Shopping Cart Service System and Method

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a set of web services is provided that allow a client application to display product information from a site catalog, add/update/delete those products into a shopping cart hosted on the client, and have that shopping cart also maintained at a central hosted site. As such, the user may be directed to the central hosted site in order to complete payment and fulfillment of the order. It is believed that several companies desire this functionality. As such, a set of shopping cart application programming interface (API) can be built and used to access product information and prices as well as to add or remove products from the shopping cart to which the consumer will be redirected upon finalizing the purchase. These processes are conducted in real time.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 describes an overview diagram of the shopping cart service system and method.

FIG. 2 describes a framework diagram of a backend view of shopping cart service system and method.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram for performing a search for one or more products.

FIG. 4 describes a search product response diagram.

FIG. 5 describes a diagram for adding and updating a shopping cart request.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram for returning contents of a shopping cart.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram for reclaiming a shopping cart.

Claims

1. A system for managing an electronic commerce shopping cart service between a shopper and a client hosted website over a communication network, comprising: an integration service shopping cart application programming interface (API) configured to provide access through a web service to a site product catalog and shopping cart functions; anda client hosted shopping cart module operatively configured to provide product selection and product details to the shopper based on continuously synchronized, real-time information retrieved from integration service shopping cart API that is operatively coupled over the communication network to the client hosted shopping cart module, the shopping cart module comprising a check out module configured for communication with a client hosted website.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the client hosted shopping cart module comprises a flash application.

3. A method for managing an electronic commerce shopping cart service between a shopper and a client hosted website over a communication network, comprising steps of: providing an integration service shopping cart application programming interface (API) configured to provide access through a web service to a site product catalog and shopping cart functions;continuously synchronizing real-time information retrieved from integration service shopping cart API that is operatively coupled over the communication network to a client hosted shopping cart module, the client hosted shopping cart module being operatively configured to provide product selection and product details to the shopper; andcommunicating with a client hosted website to provide product purchase check out.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the continuously synchronizing step comprising utilizing a flash application.