Systems and methods for recommending third party products and services

Abstract

Systems and methods for recommending third party products and services. The method includes the steps of ranking the third party products and services based on one or more factors, and generating a user profile based on one or more user-related factors. Next, the method determined appropriate third party products and services based on the user's geographical location and filters the third party products and services based on the user profile and the user's geographical location. These filtered results are dynamically ranked based on the user profile, and personalization of the third party products and services. Finally, the method provides the ranked results pertinent to the end user's preferences, and the geographical location.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A computer-implemented method for improving electronic recommendations of third party products and services via a product/service recommendation and ordering computer system operatively connected to one or more third party product and service management systems, comprising the steps of:
 receiving, at the product/service recommendation and ordering computer system, information relating to third party products and services from the one or more third party product and service management systems, wherein the information relating to the third party products and services includes availability information indicative of geographic availability for each product and service;   receiving, at the product/service recommendation and ordering computer system, one or more user-related parameters, wherein the one or more user-related parameters include preferences of a user and location information corresponding to a geographical location associated with the user;   receiving third party information corresponding to the user at the product/service recommendation and ordering computer system from one or more third party information databases, wherein the third party information comprises information indicative of the user's financial status and is used to create a profile of characteristics corresponding to the user;   classifying the user via the product/service recommendation and ordering computer system into one or more financial status-based categories based on the one or more user-related parameters and the profile of characteristics corresponding to the user, wherein the one or more financial status-based categories are indicative of the user's inclination for purchasing respective products and/or services;   ranking one or more of the third party products and services based on the one or more financial status-based categories associated with the user, the one or more user-related parameters, and the information relating to the third party products and services; and providing the user with information relating to at least one of the one or more ranked third party products and services.   
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the information relating to the third party products and services includes information selected from the group comprising: consumer experience information, on-going promotions or sales information, information regarding product or service plan metrics, product or service rating information, product or service popularity, product or service reviews, product or service profitability, product or service type, price, product or service details, or number of sales. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the step of ranking further comprises the steps of:
 retrieving the information relating to the third party products and services for each of the one or more third party products and services;   retrieving the one or more user-related parameters for each of the one or more third party products and services;   retrieving the one or more financial status-based categories associated with the user;   assigning weights to:
 the retrieved information relating to the third party products and services; 
 the user-related parameters for each of the one or more third party products and services; and 
 the retrieved one or more financial status-based categories; 
   calculating a score for each of the one or more third party products and services based on the weighted information relating to the third party products and services, the weighted user-related parameters, and the weighted retrieved one or more financial status-based categories; and   ranking the one or more third party products and services based on the scores.   
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of assigning weights further comprises the step of using a look-up table to determine predetermined weights corresponding to each of:
 the retrieved information relating to the third party products and services;   the user-related parameters for each of the one or more third party products and services; and   the retrieved one or more financial status-based categories.   
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , further comprising the steps of:
 identifying the user based on the one or more user-related parameters;   retrieving user preferences and preference history information pertinent to the user; and   classifying the user into one or more financial status-based categories based on the user preferences and preference history information.   
     
     
         27 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the one or more financial status-based categories include a high profile customer, a low profile customer, a medium profile customer, a high value customer, a low value customer, a medium value customer, a particular age group, or a particular preference group. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the one or more user-related parameters include one or more of census demographics, age of the user, user's family size, marital status of the user, census income data pertaining to the user, user's credit score, information relating to the user's current geographical location, information relating to the user's previous geographical location, specifics of the user's geographical location. 
     
     
         29 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the location information corresponding to the geographical location of the user comprises one or more of: a zip code, map coordinates, neighborhood information, address information, address history, a residence plan, residence specifications, a residence type, census data, ownership information. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the information relating to the third party products and services further includes product performance data indicative of performance results for each product and service. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , wherein the performance results for each third party product and service comprises a conversion rate indicative of a ratio of a total number of orders placed by users for a respective third party product and service as compared to a total number of offers for the respective third party product and service. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , wherein the performance results for each third party product and service comprises a completion rate indicative of a ratio of a number of actual installs for a respective third party product and service as compared to a total number of orders placed by users for the respective third party product and service. 
     
