U.S. patent application number 14/959752 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-08 for lending offers in an electronic commerce marketplace.
The applicant listed for this patent is PAYPAL, INC.. Invention is credited to Rahul Nair.
Application Number | 20170161825 14/959752 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 58799171 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170161825 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nair; Rahul |
June 8, 2017 |
LENDING OFFERS IN AN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE MARKETPLACE
Abstract
A system and/or method may be provided for providing a financing
offer to the user based on a user's browsing session. An example
method includes monitoring a browsing session of a user. The method
also includes detecting, based on monitoring the browsing session,
an action indicating that the user will purchase a product from a
merchant during the browsing session. The method further includes
providing, based on the action, the user with a user selectable
option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product.
The financing offer is associated with a lender and specifies a set
of offer terms. The method also includes in response to a
determination that the user has accepted the financing offer,
debiting a lender account associated with the lender, crediting a
merchant account associated with the merchant, and establishing an
agreement of the financing offer between the user and lender.
Inventors: |
Nair; Rahul; (San Jose,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
PAYPAL, INC. |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
58799171 |
Appl. No.: |
14/959752 |
Filed: |
December 4, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0255 20130101;
G06Q 40/025 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 40/02 20060101
G06Q040/02 |
Claims
1. A system for providing a financing offer based on a user's
browsing session, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing
information about a lender account associated with a lender that
includes one or more financing offers to one or more users; and one
or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory
and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory
to cause the system to perform operations comprising: monitor,
through a network at a client device, a browsing session of a user;
detect, based on monitoring the browsing session, an action
indicating that the user will purchase a product from a merchant
during the browsing session; provide, through the network to the
client device based on the action, the user with a user selectable
option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product,
wherein the financing offer is associated with the lender and
specifies a set of offer terms; and in response to a determination
that the user has accepted the financing offer: debit the lender
account; credit a merchant account, wherein the merchant account is
associated with the merchant; and establish an agreement of the
financing offer between the user and lender.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the browsing session includes a
plurality of websites.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein a browser plug-in monitors the
browsing session, detects the action, and provides the user with
the user selectable option to accept the financing offer.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein an electronic commerce server
monitors the browsing session, detects the action, and provides the
user with the user selectable option to accept the financing
offer.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
receive, through the network from a lender device of the lender, a
request to provide one or more financing offers specific to one or
more products of a first type; and determine whether the product
from the merchant is of the first type, wherein the user selectable
option to accept the financing offer is provided to the user in
response to a determination that the product is of the first
type.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
receive, from the lender, a request to include one or more offer
terms in the set of offer terms.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
receive, through the network from a lender device of the lender,
one or more buyer eligibility criteria to apply to one or more
users; and determine whether the user satisfies the one or more
buyer eligibility criteria, wherein the user selectable option to
accept the financing offer is provided to the user in response to a
determination that the user satisfies the one or more buyer
eligibility criteria.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the buyer eligibility criteria
includes at least one of a repayment history of the user, a
purchase volume of the user, and transaction feedback of the
user.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
receive, through the network from a lender device of the lender,
one or more merchant eligibility criteria to apply to one or more
merchants; and determine whether the merchant satisfies the one or
more merchant eligibility criteria, wherein the user selectable
option to accept the financing offer is provided to the user in
response to a determination that the user satisfies the one or more
merchant eligibility criteria.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the merchant eligibility
criteria includes at least one of a transaction feedback of a
merchant and a timeframe in which the merchant has sold the
product.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
monitor whether one or more offer terms of the set of offer terms
has been repudiated, wherein the financing offer includes a penalty
clause for repudiation of an offer term of the set of offer terms;
and in response to a determination that the offer term has not been
repudiated, enforce the penalty clause.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the lender is a consumer of one
or more merchant websites.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the lender is different from the
merchant.
14. A method of providing a financing offer based on a user's
browsing session, comprising: monitoring, through a network at a
client device, a browsing session of a user; detecting, based on
monitoring the browsing session, an action indicating that the user
will purchase a product from a merchant during the browsing
session; providing, through the network to the client device based
on the action, the user with a user selectable option to accept a
financing offer for the purchase of the product, wherein the
financing offer is associated with a lender and specifies a set of
offer terms; and in response to a determination that the user has
accepted the financing offer: debiting a lender account associated
with the lender; crediting a merchant account associated with the
merchant; and establishing an agreement of the financing offer
between the user and lender.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein monitoring the browsing session
includes monitoring the user browsing a plurality of websites.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, through
the network from a lender device of the lender, a request to
provide one or more financing offers specific to one or more
products of a first type; and determining whether the product from
the merchant is of the first type, wherein providing the user
selectable option includes in response to a determination that the
product is of the first type, providing the user with the user
selectable option to accept the financing offer for the purchase of
the product.
17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, through
the network from a lender device of the lender, one or more buyer
eligibility criteria to apply to one or more users; and determining
whether the user satisfies the one or more buyer eligibility
criteria, wherein providing the user selectable option includes in
response to a determination that the user satisfies the one or more
buyer eligibility criteria, providing the user with the user
selectable option to accept the financing offer for the purchase of
the product.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, through
the network from a lender device of the lender, one or more
merchant eligibility criteria to apply to one or more merchants;
and determining whether the merchant satisfies the one or more
merchant eligibility criteria, wherein providing the user
selectable option includes in response to a determination that the
merchant satisfies the one or more merchant eligibility criteria,
providing the user with the user selectable option to accept the
financing offer for the purchase of the product.
19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: monitoring whether
one or more offer terms of the set of offer terms has been
repudiated, wherein the financing offer includes a penalty clause
for repudiation of an offer term of the set of offer terms; and in
response to a determination that the offer term has not been
repudiated, enforcing the penalty clause.
20. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon
a plurality of machine-readable instructions executable to cause a
machine to perform operations comprising: monitoring, through a
network at a client device, a browsing session of a user;
detecting, based on monitoring the browsing session, an action
indicating that the user will purchase a product from a merchant
during the browsing session; providing, through the network to the
client device based on the action, the user with a user selectable
option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product,
wherein the financing offer is associated with a lender and
specifies a set of offer terms; and in response to a determination
that the user has accepted the financing offer: debiting a lender
account associated with the lender; crediting a merchant account
associated with the merchant; and establishing an agreement of the
financing offer between the user and lender.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Field of the Invention
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and
methods for providing a financing offer based on a user's browsing
session.
