WO2000062213A1

WO2000062213A1 - System assisting electronic commerce

Info

Publication number: WO2000062213A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/000895
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Pierre Martiniere
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 1999-04-12
Filing date: 2000-04-07
Publication date: 2000-10-19
Also published as: CA2366532A1; EP1169680A1; FR2792094A1; FR2792094B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a system assisting electronic commerce. The assisting system comprises at least a database (1) of products or services normally purchased by a client, said products or services being organised into a purchase preview display. A module (2) for presenting to the user-client products or services offered by the electronic purchase centre is provided so as to enable the joint presentation of products usually bought or competing products to said user-client. A module (3) for the client to select one of the products or services is provided, the user-client being thus in a position to consider the product or service required in conditions similar to those which are available in a shelf-display or any other physical presentation. The invention is applicable to electronic commerce for all types of goods and services.

Description

ASSISTANT ELECTRONIC COMMERCE SYSTEM

The invention relates to an electronic commerce assistant system. With the advent of electronic commerce by network tel-purchase, the generalization of such a service saw its development hampered by various obstacles, supposed or real, perceived by potential users.

In addition to the method of payment from an electronic wallet, direct debit from a bank card or the like, this method of payment requiring very high reliability and very high security of transactions, another obstacle consisting of loss of reference by potential consumers with regard to their tastes, their consumption habits and their perception of the products or services put on the market in physical trade spaces could be highlighted. Indeed, many consumers wish, by a simple observation, to be able to appreciate, at least qualitatively ent, the intrinsic qualities of the products or services which are offered to them, on the basis of criteria of choice which are specific to them, and, well often, significantly subjective.

The subject of the present invention is the implementation of an electronic commerce assistant system whose aim is to remedy the drawbacks of the electronic commerce systems of the prior art.

In particular, an object of the present invention is the implementation of an electronic commerce assistant system allowing, in particular, to any user, to personalize the offer and the presentation of the offer of products or services by electronic commerce system according to each consumer user, although the products or services offered correspond substantially to standard products or services. Another object of the present invention is also the implementation of an electronic commerce assistant system allowing, in particular, any user, to benefit from a suitable product or service manager, with respect to products or services standards, although the offer and the presentation of this offer are personalized for each user.

Another object of the present invention is also the implementation of an electronic commerce assistant system allowing, in particular, any user to constitute a database relating to the products and services which are the subject of regular consumption or usual by the latter, this database being either centralized with a supplier of products and services by electronic commerce or a trusted third party, or delocalized and constituted in a dedicated tool, available to the user customer.

Another object of the present invention is finally the implementation of an electronic commerce assistant system making it possible to reconstruct, at best, the purchasing environment encountered in physical commerce spaces, such as stores, shopping centers , shopping malls.

The electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, the electronic commerce operations being carried out by a client user from an access terminal connected to a network by a network. tre or electronic shopping kiosk distributing products or services, is remarkable in that it comprises at least one database of products or services usually purchased by this user, these products or services usually purchased being organized by a sieve of purchase. A device for presenting this customer user with the products or services offered by the electronic shopping center through this shopping screen is provided. This presentation device allows the joint presentation to this user of the products or services usually purchased by this client user and of competing products or services distributed and offered for sale by the electronic shopping center or kiosk. A selection device is provided to allow the selection by the client user of at least one of the products or services distributed and offered for sale. The electronic commerce assistant system allows the client user to understand the product or service they are looking for under similar conditions and according to an overall personal representation comparable to those which exist in a shelving or physical presentation.

The electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention finds application in the distribution of products and services normally put on the market in accordance with the national legal provisions in force, both on the site of the kiosk or shopping center and of the user client.

It will be better understood on reading the description and observing the following drawings in which: - Figure la shows, in the form of a block diagram, an overview of the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention;

- Figures lb, le and ld represent different fields of a multi-field data file to constitute a purchase screen;

FIG. 2a represents, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system, in accordance with the object of the present invention, in the case where the data base is an online database;

- Figure 2b shows, by way of illustration, an electronic shopping assistant system, in accordance with the subject of the present invention, in the case where the database is an online database, managed by a trusted third party ;

- Figure 2c shows, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system in accordance with the subject of the present invention, in the case where the database is a database dedicated to the client user;

- Figure 3a shows, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system in accordance with the subject of the present invention, in the case where the database is a database dedicated to the client user, located in a microprocessor card environment;

