US 2015/0317658 A1Published application

Determining a lowest price for a dynamically priced product

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsChristopher J. Giblin, John Rooney

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Abstract

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes receiving a request for a product. Two or more fingerprints are selected, where each fingerprint includes digital data describing a corresponding virtual customer. By a computer processor, a first fingerprint is loaded to emulate a first virtual customer. A first price query is submitted to a vendor's web service for the product, where the first price query uses the loaded first fingerprint. A second fingerprint is loaded to emulate a second virtual customer. A second price query is submitted to the vendor's web service for the product, where the second price query uses the loaded second fingerprint. Two or more prices are received from the vendor's web service, including a first price received in response to the first price query and a second price received in response to the second price query. A lowest price is selected from among the prices received.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a request from a user for a product;
selecting two or more fingerprints representing two or more virtual customers, wherein a first fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a first virtual customer, wherein a second fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a second virtual customer, and wherein the first fingerprint is distinct from the second fingerprint;
loading, by a computer processor, the first fingerprint to emulate the first virtual customer;
submitting a first price query to a vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the first price query uses the loaded first fingerprint;
loading the second fingerprint to emulate the second virtual customer;
submitting a second price query to the vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the second price query uses the loaded second fingerprint;
receiving from the vendor's web service two or more prices of the product, comprising a first price received in response to the first price query and a second price received in response to the second price query;
selecting a lowest price from among the prices received for the product from the vendor's web service;
and
reporting the lowest price to the user in response to the request from the user.

7 more elements

A system comprising:

a pricing service configured to:
receive a request from a user for a product;
and
select two or more fingerprints representing two or more virtual customers, wherein a first fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a first virtual customer, wherein a second fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a second virtual customer, and wherein the first fingerprint is distinct from the second fingerprint;
a fingerprint generator configured to load, by a computer processor, the first fingerprint to emulate the first virtual customer;
the pricing service being further configured to submit a first price query to a vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the first price query uses the loaded first fingerprint;
the fingerprint generator being further configured to load the second fingerprint to emulate the second virtual customer;
and
the pricing service being further configured to:
submit a second price query to the vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the second price query uses the loaded second fingerprint;
receive from the vendor's web service two or more prices of the product, comprising a first price received in response to the first price query and a second price received in response to the second price query;
select a lowest price from among the prices received for the product from the vendor's web service;
and
report the lowest price to the user in response to the request from the user.

11 more elements

A computer program product for determining a lowest price of a product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving a request from a user for a product;
selecting two or more fingerprints representing two or more virtual customers, wherein a first fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a first virtual customer, wherein a second fingerprint of the two or more fingerprints comprises digital data describing a second virtual customer, and wherein the first fingerprint is distinct from the second fingerprint;
loading the first fingerprint to emulate the first virtual customer;
submitting a first price query to a vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the first price query uses the loaded first fingerprint;
loading the second fingerprint to emulate the second virtual customer;
submitting a second price query to the vendor's web service for a price of the product, wherein the second price query uses the loaded second fingerprint;
receiving from the vendor's web service two or more prices of the product, comprising a first price received in response to the first price query and a second price received in response to the second price query;
selecting a lowest price from among the prices received for the product from the vendor's web service;
and
reporting the lowest price to the user in response to the request from the user.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.