[0003] Related Art
[0004] More and more consumers are purchasing items and services
over electronic networks such as, for example, the Internet.
Consumers routinely purchase products and services from merchants
and individuals alike. The transactions may take place directly
between a conventional or on-line merchant or retailer and the
consumer, and payment is typically made by entering credit card or
other financial information. Transactions may also take place with
the aid of an on-line or mobile payment service provider such as,
for example, PayPal.RTM., Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Such payment
service providers can make transactions easier and safer for the
parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of a payment
service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhere using a
mobile device is one main reason why on-line and mobile purchases
are growing very quickly.
[0005] Some users may need to borrow money to make on-line
purchases, and the only conventional ways to do so are through a
credit card (which may have high fees), a loan from a bank (which
is a time consuming process), or a loan from the merchant making
the sale (which may require the user to apply for a credit card).
It may be disadvantageous for the user to go through these
conventional ways. For example, the user may have bad credit and be
denied a credit card. In another example, the user may have reached
her credit card limit and is thus unable to charge anything to her
credit card. It may be desirable to overcome these
disadvantages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0006] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method
of providing a financing offer based on a user's browsing
session.
[0007] FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
search for products for which to provide financing offers to
users.
[0008] FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, buyer eligibility criteria, and/or
seller eligibility criteria for providing financing offers to
users.
[0009] FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
search for one or more merchants that the lender desires to provide
financing offers to for users buying from these merchants.
[0010] FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, buyer eligibility criteria, and/or
product eligibility criteria for providing financing offers to
users.
[0011] FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
search for one or more users that the lender desires to provide
financing offers to for the purchase of products.
[0012] FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a webpage provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, seller eligibility criteria,
and/or product eligibility criteria for providing financing offers
to users.
[0013] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
networked system for providing a financing offer based on a user's
browsing session.
[0014] FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a
user device.
[0015] FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a
computer system.
[0016] Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages
are best understood by referring to the detailed description that
follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are
used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the
figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating
embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of
limiting the same.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] I. Overview
[0018] II. Example Method
[0019] III. Example Webpages
[0020] A. Financing Offer Linked to Products of a Particular
Type
[0021] B. Financing Offer Linked to Particular Merchants
[0022] C. Financing Offer Linked to Particular Buyers
[0023] IV. System Architecture
[0024] V. Example Computing Systems
I. Overview
[0025] The present disclosure provides techniques for providing a
financing offer to a user based on the user's browsing session. A
user may browse merchant websites with the intention of buying a
product (e.g., an item and/or service) from the website. It may be
desirable to provide the user with a financing offer for the
purchase of the product. In some examples, the user's browsing
session may be monitored. The browsing session may include a
plurality of merchant websites visited and/or otherwise indicated
of interest to the user. The user may perform one or more actions
indicating that the user will purchase a product from the merchant
(e.g., via the merchant website) during the browsing session.
[0026] In response, a lender may provide a financing offer to the
user. In some examples, the lender specifies the offer terms, buyer
eligibility criteria, seller eligibility criteria, and/or product
eligibility criteria that must be satisfied before the lender will
provide a particular financing offer to the user. The lender may be
a user who also purchases products from merchant websites. For
example, if the user is searching for products on an electronic
commerce website, the lender may be a regular buyer who purchases
products from merchants via the electronic commerce website. In
this example, the user credentials that the lender uses to specify
offer terms, buyer eligibility criteria, seller eligibility
criteria, and/or product eligibility criteria of a financing offer
may be the same as the user credentials that the lender uses as a
regular buyer to purchase products from merchants via the
electronic commerce website.
[0027] If an action indicating that the user will purchase a
product from a merchant website during the browsing session is
detected and the appropriate criteria specified by the lender is
satisfied, the user is provided with a user selectable option to
accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product. The
financing offer includes a set of offer terms that may be specified
by the lender.
[0028] Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the
following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the
description, discussions utilizing terms such as "receiving",
"sending", "storing", "monitoring", "determining", and "detecting",
"providing," "debiting," "crediting," "establishing," or the like,
refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar
electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data
represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer
system's registers and memories into other data similarly
represented as physical quantities within the computer system
memories or registers or other such information storage,
transmission or display devices.
II. Example Method
[0029] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method
100 of providing a financing offer based on a user's browsing
session. Method 100 is not meant to be limiting and may be used in
other applications other than those discussed below. Method 100
includes blocks 102-112.
[0030] In a block 102, a browsing session of a user is monitored at
a client device. The user may navigate from website to website
during a browsing session and browse a plurality of websites for
products (e.g., goods or services) to purchase. In an example, the
user uses a client device having a browser application that may be
used to provide a convenient interface to permit the user to browse
information available over a network. In some embodiments, the
browser application may be implemented as a Web browser configured
to view information available over the Internet. The client device
may also include one or more applications that may be used, for
example, to provide client-side processing for performing desired
tasks in response to operations selected by the user. In an
example, a browser plug-in monitors the browsing session of the
user. The browsing session may include a plurality of websites,
which may include one or more merchant websites. The user may
interact with multiple merchant websites and be interested in
purchasing a product from one or more merchant websites. If the
user is getting ready to purchase a product from a merchant via its
website, the user may perform one or more actions indicating that
the user is about to make a purchase.
[0031] In a block 104, an action indicating that the user will
purchase a product from a merchant during the browsing session is
detected. In an example, a browser plug-in detects, based on
monitoring the user's browsing session, an action indicating that
the user will purchase a product from a merchant website during the
browsing session. In some examples, the action indicating that the
user will purchase a product from a merchant website during a
browsing session may be an action indicating that the user is
interested in the product. The user may indicate interest in a
product by, for example, selecting the product displayed on the
website to find out more information about the product, performing
a search for the product on the merchant website, or requesting
information about the product from the merchant website. For
example, the merchant website may display a user selectable option
on a webpage that allows the user to communicate with a customer
service representative associated with the merchant website to
answer the user's questions about the product.
[0032] In another example, an action indicating that the user will
purchase the product from the merchant website during the browsing
session may be the user placing the product in a virtual shopping
cart of the merchant website. The merchant website may provide a
virtual shopping cart feature, which provides a user interface for
the user to shop at online stores and keep track of which products
are of interest to the user. The user may place product offerings
of the merchant website into the virtual shopping cart and proceed
to "check out," at which point the user may pay for the products in
the virtual shopping cart. These are examples, and other actions
indicating that the user will purchase the product from the
merchant website during the browsing session are within the scope
of the present disclosure.
