the collaborative shopping group. Thus, use of the collaborative shopping group saves group members money, which may be due to bulk discounts, shipping discounts, combination purchasing discounts, reward program discounts, and the like. Outside of the collaborative shopping group, none of the individual members or individual purchases may have quantified for the discounts received by the group. 
         [0007]    In one aspect of the disclosure, a shared shopping cart can be established for use by a set of different collaborative shoppers. Each of the collaborative shoppers can individually and independently add items from at least one e-commerce site via a shopper-specific browser interface to the collaborative shared shopping cart. Any of the collaborative shoppers can select a sale finalization action via their browser interface. Responsive to the selection of the finalization action, each of the collaborative shoppers of the plurality can confirm whether that shopper elects to finalize a sale of the items in the collaborative shared shopping cart. Only when each of the collaborative shoppers has finalized the sale of items in the collaborative shopping cart, will a purchasing transaction commence. This action can purchase the items in the collaborative shared shopping cart from the e-commerce sites. A shared cart transactional discount can be provided for the purchase of the collaborative shared shopping cart items. This discount can be greater than or equal to a sum of transactional discounts that would have been granted where the collaborative shared shopping cart items purchased separately as individual specific discrete transactions. For the purchase, each of the different collaborative shoppers can pay a shopper specific amount for the items which that shopper placed in the collaborative shopping cart. The shopper specific amount will not exceed an amount that would have been paid where the items purchased separately by the shopper as an individual specific discrete transaction. Each of the purchased items can be shipped to postal/mail/other addresses specified by the different collaborative shoppers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system that enables shoppers to make collaborative purchases from multiple online retailers participating in a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the basic data flows involving the SSC controller in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method describing the initial aggregation of data for presentation to a shopper within the social shopping interface of a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a method describing the creation of a shared SSC within socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of a method describing the handling of promotions by a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of a method describing performance of a collaborative purchase by a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart of a method describing the handling of incentives within a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a collection of examples illustrating the interaction of the socially collaborative shopping system with a social networking site in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The present invention discloses a solution that incorporates social relationships within the shopping experience provided by an online shopping system. A shopper can define a network of social relationships to other shoppers that the socially collaborative shopping system can utilize when providing the shopper with shopping-related information, such as recommendations and alert notifications. Multiple shoppers can create a shared social shopping cart (SSC) to make a collaborative purchase of their product items. The collaborative purchase of the SSC can be treated as a single logical transaction with the socially collaborative shopping system disseminating the purchase information to the specific online retailers involved. Further, online retailers can establish incentive models within the socially collaborative shopping system for rewarding shoppers who positively affect their sales. 
         [0017]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
         [0018]    Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction handling system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0019]    A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction handling system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0020]    Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may run entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0021]    Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which runs via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0022]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0023]    The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which run on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0024]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system  100  that enables shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  to make collaborative purchases from multiple online retailers  175  participating in a socially collaborative shopping system  120  in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. In system  100 , shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can utilize a social shopping interface  107 ,  112 , and  117  to share social shopping cart (SSC) data  170  over a network  195  to collectively make purchases from online retailers  175  associated with the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . 
         [0025]    Shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can access the social shopping interface  107 ,  112 , and  117  from a client device  105 ,  110 , and  115 . The client device  105 ,  110 , and  115  can represent a variety of computing devices, such as a personal computer or a network-enabled mobile phone. The social shopping interface  107 ,  112 , and  117  can correspond to a software application that allows shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  to perform a variety of operations within the socially collaborative shopping system  120  via network  195 . The social shopping interface  107 ,  112 , and  117  can utilize a variety of technologies capable of interacting with a service-oriented architecture (SOA) environment  102 . 
         [0026]    Examples of operations that can be performed by the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can include, but are not limited to, a single shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  making purchases from one or more online retailers  175 , multiple shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  making a single collaborative purchase from one or more online retailers  175 , defining a social shopping network  164  of other shoppers  104 ,  109 , or  114 , creating shopping alerts based on their social shopping network  164 , and the like. 
         [0027]    Use of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can require a shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  to be registered. Registration of a shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  can include the collection and storage of shopper data  160 . Shopper data  160  can represent information entered by a shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  that supports functions of the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . Aside from standard identifying information (i.e., username and password), the shopper data  160  can also include alert definitions  162 , user preferences  163 , and a social shopping network  164 . 
         [0028]    Alert definitions  162  can represent a set of conditions that, when met, prompt the socially collaborative shopping system  120  to send a notification to the shoppers  104 ,  109 , or  114 . The user preferences  163  can represent user-configurable settings affecting how the socially collaborative shopping system  120  performs specific functions either for or in reference to the shoppers  104 ,  109 , or  114 . 
