Price Notification and/or Adjustment System in a Web-Based Electronic Commerce Environment

1 . A method of monitoring parameters associated with an item available for purchase from a web page in an electronic commerce environment, the method comprising:

receiving, via a data communications network, an electronic monitoring request associated with the item offered on a web page, the monitoring request including one or more notification parameters associated with the item received via a graphical user interface associated with the web page;

programmatically monitoring update information corresponding to the item for changes in response to receipt of the monitoring request;

programmatically determining whether at least one of the notification parameters has been satisfied based on the update information; and

transmitting an electronic notification to a customer via the data communications network in response to a determination that the at least one of the one or more notification parameters has been satisfied.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more notification parameters includes a requested price for the item.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more notification parameters includes a time period for which the notification parameters are valid.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein programmatically determining whether at least one of the notification parameters has been satisfied comprises comparing the notification parameter to the update information.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein programmatically monitoring update information comprises electronically querying a database in which the update information is stored and transmitting an electronic notification comprises at least one of sending an e-mail to the customer, sending a text message the customer, initiating an automated telephone call with the customer including a recorded message.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising programmatically generating a pricing strategy based on the notification parameters.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising programmatically generating the pricing strategy based on information corresponding to the item.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein programmatically generating a pricing strategy comprises programmatically determining at least one of an average requested price specified in a plurality of monitoring requests received for the item, a quantity of monitoring requests having a requested price within a predetermined percentage of an offered purchase price, and a lowest requested price that satisfies a profit margin ratio.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein programmatically generating a pricing strategy comprises programmatically determining an overlapping time period over which a predetermined percentage of monitoring requests are valid.

10 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising programmatically generating the pricing strategy based on analytics.

11 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

programmatically implementing the pricing strategy;

programmatically determining a response to the pricing strategy; and

programmatically incorporating information corresponding to the response into a determination of analytics for subsequent pricing strategies.

12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein programmatically generating a pricing strategy comprises programmatically adjusting a purchase price of the item of interest to an average price.

13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein programmatically generating a pricing strategy comprises programmatically computing a lower purchase price based on analytics, the lower purchase price being valid for a predetermined offer time period.

14 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions, wherein execution of the instructions by a programmable processing device causes the processing device to implement a process comprising:

receiving, via a data communications network, an electronic monitoring request associated with an item of interest offered on a web page, the monitoring request including one or more notification parameters associated with the item of interest received via a graphical user interface associated with the web page;

programmatically monitoring update information corresponding to the item of interest for changes in response to receipt of the monitoring request;

programmatically determining whether at least one of the notification parameters has been satisfied based on the update information; and

transmitting an electronic notification to a customer via the communications network in response to a determination that the at least one of the one or more notification parameters has been satisfied.

15 . The medium of claim 14 , wherein the process implemented upon execution of the instructions further comprises programmatically generating a pricing strategy based on the notification parameters.

16 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein the process implemented upon execution of the instructions further comprises:

programmatically implementing the pricing strategy;

programmatically determining a response to the pricing strategy; and

programmatically incorporating information corresponding to the response into a determination of the analytics for subsequent pricing strategies.

17 . A system for monitoring parameters associated with an item available for purchase from a web page in an electronic commerce environment, the system comprising:

a network interface communicatively coupled to a communications network;

a configurable processing device communicatively coupled to the network interface, processing device configured to:

receive an electronic monitoring request associated with an item of interest offered on a web page via the network interface, the monitoring request including the notification parameters;

programmatically monitor the information corresponding to the item of interest for changes in response to receipt of the monitoring request;

programmatically determine whether at least one of the notification parameters has been satisfied based on the update information; and

programmatically generate an electronic notification to notify a customer in response to a determination that the at least one of the one or more notification parameters has been satisfied.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:

generate a pricing strategy based on the notification parameters.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:

implement the pricing strategy;

determine a response to the pricing strategy; and

incorporate information corresponding to the response into a determination of analytics for subsequent pricing strategies.

20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the processing device is further configured to generate a pricing strategy by computing a lower purchase price based on analytics, the lower purchase price being valid for a predetermined offer time period.