[0033] In a block 106, the user is provided with a user selectable
option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product
in response to detecting the action, where the financing offer is
associated with a lender and specifies a set of offer terms. In an
example, a browser plug-in provides the user with a user selectable
option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of the product
in response to the detected action, where the financing offer is
associated with the lender and specifies a set of offer terms. The
lender may specify which products, one or more buyer eligibility
criteria, and/or one or more merchant eligibility criteria that
must be satisfied in order for the lender to provide a financing
offer to a user. The user selectable option to accept the financing
offer may, for example, be displayed on the webpage or on a side of
the webpage that includes information about the purchase of the
product.
[0034] A lender may be associated with a lender account and provide
one or more financing offers to one or more users. The lender may
specify criteria that must be satisfied by the product, potential
buyer, and/or potential seller before the lender will offer a
financing offer to the potential buyer for the purchase of the
product from the merchant website. In some examples, a browser
plug-in accesses the one or more criteria specified by the lender
and determines whether the purchase of the product by the user
satisfies the one or more criteria. In some examples, the lender
links the financing offer with products of a particular type (e.g.,
the lender may agree to finance purchases of green energy
products). The lender may specify one or more criteria that the
product must satisfy in order for the lender to provide a financing
offer to the user for the purchase of the product. It may be
determined whether the product that the user is about to purchase
from the merchant website is of the particular type. The user
selectable option to accept the financing offer may be provided to
the user in response to a determination that the product from the
merchant website is of the particular type. In specific examples,
the lender may be passionate about particular products and want to
incentivize users to buy them by offering financing for these types
of products. For example, the lender may be passionate about the
environment and provide potential buyers with a financing offer for
the purchase of solar panels. In such an example, if the browser
plug-in detects an action indicating that the user will purchase
solar panels from any of the browsed merchant websites during the
browsing session, the browser plug-in provides the user with a user
selectable option to accept a financing offer in association with
the purchase of the solar panels. The lender may also specify
additional criteria.
[0035] In some examples, the lender links the financing offer with
one or more buyer eligibility criteria. The lender may specify one
or more buyer eligibility criteria that the user must satisfy in
order for the lender to provide a financing offer to the user for
the purchase of a product. It may be determined whether the user
satisfies the one or more buyer eligibility criteria specified by
the lender. The user selectable option to accept the financing
offer may be provided to the user in response to a determination
that the user satisfies the one or more buyer eligibility criteria
specified by the lender. In some examples, the lender may be wary
of lending money to high-risk users. To assuage the lender's
wariness, the buyer eligibility criteria may specify at least one
of a repayment history of the user, a purchase volume of the user,
and/or transaction feedback of the user. In some examples, the
lender is passionate about a cause such as the environment. In
reference to the above example, the lender may specify that the
potential buyer must be located within a particular geographical
region because the lender desires to incentivize people in her
community (or other communities) to buy solar panels. The user's
location may be determined based on the user's Internet Protocol
(IP) address, location specified by global positioning system (GPS)
from the user's mobile phone, her mailing address as typed into a
"mailing address" field, etc. The lender may also specify
additional criteria.
[0036] In some examples, the lender links the financing offer with
one or more merchant eligibility criteria. The lender may specify
one or more merchant eligibility criteria that a merchant must
satisfy in order for the lender to provide a financing offer to the
user for the purchase of a product from the merchant. It may be
determined whether the merchant satisfies one or more merchant
eligibility criteria specified by the lender. The user selectable
option to accept the financing offer may be provided to the user in
response to a determination that the merchant satisfies the one or
more merchant eligibility criteria specified by the lender. In some
examples, the lender is wary about lending money to users to buy
products from merchants who are not well established. For example,
the merchant may have a phony website and display products on a
website that the merchant has no intention of mailing to the user.
In another example, the merchant may provide bad customer service
and the lender may desire to not associate itself with this
merchant. To assuage the lender's wariness, the merchant
eligibility criteria may specify at least one of a sales volume of
the merchant, transaction feedback of users (e.g., feedback from
users who have purchased from the merchant), and a minimum amount
of time in which the merchant has been selling the product to
consumers. The longer the merchant has been transacting business,
the more comfortable the lender may be with lending money to the
user for purchasing the merchant's products. The lender may also
specify additional criteria.
[0037] The lender may be a third party to a transaction between a
seller and a buyer. For example, the lender may be a different
entity than the seller and the buyer. In response to a
determination that the user has accepted the financing offer,
blocks 108, 110, and 112 may be executed. In block 108, the lender
account is debited. In block 110, a merchant account associated
with the merchant is credited. In block 112, an agreement of the
financing offer between the user and lender is established. The
financing offer may specify a set of offer terms set forth by the
lender and that must be agreed upon by the user if the user desires
to accept the lender's financing offer. The browser plug-in may
establish an agreement for the financing offer between the user and
lender in response to a determination that the user has accepted
the lender's financing offer. The lender may include a set of offer
terms in the financing offer. For example, the financing offer may
specify a schedule of payments from the user's account to the
lender's account (e.g., the creation of an automatic payment from
the user's account to the lender's account for a set amount every
month).
[0038] It is understood that one or more of the blocks of method
100 described herein may be omitted, combined, or performed in a
different sequence as desired. It is also understood that
additional processes may be performed before, during, or after
blocks 102-112 discussed above. For example, one or more offer
terms of the set of offer terms may be monitored to determine
whether an offer term of the set of offer terms has been
repudiated. In some examples, the financing offer includes a
penalty clause for repudiation of an offer term of the set of offer
terms. In response to a determination that the offer term has
repudiated, the penalty clause may be enforced. For example, a
penalty amount may be debited from the user's account and credited
to the lender's account.
[0039] In some examples, the merchants associated with the merchant
websites cooperate because it is in their best interests to allow
lenders to provide potential buyers with financing offers to
purchase products from them. For example, a merchant website may
provide a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that a
browser plug-in may interact with to communicate with the merchant
website. For example, the merchant website may provide the browser
plug-in with an indication that the user has placed a particular
product into the merchant website's virtual shopping cart.
