# US 11,308,537 B1 · Providing alternative items for unavailable items

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- Number: US 11,308,537 B1
- Document ID: US11308537B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 16/558,667
- Filed: 2019-09-03
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2019-09-03
- Assignees: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
- Applicants: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
- Inventors: Adrian Bell; Andre Wyatt
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11308537B1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0629: {by pre-processing results, e.g. ranking or ordering results}
- G06F 3/04812: Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
- G06Q 30/0631: {Recommending goods or services}
- G06Q 30/0633: {Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists (shipping orders G06Q10/083; order filling G06Q10/087)}
- G06Q 30/0643: {graphically representing goods, e.g. 3D product representation}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for providing an item purchase experience for users wishing to repeat purchases of items when previously purchased items are out-of-stock or otherwise temporarily unavailable. Alternative items are identified for an item that is determined to be unavailable. A user interface is generated to include a listing of previously purchased items, including an item listing for the unavailable item. The item listing for the unavailable item further includes the alternative items for display and user interaction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein when executed the program causes the at least one computing device to at least:
receive a request to view a plurality of previously purchased items associated with a user account;
determine that a particular item of the plurality of previously purchased items is unavailable;
identify a plurality of available items that are included in a same item category as the particular item;
for individual available items of the plurality of available items:
assign a respective weight to individual factors of a plurality of factors associated with the individual available items based at least in part on a level of importance associated with the individual factors, the plurality of factors comprising one or more item attributes of the individual available items, a comparison of words within item titles between the particular item and the individual available items, and a comparison of ratios between a quantity associated with the particular item and a quantity associated with the individual available items, the respective weight being used to assess a level of similarity between the particular item and the individual available items, and the respective weight being one of a positive weight or a negative weight;
generate a respective score for the available item based at least in part on a sum of weights assigned to the plurality of factors, the respective score being used to generate a hierarchical ranking of the plurality of available items;
select a plurality of alternate items from the plurality of available items based at least in part on the hierarchical ranking and user preference data associated with the user account; and
generate a user interface comprising an item listing associated with the particular item, the item listing comprising a first user interface object corresponding to the particular item and a plurality of second user interface objects corresponding to the plurality of alternate items, the plurality of second user interface objects being arranged on the user interface according to the hierarchical ranking, the first user interface object being disabled and a display region associated with the first user interface object being at least one of dimmed, shaded, grayed-out, or transparent, and the plurality of second user interface objects being enabled such that a user interaction with a respective second user interface object of the plurality of second user interface objects triggers a modification of a user interface view to include a user interface element that includes an item characteristic indicating why a corresponding alternate item associated with the respective second user interface object was selected; and
transmit the user interface to a client device.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the user interface element further includes additional information about the corresponding alternate item in response to the user interaction with the respective second user interface object.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the user interface element comprises a card component, a pop-up window, or an overlay interface.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein selecting the plurality of available items associated with the particular item comprises:
identifying a plurality of related items to the particular item in an item catalog; and
selecting the plurality of available items from the plurality of related items based at least in part on a comparison of item attributes.