         [0029]    In one embodiment, the alert definitions  162  can provide an ability to set up a passive mode listening for alerts from other shopping carts. For example, a shopper  104  may set up an alert (definitions  162 ) to buy a designated item, but this shopper  104  may not want to research for a good deal for that item. Shopper  104  can set up an alert on the item, where he/she receives an alert whenever someone else in his/her social shopping network  164  (e.g., shopper  109 , shopper  114 ) finds a shopping deal for the designated item. Thus, one type of alert permits a deal to come to the shopper  104  rather than forcing the shopper  104  to find the deal. 
         [0030]    The social shopping network  164  can represent a listing of other registered shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  that a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  has identified a relationship to, similar to a “friends” or “buddy” list. The social shopping network  164  can be configured to support a variety of information and/or relationships per the implementation of the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . 
         [0031]    The socially collaborative shopping system  120  can represent the hardware and/or software for a computing system capable of supporting the operations initiated within the social shopping interfaces  107 ,  112 , and  117  by the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114 , and interacting with one or more online retailers  175 , social networking systems  185 , and/or non-retailer services  190  within a service-oriented architecture (SOA) environment  102 . Using the SOA environment  102 , the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can access online retail services  177  of its participating online retailers  175 , interact with a SSC widget  187  supported by social networking systems  185 , and exchange data with other non-retailer services  190 . 
         [0032]    The online retailers  175  can represent entities having Web-based systems for selling product items. An online retailer  175  can be a business that operates only electronically, such as a small business, or a business that maintains an electronic store in addition to physical stores. Online retail services  177  provided by online retailers  175  can include, but are not limited to, conventional shopping carts, inventory information, in-store availability of products, access to data  182  and  183  contained in an associated data store  180 , and the like. 
         [0033]    Online retailers  175  can include location based inventory retailers, who make their inventory available online. That is, advances in location awareness technologies and inventory management have permitted many physical storefront retailers to advertise their inventory online. In such a case, shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  can be notified when a person in their network  164  is close to a physical store that has an item in their SSC, so that that person can pick-up the item for the shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114  in question. When an item is picked up for a collaborator, the SSC of the person for whom the item is intended can be altered to prevent multiple inadvertent purchases of the same item. In one embodiment, updates can occur in real-time or near real-time. In one embodiment, this feature can be implemented using location awareness capabilities of mobile devices carried by people in the network  164 . 
         [0034]    The SSC widget  187  can represent a software component that can display SSCs and/or provide limited functionalities of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  within an interface of the social networking system  185  such as FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, or ORKUT. Members of the social networking system  185  using the SSC widget  187  need only have a social relationship with another member who is registered with the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . For example, Member Y, who is not registered with the socially collaborative shopping system  120 , can use the SSC widget  187  to view information about their friend, Member J, who is registered. 
         [0035]    It should be appreciated that information sharing can be controlled by individual users in a network  164  (e.g., shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114 ) while required security and rules mechanisms are provided by the system  100 . The system  100  provides an ability for retailers to extend their list of target shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  by not only focusing on existing customers, but also collaborators who are networked (via social shopping network  164 ) with existing customers. 
         [0036]    In one embodiment, shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  can enable their SSC and their shopping history with their collaborators to be viewed by various independent retailers (online retailers  175 ). The amount of information that can be shared with retailers  175  can be configurable by a shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114  using access controls and other mechanisms. For example, using services provided by an external access control server, such as IBM TIVOLI DIRECTORY SERVER, the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can restrict access permissions. 
         [0037]    For example, shopper  104  can use his/her SSC to purchase items from Retailer B&#39;s (retailer  175 ) Web site. Shopper  104  can then configure parameters of system  120  to allow Retailer B to access shopping purchases conducted by shopper  104  and his/her collaborators from other retailers  175 . Based on this information, Retailer A can target those shoppers with specific promotions and products, thereby generating increased traffic and revenue from Retailer A&#39;s web site. 
         [0038]    In one embodiment, targeted group promotions can be conducted by retailers  175  based on social shopping network  164  information. For example, specific promotions can be sent to encourage collaborative or joint shopping sessions between a defined set of individuals. These individuals can be selected based on the retailers  175  analysis from historic shopping transactions. For example, retailer  175  data can suggest that when shopper  104  and shopper  109  collaborate in a shopping session, each tends to make more substantial purchases than when either shops individually. Thus, a group promotion can be established to encourage these two shoppers  104  and  109  to shop together. 
         [0039]    The non-retailer services  190  can represent a variety of other informational services available over the network  195  that are not associated with any specific online retailer  175 . For example, the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can request review information for a product item from an independent reporting agency (i.e., consumer reports) to aggregate and present to a shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 . 
         [0040]    To support these various functions, components of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can include a SSC controller  125 , a security manager  130 , a social alert handler  132 , a social recommendation engine  135 , a data mining component  137 , a collaborative purchase manager  140 , a social promotion manager  145 , a communications handler  150 , and a data store  155  for storing relevant data. 
         [0041]    The communications handler  150  can represent the hardware and/or software components configured to manage the flow of both internal and external communications traffic. External elements, herein referred to en masse as “affiliated components”, that communicate with the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can include, but are not limited to, client devices  105 ,  110 , and  115 , online retailers  175 , social networking systems  185 , non-retailer services  190  and the like. The communications handler  150  can be configured to support the necessary communications protocols as well as utilize pertinent application programming interfaces (APIs) to establish communication pathways with affiliated components  105 ,  110 ,  115 ,  175 ,  185 , and  190 . 