[0040] Although the above description describes a browser plug-in
as monitoring a browsing session of a user, detecting an action
indicating that the user will purchase a product from a merchant
(e.g., via the merchant's website) during the browsing session, and
providing the user with a user selectable option to accept a
financing offer for the purchase of the product in response to the
detected action, it should be understood that this is not intended
to be limiting, and other components may perform these actions. For
example, transactions may take place with the aid of an electronic
commerce website provided by, for example, PayPal.RTM., Inc. of San
Jose, Calif. Such electronic commerce website can make transactions
easier and safer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the
assistance of an electronic commerce website from the convenience
of virtually anywhere using a mobile device is one main reason why
on-line and mobile purchases are growing very quickly.
[0041] An electronic commerce website may match buyers, sellers,
and lenders together to complete a purchase transaction. For
example, the electronic commerce website may allow multiple
merchants to sell their products and multiple buyers to buy
products via the electronic commerce website. In some examples, the
electronic commerce website monitors the browsing session of a user
and detects, based on monitoring the user's browsing session, an
action indicating that the user will purchase a product from a
merchant website during the browsing session. The electronic
commerce website may provide, based on the detected action, a user
selectable option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of
the product to the user.
[0042] The electronic commerce website may store information about
a merchant and a merchant account associated with the merchant. The
merchant may sell one or more products via the electronic commerce
website. The electronic commerce website may credit a merchant's
account when the merchant sells a product on the electronic
commerce website. Additionally, the electronic commerce website may
store information about the user and a user account associated with
the user. The user may browse products that are sold by merchants
via the electronic commerce website and purchase one or more
products from one or more merchants. The electronic commerce
website may debit a user's account when the user buys a product on
the electronic commerce website.
[0043] Electronic commerce websites usually limit a transaction to
two parties, the buyer and the seller. People typically borrow
money from their friends or family members who know them. It may be
advantageous to introduce a buyer as a lender in the electronic
commerce website. The electronic commerce website may provide an
environment in which users (who may be either buyers or lenders)
may also provide financing offers to other users of electronic
commerce website. As discussed, a lender may be a buyer who
typically buys products using the electronic commerce website, but
who also will lend money to other users to buy products using
electronic commerce websites. For example, the lender may be a
regular buyer who purchases products from merchants via the
electronic commerce website. The electronic commerce website may
store information about a lender and a lender account associated
with the lender. In some examples, the lender's account may be the
same as the account that the lender normally uses as a buyer.
[0044] The electronic commerce website provides a safe environment
for debiting the lender's account and crediting the merchant's
account. In an example, the lender may finance the total cost of
the product and require the user to pay the lender back in
increments. In response to a determination that a user has accepted
a financing offer from the lender for purchase of a product from a
merchant, the lender's account is debited by a first amount and the
merchant's account is credited by the first amount. In another
example, the lender may finance a portion of the total cost of the
product and the financing offer may require that the user provide a
down payment to pay for a portion of the product's costs. In such
an example, in response to a determination that the user has
accepted the financing offer from the lender for purchase of a
product from a merchant, the lender's account is debited by a first
amount, the merchant's account is credited by a second amount, and
the user's account is debited by a third amount. The sum of the
first and third amounts may be the same or greater than the second
amount (depending on the interest rate or any applicable fees
specified in the financing offer).
III. Example Webpages
A. Financing Offer Linked to Products of a Particular Type
[0045] A lender may link a financing offer to particular products
or products of a particular type. FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a
webpage 200 provided by an electronic commerce website to a lender
to allow the lender to search for products for which to provide
financing offers to users. The lender may login into the electronic
commerce website by providing the lender's username and password.
In some examples, the username and password entered by the lender
into the electronic commerce website's login screen is the same
username and password that the lender uses to log into the
electronic commerce website as a buyer to purchase products (e.g.,
a payment account associated with the user and used to fund
purchases may also be used as a lender account that is associated
with that user and used to lend money to other users).
[0046] The lender may search for and select products that the
lender desires to provide financing offers for to users. As
illustrated on webpage 200, the electronic commerce website may
provide the lender with an option 202 to search by category. The
lender may select the arrow corresponding to option 202 and select
a category (e.g., home improvement, apparel, etc.). Additionally,
the lender may search for a product by typing the name of the
product or product's description (e.g., green energy) into a search
box 204. The lender may be aware of popular products that are
selling in high quantities in the marketplace, may wish to invest
in a product that the lender believes will be very popular, or may
be passionate about particular products. In an example, the lender
may have typed "solar panels" into search box 204 and been provided
with webpage 200, which displays a high-energy solar panel product
205. The lender may select this product and create a financing
offer for users desiring to purchase high-energy solar panel
product 205. In another example, rather than simply offer a
financing offer to help the user in purchasing the product, the
lender may offer to pay a portion of the cost of the product
without seeking reimbursement from the user for that portion. A
lender may decide to pay a portion of the cost of the product or
finance the purchase of the product because the lender is
passionate about the product and wants to incentivize others to
purchase the product, as a way to advertise for the lender's
business, or other reasons.
[0047] Additionally, the electronic commerce website may provide
the lender with options 206 to filter the lender's product
searches. In some examples, if a search for particular products
returns too many products, the lender may use options 206 to
further narrow down a list of products for which the lender desires
to provide financing. As illustrated by options 206, the lender may
search for products to provide financing offers for by product
rating, product sales volume, seller review., and/or other options
A product rating provides the lender with information about how
buyers have rated the product. The lender may determine the
likelihood of other users buying this product depending on its
rating. The higher a product's rating, the more likely the lender
may provide a financing offer for the purchase of the product.
[0048] A product sales volume provides the lender with information
about how much of the product has been sold. If the product sales
volume number is high, the lender may determine that this product
is a popular product and well-received in the marketplace. In some
embodiments, the higher a product's sales volume, the more likely
the lender may be to provide a financing offer for the purchase of
the product. Seller reviews provide the lender with information
about merchants that sell the product, as well as how the products
operate. For example, a merchant that provides good customer
service may receive positive reviews compared to a merchant that
does not provide good customer service. In another example, by
reading the seller reviews, the lender may be aware of particulars
regarding a product in terms of packaging and difficulty in mailing
the product without it breaking. The better the seller reviews, the
more likely the lender may provide a financing offer for the
purchase of the product.
