Methods and systems for providing personal shopping services

Abstract

A method and system for providing personal shopping assistance via a computing device includes hosting a database of information regarding a customer, hosting a database of information regarding a personal shopper, and associating the customer with the personal shopper. The personal shopper is provided the ability to recommend at least one of a product or a service relevant to the customer and receiving an indication of the purchase of the recommended product or service by the customer. An incentive system may provide a reward to the personal shopper based upon the purchased product or service, including a commission or other reward. The system may be implemented on a desktop and/or mobile device as desired to provide flexibility in implementation.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions perform steps for providing personal shopping assistance via a computing device, comprising:
 hosting a database of information regarding a customer;   hosting a database of information regarding a personal shopper;   associating the customer with the personal shopper;   determining a recommendation by the personal shopper of at least one of a product or a service relevant to the customer;   receiving an indication of a purchase of the recommended product or service by the customer; and   providing a reward to the personal shopper based upon the purchased product or service.   
     
     
         2 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising determining a personalized catalog of products including the recommended product or service; 
     
     
         3 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the reward is a commission based upon the sale price of the recommended product or service. 
     
     
         4 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein associating the customer with the personal shopper includes a determination of the connection between the customer and the personal shopper. 
     
     
         5 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 4 , wherein the determination of the connection between the customer and the personal shopper comprises a social connections. 
     
     
         6 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 5 , wherein the social connection is determined through the query of a social media application. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising hosting a database of information related to a plurality of products or services, and wherein the recommended at least one product or service is selected from the plurality of products and services. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 7 , wherein the database of information related to a plurality of products or services is hosted by a retail establishment. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising hosting a database of information regarding an account manager and associating the personal shopper with the account manager. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to allow the customer and the personal shopper the ability to discuss the recommended product or service. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 10 , wherein the ability to discuss the recommended product or service is provided through at least one of voice, text, email, or video. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 10 , wherein the ability to discuss the recommended product or service further comprises the ability to share at least one of the customer's or the personal shopper's browsing of a network connection. 
     
     
         13 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the network connection is a connection to the Internet. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of customers may be associated with a personal shopper. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 14 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to allow the personal shopper to communicate directly with at least one of the plurality of customers. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 14 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to display information regarding a customer's personal information. 
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 16 , wherein the customer's personal information is provided by the customer. 
     
     
         18 . A compute-readable media as defined in  claim 16 , wherein the customer's personal information is provided by data mining. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein a customer may be associated with a plurality of personal shoppers. 
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is at least one of a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a personal-digital assistant (“PDA”), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, a tablet, or an ereader. 
     
     
         21 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the personal shopper is provided with the ability to cull an established contact list to associate the customer with the personal shopper. 
     
     
         22 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein associating the customer with the personal shopper is performed only upon authorization by both the customer and the personal shopper. 
     
     
         23 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of personal shoppers each associated with at leas one customer. 
     
     
         24 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 23 , further comprising hosting a database indicative of the rewards to each of the personal shoppers. 
     
     
         25 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 24 , further comprising comparing the rewards to each of the personal shoppers. 
     
     
         26 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 25 , further comprising providing an additional reward to at least one of the plurality of personal shoppers based upon the comparison of the rewards to each of the personal shoppers.
 determining the location of the customer further comprises receiving an identification of the customer location from the computing device.   
     
     
         27 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the association of the customer and the personal shopper is based in part through a comparison of a customer provided location and a personal shopper provided location. 
     
     
         28 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the personal shopper is an employee of a retail establishment. 
     
     
         29 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the customer requests the association with the personal shopper. 
     
     
         30 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 29 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to allow the customer to originate the association request. 
     
     
         31 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the personal shopper requests the association with the customer. 
     
     
         32 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 31 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to allow the personal shopper to originate the association request. 
     
     
         33 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising hosting a database of information regarding inventory, and wherein the recommendation by the personal shopper is selected from a product or service included in the inventory information. 
     
     
         34 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 33 , wherein the inventory information comprises at least one of new inventory, sale inventory, clearance inventory, or promotion inventory. 
     
     
         35 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 33 , wherein the inventory information is personalized based upon the information regarding the customer. 
     
     
         36 . A computer-readable media as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface having graphical user interface elements adapted for display on the computing device to allow the customer to provide information regarding purchase intent.