         [0042]    The security manager  130  can represent the hardware and/or software elements of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  responsible for ensuring the digital security of data stored within the data store  155  and communications initiated by the communications handler  150 . The security manager  130  can utilize a variety of available security technologies as supported by the socially collaborative shopping system  120 , the network  195 , and affiliated components  105 ,  110 ,  115 ,  175 ,  185 , and  190 . 
         [0043]    The SSC controller  125  can represent the software component of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  that handles operations involving a shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and  114  social shopping carts (SSCs). A SSC created by the SSC controller  125  can be a modified universal shopping cart. In addition to supporting the one-to-many purchase relationship between a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  and online retailers  175  of a conventional universal shopping cart, SSCs created by the SSC controller  125  can also support a many-to-many purchase relationship between shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  and the online retailers  175 , herein referred to as shared SSCs. 
         [0044]    For example, shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can use a shared SSC to purchase product items for an upcoming party. Shopper 1    104  can add decorations from one or more party supply retailers  175  to the shared SSC; shopper 2    109  can add tableware from various housewares retailers  175 ; and shopper n    114  can add cookware from housewares and cookware boutiques  175 . 
         [0045]    Additionally, while shopping for cookware, shopper n    114  can find a better price at a different online retailer  175  for a product item previously added to the shared SSC by shopper 2    109 . shopper n    114  can then replace the product item added by shopper 2    109  with the same product item from the other online retailer  175  within the shared SSC. 
         [0046]    The SSC controller  125  can be further configured to handle importing the contents of a conventional shopping cart from an online retailer  175  into a SSC structure. For example, a shopper 1    104  can create/store a conventional shopping cart while shopping at the Web site of Store D, an online retailer  175  participating with the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . Later, when visiting Store D  175  via the socially collaborative shopping system  120 , the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can detect the existence of shopper 1 &#39;s  104  conventional shopping cart and can present shopper 1    104  with the option to import the contents of that shopping cart into a new or existing SSC. 
         [0047]    The SSC controller  125  can include a visibility handler  127  to ensure that shopping information (i.e., purchase histories, SSC contents) associated with a shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  are invisible or unavailable for use by specified entities. Limitations as to who can view which pieces or types of information can be stored within the user preferences  163  of the shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  shopper data  160 . 
         [0048]    For example, shopper 1    104 , when purchasing a gift for shopper 2    109 , can indicate that shopper 2    109  does not have permission to view the contents of a SSC named “gift” or only certain types of product items contained within any SSC. Thus, when shopper 2    109  attempts to view all of the SSCs belonging to shopper 1    104 , the visibility handler  127  can omit the “gift” SSC from the listing. 
         [0049]    Alternately, shopper 2    109  can indicate that they do not wish to have purchase information about their SSCs “seen” by a specific online retailer  175 ; any purchase information collected by the socially collaborative shopping system  120  regarding shopper 2    109  and the specific online retailer  175  would not be shared with the specific online retailer  175 . The configuration of options for specifying these restrictions can be dependent upon the specific implementation and design of the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . 
         [0050]    The SSC controller  125  can also handle performance of additional user-selectable functions upon existing SSCs (shared or individual) that are currently unavailable in conventional online shopping systems. Examples of these functions can include, but are not limited to, copying another shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  SSC, adding a product item to your SCC from another shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  SSC or wish list, inviting another shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  to make a collaborative purchase of product items, and the like. 
         [0051]    For example, shopper 1    104  can view the wish list of shopper 2    109  for gift ideas. Deciding upon a product item from the wish list, shopper 1    104  can right-click on the product item in shopper 2 &#39;s  109  wish list and select an option to add the product item directly to their “gift” SSC. Since shopper 1    104  is purchasing the product item from the wish list of shopper 2    109 , the product item can remain on shopper 2 &#39;s  109  wish list, not informing shopper 2    109  that the product item has been bought. 
         [0052]    It is important to remember that conventional online shopping systems, at most, allow shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  the ability to view the shopping cart contents of other shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 . That is, in a conventional shopping system, a shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  may view, but cannot perform any operations upon the shopping cart of another. 
         [0053]    Shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  using a shared SSC to make a collaborative purchase need not be members of each others&#39; social shopping networks  164 . That is, the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can simply desire to consolidate their purchases to take advantage of a promotion or increase their purchase power. For example, an online retailer  175  can offer a special discount for collaborative purchases made with a shared SSC that includes three or more shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  purchasing their product items. Multiple shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  purchasing product items from the online retailer  175  can indicate that they would like to consolidate their purchases with any other shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  in order to receive the discount. 
