A method and system for negotiating improved terms for a product being purchased over the Internet. Once a purchaser has made a decision to buy a specific product over the Internet, the purchaser may use the services of a personal negotiating broker-agent program to beat the best available purchase transaction within a specifiable time window. The personal broker-agent program may detect an issuance of a commitment to purchase over the Internet by a purchaser. The personal broker-agent program may then make an offer to the purchaser the option of waiting a predetermined amount of time while the broker agent searches for improved items. On acceptance of the option by the purchaser, the personal broker-agent program may conduct an auction and/or search the Internet for a better deal and may evaluate the auction and/or search responses to determine the best deal. The personal broker-agent program may then execute the best deal. If the purchaser elects not to accept the option from the personal broker-agent program, then the purchaser may execute the commitment to purchase transaction without delay.

Apparatuses, components and methods are provided herein useful to provide assistance to customers and/or workers in a shopping facility. In some embodiments, a shopping facility personal assistance system comprises: a plurality of motorized transport units located in and configured to move through a shopping facility space; a plurality of user interface units, each corresponding to a respective motorized transport unit during use of the respective motorized transport unit; and a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system wirelessly communicates with one or both of the plurality of motorized transport units and the plurality of user interface units, wherein the central computer system is configured to control movement of the plurality of motorized transport units through the shopping facility space based at least on inputs from the plurality of user interface units.

A method and a system to present samples of products to customers by transporting the samples to the customer's location with an autonomous vehicle. The sample can be a product, a component of a product, a material or a device to gather information in defining the product. The autonomous vehicle is adapted for off road travel and may enter buildings, it can be carried to a nearby location by a street adapted vehicle. Information may be transmitted electronically but physical presence is essential. The customer or the customer's agent receives a presentation of the product definer and a selection of a final product is made. In other cases the autonomous vehicle delivery separate or installed technical equipment to examine the presentation location and assist in the final product selection. For example, photographs from multiple locations can measure a room for installation of carpets or draperies, etc.

Some embodiments include a track system comprising: an elevated track system comprising a series of elevated tracks that are positioned elevated above a sales floor and products distributed over at least a portion of the sales floor of a retail store, and configured such that multiple motorized transport units travel along the series of elevated tracks in traversing at least portions of the retail store.

Methods, systems and apparatus for virtual online jewelry sales in secondary markets.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for restoring shopping space conditions are provided. A system for restoring shopping space conditions comprises a motorized transport unit comprising at least one sensor, and a central computer system comprising a wireless transceiver for communicating with the motorized transport unit. The central computer system being configured to: identify a section of a shopping space having a dropped item, instruct the motorized transport unit to travel to the section of the shopping space and collect information associated with the dropped item using the at least one sensor, determine a characteristic of the dropped item in the section of the shopping space using the at least one sensor of the motorized transport unit, and select a cleaning task from a plurality of cleaning tasks based on the characteristic of the dropped item.

A mobile device payment system and method, the method for a mobile device user to purchase goods/services from merchants with financing by a mobile device manufacturer including: providing a mobile device; establishing a user account; establishing merchant accounts; transforming the merchant accounts into a universal merchant account data set; providing the universal merchant account data set to the mobile device user; storing the universal merchant account data set; requesting the mobile device manufacturer to load consumer credit; loading the credit amount; identifying goods/services for purchase; determining a total price for the identified goods/services and a merchant identifier associated with the selected merchant; actuating a purchase button; retrieving merchant bank deposit instructions; retrieving purchase credit; and routing the retrieved credit to the selected merchant in accordance with the retrieved merchant credit deposit instructions.

In representative embodiments, a digital assistant provides actionable information to a user regarding one or more vehicles owned by a user. Actionable information is typically provided in a tip which is a mechanism for presenting information to a user and may be presented in text, audible, or other form. The tips provided by the digital assistant are directed to helping the user with tasks associated with vehicles such as knowing when to obtain service such as oil changes, tire inflation, light replacement, brake replacement, fluid level check/fill, or other service. The digital assistant can utilize user information to automatically book service appointments, recommend times for service or other vehicle actions, route changes and so forth. Tips can also include links to a marketplace where recommended services can be obtained.

A system, method and computer program product offers vending machine merchandise located within a vending machine network by performing the following process: a host server receiving from a first user, located at a merchandise vending machine, a request to retrieve an item; in response to receiving the request, the host server locating the item; the host server communicating the request to a second user belonging to a friendship network of the first user and notifying the second user that the item is located at a merchandise vending machine; upon receiving from the second user an acceptance to the request, the host server notifying the first user that the acceptance of the request was received; and in accordance with terms and conditions of the second user acceptance of the offer, the host server transmitting a temporary code to the first user for retrieving the item.

Methods and apparatuses are provided for use in monitoring product placement within a shopping facility. Some embodiments provide an apparatus configured to determine product placement conditions within a shopping facility, comprising: a transceiver configured to wirelessly receive communications; a product monitoring control circuit coupled with the transceiver; a memory coupled with the control circuit and storing computer instructions that when executed by the control circuit cause the control circuit to: obtain a composite three-dimensional (3D) scan mapping corresponding to at least a select area of the shopping facility and based on a series of 3D scan data; evaluate the 3D scan mapping to identify multiple product depth distances; and identify, from the evaluation of the 3D scan mapping, when one or more of the multiple product depth distances is greater than a predefined depth distance threshold from the reference offset distance of the product support structure.