[0049] Once the product the lender is interested in offering
financing for is displayed on the webpage, the lender may select a
product or product type and select a user selectable option "Create
Finance Offer" 208. In response to a selection of user selectable
option "Create Finance Offer" 208, the electronic commerce website
allows the lender to create a financing offer for one or more users
desiring to purchase the specified product (e.g., high-energy solar
panel 205) or desiring to purchase a product of the particular type
displayed on webpage 200 (e.g., any solar panel or green energy
product that produces energy).
[0050] FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a webpage 300 provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, buyer eligibility criteria, and/or
seller eligibility criteria for providing financing offers to users
in response to the selection of user selectable option "Create
Finance Offer" 208 on webpage 200 by a lender. Webpage 300 displays
a set of offer terms 302, a set of buyer eligibility criteria 304,
and a set of seller eligibility criteria 306 that the lender may
specify in the financing offer. The lender may carve out different
offer terms for different users based on the values entered into
set of offer terms 302, a set of buyer eligibility criteria 304,
and/or a set of seller eligibility criteria 306.
[0051] Set of offer terms 302 includes finance duration, interest
applicable, collateral, down-payment, and late payment fee fields.
The lender may type values into these fields to specify offer terms
of the financing offer. For example, the lender may enter into the
finance duration field a timeframe in which the buyer has to pay
the lender back an agreed upon amount associated with the financing
offer (e.g., 12 months), enter into the interest applicable field
an interest rate that the lender desires to charge the buyer for
accepting the financing offer, enter into the collateral field any
assets that the lender requires the buyer to provide for accepting
the financing offer, enter into the down-payment field a dollar
amount that the lender requires the buyer to provide for the
purchase of the product out of the buyer's own pocket, and/or enter
into the late payment field a penalty amount that the buyer agrees
to pay if the buyer is late in a pay schedule agreed upon by the
buyer and lender.
[0052] Set of buyer eligibility criteria 304 includes repayment
history, purchase volume, and buyer feedback fields. For example,
the lender may enter into the repayment history field a minimum
score (e.g., 4 stars/5 stars) that the user must have in order for
the lender to provide a financing offer to the buyer. The repayment
history field may indicate whether the user has paid back previous
loan(s), whether the user was on time in paying back the previous
loan(s), whether the user currently has loan(s), whether the user
is on time in paying back those loan(s), etc. The better a user's
repayment history score, the more likely the lender may provide a
financing offer for the purchase of the product to the user. The
lender may enter into the purchase volume field a minimum number of
transactions that the user must have been a buyer in in order for
the lender to provide a financing offer to the user. The higher a
user's purchase volume, the more active the user has been on the
electronic commerce website and more likely the lender may provide
a financing offer for the purchase of the product to the user. The
lender may enter into the buyer feedback field a minimum score
(e.g., 3.5 stars/5 stars) that the user must have in order for the
lender to provide a financing offer to the user. For example,
lenders and/or sellers may be able to rate a user and provide
feedback about their experience with the user in completing one or
more transactions (e.g., whether the user paid on time or was
responsive to questions). The better a user's buyer feedback, the
more likely the lender may provide a financing offer for the
purchase of the product to the user.
[0053] Set of seller eligibility criteria 306 includes repayment
history, purchase volume, and buyer feedback fields. A seller may
take part in transactions as a buyer using the electronic commerce
website. For example, the seller may purchase products from other
sellers using the electronic commerce website and have taken out
one or more loans to do so. The lender may enter into the repayment
history field of set of seller eligibility criteria 306 a minimum
score (e.g., 4 stars/5 stars) that the seller of a product must
have in order for the lender to provide a financing offer to a
buyer to purchase a product from the seller. A seller may also be
referred to as a merchant. The repayment history field may indicate
whether the seller has paid back previous loan(s), whether the
seller was on time in paying back the previous loan(s), whether the
seller is paying back any current loan(s), whether the seller is on
time in paying back the current loan(s), etc., as a buyer and
borrower. The better a seller's repayment history score, the more
likely the lender may provide a financing offer for the purchase of
the product from the seller.
[0054] The lender may enter into the purchase volume field a
minimum number of transactions that the seller must have been a
buyer in in order for the lender to provide a financing offer to
the user for purchasing a product from the seller. The higher a
seller's purchase volume as a buyer, the more active the user has
been on the electronic commerce website and more likely the lender
may provide a financing offer for the purchase of the product from
the seller. The lender may enter into the buyer feedback field a
minimum score (e.g., 3.5 stars/5 stars) that the seller must have
in order for the lender to provide a financing offer to the user
for purchasing a product from the seller. The better a seller's
buyer feedback, the more likely the lender may provide a financing
offer for the purchase of the product from the seller. After the
lender is finished with filling in the applicable fields, the
lender may select a user selectable option "Continue" 308. In
response to a selection of user selectable option "Continue" 308,
the electronic commerce website allows the lender to create a
financing offer based on particular products in accordance with set
of offer terms 302, set of buyer eligibility criteria 304, and/or
set of seller eligibility criteria 306.
B. Financing Offer Linked to Particular Merchants
[0055] A lender may link a financing offer to particular merchants.
FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a webpage 400 provided by an electronic
commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to search for one
or more merchants whose customers the lender desires to provide
financing offers. As illustrated on webpage 400, the electronic
commerce website may provide the lender with an option 402 to
search by category. The lender may select the arrow corresponding
to option 402 and search for merchants based on a category (e.g.,
home improvement, apparel, etc.) of products sold by the
merchants.
[0056] Additionally, the lender may search for a merchant by typing
the name of the merchant, location of the merchant, and/or products
sold by the merchant into a search box 404. The lender may be aware
of popular merchants that are selling high quantities of products
or high quality products in the marketplace, may wish to invest in
a merchant that the lender believes will be very popular, and/or
may be passionate about helping particular merchants sell products
by financing the sale of their products. In an example, the lender
may have typed "solar panels" into search box 404 and been provided
with webpage 400, which displays a list of merchants 405. List of
merchants 405 identifies merchants selling high-energy solar panel
products. For example, a first merchant identified in list of
merchants 405 is Green Energy Panels, which has 5 stars out of 5
stars, a 99% positive rating over the past 12 months, and 2,940
ratings from buyers. A second merchant identified in list of
merchants 405 is Solar First, which also has 5 stars out of 5
stars, a 99% positive rating over the past 12 months, and 1,742
ratings from buyers. The lender may select one or more of these
merchants identified in list of merchants 405 and create a
financing offer for users desiring to purchase products from these
selected merchants.
