Dual Category Structure for E-Commerce Browsing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing e-commerce systems require complex category structures to meet various browsing requirements, leading to cumbersome operations and increased database storage loads, as buyers and sellers need to navigate multiple layers to browse and list commodities by brand, price, or features.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system with both back-end and front-end category structures, where the back-end maintains a stable classification scheme for sellers to list commodities and the front-end allows flexible category configurations for buyers to browse by brand, price, or features, using correlation information to link commodities to categories, reducing the need for complex database structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If complex category structures are implemented to meet various browsing requirements, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the category structure into two independent segments: a back-end category structure for sellers to list commodities and a front-end category structure for buyers to browse commodities. Each segment serves its specific function independently, avoiding the need for a single complex structure to satisfy all requirements. The back-end uses stable classification schemes while the front-end allows flexible configurations, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces correlation information as an intermediary element that links commodities to categories without requiring the commodities themselves to be part of complex category structures. This intermediary layer allows the system to provide flexible browsing views while maintaining a simple underlying data structure, as the correlation information can be configured independently of the core commodity data.
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex category structures are implemented to meet various browsing requirements, then adaptability is improved, but storage load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the flexibility requirements from the core commodity data structure and places them in the front-end category structure. The back-end stores only essential commodity information with stable categorization, while browsing-specific configurations are stored separately in the front-end structure. This separation removes the burden of storing multiple complex category representations for each commodity, reducing overall storage load while maintaining browsing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a front-end copy of the category structure that is optimized for browsing purposes, rather than modifying the original back-end structure. This front-end copy contains the flexible category configurations needed for various browsing views, while the back-end maintains its simple, stable structure. The correlation information acts as a lightweight reference that connects the two without duplicating full category hierarchies.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex category structures are implemented to meet various browsing requirements, then adaptability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into back-end and front-end category structures with distinct responsibilities, the patent simplifies operations for each user type. Sellers interact only with the simple back-end structure for listing commodities, while buyers access the pre-configured flexible front-end structure for browsing. This segmentation prevents either user group from needing to navigate or manage complex category configurations, improving ease of operation while maintaining adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
Providing object information on the Internet includes configuring a plurality of front-end categories for a plurality of network objects and a plurality of screening conditions for screening the plurality of network objects, where each of the plurality of screening conditions uniquely corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of the front-end categories. Providing object information further includes receiving object information pertaining to a network object, the object information including a screening condition for the network object; storing the object information in a back-end category, determining a front-end category to which the network object belongs, according to the screening condition and storing correlation information of the object and the front-end category, wherein the back-end category is separate from and different than the front-end category.