     
         33 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , wherein the performance results for each third party product and service comprises a payment rate indicative of a ratio of a total number of actual payments received from users for a respective third party product and service as compared to a total number of orders placed by users for the respective third party product and service. 
     
     
         34 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , wherein the performance results for each third party product and service comprises a growth rate indicative of an incremental difference in number of orders placed for a respective third party product and service over a defined time period as compared to a total number of orders placed for the respective third party product and service over an earlier defined time period. 
     
     
         35 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , wherein the performance results for each third party product and service comprises user reviews indicative of consumer experiences of users for each respective third party product and service. 
     
     
         36 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 30 , further comprising the steps of:
 retrieving additional product performance data indicative of additional performance results of previously ranked one or more third party products and services;   re-ranking the one or more third party products and services based on the retrieved additional product performance data indicative of additional performance results, one or more user-related parameters, and the information relating to the third party products and services; and   providing the user with updated information relating to at least one of the one or more re-ranked third party products and services.   
     
     
         37 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein availability information indicative of geographic availability includes secondary address information relating to physical characteristics of a property corresponding to the geographical location associated with the user. 
     
     
         38 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 37 , wherein the secondary address information is selected from the group comprising: a property type, a property plan, a property size, number of rooms in the property, previous products or services installed in the property, census data pertaining to ownership and resident information for the property, capability data corresponding to products or services deliverable at the property. 
     
     
         39 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the step of ranking the one or more third party products and services further comprises the steps of:
 retrieving historical information in connection with at least one of the one or more ranked third party products and services corresponding to a previous ranking step;   re-ranking the one or more third party products and services based on the retrieved historical information; and   providing the user with updated information relating to at least one of the one or more re-ranked third party products and services.   
     
     
         40 . The computer-implemented of  claim 22 , wherein the product/service recommendation and ordering computer system is particularly configured to operate in a call-center environment. 
     
     
         41 . A product/service recommendation and ordering computer system operatively connected to one or more third party product and service management systems for offering recommendations to a user for one or more third party products and services based on a geographical location associated with the user and based on availability information indicative of geographic availability for each product and service, the system comprising:
 a customer information database comprising one or more user-related parameters;   a products and services database comprising information relating to third party products and services, wherein the information relating to the third party products and services comprising availability information indicative of geographic availability for each product and service; and a facilitation engine operatively connected to the customer information database and the products and services database, the facilitation engine comprising a processor configured to:
 receive third party information from a third party information database in communication with the facilitation engine corresponding to:
 data representing a user's financial status; and 
 data representing a geographical location associated with the user; generate a user profile for the user based on: 
 the one or more user-related parameters including preferences of the user; and 
 the received third party information; 
 
 classify the user into one or more financial status-based categories based on the user profile; 
 rank one or more third party products and services based on:
 the one or more financial status-based categories in which the user is classified; and 
 the information relating to the third party products and services; and 
 
   provide the user with information relating to at least one of the one or more ranked third party products and services.   
     
     
         42 . In a system comprising a facilitation engine operatively coupled to one or more third party product/service databases, a method for improving electronic third party product and services recommendations to a user, the method comprising:
 receiving, at the facilitation engine, data representing one or more user-related parameters, wherein the one or more user related parameters include preferences of the user and location information corresponding to a geographical location associated with the user;   receiving, at the facilitation engine from the one or more third party product/service databases, data representing information relating to third party products and services offered by the one or more third party product and service providers, wherein the information relating to third party products and services comprises availability information indicative of geographic availability for each product and service, and product performance data indicative of performance results for each product/service;   receiving third party information from a third party system indicative of the user's financial status;   generating categorization information relating to the user based on:
 the received one or more user-related parameters; 
 the geographical location associated with the user; and 
 the information indicative of the user's financial status; 
   determining one or more third party products and services eligible for the user by comparing one or more pre-determined criteria with the generated categorization information; and   providing the user with information relating to at least one of the one or more determined eligible third party products and services.