Subscription Mechanism Using Trust Graphs for Social Commerce
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Solution Overview
Problem
Online commerce lacks the social aspects of traditional shopping, making it difficult for consumers to find suitable products, and involves complex processes like filling out forms and waiting for delivery, which can be cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing trust graphs to improve product recommendations and purchasing by identifying trusted users and recommending products based on their trust levels, allowing for streamlined purchasing and gift exchanges within a social network framework.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If consumers shop online with a wide range of product options, then product selection variety is improved, but difficulty in finding suitable products increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces social trust relationships as an intermediary mechanism to bridge consumers and products. By leveraging trust graphs that capture social connections and recommendations, the system filters the vast product selection through socially validated pathways, making it easier for consumers to find suitable products without reducing overall variety
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where consumer purchasing behavior and product evaluations are continuously incorporated into trust graph updates. This feedback mechanism refines product recommendations over time by strengthening trust paths for well-regarded products and adjusting for less suitable options, thereby improving the ease of finding appropriate products while maintaining diverse selection
2Adaptability or versatility
If online commerce provides extensive product options, then consumer choice is improved, but complexity of purchasing process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the product selection function from the traditional e-commerce purchase flow. By isolating the recommendation generation based on trust graphs into a distinct module, the system simplifies the main purchasing interface while maintaining extensive product choice in the background through social-based filtering
Solution Approach 2:
The trust graph system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides product recommendations, validates product suitability, guides purchasing decisions, and enables gift-giving suggestions. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems into a single unified approach, reducing overall process complexity while preserving consumer choice
3Reliability
If traditional shopping provides social advice from salespeople and friends, then product suitability evaluation is improved, but social aspects are lost in online shopping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of traditional social shopping dynamics by modeling trust relationships, recommendations, and social influences in a trust graph data structure. This copying of social interaction patterns into the digital realm allows online shoppers to access equivalent social evaluation capabilities without physical presence, maintaining product suitability assessment while adapting to online context
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments of methods and systems of purchasing products via a subscription mechanism, a method comprises, presenting a subscription mechanism corresponding to a first user, wherein the subscription mechanism is associated with a set of products. In many embodiments, the method further comprises receiving a notification from a second user selecting the subscription mechanism corresponding to the first user, determining that one or more conditions are satisfied, and causing at least a portion of the set of products associated with the subscription mechanism to be purchased by the second user. Other embodiments also are disclosed herein.