| W.W. GRAINGER, INC. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120116927 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO PRODUCT RELATED ELECTRONIC CATALOG FUNCTIONALITY - An aggregation of functionality related to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a wholesaler web system is provided by presenting on a client computing device a webpage in which a single product is directly associated with a single access point. The single access point provides a means by which plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product are made available to a consumer. A listing of the plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product is displayed within the webpage in response to an activation of the single access point by the consumer. In response to a selection by the consumer from the displayed listing the wholesaler web system initiates a performance of the one of the plural wholesaler web system functions so selected. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20110282767 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO PRODUCT RELATED ELECTRONIC CATALOG FUNCTIONALITY - An aggregation of functionality related to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a wholesaler web system is provided by presenting on a client computing device a webpage in which a single product is directly associated with a single access point. The single access point provides a means by which plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product are made available to a consumer. A listing of the plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product is displayed within the webpage in response to an activation of the single access point by the consumer. In response to a selection by the consumer from the displayed listing the wholesaler web system initiates a performance of the one of the plural wholesaler web system functions so selected. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110252017 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A RESPONSE TO A SEARCH QUERY - A system receives a request to search an electronic catalog of a vendor which specifies a query term. The query term is used to search an electronic catalog of a third party. The results obtained by searching the electronic catalog of the third party are parsed to uncover a keyword recognized by a search engine associated with the electronic catalog of the vendor. The uncovered keyword is then used in the search engine associated with the electronic catalog of the vendor to locate one or more items in the electronic catalog of the vendor. Items located in this manner are the search results responsive to the query term. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20100325015 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING IMAGE DATA TO PROVIDE SERVICES IN CONNECTION WITH AN ONLINE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT - An image recognition system is provided with a reference image and the image recognition system functions to discern a context for the reference image. A user is thereafter presented with recommendations for products or other online services that are relevant to the discerned context for the image. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100299204 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIRECTING A CUSTOMER TO ADDITIONAL PURCHASING OPPORTUNITIES - A dynamic merchandising system creates for each of a plurality of products in a plurality of purchase orders a list of products purchased together. This information is then used to create ordered lists reflecting relationships between various product attributes, e.g., the relationships between different brand names purchased together, different product categories purchased together, different catalog pages of products purchased together, etc. From these ordered relationship lists information may be selected and presented to the customer for the purpose of directing the customer to additional purchasing opportunities. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299203 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIRECTING A CUSTOMER TO ADDITIONAL PURCHASING OPPORTUNITIES - A dynamic merchandising system creates for each of a plurality of products in a plurality of purchase orders a list of products purchased together. This information is then used to create ordered lists reflecting relationships between various product attributes, e.g., the relationships between different brand names purchased together, different product categories purchased together, different catalog pages of products purchased together, etc. From these ordered relationship lists information may be selected and presented to the customer for the purpose of directing the customer to additional purchasing opportunities. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100262514 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING, SEARCHING, AND INTERACTING WITH A TWO DIMENSIONAL PRODUCT CATALOG - A system and method for use in presenting information relevant to a product catalog. The system receives a search request and presents to a user in a two-dimensional format a plurality of iconic images each representative of a page of a product catalog. Each of the iconic images is activatable to cause a display of an image of the page of the product catalog represented by the iconic image. One or more of the presented plurality of iconic images that are linked to a page of the product catalog having a product responsive to the search request are highlighted to the user. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100223064 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A PERSONALIZED REFERENCE COLLECTION - A system and method for providing a reference collection that is personalized for a consumer. The system includes a server computer having an associated data repository. Stored in the data repository is an aggregation of links to sources of on-line information and each link within the aggregation is mapped to one or more consumer communities and/or products. Programming resident on the server computer acts to provide to a client computer a webpage that includes a reference collection that is personalized for the consumer, the reference collection being provided as a listing of those links within the aggregation of links to sources of on-line information that have been mapped within the data repository to a one or more consumer communities to which the consumer belongs and/or products of interest to the consumer. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100205044 | METHOD FOR MANAGING INVENTORY WITHIN AN INTEGRATED SUPPLY CHAIN - A method for managing inventory within a supply chain. The method is performed by providing forecasts of demand for items distributed within the supply chain, using the forecasts to establish base stocking levels and reorder points within the supply chain, and using the established base stocking levels and reorder points to position items within the supply chain so as to maximize efficiency and profitability when responding to an order for an item. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100188337 | COMPUTER MOUSE PROVIDING A TOUCHLESS INPUT INTERFACE - A computer input device, such as a mouse, has a processing circuit, a memory having instructions for controlling operations of the processing circuit, a surface movement sensor in communication with the processing circuit providing to the processing circuit first signals indicative of sensed movement of the computer input device upon a surface, and one or more touchless sensor subsystems in communication with the processing circuit providing to the processing circuit second signals indicative of sensed surface movements relative to the computer input device occurring in spaced proximity to the computer input device. A transmission circuit under control of the processing circuit issues transmissions to a computer representative of the first and second signals to cause regions or locations on a computer display screen to be pointed to, to cause information which is represented on the computer display screen to be moved and/or selected, to cause locations on the computer display screen to be designated, etc. