Patent Grant
12106358
The disclosure relates generally to the field of e-commerce for unique items, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and devices for unified e-commerce platforms for unique items.
The present disclosure presents various embodiments of systems that can efficiently integrate and present a unified marketplace for unique items, such as automobiles, that are offered for sale across a variety of fragmented listing systems. In some embodiments, the systems disclosed herein comprise an e-commerce backbone system that, among other things, acts as a translation layer or abstraction layer between a large number of separate vehicle listing systems and one or more unified marketplace systems. The unified marketplace systems can enable an end user to search for, obtain financing for, and/or purchase a vehicle listed for sale in one of the separate vehicle listing systems. The backbone system can communicate with the unified marketplace system, such as by presenting an API to the unified marketplace system, to enable the unified marketplace system to process such searching and transactions the same way for every transaction regardless of which underlying listing system is offering the vehicle for sale. Such a system can have a variety of benefits, including allowing users to search for, obtain financing for, purchase, and/or the like unique items through a single unified experience that is not otherwise possible.
According to some embodiments, an e-commerce backbone system for facilitating a unified marketplace for unique items comprises: a dealer system interface configured to communicate over a computer network with a plurality of dealer marketplace systems; a normalization engine configured to: translate data received from the plurality of dealer marketplace systems into data compliant with a standardized data model; and translate data sent to the plurality of dealer marketplace systems from data compliant with the standardized data model into data compliant with requirements of each individual dealer marketplace system; a dealer mappings database configured to store mappings that define translation methods for each individual dealer marketplace system; and a marketplace application programming interface (API) engine configured to present an API for sending and receiving data from one or more unified marketplace systems.
In some embodiments, the plurality of dealer marketplace systems comprises a plurality of direct dealer marketplace systems and a plurality of indirect dealer marketplace systems. In some embodiments, the system further comprises a third party services engine configured to communicate with a plurality of third party data systems and third party service provider systems.
According to some embodiments, an e-commerce backbone system for facilitating a unified marketplace for unique items comprises: a unified marketplace system interface configured to electronically communicate with one or more unified marketplace systems using a standardized data model; a unique items inventory database configured to store, in a format compatible with the standardized data model, data associated with a plurality of unique items listed for sale by a plurality of unique item dealers; a dealer mappings database configured to store mappings that define translations between the standardized data model and one or more dealer marketplace-specific data formats for each of a plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems; a dealer marketplace system interface configured to communicate over a computer network with each of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems in order to at least: receive a plurality of electronic feeds each comprising unique item inventory data related to at least a portion of the plurality of unique items listed for sale by the plurality of unique item dealers, wherein at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprise unique item inventory data encoded differently than at least some other of the plurality of electronic feeds; and transmit and receive data to and from each unique item dealer marketplace system in a format compatible with each unique item dealer marketplace system's one or more dealer marketplace-specific data formats to facilitate acquisition transactions between the one or more unified marketplace systems and the plurality of unique item dealers; a normalization engine configured to: translate the unique item inventory data of the received plurality of electronic feeds into data compliant with the standardized data model, wherein each translation uses a mapping stored in the dealer mappings database and associated with a dealer marketplace-specific data format; store the translated unique item inventory data in the unique item inventory database; and translate data received from and to be sent to the plurality of dealer marketplace systems, between data compliant with the standardized data model and data compliant with a dealer marketplace-specific data format for each unique item dealer marketplace system in facilitating the acquisition transactions, wherein each translation uses a mapping stored in the dealer mappings database and associated with a dealer marketplace-specific data format; and a transaction processing engine configured to: transmit unique item inventory data in a format compatible with the standardized data model to the one or more unified marketplace systems through the unified marketplace system interface, to enable the one or more unified marketplace systems to facilitate searching for and selection of an acquisition candidate unique item by a user; receive, from the one or more unified marketplace systems through the unified marketplace system interface, acquisition request data in a format compatible with the standardized data model, the acquisition request data indicative of a request by the user to acquire the acquisition candidate unique item, wherein the acquisition candidate unique item is associated with one of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems; translate, using the normalization engine, at least a portion of the acquisition request data from the format compatible with the standardized data model to a format compatible with the one of the plurality of dealer marketplace systems; and transmit, to the one of the plurality of dealer marketplace systems through the dealer marketplace system interface, the translated at least a portion of the acquisition request data to facilitate processing of an acquisition transaction of the acquisition candidate unique item by the user.
In some embodiments, the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems comprises a plurality of direct unique item dealer marketplace systems and a plurality of indirect unique item dealer marketplace systems. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, the e-commerce backbone system further comprises: at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems, wherein the at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems is configured to present an interactive graphical user interface that facilitates the searching for and selection of the acquisition candidate unique item. In some embodiments, the unified marketplace system interface is configured to communicate over a computer network with at least some of the one or more unified marketplace systems. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, the e-commerce backbone system further comprises: a third party services engine configured to communicate over a computer network with one or more third party service provider systems, to facilitate inclusion of one or more third party services in the acquisition transaction of the acquisition candidate item. In some embodiments, the one or more third party services comprises one or more of: a warranty service or an insurance service. In some embodiments, the plurality of unique items listed for sale comprises at least one of the following types of items: vehicles, used vehicles, or real estate. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of unique items listed for sale comprises a unique combination of attributes, the attributes comprising one or more of feature attributes, condition attributes, or location attributes. In some embodiments, the standardized data model includes a plurality of categories of data, the plurality of categories including at least dealer data, acquirer data, and unique item data. In some embodiments, the translating of the unique item inventory data of the received plurality of electronic feeds into data compliant with the standardized data model comprises at least: parsing a plurality of fields of data from an electronic feed; and separating at least some of the parsed data from a single field into multiple fields of the standardized data model. In some embodiments, the dealer mappings database is configured to store at least two different mappings for at least some of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems, the at least two different mappings comprising a first mapping associated with electronic feed data, and a second mapping associate with facilitating acquisition transactions. In some embodiments, the different encoding of the at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprises at least one of the following: delimiting data fields differently, ordering data fields differently, using a different number of data fields to provide a same amount of data.
