Distributed electronic commerce system with centralized virtual shopping carts
An electronic commerce system includes a broker that enables customers to purchase items from multiple different merchants. A customer interacts with the merchants to identify items to purchase, and the merchants send descriptions of the items to the broker. The broker maintains a virtual shopping cart that stores the items received from the different merchants. The customer can purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single purchase transaction with the broker. Further, the customer can publish a reference that identifies the shopping cart and invite other customers to purchase the items in the cart via the broker.
1. An electronic commerce system having a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable code, the computer-executable code comprising:
a shopping cart module for:
storing a virtual shopping cart designated by a link and containing items from a plurality of online merchants, wherein the shopping cart is associated with a customer;
receiving the link from an other customer; and
providing the shopping cart to the other customer responsive to receiving the link; and
a transaction module for:
enabling the other customer to purchase the items within the shopping cart; and
maintaining the items in the shopping cart after the purchase transaction by the other customer, the items available for purchase transactions by additional customers.
2. A method of conducting electronic commerce comprising:
using a computer to perform steps comprising:
storing a virtual shopping cart designated by a link and containing items from a plurality of online merchants;
receiving from a customer associated with the shopping cart, an instruction to share the shopping cart;
responsive to receiving from the customer an instruction to share the shopping cart, making the shopping cart available to other customers via the link;
receiving the link from an other customer;
providing the shopping cart to the other customer responsive to receiving the link;
enabling the other customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single transaction; and
maintaining the items in the shopping cart after the purchase transaction by the other customer, the items available for purchase transactions by additional customers.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of merchants are located within a plurality of different domains.
4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving from the customer instructions to manipulate the items within the shopping cart; and
manipulating the items within the shopping cart responsive to the received instructions.
5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving from the other customer instructions to manipulate the items within the shopping cart; and
manipulating the items within the shopping cart responsive to the received instructions from the other customer.
6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising: deleting the stored shopping cart after an expiration of a specified time interval.
7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
periodically and automatically purchasing the items in the shopping cart from the plurality of merchants.
8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the link comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) encoding an identifier of the shared shopping cart.
9. A computer program product having a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable code for conducting electronic commerce, the computer-executable code comprising:
a shopping cart module for:
storing a virtual shopping cart designated by a link and containing items from a plurality of online merchants;
receiving, from a customer associated with the shopping cart, an instruction to share the shopping cart;
responsive to receiving from the customer an instruction to share the shopping cart, making the shopping cart available to other customers via the link;
receiving the link from an other customer; and
providing the shopping cart to the other customer responsive to receiving the link; and
a transaction module for:
enabling the other customer to purchase the items in the shopping cart in a single transaction; and
maintaining the items in the shopping cart after the purchase transaction by the other customer, the items available for purchase transactions by additional customers.