- Figure 3b shows, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system in accordance with the object of the present invention, in the case where the database is a database dedicated to the client user, located in a micro card environment cessor, the user client being authorized to consult and modify, locally, the purchase screen assigned to him;

- Figure 3c shows, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system in accordance with the object of the present invention, in the case where the database is a database dedicated to the client user, located in a microprocessor card environment, the client user being able to consult and modify, online, the purchase screen assigned to him;

- Figure 3d shows, by way of illustration, an electronic purchasing assistant system in accordance with the subject of the present invention, in the case where the database is a database dedicated to the client user, located in a microprocessor card environment, the various operations and the interrelation of the client user and the merchant entity selling the products or services being represented in the form of block diagrams.

A more detailed description of an electronic commerce assistant system in accordance with the object of the present invention will now be given in conjunction with FIGS. 1a to 1d and the following figures. Referring to FIG. 1 a, it is indicated that the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, allows a client user, designated by CLIENT, to carry out electronic commerce operations from an access terminal. connects by network to an electronic shopping center or kiosk distributing products or services, notes MARCHAND. With reference to the aforementioned figure, the electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the invention comprises at least one database 1 of the products or services usually purchased by the user, these products or services being organized by a screen of purchase to facilitate purchasing operations to the latter.

The electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention also includes a device 2 for presenting the product or services offered by the electronic shopping center to the customer user through the shopping screen. The presentation device 2 allows the joint presentation to the user of the products or services usually purchased by the latter and of competing products or services distributed and offered for sale by the shopping center or electronic kiosk designated by MARCHAND.

A selection device 3 is provided, which allows the client user to select at least one of the products or services distributed and offered for sale by the MERCHANT. The assembly thus constituted allows the client user to understand the product or service sought under similar conditions and according to a global personal representation comparable to those which exist in a shelving or a physical presentation, that is to say lethal.

In Figure la, there is shown the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, consisting of the aforementioned elements, as well as certain operations allowing the implementation of this system. In particular, certain operations necessary for the initialization and the updating of the electronic commerce assistant system have been represented and delimited from the electronic commerce assistant system or elements of this system necessary for the use by the customer to carry out e-commerce operations, this separation being materialized by a dashed line.

In general, it is indicated that the database 1 of the products or services usually purchased by the user can be interconnected by a data transport network, not referenced in the drawings, to a computer system such as a personal computer PC for example, comprising the device for presenting to the customer user the products or services offered by the electronic shopping center and the device 3 for selection by this customer user of at least one of the products or services distributed and offered for marketing. On observation of FIG. 1 a, it is understood in particular that the device 2 for presentation to the client user can be constituted by the aforementioned personal computer PC provided with a display screen and that the selection device 3 can be constituted by any suitable pointing device, symbolized by the arrow of a pointer actuated by a pointing device such as a mouse or the like.

In a first nonlimiting embodiment, it is indicated that the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, can be integrated in a database environment managed or accessible directly from the MERCHANT.

In FIG. 1 a, the personal customer space is represented in the database 1 considered, this database being connected to the data transport network and not necessarily located on the same site as the MARCHAND site, that is to say the site of the distributor electronic purchasing kiosk.

Thus, thanks to an electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, as represented in FIG. 1 a, a client opens, or if necessary, already has, a personal space of the database type managed or directly accessible from '' a MERCHANT, or if necessary from an Internet service provider for example.

In general, it is indicated that the database and the purchase screen are updated with each e-commerce operation carried out by the user client. In addition, and according to another particularly advantageous aspect of the electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention, it is indicated that the database can be mitialized and / or updated from the products or services usually purchased by actual purchase. by the client user.

To this end, as has also been shown in FIG. 1a, when making real purchases, for example by the user customer on the MARCHAND site, that is to say in store, the customer, at a step 100, during checkout and calculation of the invoice during this checkout, for example, authorizes 102 the transfer of ref- of the items he has just bought as well as other selected information such as the name of the products purchased, their brand, this transfer being made to the database 1 previously mentioned. When the user client is already listed by the MERCHANT, the aforementioned transfer operation 100 can be facilitated and / or automated under the control of the client, who, in step 102, is able to give his authorization in order to transfer the information relating to products to its database.

It is in fact understood that in a step 101, the MERCHANT makes available the references of the products or services purchased, the operation of transferring the references of these products or services being carried out in step 103 through the network of transport to the aforementioned database 1.