         [0054]    All the product items added to the shared SSC can be purchased by the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  as one logical transaction handled by the collaborative purchase manager  140  of the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . That is, each shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  can initiate a single purchase transaction for their portion of the shared SSC within the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . The collaborative purchase manager  140  can represent the software component configured to distribute the single purchase transaction made to the shared SSC to the corresponding online retailers  175 . The distribution performed by the collaborative purchase manager  140  can occur transparent to the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114 . 
         [0055]    The collaborative purchase manager  140  can be configured to separate the contents of the shared SSC by online retailer  175 . A single purchase order can then be generated for each online retailer  175  that includes the billing and shipping information for each shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  having product items in the order. Since multiple shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can be involved with the single purchase order sent to each online retailer  175  by the collaborative purchase manager  140 , the online retailers  175  participating in the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can be required to support order splitting. That is, each online retailer  175  can accept a purchase order where the product items are purchased by and shipped to different shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 . 
         [0056]    Further, the treatment of the contents of a shared SSC as a single logical transaction can allow the collaborative purchase manager  140  to apply discounts or other special shopping promotions entered by any shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  to the contents of the shared SSC as a whole. That is, each shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  can receive the benefit of the discount or promotion for product items they added to the shared SSC that qualify. 
         [0057]    Building upon the previous example, shopper 2    109  can apply a coupon for a 10% price discount for all product items purchased from Store A  175  to the shared SSC. All product items from Store A  175  contained in the shared SSC, regardless of which shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  added the item, can have its price reduced by 10%. 
         [0058]    The application of discounts and/or promotions to a shared SSC can be performed by the collaborative purchase manager  140  in real-time or near real-time, automatically reducing the purchase totals for each affected shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 . 
         [0059]    Functionality of the collaborative purchase manager  140  can be further expanded to provide shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  with additional collaborative purchasing options. These additional collaborative purchasing options can include, but not limited to, allowing one shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  to pay for the entire shared SSC, allowing shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  to pay a flat amount towards the total cost of the shared SSC, allowing shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  to pay for another shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  potion of the shared SSC, allowing a shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  to purchase a product item in the shared SSC that was selected by another shopper  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 , and the like. 
         [0060]    For example, parents can create a shared SSC with their son, who is attending college in another state. When it is time to pay for the product items contained in the shared SSC, the parents can select an option to pay for all the product items that were added to the shared SSC. 
         [0061]    As shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  conduct their shopping activities, other components  132 ,  135 , and  145  of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can activate to provide the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  with a variety of collaborative shopping-related information. The social alert handler  132  can represent the software component configured to send shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  alert notifications when changes occur within the socially collaborative shopping system  120  that meet the conditions of their alert definitions  162  (e.g., a specific product item goes on sale). 
         [0062]    Many conventional online shopping systems have incorporated the use of alert notifications between a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  and an online retailers  175  (i.e., a shopper-retailer alert). The socially collaborative shopping system  120  can allow shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  to create alert definitions  162  that include conditions based on their social shopping network  164  (i.e., a shopper-shopper alert). The means (e.g., text message, email, etc.) utilized by the social alert handler  132  to provide alert notifications can correspond to the capabilities of the communications handler  150 . 
         [0063]    For example, shopper 1    104  can be a member of shopper 2 &#39;s  109  social shopping network  164 . Shopper 2    109  can then create an alert definition  162  requesting an alert whenever shopper 1    104  creates a new SSC. Thus, whenever the social alert handler  132  detects or receives notification of shopper 1    104  creating a new SSC, the social alert handler  132  can generate and present an alert message within the social shopping interface  112  of shopper 2    109 . 
         [0064]    Throughout the shopping process, the social recommendation engine  135  can determine and present shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  with a variety of product recommendations based upon the SSC data  170  of their SSCs, purchase history (not shown), social shopping networks  164 , and the product data  183  from online retailers  175 . Recommendation information provided by the social recommendation engine  135  can be presented in a variety of ways consistent with the implementation and design of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  and can be influenced by user-configurable settings within a shopper&#39;s  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  user preferences  163 . 
         [0065]    For example, the social recommendation engine  135  can take the following information into account: shopper 1 &#39;s  104  previous purchase of Product Z from Store A  175 , Product Z currently in a SSC (individual or shared) of shopper 2    109  being purchased from Store D  175 , shopper 2 &#39;s  109  inclusion in shopper 1 &#39;s  104  social shopping network  164 , and a sale on Product Z at Store A  175 . The social recommendation engine  135  can present both shoppers  104  and  109  with recommendations to purchase Product Z from Store A  175 . 
         [0066]    Further, the social recommendation engine  135  can be configured to provide shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  associated with a shared SSC with recommendations based on commonalities between the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  and contents of the shared SSC. 
         [0067]    In one embodiment, shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  responsive for increased retailer  175  sales (such as via recommendations) can receive incentives. Responsibility for sales can be tracked through click through analysis. For example, a shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114  looking through a SSC of another can notice that the collaborator has purchased a product and recommends it. The shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114  therefore adds the product to his SSC and purchases it. The retailer  175  can reward the collaborator who had originally purchased the product. This idea can be extended so that incentives are provided even if the item is added to a SSC, but not purchased. 
