Social Network Search for Local Inventory Pickup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current online financial transactions lack efficient localization of merchant searches, making it inconvenient for customers to find and purchase products outside their GPS search radius, leading to unnecessary waiting for shipped items.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that leverages social networks to facilitate location-based mobile commerce by communicating between user and social network contact devices, obtaining geo-locations, and providing listings of items for sale within a merchant's coverage radius, allowing for pickup requests and incentives to be processed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If customers search for products using GPS search radius, then they can find local items quickly, but they cannot access items outside their search radius without manual searching or waiting for shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the search capability from a two-dimensional GPS radius around the user to a three-dimensional social network space, where search queries propagate through social connections regardless of geographic distance. This allows users to access local inventory at merchants frequented by their social network contacts, effectively adding a social dimension to the traditional geographic search model.
Solution Approach 2:
Social network contacts serve as intermediaries who bridge the gap between users and distant local inventory. When a user searches for an item, the system queries merchants associated with the user's social network, allowing social contacts to indirectly expand the user's access to local products beyond their immediate geographic area.
2Adaptability or versatility
If customers wait for shipped products, then they can receive items from any location, but they experience unnecessary waiting time and inconvenience
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary localization by identifying nearby merchants through social network data before the customer places an order. By pre-filtering inventory based on local merchant locations associated with the user's social network, the system enables same-day or next-day pickup options, eliminating the need for customers to wait for standard shipping delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables customers to self-serve by picking up items directly from local merchants. Instead of waiting for delivery, users can immediately collect their purchases from nearby store locations, transforming the passive delivery model into an active self-service pickup model that eliminates delivery wait times.
3Adaptability or versatility
If customers manually search for items by checking stores via websites and calls, then they can find items outside GPS radius, but the process becomes inconvenient and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple manual search activities (checking websites, making phone calls, visiting stores) into a single automated digital query. By combining social network data with merchant inventory systems, the platform consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate manual actions into one unified search operation that instantly returns results from across the user's social network.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides immediate feedback by returning search results from distant local merchants in real-time, rather than requiring users to manually check each location. The automated query-response mechanism gives users instant information about available items at merchants associated with their social network, eliminating the iterative manual search process.
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, search input is received from a first user device of a first user (e.g., a first mobile communication device). A location of a second user is determined (e.g., a location of a second mobile communication device). A search is performed using the search input and the location of the second user, and one or more search results are provided to the first user device based on the search. A purchase confirmation for an item included in the one or more search results is received, and pickup information is communicated to a second user device of the second user, enabling the second user to pick up the item from a merchant location.