Patent Application
20200134692
Many retailers use social media platforms to show products on the social media pages as advertisements based on user activity on the retailer's site. For example, if a user views a white comforter on the retailer site, the user might see advertisements for the same comforter across the social media sites. However, when the user is visiting the retailer's website, information from the social media sites are not utilized in displaying recommendations.
Disclosed herein is a method for product recommendations on websites based on user social events, and a computer program product and system as specified in the independent claims. Embodiments of the present invention are given in the dependent claims. Embodiments of the present invention can be freely combined with each other if they are not mutually exclusive.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a recommendations engine at a server determines that a user at a client device is accessing a website. The recommendations engine retrieves data of the user from one or more social media platforms and analyzes the data of the user to identify social events of the user. The recommendations engine generates a set of product recommendations for the user based at least on the social events of the user and causes an output of the set of product recommendations on the website.
Optionally, the product recommendations output by the recommendations engine 101 includes an indication of the reasoning behind the product recommendation. Examples of the indication include: a photo of the social media connection associated with the product recommendation; a message indicating why the product recommendation is shown; and a percentage of other social media connections purchasing for a matching social event. The indication can then be displayed with the product recommendation on the website. Optionally, a feedback mechanism can be displayed to hide a product recommendation generated based on the social event (206) or to show more similar product recommendations generated based on the social event (207).
As the user 106 continues to navigate the website, blocks 202-205 are repeated. As new social events of the user 106 are identified, the product recommendations for the user 106, generated by the recommendations engine 101, can be modified. In this manner, real-time social events of the user 106 can be used to dynamically modify the product recommendations presented to the user 106.
Optionally, when a website has limited space on which to display the product recommendations, the recommendations engine 101 can additionally determine the most popular social events of the user 106 by analyzing the social interactions of the social events. For example, the popularity of the social events can be based on the number of “likes” or “shares”. The recommendations engine 101 generates product recommendations based on the most popular social events and causes the output of these product recommendations.
For example, assume that the recommendations engine 101 determines that Bob is browsing a retail website. Assume also that Bob recently had a fight with his girlfriend and asked for advice from a friend on a social media platform. The recommendations engine 101 retrieves the request for advice as part of the social media data for Bob, and in analyzing the data, identifies the fight with his girlfriend as a social event for Bob. Based at least on this social event, the recommendations engine 101 generates a product recommendation for “I'm Sorry” products and includes with the product recommendation an indication that the recommendation was based on his fight which his girlfriend (e.g. “Because you fought with Sara . . . ”), making the product recommendations more meaningful for Bob.
For another example, assume that the recommendations engine 101 determines that Bob visits a website for flowers. Assume also that Bob's social media feed includes a post by a friend that her mother recently died. The recommendations engine 101 retrieves data concerning this post as part of the social media data for Bob, as well as the zip code of the friend. In analyzing the data, the recommendations engine 101 identifies the death of his friend's mother as a social event for Bob. Based at least on this social event, the recommendations engine 101 generates a product recommendation for funeral flower arrangements and includes a message to be displayed on the website, such as, “I see your friend's mom died. Will this be a gift for her?” Assume that the recommendations engine 101 further provides a mechanism through which Bob can confirm that the gift would be for the passing of the friend's mother. Upon receiving the confirmation from Bob, the recommendations engine 101 filters the product recommendations by the zip code of the friend to display the recommendations most relevant to Bob for this particular social event.
The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: 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), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'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'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). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.
Aspects of the present invention are described herein 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 readable program instructions.
These computer readable 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 execute 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. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
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 instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). 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 executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed 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 carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