According to some embodiments, a computer-implemented method for facilitating a unified marketplace for unique items comprises: storing, in a dealer mappings database, mappings that define translations between a standardized data model and one or more dealer marketplace-specific data formats for each of a plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems; receiving, by a computer system over a computer network, from the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems, a plurality of electronic feeds each comprising unique item inventory data related to at least a portion of a plurality of unique items listed for sale by a plurality of unique item dealers, wherein at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprise unique item inventory data encoded differently than at least some other of the plurality of electronic feeds; translating, by the computer system, the unique item inventory data of the received plurality of electronic feeds into data compliant with the standardized data model, wherein each translation uses a mapping stored in the dealer mappings database and associated with a dealer marketplace-specific data format; storing, in a unique item inventory database, the translated unique item inventory data; transmitting at least a portion of the stored unique item inventory data to one or more unified marketplace systems, to enable the one or more unified marketplace systems to facilitate searching for and selection of an acquisition candidate unique item by a user; receiving, from the one or more unified marketplace systems, acquisition request data in a format compatible with the standardized data model, the acquisition request data indicative of a request by the user to acquire the acquisition candidate unique item, wherein the acquisition candidate unique item is associated with one of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems; translating, by the computer system, at least a portion of the acquisition request data from the format compatible with the standardized data model to a format compatible with the one of the plurality of dealer marketplace systems; and transmitting, by the computer system over a computer network to the one of the plurality of dealer marketplace systems, the translated at least a portion of the acquisition request data to facilitate processing of an acquisition transaction of the acquisition candidate unique item by the user, wherein the computer system comprises one or more hardware computer processors in communication with one or more computer readable storage devices.
In some embodiments, the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems comprises a plurality of direct unique item dealer marketplace systems and a plurality of indirect unique item dealer marketplace systems. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: presenting, by at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems, an interactive graphical user interface that facilitates the searching for and selection of the acquisition candidate unique item. In some embodiments, the transmitting to the one or more unified marketplace systems and the receiving from the one or more unified marketplace systems occurs over a computer network. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: communicating, by the computer system over a computer network, with one or more third party service provider systems, to facilitate inclusion of one or more third party services in the acquisition transaction of the acquisition candidate item. In some embodiments, the one or more third party services comprises one or more of: a warranty service or an insurance service. In some embodiments, the plurality of unique items listed for sale comprises at least one of the following types of items: vehicles, used vehicles, or real estate. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of unique items listed for sale comprises a unique combination of attributes, the attributes comprising one or more of feature attributes, condition attributes, or location attributes. In some embodiments, the standardized data model includes a plurality of categories of data, the plurality of categories including at least dealer data, acquirer data, and unique item data. In some embodiments, the translating of the unique item inventory data of the received plurality of electronic feeds into data compliant with the standardized data model comprises at least: parsing a plurality of fields of data from an electronic feed; and separating at least some of the parsed data from a single field into multiple fields of the standardized data model. In some embodiments, the dealer mappings database is configured to store at least two different mappings for at least some of the plurality of unique item dealer marketplace systems, the at least two different mappings comprising a first mapping associated with electronic feed data, and a second mapping associate with facilitating acquisition transactions. In some embodiments, the different encoding of the at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprises at least one of the following: delimiting data fields differently, ordering data fields differently, using a different number of data fields to provide a same amount of data.
According to some embodiments, an e-commerce backbone system for facilitating a unified marketplace for unique items comprises: a unique item listing system interface configured to communicate over a computer network with a plurality of unique item marketplace systems each listing a different set of unique items for sale; a normalization engine configured to: translate data received from the plurality of unique item marketplace systems into data compliant with a standardized data model; and translate data to be sent to the plurality of unique item marketplace systems from data compliant with the standardized data model into data compliant with requirements of each individual unique item marketplace system; a marketplace systems mappings database configured to store mappings that define translation methods for each individual unique item marketplace system; and a unified marketplace system interface configured to electronically communicate with one or more unified marketplace systems using data compliant with the standardized data model, to enable each of the one or more unified marketplace systems to facilitate unique item acquisition transactions by: enabling a user to search for and select an acquisition candidate unique item within a set of candidate unique items that spans the inventory of multiple of the plurality of unique item marketplace systems; and initiating the unique item acquisition transaction by transmitting transaction data to the unified marketplace system interface using the standardized data model, wherein the unique item listing system interface is further configured to communicate with one of the plurality of unique item marketplace systems that is associated with the acquisition candidate item, using at least a portion of the transaction data, translated by the normalization engine, to process the unique item acquisition transaction.