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100145964 | SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING IDENTIFIERS FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH A CATALOG OF PRODUCTS - A system for providing identifiers for use in connection with a catalog of products functions by providing an identifier as a query term to a search engine associated with an Internet server. The results obtained from the Internet server as a result of providing the identifier as the search engine query term are parsed to discern a number of search hits included within the results. If the number of search hits included within the results is within a predefined threshold, the identifier is selected to be used in a catalog to indentify one or more products listed within the catalog of products. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100030653 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING A POSSIBLE ERROR IN A CUSTOMER PROVIDED PRODUCT ORDER QUANTITY - Prior ordering history of a product is examined to determine an historical ordering quantity distribution for a product. A customer specified, to-be-purchased quantity of a product is then compared against the determined historical ordering-quantity frequency distribution for the product. When the customer specified, to-be-purchased quantity of the product falls below a certain probability threshold determined using the historical ordering-quantity frequency distribution, or is otherwise suspicious, the customer is notified of a suspected error in the provided product order quantity and/or asked to verify if the provided product quantity is correct. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100017304 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO PRODUCT RELATED ELECTRONIC CATALOG FUNCTIONALITY - An aggregation of functionality related to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a wholesaler web system is provided by presenting on a client computing device a webpage in which a single product is directly associated with a single access point. The single access point provides a means by which plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product are made available to a consumer. A listing of the plural wholesaler web system functions related to the single product is displayed within the webpage in response to an activation of the single access point by the consumer. In response to a selection by the consumer from the displayed listing the wholesaler web system initiates a performance of the one of the plural wholesaler web system functions so selected. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20090267340 | PRINT CATALOG WITH IMAGES USED TO CONVEY INFORMATION - A print catalog has a plurality of pages that are bound together with a binding. Each page of the print catalog has a listing of one or more products that are being offered for sale and at least one non-textual image that is representative of a category of product for products within the listing of products on that page. The non-textual image on each of the plurality of pages is positioned on a side of its respective page that is spaced furthest from the binding. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090216660 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING COMMUNITY BASED CATALOGS AND/OR COMMUNITY BASED ON-LINE SERVICES - A buying community is established by discerning customers having the same or similar business types. The business type of a customer may be discerned from a keyword within a corporate, business, or other entity name that is associated with the customer or from purchasing interests commonly shared by customers. Once a buying community is established, behaviors of customers within that buying community are discerned. These behaviors may include product purchasing behaviors, on-line navigation behaviors, on-line searching behaviors, etc. The discerned behaviors of the customers within the buying community may then be used to provide catalogs customized for those members and/or on-line services customized for those members. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216609 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING COMMUNITY BASED CATALOGS AND/OR COMMUNITY BASED ON-LINE SERVICES - A buying community is established by discerning customers having the same or similar business types. The business type of a customer may be discerned from a corporate, business, or other entity name that is associated with the customer. Once a buying community is established, behaviors of customers within that buying community are discerned. These behaviors may include product purchasing behaviors, on-line navigation behaviors, on-line searching behaviors, etc. The discerned behaviors of the customers within the buying community may then be used to provide catalogs customized for those members and/or on-line services customized for those members. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090150392 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A RESPONSE TO A SEARCH QUERY - A system receives a request to search an electronic catalog of a vendor which specifies a query term. The query term is used to search an electronic catalog of a third party. The results obtained by searching the electronic catalog of the third party are parsed to uncover a keyword recognized by a search engine associated with the electronic catalog of the vendor. The uncovered keyword is then used in the search engine associated with the electronic catalog of the vendor to locate one or more items in the electronic catalog of the vendor. Items located in this manner are the search results responsive to the query term. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090083162 | System and method for providing delivery of goods - In connection with the delivery of goods ordered by a customer, a system and method functions to use information associated with the customer and/or goods ordered by the customer to determine additional goods that are likely to be of interest to the customer. The additional goods may then be included on a delivery vehicle whereupon the additional goods may be offered for sale to the customer. The offer for sale may be made directly from the delivery vehicle or by stocking and offering the additional goods at a wholesaler location, such as a vending machine, wholesaler branch location, etc. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090043617 | System and Method for Managing the Delivery of Orders for Goods - A system and method for managing the delivery of goods. The system and method particularly provides for manifesting and controlling route-based delivery of orders or packages from a vendor to one or more locations accessible by customers. The locations may include automated, self-service vending machines and/or will-call lockers, under the control of a system (ideally centralized and automated) that can receive and actively manage manifest information. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20080270280 | COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CALCULATING AND DEMONSTRATING COSTS SAVINGS VALUES - A cost savings calculator plan is established for a customer by associating calculator instances, selected from an established plurality of calculator types, with a customer profile. The calculator instances associated with the customer profile are utilized to determine specific cost savings amounts for the customer. The specific cost savings amounts may be presented to the customer using different specified levels of granularity. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080228552 | System and method for providing product recommendations to consumers within a merchant location - Discerned relationships between products are utilized to generate product recommendation cards that are to be positioned throughout a merchant location. The product recommendation card contains information about one or more products that are likely to be purchased with a related-to product. The information carried on the product recommendation card may include one or more of the following for a recommended product: an image of the product; a brand for the product; a logo associated with the product; a textual description of the product; a bar code associated with the product; usage information for the product; and a location of the product within the merchant location. The product recommendation card(s) for product(s) that are likely to purchased with a related-to product may then be positioned in the vicinity of the related-to product within the merchant location to draw the attention of the consumer to these product(s) for the purpose of causing the consumer to purchase these product(s) in addition to the related-to product. | 09-18-2008 |