[0057] Additionally, the electronic commerce website may provide
the lender with options 406 to filter the lender's merchant
searches. In some examples, if a search for particular merchants
returns too many merchants, the lender may use options 406 to
further narrow down the list of merchants. As illustrated by
options 406, the lender may search for merchants that are selling
products on electronic commerce website by product, product sales
volume, and/or seller review. A search by product provides the
lender with information about merchants that are selling those
particular products (e.g., list of merchants 405 selling solar
panels). A search by product sales volume may provide the lender
with information about the top selling merchants on the electronic
commerce website and how many products these merchants sell per
time period (e.g., per week or month, etc.). The higher the product
sales volume number that is associated with a merchant, the more
likely the lender may provide a financing offer for products
purchased from this merchant.
[0058] The lender may select one or more merchants of list of
merchants 405 and select a user selectable option "Create Finance
Offer" 410. In response to a selection of user selectable option
"Create Finance Offer" 410, the electronic commerce website allows
the lender to create a financing offer for one or more users
desiring to purchase products from the selected merchant(s).
[0059] FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a webpage 500 provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, buyer eligibility criteria, and/or
product eligibility criteria for providing financing offers to
users in response to the selection of user selectable option
"Create Finance Offer" 410 by a lender. Webpage 500 displays set of
offer terms 302, set of buyer eligibility criteria 304, and a set
of product eligibility criteria 502 that the lender may specify in
the financing offer. Set of offer terms 302 and set of buyer
eligibility criteria 304 were described in reference to FIG. 3.
[0060] Set of product eligibility criteria 502 includes category,
product name, and product review fields. For example, the lender
may enter into the category field categories of products for which
the lender desires to provide financing offers to users (e.g.,
green energy). The lender may enter into the product name field the
particular products for which the lender desires to provide
financing offers to users (e.g., name, model, version, etc.). The
lender may enter into the product review field a minimum score
(e.g., 3.5 stars/5 stars) that a product being sold by a selected
merchant must have in order for the lender to provide a financing
offer to the user to purchase a product from the merchant. The
better a product's review, the more likely the lender may provide a
financing offer for the purchase of the product to the user. After
the lender is finished with filling in the applicable fields, the
lender may select a user selectable option "Continue" 504. In
response to a selection of user selectable option "Continue" 504,
the electronic commerce website allows the lender to create a
financing offer based on particular sellers in accordance with set
of offer terms 302, set of buyer eligibility criteria 304, and/or
product eligibility criteria 502.
C. Financing Offer Linked to Particular Buyers
[0061] A lender may link a financing offer to buyers. FIG. 6 is an
embodiment of a webpage 600 provided by an electronic commerce
website to a lender to allow the lender to search for one or more
users that the lender desires to provide financing offers to for
the purchase of products. As illustrated on webpage 600, the lender
may search for buyers to finance by typing in a repayment history
or purchase volume into a search box 604. Additionally, the
electronic commerce website may provide the lender with options 606
to filter the lender's buyer searches. As illustrated by options
606, the lender may search for buyers by buyer feedback and
products bought. A search by buyer feedback provides the lender
with information about others' experiences in completing a
transaction with the user. The more positive a user's buyer
feedback, the more likely the lender may provide a financing offer
for the purchase of the product to the user. A search by products
bought may provide the lender with information about what users are
buying on the electronic commerce website. For example, the lender
may search for users who have bought solar panels within the past
12 months and desire to offer financing offers to these users.
[0062] These are examples, and the lender may search for users
based on other factors, such as performing a search for users who
have donated more than a threshold amount to a particular charity.
The electronic commerce website may access a database storing
information such as a list of users and their donations to
charities. If a user has contributed more than a threshold amount
to a particular charity, the electronic commerce website may
provide the user with the appropriate financing offer from a
lender. In this example, the lender may have linked the financing
offer to buyers who have satisfied the donation criteria.
Additionally, the lender may provide particular users with more
beneficial offer terms based on particular factors (e.g., users who
have contributed more than a threshold amount to a particular
charity or users who are loyal customers to particular
merchants).
[0063] The electronic commerce website may access a database
storing information such as a list of users and their loyalty
points with particular merchants. If a user has reached a
particular tier based on the number of loyalty points collected by
the user, the electronic commerce website may provide the user with
the appropriate financing offer from a lender. A financing offer
may be a gift (e.g., products from the merchant's store or a meal
at particular restaurants). Additionally, the lender may decide to
provide users with a financing offer for the purchase of a product
and/or to pay for at least a portion of the product without seeking
reimbursement.
[0064] The lender may then select a user selectable option "Create
Finance Offer" 608. In response to a selection of user selectable
option "Create a Finance Offer" 608, the electronic commerce
website allows the lender to create a financing offer for
particular users desiring to purchase products on the electronic
commerce website.
[0065] FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a webpage 700 provided by an
electronic commerce website to a lender to allow the lender to
specify one or more offer terms, seller eligibility criteria,
and/or product eligibility criteria for providing financing offers
to users in response to the selection of user selectable option
"Create Finance Offer" 608 by a lender. Webpage 700 displays set of
offer terms 302, a set of seller eligibility criteria 306, and set
of product eligibility criteria 502 that the lender may specify in
the financing offer. Set of offer terms 302 and set of seller
eligibility criteria 306 were described in reference to FIG. 3, and
set of product eligibility criteria 502 was described in reference
to FIG. 5. After the lender is finished with filling in the
applicable fields, the lender may select a user selectable option
"Continue" 704. In response to a selection of user selectable
option "Continue" 704, the electronic commerce website allows the
lender to create a financing offer based on particular buyers in
accordance with set of offer terms 302, set of seller eligibility
criteria 306, and/or product eligibility criteria 502.
[0066] It should be understood that webpages 200, 400, and 600
illustrate examples of narrowing down the results of a product,
seller, or buyer search. Other ways to narrow down product, seller,
or buyer searches are within the scope of the present disclosure.