In some embodiments, the system further comprises at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems. In some embodiments, the plurality of unique item marketplace systems comprises a plurality of direct dealer marketplace systems and a plurality of indirect dealer marketplace systems. In some embodiments, the system further comprises a third party services engine configured to communicate with a plurality of third party data systems and a plurality of third party service provider systems. In some embodiments, the plurality of third party service provider systems comprises one or more of: a warranty provider system or an insurance provider system. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of unique item marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, the system further comprises: at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems, wherein the at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems is configured to present an interactive graphical user interface that facilitates the searching for and selection of the acquisition candidate unique item. In some embodiments, the unified marketplace system interface is configured to communicate over a computer network with at least some of the one or more unified marketplace systems. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more unified marketplace systems is controlled by a third party. In some embodiments, each of the different sets of unique items listed for sale comprises at least one of the following types of items: vehicles, used vehicles, or real estate. In some embodiments, each unique item of the different sets of unique items listed for sale comprises a unique combination of attributes, the attributes comprising one or more of feature attributes, condition attributes, or location attributes. In some embodiments, the standardized data model includes a plurality of categories of data, the plurality of categories including at least dealer data, acquirer data, and unique item data. In some embodiments, the translating of data received from the plurality of unique item marketplace systems into data compliant with the standardized data model comprises at least: parsing a plurality of fields of data; and separating at least some of the parsed data from a single field into multiple fields of the standardized data model. In some embodiments, the marketplace systems mappings database is configured to store at least two different mappings for at least some of the unique item marketplace systems, the at least two different mappings comprising a first mapping associated with electronic feed data, and a second mapping associate with facilitating acquisition transactions. In some embodiments, the unique item listing system interface is configured to receive a plurality of electronic feeds each comprising unique item inventory data related to at least a portion of the different sets of unique items for sale, wherein at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprise unique item inventory data encoded differently than at least some other of the plurality of electronic feeds, and wherein the normalization engine is configured to translate the unique item inventory data of the received plurality of electronic feeds into data compliant with the standardized data model. In some embodiments, the different encoding of the at least some of the plurality of electronic feeds comprises at least one of the following: delimiting data fields differently, ordering data fields differently, using a different number of data fields to provide a same amount of data.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are illustrated and described by example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings, similar elements have similar reference numerals.
Although embodiments, examples, and illustrations are disclosed below the disclosure described herein extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments, examples, and illustrations and includes other uses of the disclosure and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner simply because it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the disclosure. In addition, embodiments of the disclosure can comprise several novel features and no single feature is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or is essential to practicing the disclosures herein described.
E-commerce for vehicles is presently a very complex and fragmented market. Today there are approximately 15,000 franchise vehicle dealerships, 40,000 independent vehicle dealerships, at least 36 vendors that enable automotive dealers to support e-commerce on their websites, as well as many homegrown solutions for supporting e-commerce on automotive dealer websites. Each of these vendors has different interfacing requirements, and each defines different individual dealer pricing, add-on products, supported lenders, and the like. Further, each vendor has different methods for handling trade-ins and electronic paperwork. With such fragmentation in the market, it would be an overwhelming, if not impossible task, in the current state of the market for a company such as a lender to offer to its users a unified marketplace that allows for a seamless shopping experience of vehicles listed across all of these fragmented vendors. Such a marketplace would have to individually integrate with each vendor, with new ones that eventually show up, and to manage platform transitions whenever any of the vendors make changes. This creates a massive challenge to deliver a seamless shopping experience on top of all of this fragmentation.
The present disclosure presents solutions to these problems by, for example, providing a backbone middleware layer that abstracts away these single integration points and instead provides an open application programming interface (API) framework for any marketplace platform to integrate with. With such integrations in place, an e-commerce marketplace, such as a marketplace run by a particular lender, can create a unified customer experience independent of the underlying vendors. The backbone system can, through its open API framework, surface all of the individual dealer components, logic, and processes necessary to complete an e-commerce transaction just as if the consumer was natively using the dealer's website powered by one of the vendors. Further, the backbone systems disclosed herein can support the ability for the e-commerce marketplace to define lender preferences and fall back on other choices that dealers define if, for example, a user does not meet that lender's preferences.
The present disclosure presents various embodiments of systems that can efficiently integrate and present a unified marketplace for unique items, such as automobiles, that are offered for sale across a variety of fragmented listing systems. In some embodiments, the systems disclosed herein comprise an e-commerce backbone system that, among other things, acts as a translation or abstraction layer between a large number of separate dealer vehicle listing systems and one or more unified marketplace systems. The unified marketplace systems can enable an end user to search for, obtain financing for, and/or purchase a vehicle listed for sale in one of the separate vehicle listing systems. The backbone system can present an API to the unified marketplace system that enables the unified marketplace system to process such searching and transactions the same way for every transaction regardless of which underlying dealer system is offering the vehicle for sale. Such a system can have a variety of benefits, including allowing users to search for, obtain financing for, purchase, and/or the like unique items through a single unified experience that is not otherwise possible.
Some embodiments of the systems disclosed herein also provide one or more additional benefits. For example, some embodiments enable enhanced data privacy by, for example, keeping any user data that is specific to a particular user with the unified marketplace system, and not disclosing such information to the backbone system, the various listing systems, other third-party providers, and/or the like, until such disclosure is required to complete a transaction and is authorized by the user. The configuration of various systems disclosed herein is such that financing, purchases, insurance offerings, and/or the like can be offered to users in a useful fashion without requiring the unified marketplace system to disclose the user's private information to the providers of those items until the user decides to move forward with conducting such a transaction.
Another benefit of various embodiments of the systems disclosed herein is that the backbone system can be configured to take into account various business- or transaction-related preferences of certain entities that are offering services, in order to, for example, allow multiple unified marketplace systems to utilize the backbone system even if each of those unified marketplace systems is run by a different entity having its own business and/or transaction preferences. For example, one type of entity that may run such a unified marketplace system is a bank or other lender. Because such an institution may already have a user's private information as a result of other banking relationships with the user, it can be beneficial to have such an institution run the unified marketplace system, such as to limit distribution of such private customer data to other companies. Accordingly, an entity such as a bank or other lender can provide additional valuable services to a user, such as enabling the user to search for, obtain lending for, and complete the transaction of purchasing a vehicle, while only disclosing the user's private information at an appropriate time in the transaction and only to the extent necessary to complete the transaction.
