Patent ID: 7685023

Claim:
A method for virtualizing a physical storefront comprising: presenting an interactive virtual model of a physical storefront within a user interactive interface of a computing device remotely located from the physical storefront, wherein at least a portion of the organizational structure of the interactive virtual model is identical a portion of the organizational structure of the physical storefront, wherein said organization structure varies from storefront-to-storefront of different physical storefronts, each being related to a different interactive virtual model; sensing, via computer program instructions executed by a processor, a change involving at least one physical object within the physical storefront; responsive to sensing the change, changing, via computer program instructions executed by a processor, a virtual object presented in the interactive virtual model so that the change to the physical object occurring in the physical storefront is reflected in the interactive virtual model and is shown in the user interactive interface; and sensing, via computer program instructions executed by a processor, a presence and identity of physical shoppers present in the physical storefront; indicating, via computer program instructions executed by a processor, the presence and identity of the physical shoppers in the user interactive interface; and presenting within an in-store kiosk a kiosk user interface usable by the physical shoppers, said kiosk user interface presenting a presence and identity of the physical shoppers and at least one virtual shopper interacting via the interactive virtual model.