Browser Extension Wish List Tracking Fully-Stacked Prices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ecommerce wish lists only display the web price of products and do not alert users to changes in the effective cost due to cashback rewards, coupon discounts, and shipping charges, failing to provide comprehensive price tracking and notification functionality.
Innovation Solution
A browser extension that calculates and tracks the 'fully-stacked price' of products by considering web price, cashback rewards, coupon discounts, and shipping charges, and alerts users to price drops within the web browser, allowing users to add products to a wish list and view wish list contents without navigating away from the current page.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If existing wish lists only display web price, then the system is simple and easy to implement, but users cannot be informed of effective cost changes due to cashback, coupons, and shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the price tracking system into multiple independent modules: a browser extension for user interaction and data collection, a backend server for processing and analysis, and a database for storing product and pricing information. This segmentation allows the system to comprehensively track multiple pricing factors (web price, cashback, coupons, shipping) without creating a monolithic complex system, as each module handles specific tasks independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a backend server as an intermediary between the browser extension and the database. The server acts as a mediator that receives product data from the extension, processes pricing calculations considering multiple factors (cashback, coupons, shipping), and stores results in the database. This intermediary layer manages the complexity of multi-factor price tracking while keeping the user-facing browser extension relatively simple.
2Loss of information
If the system tracks multiple pricing factors (cashback, coupons, shipping), then comprehensive price tracking is achieved, but the calculation and notification system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal wish list system that handles multiple pricing factors through a unified interface and consistent data structure. The backend server implements a multi-functional pricing calculation engine that processes web price, cashback rewards, coupon discounts, and shipping charges through the same code path, allowing comprehensive tracking without requiring separate complex systems for each factor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent manages complexity by treating different pricing factors (cashback percentage, coupon value, shipping cost) as changeable parameters rather than fixed structures. The system dynamically adjusts these parameters based on product and user context, allowing flexible calculation of effective cost without hardcoding complex logic for each scenario. This parameter-based approach simplifies the calculation system while maintaining comprehensive tracking capability.
3Ease of operation
If users can view wish list and add products without navigating away, then user experience is improved, but the browser extension interface becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested interface structure where the wish list user interface is embedded within the browser extension, which itself is nested within the web browser. The wish list displays and product addition forms are rendered as overlay elements within the extension's context, allowing users to access wish list functionality without leaving the current webpage. This nesting approach provides convenient in-browser access while managing interface complexity through layered architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the wish list interface from a separate webpage navigation model to an overlay dimension within the current browser context. Instead of requiring users to navigate to a dedicated wish list page, the system renders the wish list interface as an overlay layer on top of the current webpage, utilizing the vertical stacking of UI layers. This dimensional approach allows simultaneous viewing of product pages and wish list contents without page navigation.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure relates to system, method, and computer program for providing a wish-list user interface within a web browser, for tracking “fully-stacked prices” for items in the wish list, and for alerting users to a drop in a fully-stacked price of an item in the wish list. A browser extension provides a wish list user interface within a user's web browser. Via the user interface, a user is able to add products from different merchant websites to the wish list. As each item is added to the wish list, an initial multifactor-based price (i.e., the fully-stacked price) is calculated for the item. While an item remains in the wish list, a backend server continues to track the multifactor-based price for the item. In response to detecting a drop in a multifactor-based price for an item in the wish list, the browser extension alerts the user to the price drop.