Another benefit of the systems disclosed herein is that some embodiments enable the backbone system to interface with one or more third-party service providers, such as automotive insurance providers, automotive warranty providers, automotive parts and maintenance providers, and/or the like. Such interfaces may, for example, enable the unified marketplace system to offer additional services along with and during the purchase transaction of a vehicle, such as insurance and extended warranties. Such interfaces may also, for example, enable the unified marketplace system to continue serving the user after a purchase has been completed. For example, the system may enable a user to coordinate future service of his or her vehicle, to order parts for his or her vehicle, to offer the vehicle for sale, and/or the like all through the original unified marketplace system.
Although various embodiments described herein are described with respect to vehicles, such as new and used vehicles, the techniques disclosed herein may also be used with various other types of unique items, such as real estate, housing, apartments, used goods, and/or the like. Vehicle sales is especially suited to application of the techniques disclosed herein, particularly due to the extreme fragmentation in current dealer listing systems. Further, although various embodiments described herein utilize the term “dealer” to refer to a system that is listing a unique item for sale, this term is not intended to require that the dealer be a formal vehicle dealership or the like. Rather, this term, when used in the context of a dealer marketplace system, is intended to refer to any system that is offering or listing a plurality of unique items for sale. This may include, for example, systems listing vehicles for sale, systems listing real estate for sale, systems listing houses for sale, and/or the like.
As used herein, the term “unique item” is intended to refer to a specific item listed for sale that is unique. As an example, in the context of vehicles, each item listed for sale will be unique at least due to its unique combination of attributes, which may include, for example, condition attributes, feature attributes, location attributes, listing attributes, and/or the like. For example, condition attributes may comprise one or more attributes describing the specific condition of a vehicle, such as mileage, whether the vehicle has been in an accident, a number of previous owners, and/or the like. As another example, feature attributes may comprise one or more attributes describing specific features of the vehicle, such as whether the vehicle has all-wheel-drive or not, whether a towing package is included, the color of the vehicle, and/or the like. As another example, location attributes may comprise one or more attributes relating to where the item is currently located, where it was originally sold, and/or the like. As another example, listing attributes may comprise one or more attributes describing attributes of the current listing, such as price, location, the dealer offering the vehicle, and/or the like. As another example, each vehicle may be associated with a unique vehicle identification number (VIN). In the context of real estate or housing, each item listed for sale will be unique at least due to its unique location or address, in addition to potentially various other unique attributes, such as various condition attributes, feature attributes, location attributes, listing attributes, and/or the like.
In the context of unique items, the fragmentation in the marketplace discussed above can be significantly more complicated to address than if, for example, a system were being used to aggregate listings of non-unique items across various listing systems (e.g., across various listing systems that are each listing the same non-unique item for sale, such as a new DVD, a new book, and/or the like, just from a different source). Further, various complications arise in the context of unique items, particularly when the unified marketplace systems disclosed herein may not be the only place those unique items are available for purchase. For example, the direct and indirect dealer marketplace systems may at any time sell or otherwise dispose of a unique item listed through their system through channels other than through the unified marketplace system disclosed herein. Accordingly, it can be beneficial for the systems disclosed herein to incorporate regular, ongoing, and/or real-time communications with the various dealer listing systems in order to more efficiently and accurately present a unified marketplace to users. In some embodiments, even though the systems disclosed herein may store or cache at least some inventory data to facilitate efficient searching and filtering, they can also be configured to communicate with the dealer listing systems in real time to check, supplement, and/or update the cached data as a user is interacting with the unified marketplace system to search for and select an acquisition candidate item.
Another benefit of unified marketplace e-commerce systems disclosed herein is that the unified marketplace presented to a user is far more than a simple aggregation of classified ads. For example, one potential solution to the fragmentation in the marketplace could be a classified ad aggregator that collects listing information from the various dealer marketplace systems and presents information about those listings in a unified fashion. Although such a system could potentially allow a user to search for an acquisition candidate across various dealer listing systems, the benefits to such a system would end there, because once a user decides they are interested in purchasing an item, they would need to be redirected to the individual dealer listing systems. The systems disclosed herein, on the other hand, desirably enable a unified e-commerce marketplace that can enable a user to search for, select, and purchase a unique item from across a number of listing systems, potentially along with one or more services associated with that unique item, such as a loan, insurance, a warranty, and/or the like.
Example Unified E-Commerce System for Unique Items
In use, the user access point systems 105 may be, for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, and/or the like that a person interacts with through an interactive GUI 107. The user access point systems 105 may communicate with one or more of the unified marketplace systems 104, such as over the Internet or another network. The unified marketplace systems 104 can comprise multiple components, such as a product search and selection engine 120, a transaction processing interface 122, and a personalized interface 123. The product search and selection engine 120 may, for example, enable a user access point system 105 to search for unique items, such as vehicles, that are currently offered for sale by the one or more dealer marketplace or dealer listing systems 106, 108, 110. When a user is ready to purchase the unique item, the transaction processing interface 122 of the unified marketplace system may be configured to communicate with the backbone system 102, such as via the marketplace API engine 132 of the backbone system 102, in order to complete the transaction. In some embodiments, the marketplace API engine 132 may be referred to as a unified marketplace system interface, an API interface, and/or the like.
In some embodiments, the unified marketplace system 104 may also comprise a personalized interface 123 that can be configured to, for example, present information to a user via the user access point system 105 related to existing unique items the person owns, is interested in, and/or the like. Such an interface may also allow the user to request additional services for an existing unique item they own, such as scheduling maintenance, obtaining a trade-in offer or sale offer, ordering parts for a vehicle, and/or the like.