It is indicated that in step 102, the authorization to transfer this data and these product or service references to the database can be carried out following the authorization given by the client user through, in particular , appropriate systems such as the customer's bank card or any loyalty card, such as a customer card assigned by the MERCHANT, passwords or the like. With regard to the database 1, it is indicated that the structural organization of these data characterizing the products and / or services purchased by the client as well as the data characterizing the user association client / products and or services and, if applicable where appropriate, customer / products and or services / MERCHANT can be used to assist the customer in its relations with the distributors. dependents of the products or services, this organization of data being hereinafter referred to as a screen or purchase mask, which will be described later in the description. According to a preferred embodiment, the client user accesses his database 1 and he can therefore, as shown in FIG.

- verify their purchases, delete products and / or customize the name of these products;

- complete all the products usually purchased by manual entry of references and names or electronic readings by means of a bar code reader associated or integrated into a computer or a WEBPHONE type terminal.

In accordance with the electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention, when the client user then carries out an online consultation of the MERCHANT's electronic shelving, this consultation can be carried out in a manner known as such via the INTERNET network by Minitel in France or by any online means, and when this client user is identified, the merchant, using the electronic screen, primarily offers the products according to the aforementioned shopping screen identified in the database 1 of the client in question.

The aforementioned client user then fills his electronic shopping cart with products which he already knows well and, where appropriate, with new products. The database 1 can then be updated from the products invoiced and delivered to the customer. In a preferred embodiment, the device 2 for presentation and 3 for selection by the client user of at least one of the products or services distributed may not consist of a microcomputer system, as shown in FIG. there, but by mobile equipment with reduced possibilities, in particular for display, such as electronic organizer, GSM call terminal or the like. In such a case, the MERCHANT can then offer products in priority according to the customer user's purchasing screen using a simplified presentation according to the operating system of the terminal considered, and / or a representation. user-defined synthetic.

A more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the shopping screen will now be given in conjunction with Figures 1b, 1c and 1d.

In general, and according to a particularly remarkable aspect of the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, it is indicated that the shopping screen is personalized according to the identity of the client user. In FIG. 1b, a shopping screen is thus represented consisting of a list of elements, that is to say a series of data, comprising at least one field relating to the identity of the client user, this field being noted ID-CLI in FIG. 1b.

According to another particularly remarkable aspect of the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, the shopping screen is personalized by the usual designation assigned by the customer user to each product or service usually purchased by the latter. So the client user can effortlessly from memory use any usual mnemonic designation covering various products belonging to the same family. By way of nonlimiting example, it is indicated that for foodstuffs or drinks, the usual designation may correspond to MOUTH for mouth products, it being understood that the call of such products or services by the customer during an online consultation may cover all food products usually purchased by the latter from the MERCHANT. Of course, other successive chain designations can be provided, such as, by way of nonlimiting example for food products, a generic designation YAOURTS for all the dairy products commonly designated by this term, in particular by children in the usual way.

Thus, each product or service usually purchased and organized into a purchase screen by the user is constituted according to a multi-field data file comprising, as shown in FIG. 1b, a field of code identifying the product or service , note ID-PS, this identification code being supplied and made available by the MERCHANT in step 101 previously mentioned in the description.

With reference to the personalization of each purchase cable by the usual designation assigned by the client user mentioned above, the multi-field data file also includes a field of subjective definitions of the product and service by the client user considered, this field being noted C-ID-S. As mentioned previously in the description, for the aforementioned field in particular, this field can sister in a list of codes of subjective definitions and, in the case of food products, by a list comprising the following elements: [[MOUTH], [YOGURTS], [FRUITS]] for example. While codes for the subjective definition of the product or service by the client user in the example cited above consist of elements of a character string for example, they can also consist of recordings of successive words subjected to voice recognition and to detection during online consultation.

In fact, according to a remarkable aspect of the system which is the subject of the present invention, the field of subjective definition of the product C-ID-S can advantageously be subdivided into two sub-fields, a sub-field C-ID-U allowing the subjective definition , by the user, of the product or service under the conditions mentioned above, and a subfield C-ID-SY allowing the synthetic definition, by the user, of the product or service considered, taking into account the actual or potential capacities of the operating system fitted to the consultation terminal at its disposal. This synthetic definition can consist in assigning a simple numerical code, associated with various operating systems such as those used by personal assistants, GSM terminals or others.

