Real-Time Pricing Quote System with Split-Screen Feature Comparison
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic commerce systems fail to provide users with a convenient way to compare prices of products and customized products with optional features in real-time, requiring repetitive data entry and lacking simultaneous display of prices for feature comparisons.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that calculates and displays real-time pricing quotes for products with optional features, allowing users to select and compare prices of different feature subsets on a single screen, utilizing a server-based system with software for product selection and feature customization, and a computer-readable medium for generating web pages that display prices and feature impacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users customize products with optional features through traditional e-commerce systems, then product customization capability is improved, but user operation convenience deteriorates due to repetitive data entry and inability to compare prices simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically retrieving and storing user profile information, purchase history, and product specifications in advance. When a user returns to customize a product, the system has already prepared the baseline data, eliminating the need for repetitive data entry and allowing users to focus only on selecting optional features.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a new dimension to product customization by implementing a split-screen interface that simultaneously displays the original product configuration on one side and the customized version with selected optional features on the other side. This dimensional change allows users to compare prices and features side-by-side, transforming a sequential comparison process into a simultaneous visual comparison.
2Measurement precision
If e-commerce systems require extensive information collection for pricing, then pricing accuracy is improved, but information input burden increases for customers
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically gathering necessary pricing information from multiple sources including user profiles, purchase history, product databases, and optional feature specifications. The system performs data collection, validation, and processing without requiring customer intervention, thereby maintaining pricing accuracy while eliminating the burden of extensive information input from customers.
3Device complexity
If traditional pricing systems calculate prices sequentially, then calculation simplicity is maintained, but customer comparison efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms the pricing comparison process by adding a spatial dimension through split-screen display. Instead of requiring customers to sequentially calculate and compare prices, the system simultaneously presents both the original product price and the customized product price in separate panes, allowing instant visual comparison and dramatically improving customer decision-making efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The implementation incorporates real-time feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors user selections of optional features and automatically updates the pricing display. As users add or remove features, the system immediately recalculates and refreshes the customized product price, providing continuous feedback that enables dynamic comparison without requiring manual recalculation or page refreshes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for providing multiple real-time pricing quotes based on optional consumer variables is disclosed. A user accesses a web site and is provided with a web page enabling the user to choose a product with multiple optional features. Upon selection of the product and desired features, the user is provided with pricing information for the selected products and features and provided with the option to modify the product be selecting different features. Upon selection of the modification, the user is provided with a web page simultaneously displaying the original selection and associated feature prices and the modification and associated feature prices.