With continued reference to
One reason such mappings are desirable is that each of the dealer marketplace systems and/or dealer listing systems 106, 108, 110 will typically present data related to its listings in a different format. For example, most vehicle dealers offer their inventory via third party inventory providers, such as the indirect dealer marketplace systems 108. These providers either collect the data manually from the dealers and digitize it, or access the dealer's DMS (Dealer Management System), where the information about their vehicles is recorded. The provider will in turn offer an electronic “feed” of this data, and the feeds offered by each of these third party inventory providers are typically in a format specific to each provider. The normalization engine 130 desirably provides a method for translating between the format of each specific feed provider and a standardized or normalized format, such as the data model illustrated in
As one specific example for a particular unique item, one dealer marketplace system may offer a listing for a 2015 Lexus RX 350 vehicle. This specific dealer marketplace system may present its feed of vehicle listings in comma separated value (CSV) format, where each listing is represented by a string of text that has values for different fields in a predetermined arrangement separated by commas. For example, a portion of the feed for this vehicle may be as follows: “2015”, “Lexus”, “RX 350”, “F SPORT AWD 4dr SUV.” In this case, the provider is presenting a comma separated value item that that includes four fields, including the vehicle year, the vehicle make, and two other fields. Such feed data can present some complications, however. For example, although some portions of the feed data, such as the vehicle year and make, may be relatively standard across various providers, other portions of the feed data, such as the other two fields, may not be standardized across the various providers. Accordingly, instead of merely directly mapping the four fields from this feed data into four items in a standardized or normalized data model (e.g., the data model of
It should be noted that the standardized or normalized data model of
One problem with trying to offer a unified marketplace that presents a plurality of unique items for sale across a variety of dealer marketplace systems is that there may be inconsistencies and/or duplicates present across the variety of dealer marketplace systems. In order to address this problem, in some embodiments, the normalization engine 130 and/or another portion of the backbone system 102 is configured to conduct a de-duplication process that can identify duplicate listings of unique items across the variety of dealer marketplace systems and determine or select a single, “best” listing for that unique item to present through the unified marketplace system 104. For example, the system may be configured to identify duplicate listings by comparing a unique feature, such as a vehicle identification number.
Once two or more duplicate listings have been identified, the system may be configured to apply one or more rules or logic in order to select the best listing to present through the unified marketplace systems 104. For example, the system may be configured to select the best listing based on features such as the age of the listing, the history of the listing, the history of the dealer or dealer marketplace system that is offering the listing, and/or the like. In some cases, duplicate listings may be errors. For example, if a first dealer transfers a vehicle to a second dealer, but the first dealer has not yet taken down their listing for the vehicle, duplicate listings may be present across the first and second dealer. In such a case, the system may be configured to present the newer listing at the second dealer through the unified marketplace systems 104. In other cases, however, duplicate listings may not necessarily be errors. For example, multiple indirect dealer marketplace systems 108 may include listings for the same vehicle at a particular dealer, with each of those listings at the indirect dealer marketplace systems 108 being a valid listing that could be used to facilitate a purchase of the vehicle. In such a case, the backbone system 102 may be configured to select the best listing based on a number of factors, such as price, location, preferences of the particular unified marketplace system 104 that is offering the listing, and/or the like. In some cases, different listings for the same vehicle may be presented through different unified marketplace systems 104 if, for example, different unified marketplace systems 104 have different preferences that result in the selection of a different listing of that vehicle to present. In some embodiments, the system may further be configured to select which listing of multiple listings for the same vehicle to present based at least partially on accuracy of those listings. For example, in some cases, the backbone system 102 may already know some or all of the details associated with a particular vehicle, and the system may be configured to compare those details to the details being presented by the dealer marketplace systems. If one of the duplicate listings for the vehicle contains more accurate details than another, then the more accurate listing may in some embodiments be chosen as the “best” listing to present through the unified marketplace systems 104.
Preferably, the backbone system 102 communicates directly with the direct dealer marketplace systems 106 and indirect dealer marketplace systems 108. This can be preferable, for example, because the direct and indirect dealer marketplace systems 106, 108 may already be set up to handle requests over a network, such as by each using their own API or other methods, in order to facilitate searching for and completing transactions of vehicle purchases. It is possible, however, for the backbone system 102 to also be configured to communicate directly with dealer listing systems 110, as indicated by the dashed line between the dealer listing systems 110 and backbone system 102 shown in
In some embodiments, when a unified marketplace system 104 is communicating with the backbone system 102 to, for example, search for and display vehicles offered for sale across a plurality of dealer marketplace systems, the backbone system 102 may be configured to pass data between the unified marketplace systems 104 and the dealer marketplace systems 106, 108 in real time, but “translated” by the normalization engine 130 between the standardized data model and the specific requirements of each dealer marketplace system. It can be preferable, however, to store or cache at least some information about the items (e.g., the inventory) offered for sale by the dealer marketplace systems. This can be beneficial, for example, because it may enable faster and more seamless searching, sorting, filtering, and/or the like. For example, the item information cache database 138 of the backbone system 102 may store at least some details about the items offered for sale by the dealer marketplace systems, such as price, vehicle type, vehicle model, vehicle year, thumbnail photographs, and/or the like. By using such a cache, the backbone system 102 may be able to provide quicker search responses to search requests by the unified marketplace systems 104. The system may be configured, however, to still communicate with the dealer marketplace systems 106, 108 in order to provide additional details when, for example, a user is interested in more details of a particular listing. In some embodiments, the item information cache database 138 may be referred to as an inventory database.