Additionally, it should be understood that webpages 300, 500, and
700 illustrate examples of specifying particular offer terms, buyer
eligibility criteria, seller eligibility criteria, and/or product
eligibility criteria. Other offer terms, buyer eligibility
criteria, seller eligibility criteria, and/or product eligibility
criteria are within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0067] Although the above discussion may describe the
discoverability aspect of a financing offer as being initiated by
the lender in regard to reviewing buyers, products, and/or
merchants and in creating offers which are displayed upon
fulfillment of eligibility criteria, this is not intended to be
limiting. This aspect of discoverability may be extended to buyers
and/or sellers. For example, a buyer may contact one or more
lenders with a pre-defined offer of lending or may publish the
lending offer the buyer would like to avail. In such an example,
one or more lenders may be notified about such offers and may
either start a negotiation with the buyer or approve or reject
providing the financing offer to the buyer.
[0068] In another example, a seller may reach out to one or more
lenders for publishing offers for the seller's products or stores.
The seller may request that the lenders provide financing offers to
buyers desiring to purchase items (e.g., products or services) from
the seller. In such an example, one or more lenders may be notified
about the seller's request and start a negotiation with the seller.
If the lender starts a negotiation with the seller, the lender may
request, for example, that the seller pay the lender a percentage
of the total amount of the transaction completed by buyers who
accept the lender's financing offer. Additionally, the seller may
request that lenders provide buyers with particular interest rates,
etc. for their financing offers. A lender may directly approve or
reject providing such a financing offer to buyers desiring to
purchase items from the seller. Accordingly, buyers may initiate
communications with lenders to request financing offers, and
sellers may initiate communications with lenders to request lenders
to provide financing offers to potential buyers desiring to
purchase items from the sellers.
IV. Example System Architecture
[0069] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
networked system 800 for providing a financing offer based on a
user's browsing session. Networked system 800 may include or
implement a plurality of servers and/or software components that
operate to perform various transactions or processes. Example
servers may include stand-alone and enterprise-class servers
operating a server operating system (OS) such as a MICROSOFT.RTM.
OS, a UNIX.RTM. OS, a LINUX.RTM. OS, or other suitable server-based
OS. It can be appreciated that a server illustrated in FIG. 8 may
be deployed in other ways and that the operations performed and/or
the services provided by such a server may be combined or separated
for a given implementation and may be performed by a greater number
of servers. One or more servers may be operated and/or maintained
by the same or different entities.
[0070] The embodiment of the networked system 800 illustrated in
FIG. 8 includes one or more client devices 802, web server 804, and
web server 806 in communication over a network 808. Client device
802 includes a browser 810 and a browser plug-in 812. Client device
802 is remote from and communicates with web servers 804 and 806
using browser 810 over network 808. Web server 804 hosts a merchant
website 814, and web server 806 hosts a merchant website 816.
Client device 802, web server 804, and web server 806 may each
include one or more processors, memories, and other appropriate
components for executing instructions such as program code and/or
data stored on one or more computer readable mediums to implement
the various applications, data, and actions described herein. For
example, such instructions may be stored in one or more computer
readable media such as memories or data storage devices internal
and/or external to various components of system 800, and/or
accessible over network 808. Network 808 may be implemented as a
single network or a combination of multiple networks. For example,
in various embodiments, network 808 may include the Internet or one
or more intranets, landline networks, wireless networks, and/or
other appropriate types of networks.
[0071] Client device 802 may be implemented using any appropriate
hardware and software configured for wired and/or wireless
communication over network 808. For example, in one embodiment, the
client device may be implemented as a personal computer (PC), a
smart phone, wearable device, laptop computer, and/or other types
of computing devices capable of transmitting and/or receiving data,
such as an iPad.TM. from Apple.TM. or an Android smartphone.
Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Client
device 802 may include one or more browser applications which may
be used, for example, to provide a convenient interface to permit
the user to browse information available over network 808. For
example, in one embodiment, the browser may be implemented as a Web
browser configured to view information available over the Internet.
Client device 802 may also include one or more toolbar applications
which may be used, for example, to provide user-side processing for
performing desired tasks in response to operations selected by the
user. In one embodiment, the toolbar application may display a user
interface in connection with the browser application.
[0072] A user 820 may access merchant websites 814 and 816 using
browser 810. Merchant websites 814 and 816 may be accessible via a
uniform resource locator (URL) to which browser 810 executing on
client device 802 points. In an example, merchant website 814
and/or merchant website 816 is provided via a mobile application
installed on client device 802. Client device 802 may further
include other applications as may be desired in particular
embodiments to provide desired features to the user device. For
example, the other applications may include security applications
for implementing user-side security features, programmatic user
applications for interfacing with appropriate application
programming interfaces (APIs) over network 808, or other types of
applications. Email and/or text applications may also be included,
which allow the user to send and receive emails and/or text
messages through network 808. Client device 802 may include one or
more user and/or device identifiers which may be implemented, for
example, as OS registry entries, cookies associated with browser
810, identifiers associated with hardware of client device 802, or
other appropriate identifiers, such as a phone number. In one
embodiment, the user identifier may be used by browser plug-in 812
to associate the user with a particular account as described
herein.
[0073] In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, client device 802 runs
browser plug-in 812 including a monitor 822 and a financing offer
module 824. Browser plug-in 812 and a merchant website (e.g.,
merchant website 814 or merchant website 816) may communicate with
each other and pass information between each other about the user's
browsing session, products being viewed by the user on the merchant
website, etc. Monitor 822 may monitor a browsing session of user
820 and detect, based on monitoring the browsing session, an action
indicating that user 820 will purchase a product from merchant
website 814 during the browsing session. Lenders may use the
techniques provided in this disclosure to create a financing offer
that includes offer terms and criteria to be satisfied by the
product to be purchased, user 820, and/or the merchant associated
with merchant website 814. If appropriate, financing offer module
824 provides, based on the detected action, user 820 with a user
selectable option to accept a financing offer for the purchase of
the product. The financing offer is associated with the lender and
specifies the set of offer terms. User 820 may review the set of
offer terms and decide whether to accept or reject the financing
offer. In response to a determination that user 820 has accepted
the financing offer, financing offer module 824 may debit the
lender account, credit a merchant account associated with merchant
website 814, and establish an agreement of the financing offer
between user 820 and the lender.
[0074] Monitor 822 may also monitor whether the set of offer terms
are being met. If an offer term is not met (e.g., late payment by
user 820 as specified in the set of offer terms), financing offer
module 824 may lower the user's repayment history score,
potentially making it more difficult for the user to be provided
with more financing offers or more favorable financing offers in
the future.
