Techniques for embedding virtual points of sale in electronic media content

Abstract

A method for embedding a virtual point of sale in electronic media content. The method comprises: identifying product-related information of at least one product in the electronic media content, wherein the electronic media content does not explicitly offer to sell the at least one product; identifying at least one vendor having the at least one product in stock, wherein the at least one product is interrelated to the identified product-related information, wherein identification is based on an estimated inventory of each of the at least one product for each of the at least one vendor; generating a virtual point of sale based on the identified at least one vendor and the identified at least one product; and causing a display of the generated virtual point of sale on the electronic media content.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for embedding a virtual point of sale in electronic media content, comprising:
 identifying product-related information of at least one product in the electronic media content that is being displayed on a user device of an end user, the electronic media content having been supplied by a source as completed electronic media content, wherein the electronic media content does not explicitly offer to sell the at least one product;   identifying at least one vendor offering the at least one product when a physical store of each of the at least one identified vendor is in the vicinity of a geographical location of the user device and wherein the at least one product is interrelated to the identified product-related information;   determining for each identified vendor, whether the identified vendor has the at least one product in stock, wherein the determination is based on at least one estimated inventory of each of the at least one product for the identified vendor;   when at least one vendor is identified, generating a virtual point of sale based on each of the at least one vendor determined to have the product in stock and the identified at least one product; and   when at least one vendor is identified, causing a display of the generated virtual point of sale on the electronic media content at the user device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each estimated inventory is a probability that the corresponding vendor has the at least one product in stock. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying at least one vendor having the at least one product in stock further comprises:
 identifying at least one vendor offering the at least one product; and   determining whether each of the at least one offering vendor has the product in stock, wherein the determination is based on the at least one estimated inventory.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein determining whether each of the at least one vendor has the product in stock further comprises:
 retrieving, from an inventory management system, an estimated inventory for each of the at least one offering vendor.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying, based on the at least one product, at least one associated product; and   identifying, based on the at least one associated product, at least one associated product vendor having the associated product in stock, wherein the generated virtual point of sale includes the at least one associated product and the at least one associated product vendor.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generated virtual point of sale is displayed as any of: an overlay, a replacement of content in the electronic media content, and in place with content in the electronic media content. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generated virtual point of sale allows a user to complete a transaction regarding the at least one product and wherein completing the transaction further comprises:
 establishing a direct communication channel between a vendor device and the user device; and   sending the transaction information to an inventory management system.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the at least one product further comprises:
 performing at least one of: textual analysis, and image analysis.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 modifying the electronic media content to include a call-to-action interactive feature; and   embedding a script in the electronic media content, wherein the script is configured to control, using a plurality of flags, at least attributes of the call-to-action interactive feature and elements of the electronic media content to be modified.   
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing one or more processing units to execute the method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A system for embedding a virtual point of sale in electronic media content, comprising:
 a processing unit; and   a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, configure the system to:   identify, by the system, product-related information of at least one product in the electronic media content that is being displayed on a user device of an end user, the electronic media content having been supplied by a source as completed electronic media content, wherein the electronic media content does not explicitly offer to sell the at least one product;   identify, by the system, at least one vendor offering the at least one product when a physical store of each of the at least one identified vendor is in the vicinity of a geographical location of the user device and wherein the at least one product is interrelated to the identified product-related information;   determine, for each identified vendor, whether the identified vendor has the at least one product in stock, wherein the determination is based on at least one estimated inventory of each of the at least one product for the identified vendor;   when at least one vendor is identified, generate a virtual point of sale based on each of the at least one vendor determined to have the product in stock and the identified at least one product; and   when at least one vendor is identified, cause, by the system, a display of the generated virtual point of sale on the electronic media content at the user device.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein each estimated inventory is a probability that the corresponding vendor has the at least one product in stock. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 identify at least one vendor offering the at least one product; and   determine whether each of the at least one offering vendor has the product in stock, wherein the determination is based on the at least one estimated inventory.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 retrieve, from an inventory management system, an estimated inventory for each of the at least one offering vendor.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 identify, based on the at least one product, at least one associated product; and   identify, based on the at least one associated product, at least one associated product vendor having the associated product in stock, wherein the generated virtual point of sale includes the at least one associated product and the at least one associated product vendor.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the generated virtual point of sale is displayed as any of: an overlay, a replacement of content in the electronic media content, and in place with content in the electronic media content. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the generated virtual point of sale allows a user to complete a transaction regarding the at least one product. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein system is further configured to:
 establish a direct communication channel between a vendor device and the user device; and   send the transaction information to an inventory management system.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 perform at least one of: textual analysis, and image analysis.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the system is further configured to:
 modify the electronic media content to include a call-to-action interactive feature; and   embed a script in the electronic media content, wherein the script is configured to control, using a plurality of flags, at least attributes of the call-to-action interactive feature and elements of the electronic media content to be modified.   
     
     
         21 . A method performed by a computer system, for embedding a virtual point of sale in electronic media content, comprising:
 identifying product-related information of at least one product in the electronic media content that is being displayed on a user device of an end user, the electronic media content having been supplied by a source as completed electronic media content, wherein the electronic media content does not explicitly offer to sell the at least one product;   identifying at least one vendor offering the at least one product when a geographical location of a physical store of each of the at least one identified vendor is in the vicinity of a geographical location of the user device and wherein the at least one product is interrelated to the identified product-related information;   identifying based on the identified at least one product, at least one associated product;   identifying based on the at least one associated product, at least one associate product vendor that has the associated product in stock and offering the at least one associated product when a physical store of each of the at least one identified associated product vendor is in the vicinity of a geographical location of the physical store of each of the at least one identified vendor, wherein the determination is based on at least one estimated inventory of each of the at least one associated product for the identified associated product vendor;   when at least one associated product vendor is identified, generating a virtual point of sale based on each of the at least one associated product vendor determined to have the associated product in stock and the identified at least one associated product; and   when at least one vendor is identified, generating a virtual point of sale based on the identified at least one associated product vendor, the identified at least one associated product vendor, the identified at least one product, and the identified at least one associated product; and   when at least one associated product vendor is identified, causing a display of the generated virtual point of sale on the webpage.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the vendor offering the at least one product is the same as the associated product vendor. 
     
     
         23 . A method performed by a computer system, for embedding a virtual point of sale in electronic media content, comprising:
 identifying at least one product in the electronic media content, wherein the electronic media content does not explicitly offer to sell the at least one product;   identifying at least one vendor having the at least one product in stock, wherein the identification of the at least one vendor is based on an estimated inventory of each of the at least one product for each of the at least one vendor;   identifying based on the identified at least one product, at least one associated product;   identifying based on the at least one associated product, at least one associated product vendor having the associated product in stock;   generating a virtual point of sale based on the identified at least one vendor, the identified at least one associated product vendor, the identified at least one product, and the identified at least one associated product; and   causing a display of the generated virtual point of sale on the webpage.