As is further described below with reference to the vehicle financing and purchase process of
As mentioned above, one benefit of systems as disclosed herein is the potential for increased data privacy. For example, one option for generating a car insurance quote would be for the third party services engine 144 to receive from the unified marketplace system 104 private details about the user that is purchasing insurance, send those details to a third party service provider 114, such as an insurance provider, and receive a quote from that insurance provider to pass on to the end user. However, the systems disclosed herein in some embodiments can facilitate such quotes in a more privacy conscious fashion. For example, the third party services engine 144 can be configured to present an API to the third party service providers 114 that enables the third-party service providers to “call in” to describe promotions, products, services, and/or the like that the company associated with the unified marketplace system 104 can offer to their customers. The third party service providers can include a description of their promotions, products, and/or services along with a profile of the types of customers they would like to reach. This information can then be used by the backbone system 102 and/or the unified marketplace system 104 to generate offers of those third party services to an end user without having to provide the end user's private details to the third party service provider unless and until the user decides to move forward with such a service.
It should be noted that the various modules, databases, engines, and the like illustrated in
Example Vehicle Financing and Purchase Process
As indicated in
The process flow begins at block 203, where a user can shop dealer inventory online. For example, a user may utilize a user access point system 105 to communicate with a unified marketplace system 104, and the product search and selection engine 120 of the unified marketplace system 104 may be configured to enable the user to search for and select from vehicles offered by any of the dealer marketplace systems 106, 108. In order to facilitate this, the unified marketplace system 104 may communicate over a network with the backbone system 102 in order to obtain dealer pricing and incentives and any other data necessary to describe to the user the inventory that is available. This communication with the backbone system 102 is illustrated by block 205.
After the user has selected a vehicle to purchase, the process flow proceeds to a checkout process that begins at block 207. At block 207, the system may confirm the user's contact details and preferred communication method. At block 209, the system may be configured to offer the user a number of options for financing the vehicle. For example, the system can enable the user to pay cash without any financing, use financing provided by Lender 1, or use financing by an alternative lender. It should be noted that, even though the present embodiment illustrates a system that is operated by or for Lender 1, Lender 1 may have its own requirements as to who it would like to lend money to, and in a case that a user of the system does not meet Lender 1's requirements, it can be desirable to allow Lender 1 to still process the transaction while offering financing from alternative lenders.
The process flow then varies depending on how the user is financing the vehicle. If the user is paying cash, the process flow proceeds to block 225 and proceeds as described below. If the user would like to use financing from Lender 1, the process flow proceeds to block 211. At block 211, the system may be configured to obtain any necessary information from the user such as a completed credit application at block 213, a driver's license photo at block 215, proof of insurance at block 217, and/or the like, and to then make a determination as to whether the user is approved for Lender 1 financing. If the user is approved, the process flow proceeds to block 219, and the system can be configured to offer one or more approved financing options to the user for selection. In this case, since Lender 1 is operating the marketplace system 104, and Lender 1's financing is being used, little if any private details about the user need to be provided from the marketplace system 104 to the backbone system 102. As part of the loan evaluation process, the system may be configured to analyze a value of the vehicle being purchased. For example, the system may be configured to contact one or more vehicle valuation services (e.g., one or more third party data providers 112), and provide to the vehicle valuation service data about the vehicle in the format required by that specific service, as discussed in greater detail above.
If Lender 1 financing is not approved at block 211, or if the user selects non-Lender 1 financing at block 209, the process flow proceeds to block 221. At block 221, the system can be configured to offer one or more financing options that are preferred by the specific dealer that is offering the current vehicle for sale. To facilitate such transaction, the unified marketplace system 104 can be configured to communicate with the backbone system 102 as shown at block 223. The backbone system 102 may then be configured to communicate with the dealer marketplace systems and/or third-party service providers to facilitate the non-Lender 1 financing. As indicated by block 224, as the user proceeds through the financing process, the system can be building and displaying a monthly payment based on the options the user has selected. An example of this is shown in
With continued reference to
At block 231, the system that can be configured to enable the user to select dealer service and protection products. For example, the unified marketplace system 104 may be configured to communicate with the backbone system 102 at block 233 to determine what specific dealer service and add-on products are offered by the dealer that is selling the current vehicle and present those to the user. Such services may include, for example, warrantees, undercoating, paint protection, and/or the like.
At block 235, the unified marketplace system 104 can be configured to present the final deal terms to the user for review. The system may be configured to communicate with the backbone system 102 at block 237 in order to obtain details about the deal terms for presentation to the user. These terms may include, for example, the tax, title, and license fees required for this transaction.
At block 239, the system can be configured to enable the user to schedule a pickup or delivery of the vehicle. The unified marketplace system 104 may communicate with the backbone system 102 at block 241 in order to facilitate such pickup or delivery. At block 243, the system can be configured to enable the user to electronically sign any documents required to complete the transaction. The system can also be configured to communicate with the backbone system 102 at block 245 in order to perform the final transaction processing. Finally, for a system like illustrated in
Example Graphical User Interface for Facilitating Vehicle Financing and Purchase Process
With reference to
Additional Examples of Unified E-Commerce Systems for Unique Items
With reference to
Turning to
With continued reference to
The embodiment of the unified unique items e-commerce system 400 illustrated in
One way the backbone system 102 presents more detail in
Another way the backbone system 102 presents more detail in
It should be noted that each embodiment of a backbone system 102 may not necessarily include every module or function depicted in
The final additional details shown in
Example Data Model for Interfacing with an E-Commerce Backbone System
Desirably, the standardized data model 501 of
In use, a communication between a unified marketplace system 104 and the backbone system 102 may not include data for each and every object of the request and response data models 503, 505. The potential objects to include in a request, however, include dealer data 507, customer data 509, applicant data 511, cosigner data 513, vehicle data 515, backend products data 517, offer data 519, trade-in data 521, and vehicle receipt data 523. The potential objects to include in a response include loan decision data 525 and dealer availability data 527.