[0075] In some examples, users desiring to be offered financing
offers from lenders for the purchase of products may opt into
allowing the lender to view information about the user (e.g., a
repayment history of the user, a purchase volume of the user,
and/or buyer feedback). In some examples, a user may purchase a
product using a funding instrument associated with the user. The
lender may be provided with proof that the user purchased the
product (e.g., purchase order, reference number that references the
order, etc.). Browser plug-in 812, the electronic commerce website,
user 820, or another entity may provide the proof that the user
purchased the product. After being provided with the proof of
purchase, the lender may provide the purchase amount back to the
user and establish an agreement of a financing offer between the
user and lender.
[0076] Although the functionality of monitor 822 and financing
offer module 824 is illustrated as being incorporated into browser
plug-in 812, it should be understood that this is not intended to
be limiting and the functionality of monitor 822 and/or financing
offer module 824 may be incorporated into another component or
entity. For example, monitor 822 and/or financing offer module 824
may be incorporated into an electronic commerce website that
performs the techniques taught in the present disclosure.
Additionally, in some embodiments, monitor 822 and/or financing
offer module 824 may be native to browser 810 and not included in a
browser plug-in.
V. Example Computing Systems
[0077] Referring now to FIG. 9, an embodiment of a user device 900
is illustrated. The user device 900 may be any of the user devices
or client devices discussed above. The user device 900 includes a
chassis 902 having a display 904 and an input device including the
display 904 and a plurality of input buttons 906. The user device
900 may be a portable or mobile phone including a touch screen
input device and a plurality of input buttons that allow the
functionality discussed above. For example, the user may use user
device 900 to browse merchant websites or accept a financing offer.
However, a variety of other portable/mobile user devices and/or
desktop user devices may be used in the methods and/or process
flows discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 without departing
from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0078] Referring now to FIG. 10, an embodiment of a computer system
1000 suitable for implementing, for example, the client devices,
the web servers, and/or the electronic commerce website is
illustrated, where applicable. It should be appreciated that other
devices utilized by users, merchants, and/or system providers in
the system discussed above may be implemented as the computer
system 1000 in a manner as follows.
[0079] In accordance with various embodiments of the present
disclosure, computer system 1000, such as a computer and/or a
network server, includes a bus 1002 or other communication
mechanism for communicating information, which interconnects
subsystems and components, such as a processing component 1004
(e.g., processor, micro-controller, digital signal processor (DSP),
etc.), a system memory component 1006 (e.g., RAM), a static storage
component 1008 (e.g., ROM), a disk drive component 1010 (e.g.,
magnetic or optical), a network interface component 1012 (e.g.,
modem or Ethernet card), a display component 1014 (e.g., CRT or
LCD), an input component 1018 (e.g., keyboard, keypad, or virtual
keyboard), a cursor control component 1020 (e.g., mouse, pointer,
or trackball), and/or a location determination component 1022
(e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) device as illustrated, a
cell tower triangulation device, and/or a variety of other location
determination devices known in the art.). If location determination
component 1022 is located on the client device, location
determination component 1022 may be used to determine the user's
location. The location of the user may be used to, for example,
determine whether one or more buyer eligibility criteria are
satisfied. In one implementation, the disk drive component 1010 may
include a database having one or more disk drive components.
[0080] In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure,
the computer system 1000 performs specific operations by the
processing component 1004 executing one or more sequences of
instructions contained in the memory component 1006, such as
described herein with respect to the client devices, the merchant
devices, and/or the system provider device. Such instructions may
be read into the system memory component 1006 from another computer
readable medium, such as the static storage component 1008 or the
disk drive component 1010. In other embodiments, hard-wired
circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software
instructions to implement the present disclosure.
[0081] Logic may be encoded in a computer readable medium, which
may refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions
to the processing component 1004 for execution. Such a medium may
take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,
volatile media, and transmission media. In one embodiment, the
computer readable medium is non-transitory. In various
implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magnetic
disks, such as the disk drive component 1010, volatile media
includes dynamic memory, such as the system memory component 1006,
and transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and
fiber optics, including wires that include the bus 1002. In one
example, transmission media may take the form of acoustic or light
waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data
communications.
[0082] Some common forms of computer readable media include, for
example, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any
other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch
cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of
holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or
cartridge, carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer
is adapted to read. In some embodiments, the computer readable
media is non-transitory.
[0083] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution
of instruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may be
performed by the computer system 1000. In various other embodiments
of the present disclosure, a plurality of the computer systems 1000
coupled by a communications link 1024 to network 810 (e.g., such as
a LAN, WLAN, PTSN, and/or various other wired or wireless networks,
including telecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks)
may perform instruction sequences to practice the present
disclosure in coordination with one another.
[0084] The computer system 1000 may transmit and receive messages,
data, information and instructions, including one or more programs
(i.e., application code) through the communications link 1024 and
the network interface component 1012. The network interface
component 1012 may include an antenna, either separate or
integrated, to enable transmission and reception via the
communications link 1024. Received program code may be executed by
processing component 1004 as received and/or stored in disk drive
component 1010 or some other non-volatile storage component for
execution.
[0085] Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the
present disclosure may be implemented using hardware, software, or
combinations of hardware and software. Also, where applicable, the
various hardware components and/or software components set forth
herein may be combined into composite components including
software, hardware, and/or both without departing from the scope of
the present disclosure. Where applicable, the various hardware
components and/or software components set forth herein may be
separated into sub-components including software, hardware, or both
without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In
addition, where applicable, it is contemplated that software
components may be implemented as hardware components and
vice-versa.
[0086] Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as
program code and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer
readable mediums. It is also contemplated that software identified
herein may be implemented using one or more general purpose or
specific purpose computers and/or computer systems, networked
and/or otherwise. Where applicable, the ordering of various steps
described herein may be changed, combined into composite steps,
and/or separated into sub-steps to provide features described
herein.
[0087] The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the
present disclosure to the precise forms or particular fields of use
disclosed. As such, it is contemplated that various alternate
embodiments and/or modifications to the present disclosure, whether
explicitly described or implied herein, are possible in light of
the disclosure. Having thus described embodiments of the present
disclosure, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize
that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from
the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure
is limited only by the claims.
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