         [0068]    In one implementation, the following actions can be tracked for incentive purposes: a shopper  104 ,  109 ,  114  adding an item to a cart because of viewing the item in an influencer&#39;s cart; tracking whether the added item is converted to purchase; and tracking all the responsible users who helped the buyer reach the influencer&#39;s cart. Any of a variety of incentive models can be used, which include models based on game theory and mechanism design. Some game theoretic models can include, but are not limited to, network incentive (Amway model), cost sharing mechanism, and marginal contribution (Shapley value). 
         [0069]    In another contemplated embodiment, the social recommendation engine  135  can request recommendation information about a specific shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  and/or product item from corresponding online retailers  175 ; an online retail service  177  of the online retailers  175  can provide the recommendation information. The social recommendation engine  135  can then aggregate the recommendation information from the various online retailers  175  to present to the shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114 . 
         [0070]    The social recommendation engine  135  can also be configured to utilize information received from non-retailer services  190 . For example, a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  can set user preferences  163  to have the social recommendation engine  135  utilize ratings from an independent testing laboratory  190  when determining products to recommend. 
         [0071]    While the social recommendation engine  135  provides recommendations of product items to purchase, the social promotion manager  145  can make a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  aware of discounts and deals available for their SSCs (individual or shared). The social promotion manager  145  can determine potential promotions using the promotion data  183  of online retailers  175  and shopping data  160  and  170  related to the shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114 . Promotions identified by the social promotion manager  145  can encompass multiple online retailers  175  and/or shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114 . 
         [0072]    For example, a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  having Product Z in a stored SSC can be presented with all the promotions currently available for Product Z from all applicable online retailers  175  by the social promotion manager  145 . Examples of promotions can include, but are not limited to, a buy-one-get-one-free offer, discounted shipping prices for orders of a specific value, a clearance discount, a bulk order discount, a returning customer discount, and the like. 
         [0073]    Further, the social promotion manager  145  can work with the social recommendation engine  135  to provide shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  with recommendations based on promotion data  183 , such as online retailers  175  having additional benefits when purchases are made from them as a group. For example, Store A  175  and Store D  175  can have a promotion expressed in their promotion data  183  indicating that a SSC containing purchases from both online retailers  175  receives free shipping. The social promotion manager  145  can identify this promotion for shopper 1    104  who&#39;s SCC contains product items from Store A  175 . This information can be passed to the social recommendation engine  135  that can then send shopper 1    104  a recommendation to purchase a product item from Store D  175  with their SCC to receive free shipping. 
         [0074]    In addition to these various shopper-centric functions, components of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can also be configured to provide online retailers  175  with the means to institute additional business models and features tailored to collaborative purchases and the social relationships contained in shoppers&#39;  104 ,  109 , and  114  social shopping networks  164 . Components supporting these functions can include the data mining component  137 , the social alert handler  132 , the social recommendation engine  135 , and the social promotion manager  145 . 
         [0075]    The data mining component  137  can represent the software component of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  configured to collect raw data regarding shopping-related activities (e.g., product purchases, product viewings) performed by the shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114 . The data mining component  137  can then synthesize the raw data into processed data  168  stored within the data store  155 . The processed data  168  can be provided to the corresponding online retailers  175  and/or non-retailer services  190 . 
         [0076]    Since the raw data collected by the data mining component  137  can include collaborative purchases made between shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114 , the processed data  168  can carry forth the relationships between shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114 . For example, instead of simply stating that shoppers  104  and  109  each purchased Product Z, the processed data  168  can capture that shopper 1    104  made a purchase of Product Z, shopper 2    109  purchased Product Z from shopper 1 &#39;s  104  SSC, and shopper 2    109  is not a member of shopper 1 &#39;s  104  social shopping network  164 . Thus, the processed data  168  generated by the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can provide online retailers  175  with a level of detail currently not available in conventional online shopping systems. 
         [0077]    The detailed capture of shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  information within the processed data  168  can allow online retailers  175  to expand their consumer base to shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  contained in the social shopping networks  164  of returning shoppers  104 ,  109 , or  114 . This can allow the online retailers  175  to target these related shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  with special promotions. 
         [0078]    Online retailers  175  can also utilize the processed data  168  to define incentive models  166  that reward shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  whose actions within the socially collaborative shopping system  120  generate positively affect the online retailer  175 , such as increasing product sales or product viewings or provide detailed product reviews or feedback. The social promotion manager  145  can include an incentive handler  147  configured to analyze the processed data  168  in terms of the reward conditions of the incentive models  166  for each shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114 . 
