Virtual Shopping Cart Sharing via Database Copying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing offline and online retail systems lack a flexible method for customers to share shopping carts or lists with others, leading to inefficiencies and privacy concerns when trying to replicate purchases.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for creating and sharing virtual shopping carts, allowing users to populate, save, and replicate shopping carts, with features like keyword association, access permissions, and expiration dates, enabling seamless sharing and duplication of cart contents between users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If customers share payment receipts with others, then purchased items information can be transmitted to others, but other customers still have to visit retail stores or login online to pick products individually
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a copy of the shared shopping cart from the payment receipt data and stores it in the database. This copy can be directly accessed and replicated by other users without requiring them to individually search for or select each product, thereby preserving complete shopping information while eliminating the time-consuming product selection process.
2Adaptability or versatility
If customers share shopping lists with larger groups, then more people can access shopping information, but privacy concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements differentiated access permissions where different user groups can have different levels of access to the shared shopping cart. The database entry includes access permission fields that allow the system to control who can view, replicate, or modify the cart contents, enabling flexible sharing while maintaining privacy through localized access control.
3Productivity
If the system stores populated virtual shopping carts for sharing, then sharing and replication becomes efficient, but server burden and database queries increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates and stores the complete shopping cart data structure in the database when a payment receipt is shared. Instead of dynamically constructing carts during each replication request, the cart is prepared in advance and stored as a complete database entry with all product information, quantities, and metadata, enabling fast replication without repeated server processing.
4Ease of operation
If the system allows easy replication of shopping carts, then user convenience increases, but the number of database queries and server processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables one-click replication by creating a database copy of the shared cart entry. The replication process simply duplicates the existing database record with a new unique identifier, avoiding the need for complex server-side processing or repeated product lookups, thus maintaining ease of operation while preserving server efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media providing shared online shopping lists and/or carts among users are disclosed. The method includes receiving a primary virtual shopping cart containing related items generated by a first user. A database entry for the primary shopping cart is created and correlated with a shopping cart identifier in response to a user request. The database entry includes one or more keywords associated with the first user of the primary virtual shopping cart. A query is received from a second user, and a list of primary virtual shopping carts is provided to the second user based on relevancy to the query. In response to a request by the second user, the contents of a selected primary virtual shopping cart is duplicated in a secondary virtual shopping cart associated with the second user.