System and Method of Rendering Content According To Availability Data for One or More Items

1 . A system for rendering content according to availability data for at least one item, comprising:

a server configured to receive a content request from a user in a current interactive session and, in response to the user-supplied content request, to retrieve the user-requested content;

a rendering engine coupled with the server and configured to identify at least one rule within the user-requested content and concerning the item; and

a rules engine coupled with the rendering engine and configured to:

generate at least one availability request corresponding to the rule and concerning the item;

receive availability data for the item;

retrieve additional content according to the availability data for the item, the additional content being selected from among one or more stored content elements that concern the item; and

communicate the additional content concerning the item to the rendering engine for incorporation in the user-requested content;

the rendering engine further configured to render the user-requested content, including the additional content concerning the item;

the server further configured to communicate the rendered user requested content to the user in the current interactive session to satisfy the user-supplied content request.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the server comprises a web server and the user-supplied content request comprises a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request containing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for a particular web page.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the user-requested content is a particular web page comprising a container that contains the rule; and

the additional content concerning the item is incorporated into the web page to replace the container.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the rule comprises one or more conditions concerning the item, the rules engine applying the conditions to the availability data to determine the content element concerning the item to retrieve.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the rule comprises a function call.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the availability data is selected from the group consisting of:

inventory information concerning the item;

delivery information concerning the item; and

pricing information concerning the item.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the availability data comprises dynamic pricing information for the item obtained from multiple suppliers of the item, the server configured to render content concerning the item that reflects the least of these prices in accordance with a promising policy.

8 . A computer implemented method of rendering content according to availability data for at least one item, comprising:

receiving, by a server a content request from a user in a current interactive session;

retrieving, by the server the user-requested content in response to the user-supplied content request;

identifying, by the server at least one rule within the user-requested content and concerning the item;

generating, by the server at least one availability request that corresponds to the rule and that concerns the item;

receiving, by the server availability data for the item;

retrieving, by the server additional content according to the availability data for the item, the additional content being selected from among one or more stored content elements that concern the item;

incorporating, by the server the additional content into the user-requested content;

rendering, by the server the user-requested content, including the additional content concerning the item; and

communicating, by the server the rendered user-requested content to the user in the current interactive session to satisfy the user-supplied content request.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the user-supplied content request received from the user comprises a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request containing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for a particular web page.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the user-requested content is a particular web page comprising a container that contains the rule; and

the additional content concerning the item is incorporated into the web page to replace the container.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the rule comprises one or more conditions concerning the item; and

the method further comprises applying the conditions to the availability data to determine which content concerning the item to retrieve.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the rule comprises a function call.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the availability data is selected from the group consisting of:

inventory information concerning the item;

delivery information concerning the item; and

pricing information concerning the item.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the availability data comprises dynamic pricing information for the item obtained from multiple suppliers of the item and content concerning the item is rendered reflecting the least of these prices in accordance with a promising policy.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for rendering content according to availability data for at least one item, the software when executed using one or more computers is configured to:

receive a content request from a user in a current interactive session;

retrieve the user-requested content in response to the user-supplied content request;

identify at least one rule within the user-requested content and concerning the item;

generate at least one availability request that corresponds to the rule and that concerns the item;

receive availability data for the item;

retrieve additional content according to the availability data for the item, where the additional content is selected from among one or more stored content elements that concern the item;

incorporate the additional content concerning the item into the user-requested content;

render the user-requested content, including the additional content concerning the item; and

communicate the rendered user-requested content to the user in the current interactive session to satisfy the user-supplied content request.

16 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein:

the user-requested content is a particular web page comprising a container that contains the rule; and

the additional content concerning the item is incorporated into the web page to replace the container.

17 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein:

the rule comprises one or more conditions concerning the item; and

the software is further configured to apply the conditions to the availability data to determine the content element concerning the item to retrieve.

18 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the rule comprises a function call.

19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the availability data is selected from the group consisting of:

inventory information concerning the item;

delivery information concerning the item; and

pricing information concerning the item.

20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the availability data comprises dynamic pricing information for the item obtained from multiple suppliers of the item and content concerning the item is rendered reflecting the least of these prices in accordance with a promising policy.