Facilitating online shopping for customers in physical retail stores

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for retail environments. In one implementation, a non transitory computer-readable medium may include instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method. The method may include making a first determination that a customer located in a physical retail store has engaged in at least one action associated with an interest in a category of products associated with the retail store; making a second determination that the at least one action is associated with a target product, included in the category of products, that is out of stock in the physical retail store; and in response to the first and second determinations, providing a notification to the customer, wherein the notification includes information regarding ordering the target product via an online platform.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method for facilitating online shopping for customers in physical retail stores, the method comprising:
 making a first determination that a customer located in a physical retail store has engaged in at least one action associated with an interest in a category of products associated with the retail store;   making a second determination that the at least one action is associated with a target product, included in the category of products, that is out of stock in the physical retail store; and   in response to the first and second determinations, providing a notification to the customer, wherein the notification includes information regarding ordering the target product via an online platform.   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the information includes a hyperlink to the target product on the online platform, the hyperlink being delivered to the customer via a mobile device. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the notification is provided to the customer via infrastructure of the physical retail store in a location associated with the category of products. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the information included in the notification includes a price for an alternative product on the online platform, wherein the alternative product is different from the target product, but wherein the alternative product and the target product are both associated with a common manufacturer brand. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the first determination or the second determination is based on automatic analysis of image data acquired by one or more cameras located in the physical retail store. 
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the one or more cameras are mounted within the physical retail store. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the one or more cameras are included on a device associated with the customer. 
     
     
         28 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first determination is based on an automatic analysis of a virtual shopping list associated with the customer. 
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first determination is based on a sensed location of the customer within the physical retail store. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first determination is based on a looking direction associated with the customer, the looking direction being sensed based on analysis of captured image data acquired by one or more cameras associated with the physical retail store. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the first determination is further based on an amount of time the looking direction of the customer remains within a certain range of looking directions. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first determination is based on a sensed action by the customer relative to the category of products associated with the physical retail store. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the sensed action includes picking up at least one product from among the category of products. 
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one action includes picking up a particular product that is in a direct alternative to the target product but is associated with a different manufacturer brand than the target product. 
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the information included in the notification includes a price for the target product, the price for the target product is determined based on an affinity of the customer to the target product and on a price of the particular product in the physical retail store. 
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first determination is based on an analysis of a previous shopping activity associated with the customer. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the second determination is based on automatic analysis of an electronic inventory database associated with the physical retail store. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the second determination is based on automatic analysis of images captured by one or more cameras located in the physical retail store. 
     
     
         39 . A system for facilitating customer access to retail products, the system comprising at least one processing unit configured to perform the steps of:
 making a first determination that a customer located in a physical retail store has engaged in at least one action associated with an interest in a category of products associated with the retail store;   making a second determination that the at least one action is associated with a target product, included in the category of products, that is out of stock in the physical retail store; and   in response to the first and second determinations, providing a notification to the customer, wherein the notification includes information regarding ordering the target product via an online platform.   
     
     
         40 . A method for facilitating customer access to retail products, the method comprising:
 making a first determination that a customer located in a physical retail store has engaged in at least one action associated with an interest in a category of products associated with the retail store;   making a second determination that the at least one action is associated with a target product, included in the category of products, that is out of stock in the physical retail store; and   in response to the first and second determinations, providing a notification to the customer, wherein the notification includes information regarding ordering the target product via an online platform.   
     
     
         41 - 180 . (canceled)