In some embodiments, the standardized data model includes fields associated with a plurality of categories of data, such as dealer data, acquirer data, unique item data, and/or the like. For example, with reference to
Although
Example Inventory Data Management and Transaction Processing Process
At block 701, an electronic data feed is received. For example, the backbone system 102 of
At block 703, the electronic feed data is parsed, translated, and stored in an inventory database, item information cache database, and/or the like. For example, the item information cache 755 illustrated in
Desirably, the process flow of blocks 701 to 705 is an ongoing and/or regularly repeated process that is not associated with a specific transaction being processed, and that can help to ensure that the backbone system's local inventory database or item information cache is kept up to date. It should be noted that, as discussed above, this ongoing process of keeping the item information cache database up to date with the latest inventory information from various dealer systems may not necessarily end up creating an item information cache or inventory database that includes every piece of information relevant to a particular listing that enables a user of the system to search for and select a unique item and complete an acquisition transaction associated with that item. For example, the item information cache database 755 may be configured to store enough information locally to provide fast searching and filtering, with at least some information related to listings being retrieved from or at least verified with the direct or indirect dealer marketplace systems 106, 108 at the time of a user conducting a search, filtering, and/or interacting with a listing through the unified marketplace systems. For example, in some embodiments, the item information cache database 755 may contain at least some textual and/or numerical information, such as vehicle make, model, year, listing price, and/or the like, and the system may be configured to retrieve additional data, such as images of the vehicle, additional textual and/or numerical information, and/or the like on demand or in real time when needed to support searching, filtering, and selecting an acquisition candidate unique item.
Turning now to the right half of the process flow illustrated in
At block 709, an acquisition request is received. For example, a user of a unified marketplace system 104 may have selected an acquisition candidate unique item and indicated a desire to purchase the acquisition candidate unique item. At block 711, the system coordinates the details of the acquisition deal, translating any data as needed, such as any time a third party system that does not use the standardized data model needs to be contacted. At block 713, the acquisition transaction is finalized. The process between blocks 709 and 713 may, for example, encompass one or more or all of the blocks of the process flow of
Example Data Mappings
These example feed mappings include two main portions, namely a general information section 801 and a translations section 803. The general information section 801 may include general information about the mapping, such as the feed source the mapping is applicable to and the data type provided by that feed source. For example, the mapping of
The translations section 803 comprises a variety of information that defines how one or more fields of information from the electronic feed map onto one or more fields of information in the standardized data model. For example, with reference to
Moving to fields three and four, in this example, each of fields three and four provided by the direct dealer marketplace system one include information corresponding to a plurality of fields in the standardized data model. Accordingly, in this case, the information provided in field three is separated into two standardized data model fields, a and b, corresponding to the vehicle: model and vehicle: trim standardized data model fields, and the information provided in field four is separated into three standardized data model fields, a, b, and c, corresponding to the vehicle: subtrim, vehicle: drivetype, and vehicle: body style standardized data model fields. The series of dots at the bottom of the feed mapping is intended to indicate that this is merely an example of a few translations, and in practice the feed mapping may include a number of additional translations, different translations, and/or the like.
In some embodiments, the translations that occur based on these mappings may conduct additional checks, translations, and/or the like. For example, one third party system may use a different term for the items in a particular standardized data model field, and the system may be configured to change that term into the term used in the standardized data model. Further, some mappings may include lists, ranges, and/or the like indicating allowable values for the standardized data model fields, and the system may be configured to convert values from the feed into one of those allowable values, indicate that there is an error in the data when data from the feed is different than the allowable values, and/or the like.
In some embodiments, the mappings stored in the mappings databases may correspond to how data received from a third party system and/or data sent to a third party system is encoded. For example, the encoding of data may refer to one or more of, for example, the feed data type (such as CSV, TSV, binary, and/or the like), the number of fields, the data type used in each field, how much information is stored in each field, whether an individual field is associated with more than one attribute or only a single attribute, whether the text associated with a field is spelled out in the data (as opposed to using numbers or letters to refer to categories-such as using the number 1 to refer to “all wheel drive” and the number 2 to refer to “two wheel drive”, or using the number 1 to refer to the color red, the number 2 to refer to the color blue, and/or the like), and/or the like. In some embodiments, the format in which a dealer marketplace system encodes its data may be referred to as a dealer marketplace-specific data format.
Like the mappings of
Computing System
In some embodiments, the computer clients and/or servers described above take the form of a computing system 600 illustrated in
Backbone and/or Marketplace System Module
In one embodiment, the computing system 600 comprises a backbone and/or marketplace system module 606 that carries out the functions described herein, including any one of techniques described above. The backbone and/or marketplace system module 606 and/or other modules may be executed on the computing system 600 by a central processing unit 602 discussed further below.
In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, COBOL, CICS, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software module may be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules that may be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage.
Computing System Components
In one embodiment, the computing system 600 also comprises a mainframe computer suitable for controlling and/or communicating with large databases, performing high volume transaction processing, and generating reports from large databases. The computing system 600 also comprises a central processing unit (“CPU”) 602, which may comprise a conventional microprocessor. The computing system 600 further comprises a memory 604, such as random access memory (“RAM”) for temporary storage of information and/or a read only memory (“ROM”) for permanent storage of information, and a mass storage device 608, such as a hard drive, diskette, or optical media storage device. Typically, the modules of the computing system 600 are connected to the computer using a standards based bus system. In different embodiments, the standards based bus system could be Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Microchannel, SCSI, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA) and Extended ISA (EISA) architectures, for example.