         [0079]    In one example of an incentive/reward structure, the incentive model  166  of Store A  175  can define quantities of reward points that can be added to a shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  account with the socially collaborative shopping system  120  and/or Store A  175  in response to actions performed by other shoppers  109  and/or  114 . For example, shopper 2    109  views (i.e., clicks on, hovers over) information about Product Z, which is being purchased from Store A  175 , from a SSC belonging to shopper 1    104 . The incentive handler  147  can recognize this action within the incentive model  166  and provide shopper 1    104  with the specified quantity of reward points. Should shopper 2    109  perform any other shopping actions related to Store A  175  and/or Product Z that are defined within the incentive model  166  (e.g., purchasing Product Z from Store A  175 , adding Product Z to their SSC, etc.), the incentive handler  147  can further increase shopper 1 &#39;s  104  amount of reward points. 
         [0080]    It should be noted that this is a simple example of an incentive/reward structure and that the incentive models  166  utilized within the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can depend upon the design and the implementation details of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  as well as the design of the incentive model  166  of the online retailer  175 . 
         [0081]    Rewards earned or near to being earned by a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  can be passed from the incentive handler  147  to the social promotion manager  145  for presentation within the social shopping interface  107 ,  112 , or  117 . Shoppers  104 ,  109 , and/or  114  can then take the necessary actions to redeem/use an earned reward or earn a reward that they are close to earning. Examples of rewards earned by shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  can include, but are not limited to, coupon codes, free/discounted product items, gift items, free/discounted shipping rates, early access to sale-priced items, and the like. 
         [0082]    For example, the incentive handler  147 , correlating processed data  168  pertaining to shopper 1    104  and the incentive model  166  of Store Z  175 , can inform shopper 1    104  that they have earned a coupon code for 10% off their next purchase from Store Z  175 . Further, shopper 1    104  can be told that they will receive a coupon for 15% off should five members of their social shopping network  164  purchase products recommended by or contained within a SSC of shopper 1    104 . 
         [0083]    The incentive handler  147  can be configured to provide reward information to shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  at a time period predefined (i.e., daily, weekly, etc.) within the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . The incentive models  166  provided by the online retailers  175  can conform to standards established by the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . 
         [0084]    The concept of collaborative purchases can lead to multiple online retailers  175  providing shoppers  104 ,  109 , and  114  with sales structures or discounts for bulk/group purchases from one online retailer  175  or specific set of online retailers  175 . For example, promotion data  183  for Store D  175  can indicate that a purchase of four Product Zs qualifies for a 5% discount that can be increased by 2% for every Product Z above four purchased. In another example, a shopper  104 ,  109 , and  114  can receive a 10% discount when a television is purchased from Store A  175  and a recliner is purchased from Store D  175 . 
         [0085]    The role of the social alert handler  132  can also be further expanded to provide additional benefit in the form of alert notifications between online retailers  175  (i.e., a retailer-retailer alert). This increased functionality can require the online retailer  175  to create a set of alert definitions (not shown) within the data store  155  of the socially collaborative shopping system  120 . For example, Store A  175  can receive alert notifications when a changes in price occurs for common product items sold by Store D  175 . 
         [0086]    The socially collaborative shopping system  120  can also include other typical functions found in conventional online shopping systems, such as wish lists, user-entered product recommendations, product item feedback, product item ratings, surveys, and the like. The configuration of the components of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  previously detailed can be extended to utilize these typical data sources without significant deviation from this embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0087]    In another embodiment, the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can be implemented as a distributed computing system. In yet another embodiment, the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can incorporate the location awareness capability of mobile devices. For example, a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  can receive an alert when a shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  in their social shopping network  164  is in or near to a physical store corresponding to an online retailer  175  that they desire to make a purchase from. The alerted shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  can then contact the mobile device of the other shopper  104 ,  109 , or  114  to ask them to make an in-store pick up of the product item. 
         [0088]    Network  195  can include any hardware/software/and firmware necessary to convey data encoded within carrier waves. Data can be contained within analog or digital signals and conveyed though data or voice channels. Network  195  can include local components and data pathways necessary for communications to be exchanged among computing device components and between integrated device components and peripheral devices. Network  195  can also include network equipment, such as routers, data lines, hubs, and intermediary servers which together form a data network, such as the Internet. Network  195  can also include circuit-based communication components and mobile communication components, such as telephony switches, modems, cellular communication towers, and the like. Network  195  can include line based and/or wireless communication pathways. 
         [0089]    As used herein, presented data stores  155  and  180  can be a physical or virtual storage space configured to store digital information. Data stores  155  and  180  can be physically implemented within any type of hardware including, but not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a digitally encoded plastic memory, a holographic memory, or any other recording medium. Data stores  155  and  180  can be a stand-alone storage unit as well as a storage unit formed from a plurality of physical devices. Additionally, information can be stored within data stores  155  and  180  in a variety of manners. For example, information can be stored within a database structure or can be stored within one or more files of a file storage system, where each file may or may not be indexed for information searching purposes. Further, data stores  155  and  180  can utilize one or more encryption mechanisms to protect stored information from unauthorized access. 
