Video rental e-commerce solution

Abstract

A system for providing a business-to-business network service for applications used by service providers is disclosed. The system include provides a central application capable of communicating with at least two applications over a public network, such as the Internet, and provides a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers. The system further allows the applications to query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the applications.

1 . A system for providing a network service for applications used by service providers, the system comprising:
 a central computer having a central application capable of communicating with at least two rental applications over a public network; and   at least two service provider computers;   a network that connects the central computer with the at least two server provider computers;   a repository database residing at the central computer for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers, wherein the rental applications may query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the rental applications, wherein the repository database is operable to receive customer information from each of the rental applications, wherein the customer information comprises one or more of a customer wish list, customer rental history, and customer evaluations, wherein the central computer is operable to analyze the customer information in the repository database to uncover patterns and relationships relating to the customers' rental activities and histories, wherein, in response to a user accessing the repository database, the central computer is operable to display a list of movie titles to the user based on the analyzed customer information and to display a combination of indicators adjacent to each movie title on the list that allow the user to take action with respect to a particular movie title, wherein a click on an indicator initiates a corresponding action, and wherein the user is enabled to take the action on a same movie title page that displays the list of movie titles without having to navigate to a separate movie title page in order to take the action.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein each of the rental applications submit different customer information. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the service providers are video rental chains. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the repository database stores movie title information that is accessible by all of the rental applications, thereby eliminating a need to manually enter information by the rental chains. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  further including a request servlet, a notify servlet, and a data access process. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein there is no direct customer interaction with the central application. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the rental applications include point-of-sale applications, business-to-consumer applications, and business-to-business applications. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a protocol of the network service is HTTP Servlets. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a protocol of the network service is HTTP Servlets, and wherein the central application communicates with the rental applications using XML messages. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a protocol of the network service is HTTP Servlets, wherein the central application communicates with the rental applications using XML messages, and wherein the XML messages are contained in Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) envelopes. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the repository database further comprises:
 a first component for storing information regarding each of the service providers;   a second component for storing information regarding each of the rental customers; and   a third component for storing data that describes movie titles.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         13 . A computer-readable medium containing executable program instructions for providing a business-to-business network service for rental applications used by service providers, the program instructions for:
 providing a central application capable of communicating with at least two rental applications over a public network;   receiving customer information from each of the rental applications, and wherein the customer information comprises one or more of a customer wish list, customer rental history, and customer evaluations;   providing a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers;   analyzing the customer information in the repository database to uncover patterns and relationships relating to the customers' rental activities and histories;   allowing the rental applications to query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the rental applications; and   in response to a user accessing the repository database:
 displaying a list of movie titles to the user based on the analyzed customer information; and 
   displaying a combination of indicators adjacent to each movie title on the list that allow the user to take action with respect to a particular movie title, wherein a click on an indicator initiates a corresponding action, and wherein the user is enabled to take the action on a same movie title page that displays the list of movie titles without having to navigate to a separate movie title page in order to take the action.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13  wherein the repository database providing comprises the instruction of receiving different customer information from each of the rental applications. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13  wherein the repository database providing comprises the instructions of:
 storing movie title information in the repository database; and   making the movie title information accessible by the rental applications, thereby eliminating a need to manually enter information at the rental stores.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13  wherein the repository database providing further comprises the instruction of receiving the movie title information from movie distributors. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13  wherein the customer information further comprises a list of business customers.