Shipping Preference Auto-Population via Intermediary Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Online shoppers face the tedious task of repeatedly selecting shipping options during checkout processes across different retailer websites, perceiving it as a waste of time.
Innovation Solution
A computer system configured to collect and store a user's preferred shipping methods, detect shipping fields on various retailer websites, and automatically populate those fields with the user's preferred shipping options, thereby streamlining the checkout process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users manually select shipping options at each checkout, then shipping preferences can be customized for each order, but user effort and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by collecting and storing user shipping preferences in advance through a setup process. During subsequent checkouts, the pre-populated shipping field automatically applies these stored preferences, eliminating the need for users to manually select shipping options each time. This resolves the contradiction by preparing the shipping preference data beforehand, making the actual checkout process faster and easier while still allowing customization.
2Productivity
If shipping fields are pre-populated with user preferences, then checkout efficiency improves, but system complexity increases due to preference collection and storage mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary component - a server that acts as a mediator between the user's browser and the retailer's website. This server stores user shipping preferences and automatically populates shipping fields during checkout. By placing the complexity management at the intermediary layer rather than requiring complex client-side or retailer-side implementations, the solution achieves fast checkout experience while centralizing and simplifying the overall system architecture.
3Adaptability or versatility
If users must re-select shipping options on each website, then each retailer can offer their specific shipping options, but user experience deteriorates due to repetitive tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies universality by creating a multi-functional shipping preference management solution that works across multiple retailer websites. The user's shipping preferences are stored universally and can be applied to different retailers' shipping options. The system detects available shipping options on each retailer's website and automatically selects the user's preferred option from the available choices, providing both universal convenience and retailer-specific adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present systems and methods describe a computer system that collects user shipping preferences, including, for example, the shipping speeds (e.g., standard three to five day shipping) a user selects on various retailer websites. The system is configured to determine the one or more preferred shipping methods for the user based on the collected shipping preferences and to save the preferred shipping methods to memory (e.g., the user commonly prefers standard shipping). When the user visits an online retailer, the system, detects a shipping field (e.g., where the user may select or input a shipping preference), accesses the saved preferred shipping method (e.g., the user prefers standard shipping), and populates the shipping field with the saved preferred shipping method (e.g., the system automatically selects “standard shipping” for the user).