A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client system. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client system and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier and an HTML document identifying the item and including an order button. The client system receives and stores the assigned client identifier and receives and displays the HTML document. In response to the selection of the -order button, the client system sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item. The server system receives the request and combines the purchaser information associated with the client identifier of the client system to generate an order to purchase the item in accordance with the billing and shipment information whereby the purchaser effects the ordering of the product by selection of the order button.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,399 which issued on Feb. 3, 1998 (U.S. application Ser. No. 08/453,273 filed May 30, 1995), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,163 which issued on Mar. 10, 1998 (U.S. application Ser. No. 08/413,242, filed on Mar. 30, 1995).
Computer-accessible medium and apparatus for providing subscription-based shipping of items. Embodiments may provide mechanisms that allow customers of an e-commerce Web site to pay a fee to obtain a subscription in a shipping program that provides subscribed customers with free and/or reduced-rate shipping for at least some items ordered via the e-commerce Web site during the period covered by the subscription. The Web site may provide user interface elements on the Web site that may provide one or more shipping and possibly other options only to subscribed customers. Some embodiments may provide mechanisms that allow a subscriber to share a subscription to the shipping program with other customers. One embodiment may provide a mechanism through which a subscribed customer can invite other customers to share a subscription. Some embodiments may provide other exclusive services and/or offers to the subscribers of the shipping program that are not provided or offered to non-subscribers.
A method of generating a function, the function for assessing a parameter. The method includes: displaying a field for receiving a rule on a computer; entering a rule into the computer; transmitting the rule to a server; storing the rule on the server; and generating a function for assessing the parameter.
An executable shopping list (ESL) enables a user browsing an affiliate Web site's Web page to order, with a single action, a bundle of multiple items offered for sale by the affiliate's associated merchant Web site, wherein the bundle is one that is not offered or available for sale as a bundle to on-line visitors who directly access the merchant's Web site server. By selecting a link on the affiliate's Web page, the ESL is executed, thereby automatically loading the bundle of multiple items on that list into a virtual shopping cart at the merchant's Web site on behalf of the user. The virtual shopping cart, filled with the multiple items, is then returned to the user's browser for completion of the checkout procedure by the user. ESLs can be implemented on the affiliate site's side using what is referred to as smart bookmark technology, which records for later playback, the multiple steps required to load each item on the list into a shopping cart at the merchant's Web server. Alternatively, ESLs cam be implemented on the merchant's site side using the merchant's Web server's infrastructure. A discount can be optionally associated with the offer to purchase the multiple items in the bundle. ESLs are also applied to permission marketing where a merchant can bundle a group of items together and electronically offer that bundle to one or more customers who have agreed to receive such merchandising offers.