The computing system 600 comprises one or more commonly available input/output (I/O) devices and interfaces 6012, such as a keyboard, mouse, touchpad, and printer. In one embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces 612 comprise one or more display devices, such as a monitor, that allows the visual presentation of data to a user. More particularly, a display device provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data, and multimedia presentations, for example. In one or more embodiments, the I/O devices and interfaces 612 comprise a microphone and/or motion sensor that allow a user to generate input to the computing system 600 using sounds, voice, motion, gestures, or the like. In the embodiment of
Computing System Device/Operating System
The computing system 600 may run on a variety of computing devices, such as, for example, a server, a Windows server, a Structure Query Language server, a Unix server, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a cell phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a kiosk, an audio player, an e-reader device, and so forth. The computing system 600 is generally controlled and coordinated by operating system software, such as z/OS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Linux, BSD, SunOS, Solaris, Android, IOS, BlackBerry OS, or other compatible operating systems. In Macintosh systems, the operating system may be any available operating system, such as MAC OS X. In other embodiments, the computing system 600 may be controlled by a proprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems control and schedule computer processes for execution, perform memory management, provide file system, networking, and I/O services, and provide a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (“GUI”), among other things.
Network
In the embodiment of
Access to the backbone and/or marketplace system module 606 of the computer system 600 by computing systems 617 and/or by data sources 619 may be through a web-enabled user access point such as the computing systems' 617 or data source's 619 personal computer, cellular phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet computer, e-reader device, audio player, or other device capable of connecting to the network 616. Such a device may have a browser module that is implemented as a module that uses text, graphics, audio, video, and other media to present data and to allow interaction with data via the network 616.
The browser module may be implemented as a combination of an all points addressable display such as a cathode-ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, or other types and/or combinations of displays. In addition, the browser module may be implemented to communicate with input devices 612 and may also comprise software with the appropriate interfaces which allow a user to access data through the use of stylized screen elements such as, for example, menus, windows, dialog boxes, toolbars, and controls (for example, radio buttons, check boxes, sliding scales, and so forth). Furthermore, the browser module may communicate with a set of input and output devices to receive signals from the user.
The input device(s) may comprise a keyboard, roller ball, pen and stylus, mouse, trackball, voice recognition system, or pre-designated switches or buttons. The output device(s) may comprise a speaker, a display screen, a printer, or a voice synthesizer. In addition, a touch screen may act as a hybrid input/output device. In another embodiment, a user may interact with the system more directly such as through a system terminal connected to the score generator without communications over the Internet, a WAN, or LAN, or similar network.
In some embodiments, the system 600 may comprise a physical or logical connection established between a remote microprocessor and a mainframe host computer for the express purpose of uploading, downloading, or viewing interactive data and databases online in real time. The remote microprocessor may be operated by an entity operating the computer system 600, including the client server systems or the main server system, and/or may be operated by one or more of the data sources 619 and/or one or more of the computing systems 617. In some embodiments, terminal emulation software may be used on the microprocessor for participating in the micro-mainframe link.
In some embodiments, computing systems 617 who are internal to an entity operating the computer system 600 may access the backbone and/or marketplace system module 606 internally as an application or process run by the CPU 602.
URLs and Cookies
In some embodiments, one or more features of the systems, methods, and devices described herein can utilize a URL and/or cookies, for example for storing and/or transmitting data or user information. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) can include a web address and/or a reference to a web resource that is stored on a database and/or a server. The URL can specify the location of the resource on a computer and/or a computer network. The URL can include a mechanism to retrieve the network resource. The source of the network resource can receive a URL, identify the location of the web resource, and transmit the web resource back to the requestor. A URL can be converted to an IP address, and a Doman Name System (DNS) can look up the URL and its corresponding IP address. URLs can be references to web pages, file transfers, emails, database accesses, and other applications. The URLs can include a sequence of characters that identify a path, domain name, a file extension, a host name, a query, a fragment, scheme, a protocol identifier, a port number, a username, a password, a flag, an object, a resource name and/or the like. The systems disclosed herein can generate, receive, transmit, apply, parse, serialize, render, and/or perform an action on a URL.
A cookie, also referred to as an HTTP cookie, a web cookie, an internet cookie, and a browser cookie, can include data sent from a website and/or stored on a user's computer. This data can be stored by a user's web browser while the user is browsing. The cookies can include useful information for websites to remember prior browsing information, such as a shopping cart on an online store, clicking of buttons, login information, and/or records of web pages or network resources visited in the past. Cookies can also include information that the user enters, such as names, addresses, passwords, credit card information, etc. Cookies can also perform computer functions. For example, authentication cookies can be used by applications (for example, a web browser) to identify whether the user is already logged in (for example, to a web site). The cookie data can be encrypted to provide security for the consumer. Tracking cookies can be used to compile historical browsing histories of individuals. Systems disclosed herein can generate and use cookies to access data of an individual. Systems can also generate and use JSON web tokens to store authenticity information, HTTP authentication as authentication protocols, IP addresses to track session or identity information, URLs, and the like.
Other Systems
In addition to the systems that are illustrated in
Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could.” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The headings used herein are for the convenience of the reader only and are not meant to limit the scope of the disclosures or claims.
Any ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all overlap, sub-ranges, and combinations thereof. Language such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” “less than,” “between,” and the like includes the number recited. Numbers preceded by a term such as “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” as used herein include the recited numbers, and also represent an amount close to the stated amount that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”, and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount.
Although the features that have been disclosed in the context of certain preferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses of the disclosure and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Additionally, the skilled artisan will recognize that any of the above-described methods can be carried out using any appropriate apparatus. Further, the disclosure herein of any particular feature, aspect, method, property, characteristic, quality, attribute, element, or the like in connection with an embodiment can be used in all other embodiments set forth herein. For all of the embodiments described herein the steps of the methods need not be performed sequentially. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the present disclosure herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/056,381, titled SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR UNIFIED E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS FOR UNIQUE ITEMS, filed on Jul. 24, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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