         [0090]    It should be appreciated that system  100  represents one contemplated, non-limiting, architecture for the disclosure and that others are contemplated. For example, in one embodiment, functionality of the social networking system specific to collaborative shopping can be directly incorporated into online retail services  177  and need not be implemented into a separate social networking system  185 . Likewise, functionality (or portions thereof) of the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can be incorporated directly into the social networking system  185 , as a new service of the social networking system  185 . Specific artifacts, such as the SSC widget  187 , for interacting among the indicated components can (and are expected to vary) in accordance with different implementation choices, which are to be considered within scope of the disclosure. 
         [0091]    Additionally, in one contemplated embodiment, the services provided by the socially collaborative shopping system  120  can be conducted transparently to the online retailers  175  and/or social networking system  185 . For example, system  120  can establish a single “virtual shopper” which is a user of system  175  and/or  185 , which behaves as if it is a single individual, thus resulting in a unified shopping experience. The system  120  can perform the “splitting” actions needed to allocate the contributions to the various shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  that have been combined as the virtual shopper. This can include combining payments for a “single” purchase of the “virtual shopper”, allocating rewards from the shopping, etc. In this manner, the system  100  improvements can be implemented in any unmodified system ( 175 ,  185 ), yet still provide the collaborative shopping functionality (or portions thereof) as detailed herein. 
         [0092]    It is possible that a subset of normally permitted functionality will be present when interacting with legacy systems. For example, rewards offered for shopping may be attributed to the “virtual shopper,” which system  120  will allocate to the shoppers  104 ,  109 ,  114  in accordance with established rules. Thus, the rewards of the virtual shopper may not be unified with individual shopper&#39;s reward programs, since the online retainer  175  may not support combining rewards (which would be supported in an embodiment where online retailer  175  is aware of and participates in collaborative shopping via system  120 ). 
         [0093]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram  200  illustrating the basic data flows involving the SSC controller  220  in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Block diagram  200  can be utilized within the context of system  100  or any other online shopping system that utilizes a social network structure and supports operation in a SOA environment. 
         [0094]    As shown in diagram  200 , the SSC controller  220  can provide data to various service providers  205  such as other shoppers or internal components of the socially collaborative shopping system. The SSC controller  220  can receive data from service consumers  210 , such as the non-retailer services  190  or online retailers  175  of system  100 . Service consumers  210  can also represent other internal components of the socially collaborative shopping system, such as updates to purchase totals calculated by the collaborative purchase manager. 
         [0095]    Data can be bi-directionally communicated with the social shopping interface  215  and data store  225 . Functions affecting SSCs invoked by shoppers via the social shopping interface  215  can be sent to the SSC controller  220 , which can return the resultant information to the social shopping interface  215 . 
         [0096]    The SSC controller  220  can request data from as well as save data to the data store  225 . Requested data can be conveyed from the data store  225  to the SSC controller  220 , which can then send the data to other components such as the social shopping interface  215 . 
         [0097]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method  300  describing the initial aggregation of data for presentation to a shopper within the social shopping interface of a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Method  300  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0098]    Method  300  can begin in step  305  where the socially collaborative shopping system can receive the logon data for a shopper. The stored shopper data associated with the shopper&#39;s logon data can be access in step  310 . In step  315 , the validity of the logon data can be determined. 
         [0099]    When the logon data is invalid, step  320  can be performed where the shopper is notified of the invalid data. Flow of method  300  can return to step  305  from step  320  to await the re-entry of logon data. When the logon data is valid, the product items for the shopper&#39;s wish list (if applicable) and any stored SSCs can be populated in step  325 . 
         [0100]    In step  330 , the relevant information for each product item contained in the shopper&#39;s wish list and/or SSCs can be obtained from the originating online retailers. Promotions and recommendations applicable to the product items contained in the shopper&#39;s wish list and/or SSCs can be aggregated in step  335 . 
         [0101]    In step  340 , feedback information from other shoppers contained in the social shopping network of the shopper logging on can be retrieved. Presentation of the shopper&#39;s wish list and/or SSCs and the data collected in the previous steps  330 - 340  within the social shopping interface can occur in step  345 . 
         [0102]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a method  400  describing the creation of a shared SSC within socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Method  400  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0103]    Method  400  can begin in step  405  where the socially collaborative shopping system can detect the addition of a product item to a SCC by a shopper. Shopper data can be queried for shoppers who are interested in a collaborative purchase of the product item in step  410 . In step  415 , it can be determined if matches to the query of step  410  were found. 
         [0104]    When no other shoppers are interested in a collaborative purchase of the product item, step  420  can be performed where the socially collaborative shopping system takes no action. When there are other shoppers interested in making a collaborative purchase of the product item, a listing of these other shoppers can be generated in step  425 . 
         [0105]    The listing can be presented to the shopper within the social shopping interface in step  430 . In step  435 , the socially collaborative shopping system can receive a request from the shopper to invite a shopper selected from the listing to make a collaborative purchase of the product item. 
         [0106]    The socially collaborative shopping system can sent an invitation to the shopper selected from the listing in step  440 . In step  445 , a response to the invitation can be received from the selected shopper. 
