Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Sheldon J Kaphan

Jeffrey P Bezos

Ellen L Ratajak

Thomas K Schonhoff

Maryam S Mohit

James Prudente

Colleen McQueen

Gene Pope

Joel R Spiegel

Peri Hartman

A system for implementing a performance-based customer referral program includes a referral tracking system capable of tracking referrals of users from participant sites to a retail site, and capable of determining whether such referrals result in purchases on the retail site. The tracked referral activity may, for example, be used to determine performance-based commissions to pay to the participants. The system may also include an enrollment system that partially or fully automates the task of enrolling new participants and their sites in the referral program. In addition, the system may include a report generation system that provides the participants with activity reports regarding the referral and purchase activity attributable to their sites.

System for implementing a performance-based customer referral program

An Internet-based customer referral system enables individuals and other business entities ('associates') to market products sold on a merchant web site in return for commissions. Following registration, the associate sets up a web site (or other information dissemination system) to distribute hypertextual catalog documents that include marketing information (product reviews, recommendations, etc.) about selected products of the merchant. In association with each such product, the catalog document includes a hypertextual 'referral link' that allows a user/customer to access the merchant web site and purchase the product. When a customer selects a referral link, the customer's computer transmits unique IDs of the selected product and of the associate to the merchant's site, allowing the merchant to identify the product and the referring associate. If the customer subsequently purchases a product from the merchant's site, a commission is automatically credited to an account of the referring associate.

Internet-based customer referral system

An order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client system. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client system and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier. The client system receives and stores the assigned client identifier. In response to an order indication, the client system sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item. The server system receives the request and combines at least one previous purchase associated with the client identifier of the client system to generate a single order for billing and shipment.

Combining disparate purchases into a single purchase order for billing and shipment

Coordinating delivery of a gift from a gift giver to a recipient when sufficient information to deliver the gift is not provided in the gift order is disclosed. The gift order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, as well as recipient information. In response to the recipient information not including sufficient information so that the gift can be delivered to the recipient, the server system obtains delivery information for the gift order from one or more sources other than the gift giver and recipient. The server system directs the gift to be delivered to the recipient as indicated by the delivery information in response to sufficient delivery information being obtained.

Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network

A system and method are disclosed that enable a personal shopping cart to be used to select items from multiple web sites of multiple business entities, and to place a single order for the selected items. The shopping cart may remain persistent over multiple sessions of the user.

Use of shopping cart to collect and purchase items selected from multiple web sites

An Internet-based customer referral system enables individuals and other business entities ('associates') to refer customers to a merchant's web site in return for compensation, such as commissions on resulting sales. Entities initially register with the merchant web site as associates, and are provided with instructions for creating links to the merchant web site. An associate may, for example, set up an associate web site (or other information dissemination system) with reviews, recommendations, and/or editorials of specific products in the merchant's online catalog, together with links to associated pages in the catalog. When a user follows such a link and then makes a purchase (as tracked by the merchant web site), the system preferably awards a commission to the associate. The system also preferably generates feedback reports that provide each associate with data regarding the effectiveness of each link provided by that associate.

A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client system. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client system and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier and an HTML document identifying the item and including an order button. The client system receives and stores the assigned client identifier and receives and displays the HTML document. In response to the selection of the order button, the client system sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item. The server system receives the request and combines the purchaser information associated with the client identifier of the client system to generate an order to purchase the item in accordance with the billing and shipment information whereby the purchaser effects the ordering of the product by selection of the order button.

A method in a computer system for coordinating the delivery a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient when the gift giver did not provide sufficient delivery information. The gift delivery system initially receives an order from the gift giver. The order identifies a gift to be delivered to the recipient and has contact information describing the recipient. The gift delivery system stores the received order in an order database along with an order tracking number. The gift delivery system then determines whether sufficient delivery information has been provided by the recipient. If the delivery information is not sufficient, the gift delivery system sends a communications to the recipient based on the contact information. The communications requests delivery information for the gift. The communications preferably includes the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the communications. When the recipient does not respond to the communications, the gift delivery system attempts to collect additional information that may be relevant to the recipient from various databases. When the delivery information is sufficient, the gift delivery system verifies whether the potential delivery information is valid. When the delivery information has been verified as being valid, the gift delivery system sends the gift based on the delivery information and notifies the gift giver that the gift has been sent to the recipient. In this way, the gift giver can send the gift to recipients even when the gift giver does not know or provide sufficient delivery information.

Coordinating delivery of a gift

Disclosed is an Internet-based referral system that enables individuals and other business entities ('associates') to market products, in return for a commission, that are sold from a merchant's Web site. The system includes automated registration software that runs on the merchant's Web site to allow entities to register as associates. Following registration, the associate sets up a Web site (or other information dissemination system) to distribute hypertextual catalog documents that includes marketing information (product reviews, recommendations, etc.) about selected products of the merchant. In association with each such product, the catalog document includes a hypertextual 'referral link' that allows a user ('customer') to link to the merchant's site and purchase the product. When a customer selects a referral link, the customer's computer transmits unique IDs of the selected product and of the associate to the merchant's site, allowing the merchant to identify the product and the referring associate. If the customer subsequently purchases the product from the merchant's site, a commission is automatically credited to an account of the referring associate. The merchant site also implements an electronic shopping cart that allows the customer to select products from multiple different Web sites, and then perform a single 'check out' from the merchant's site.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Sheldon J Kaphan