System and method for matching customers with hair stylist based on holistic criteria

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of matching a customer with a service provider, the method comprising: creating, by a computing device, a profile of a customer having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the customer; creating, by the computing device, a profile of a service provider having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the service provider; creating, by the computing device, a request by the customer to recommend a service provider, wherein the request includes one or more requested categorical and discrete values; and providing, by the computing device, ranked recommendations of service providers to the customer based on a comparison of the categorical values in the profiles of the customer and the service provider and the requested categorical and discrete values by the customer. A service provider can be a hair stylist.

1 . A computer-implemented method of matching a customer with a service provider, the method comprising:
 creating, by a computing device, a profile of a customer having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the customer;   creating, by the computing device, a profile of a service provider having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the service provider;   creating, by the computing device, a request by the customer to recommend a service provider, wherein the request includes one or more requested categorical and discrete values; and   providing, by the computing device, ranked recommendations of service providers to the customer based on a comparison of the categorical values in the profiles of the customer and the service provider and the requested categorical and discrete values by the customer.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the service provider is a hair stylist. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , creating, by the computing device, a salon page having a plurality of discrete values and categorical values descriptive of a salon of the hair stylist. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the recommendations are further based on determining location coordinates of the customer via a global positioning system or a manual location entry, and calculating the distance to a hair stylist is within the requested discrete value of maximum distance to travel by the customer. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the categorical values in the profile of the customer are selected from one or more of the group consisting of sex, hair length, favorite book genre, favorite music genre, favorite television series, favorite sport participant, favorite discussion topic, first favorite brand, second favorite brand, third favorite brand, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the customer has the option to not specify a categorical value. 
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the categorical values of the customer are provided through a questionnaire, or are extracted from social media or user-generated content by means of artificial intelligence, or image analysis, or analysis of hashtags found on social media, or a combination. 
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the categorical values of the hair stylist are provided through a questionnaire, or are extracted from social media or user-generated content by means of artificial intelligence, or image analysis, or analysis of hashtags found on social media, or a combination. 
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the categorical values of the hair stylist are extracted from image analysis of the hair stylist's salon page. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the categorical values in the profile of the hair stylist are selected from one or more of the group consisting of sex of customer, favorite book genre, favorite music genre, favorite television series, favorite discussion topic, favorite sport participant, salon location, first hair styling skill, second hair styling skill, third hair styling skill, fourth hair styling skill, fifth hair styling skill, sixth hair styling skill, location type, first favorite brand, second favorite brand, third favorite brand, fourth favorite brand, fifth favorite brand, sixth favorite brand, or a combination thereof 
     
     
         11 . A computing device, comprising at least a memory and processor, configured to:
 create a profile of a customer having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the customer;   create a profile of a service provider having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the service provider;   create a request by the customer to recommend a service provider, wherein the request includes one or more requested categorical and discrete values; and   provide ranked recommendations of service providers to the customer based on a comparison of the categorical values in the profiles of the customer and the service provider and the requested categorical and discrete values by the customer.   
     
     
         12 . A system, comprising:
 a profile building engine including computational circuitry configured to:   create a profile of a customer having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the customer and to create a profile of a service provider having a plurality of categorical values descriptive of or liked by the service provider;   a request building engine including computational circuitry configured to:
 create a request by the customer to recommend a service provider, wherein the request includes one or more requested categorical and discrete values; and 
   a matching engine including computational circuitry configured to:
 provide ranked recommendations of service providers to the customer based on a comparison of the categorical values in the profiles of the customer and the service provider and the requested categorical and discrete values by the customer.