         [0107]    When the received response indicates that the selected shopper declines the invitation, step  450  can be performed where the socially collaborative shopping system informs the requesting shopper of the response. When the selected shopper accepts the invitation, the socially collaborative shopping system can create a shared SSC containing the product item in step  455 . In step  460 , the requesting shopper and the selected shopper can be associated with the shared SSC. 
         [0108]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of a method  500  describing the handling of promotions by a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Method  500  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0109]    Method  500  can begin in step  505  where the socially collaborative shopping system can detect the addition of a product item to a SSC (individual or shared) by a shopper. The promotion data of the online retailers can be queried for the product item in step  510 . 
         [0110]    The existence of promotions from the online retailer for the product item can be determined in step  515 . When no promotions are found, the socially collaborative shopping system can take no action in step  520 . 
         [0111]    When promotions exist, step  525  can be performed where a listing of promotion can be generated for the product item. The promotion listing can be conveyed to the shopper (or shoppers in the case of a shared SSC) in step  530 . 
         [0112]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of a method  600  describing performance of a collaborative purchase by a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Method  600  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0113]    Method  600  can begin in step  605  where the socially collaborative shopping system can receive a purchase command for a shared SSC from a shopper. In step  610 , it can be determined if all the shoppers associated with the shared SSC are ready to conduct the purchase. 
         [0114]    When one or more shoppers are not ready to conduct the purchase, the socially collaborative shopping system can take no action in step  615 . Flow of method  600  can then return to step  605  to await the next purchase command for the shared SSC. 
         [0115]    In step  620 , the cost of each shopper&#39;s products items in the shared SSC can be calculated. It can be determined if any discounts and/or promotions have applied to the shared SSC in step  625 . 
         [0116]    When a discount/promotion has bee applied to the shared SSC, step  630  can be performed where the amount of the discount/promotion can be determined for each shopper. Each shopper&#39;s cost, as calculated in step  620 , can be adjusted by the determined amount in step  635 . 
         [0117]    Upon completion of step  635  or when no discounts/promotions have been applied to the shared SSC, step  640  can be performed where the payment and shipping information can be collected for each shopper. The product items contained in the shared SSC can then be separated by online retailer in step  645 . In step  650 , a single purchase request can be submitted to each online retailer along with the payment and shipping information of the shoppers purchasing the product items. 
         [0118]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart of a method  700  describing the handling of incentives within a socially collaborative shopping system in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Method  700  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0119]    Method  700  can begin in step  705  where the socially collaborative shopping system can collect raw shopping data for a shopper and their SSCs in accordance with the shopper&#39;s visibility rules. At a predetermined time, the raw shopping data can be synthesized into processed data in step  710 . 
         [0120]    In step  715 , the processed data can be compared with applicable incentive models. Applicable rewards for the shopper can be determined in step  720 . When a reward is applicable for the shopper, the socially collaborative shopping system can generate a reward message in step  725 . 
         [0121]    In step  730 , the reward message can be conveyed to the shopper. Upon completion of step  730  or when no rewards are applicable to the shopper, the processed data can be optionally provided to the respectively online retailers in step  735 . 
         [0122]      FIG. 8  is a collection  800  of examples  805  and  850  illustrating the interaction of the socially collaborative shopping system  830  and  875  with a social networking site  815  and  860  in accordance with embodiments of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. The examples  805  and  850  of collection  800  can be performed within the context of system  100  and/or utilizing the communication flow of block diagram  200 . 
         [0123]    In example  805 , User B  810  can utilize a social networking site  815  to view the SSC  825  of User A via the SSC widget  820 . User B  810  can select an option from the SSC widget  820  to add User A&#39;s SSC  825  to their account  840  within the socially collaborative shopping system  830 . 
         [0124]    The social networking site  815  can authenticate both User A and User B  810  to the socially collaborative shopping system  830 . The socially collaborative shopping system  830  can then read the SSC  825  contained within User A&#39;s account  835  and copy the SSC  825  as a new SSC  845  in User B&#39;s  810  account  840 . 
         [0125]    It should be noted that, in example  805 , both User B and User A are members of the socially collaborative shopping system  830 . 
         [0126]    In example  850 , User B  855  can view the wish list  865  of User D within the social networking site  860 . User B  855  can utilize a function of the SSC widget  870  add User D&#39;s wish list  865  as a SSC  885  in their account  880  of the socially collaborative shopping system  875 . 
         [0127]    The social networking site  860  can automatically authenticate User B  855  to the socially collaborative shopping system  875 . The socially collaborative shopping system  875  can then create a new SSC  885  within User B&#39;s  855  account  880  that contains the products listed in the wish list  865  of User D. 
         [0128]    The socially collaborative shopping system  875  can handle incompatible online retailers and/or product items from the wish list  865  in accordance with predefined rules governing operation of the socially collaborative shopping system  875 . 
         [0129]    It should be noted that, in example  850 , only User B  855  is a member of the socially collaborative shopping system  875 . 
         [0130]    The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be run substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be run in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.