### Claim 5

A system, comprising:
at least one computing device; and
at least one application executable in the at least one computing device, wherein when executed the at least one application causes the at least one computing device to at least:
determine that a particular item associated with a user account is unavailable;
identify a plurality of available items that are included in a same item category as the particular item;
for individual available items of the plurality of available items;
assign a respective weight to individual factors of a plurality of factors associated with the individual available items based at least in part on a level of importance associated with the individual factors, the plurality of factors comprising one or more item attributes of the individual available items, a comparison of words within item titles between the particular item and the individual available items, and a comparison of ratios between a quantity associated with the particular item and a quantity associated with the individual available items, the respective weight being used to assess a level of similarity between the particular item and the individual available items, and the respective weight being one of a positive weight or a negative weight;
generate a respective score for the available item based at least in part on a sum of weights assigned to the plurality of factors, the respective score being used to generate a hierarchical ranking of the plurality of available items;
identify a plurality of alternate items from the plurality of available items based at least in part on the hierarchical ranking and user preference data associated with the user account; and
generate a user interface comprising an item listing for the particular item, the item listing comprising a first user interface object corresponding to the particular item and a plurality of second user interface objects corresponding to the plurality of alternate items, the plurality of second user interface objects being arranged on the user interface according to the hierarchical ranking, and individual second user interface objects being configured such that a user interaction with a respective second user interface object triggers a modification of a user interface view to include a user interface element that indicates why a corresponding alternate item associated with the individual second user interface objects was presented as an alternate to the particular item.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein a display region of the first user interface object is at least one of shaded, dimmed, transparent, or grayed-out, and a respective display region of individual second user interface objects of the plurality of second user interface objects is non-obscured.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein the first user interface object is disabled and the plurality of second user interface objects is enabled.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the user interface element further provides additional information about the corresponding alternate item.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, wherein the user interface element comprises at least one of a user interface overlay, a card component, or a pop-up window.

### Claim 10 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein the user interaction comprises a hovering action.

### Claim 11 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the at least one computing device to at least identify a plurality of category-related items to the particular item based at least in part on an item catalog taxonomy, the plurality of category-related items being in a same category as the particular item.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the at least one computing device to at least select the plurality of available items from the plurality of category-related items based at least in part on a comparison of a plurality of item attributes between the particular item and individual items of the plurality of category-related items.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein, when executed, the at least one application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:
rank the plurality of available items based at least in part on the respective score.

### Claim 14

A method, comprising:
rendering, via a client device, a user interface comprising a first user interface object corresponding to an unavailable item and a plurality of second interface objects corresponding to a plurality of alternative items that are similar to the unavailable item, the plurality of alternative items being selected according to a respective score associated with individual alternative items of the plurality of alternative items, the respective score being determined by:
assigning a respective weight to individual factors of a plurality of factors associated with the individual alternative items based at least in part on a level of importance associated with the individual factors, the plurality of factors comprising one or more item attributes of the individual alternative items, a comparison of words within item titles between the unavailable item and the individual alternative items, and a comparison of ratios between a quantity associated with the unavailable item and a quantity associated with the individual alternative items, the respective weight being used to assess a level of similarity between the unavailable item and the individual alternative items, and the respective weight being one of a positive weight or a negative weight; and
generating a respective score for the individual alternative items based at least in part on a sum of weights assigned to the plurality of factors, the respective score being used to generate a hierarchical ranking of the plurality of alternative items,
and the plurality of second user interface objects being arranged on the user interface according to the hierarchical ranking;
identifying, via the client device, a user interaction with a particular second user interface object of the plurality of second user interface objects, the particular second user interface object being associated with a particular alternative item of the plurality of alternative items; and
modifying, via the client device, the user interface to include a user interface element that provides additional information about the particular alternative item, the additional information include an indication as to why the particular alternative item was selected as an alternate to the unavailable item.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface comprises user interface code configured to modify the user interface to include the user interface element, and further comprises executing, via the client device, the user interface code.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface element comprises a selectable component configured to initiate a purchase of the particular alternative item.

### Claim 17 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface element comprises a plurality of selectable components associated with a remainder of the plurality of alternative items, individual selectable components of the plurality of selectable components being configured to trigger an update of the additional information in the user interface element, the updated additional information corresponding to a respective other alternative item.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein a display region associated with the first user interface object being at least one of dimmed, shaded, grayed-out, or transparent.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the first user interface object is disabled and the plurality of second interface objects is enabled.

### Claim 20 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, further comprising:
sending, via the client device, a request to view a list of previously purchased items; and
receiving, via the client device, the user interface from at least one computing device, the user interface including the list of previously purchased items, and the unavailable item corresponding to a particular one of the previously purchased items.