As has also been represented in FIG. 1 a, the multi-field data file constituting the shopping screen may include a field for defining the intrinsic structural and / or functional qualities of the product or for defining the services relating to a service, this field being designated by QUALITY in figure le. Thus, for mouth products such as fine wines, the aforementioned field, designated by QUALITY, may include, for vintage wines, PARKER index values assigned for grand cru wines. On the contrary, with regard to the provision of a service such as the maintenance of a motor vehicle for example, the field of definition of the quality of the service provided may include the number of intervention points on a vehicle offered by the service provider, such as emptying the engine, checking the brake pads, checking levels for example.

In addition, and according to a particularly remarkable aspect of the electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention, it is indicated that the multi-field data file includes a field relating to the brand of manufacture or of marketing of the product or service, this field effectively includes the literal brand under which the product or service is marketed. The existence of such a field in the purchase screen appears to be of major importance insofar as the majority of user customers are loyal to a brand because of its notoriety and in particular the consistency of qualities of the products and / or services marketed under this brand.

As also shown in FIG. 1 a, the multi-field data file also includes a field relating to a logo or to an image of the bi-t-map type representing the packaging of the product or accompanying the provision of a given service. The field relating to a logo or to an image can then comprise the logo or the image ac- accompanying any figurative brand under which the product or service is marketed.

Thus, taking into account the specific fields of the aforementioned multi-field file, fields such as the C-ID-S field relating to the subjective code, the Brand field and the logo / image field for example, the user client is able to understand the products or services offered according to a global personal representation, which is specific to him and which corresponds to his consumption habits. The latter is then brought back in a situation of choice of products or services comparable to that which he is confronted in a physical store during real purchases.

The electronic commerce assistant system, which is the subject of the present invention, is also particularly remarkable in that it enables minimal management of the products and services distributed by the MERCHANT and, consequently, consumed by the client user. .

As shown in FIG. 1 a, and in order to ensure such management, the multi-field data file may also include a field designating the average periodicity of purchase of the product or service by the customer user, this field being noted PMA in Figure Id. It is understood in particular that from the aforementioned field, the MERCHANT is able, by comparison of the date of online consultation of the kiosk or of the electronic shopping center considered, with the last date of 'purchase of a given product or service, to suggest to the user customer to make such or such purchase, this in order to avoid any oversight likely to affect the comfort of the customer. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1d, the multi-field data file also includes a reminder field for exceeding the end-of-life time of the product or service since the last purchase by this customer user. In FIG. 1d, this field is designated by TFV, for end of life time. The aforementioned field thus makes it possible to ensure minimum management of the customer's stocks with regard to perishable products and foodstuffs for example. The multi-field data file may also include a field relating to the maximum price and the minimum price, field noted Pm, PM in FIG. 1d, of the product or service considered. Such a field allows the user client to decide on the purchase or non-purchase of the product and / or service considered according to the indicated price values, which allows him to manage his budget in a particularly suitable manner.

Finally, the multi-field data file represented in FIG. Ld may include a field relating to the application, by the management authority of the center or of the purchasing kiosk, that is to say by the MERCHANT. , promotional campaigns relating to one of these products or services. Thus, thanks to the existence of the aforementioned field, the MERCHANT can promote its products for the benefit of regular customers by offering them particularly attractive purchasing possibilities.

In addition, when the operating system of the consultation terminal of the user client presents reduced possibilities, in particular in display, the fields of the aforementioned multi-field file can themselves be reduced, an additional field adapts to these possibilities. Reduced liabilities can also be foreseen and coded on the initiative of either the user client or the MERCHANT. Different embodiments of the electronic commerce assistant system which is the subject of the present invention will now be described in conjunction with FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c and then with the following figures.

In FIG. 2a, the operating mode has been represented from the customer user point of view of the database 1 by the latter from a consultation terminal, the database 1 being located at any site and the consultation being carried out by means of a data transport network. In step 104 previously mentioned in the description, the customer consults his personal database 1 and modifies, if he wishes, his or her purchase screens by deleting products, modifying the name, in particular of the field C- ID-S shown in Figure lb for product customization.

In FIG. 2b, a non-limiting preferential example is shown, an assistant electronic commerce system in which the database 1 is managed by a trusted third party. As a nonlimiting example, the client user opens or already has a personal database type space with a trusted third party, such as "ELECOMMERCE" or "WANADOO".

With reference to FIG. 1 a, the customer can authorize, when calculating his invoice at the checkout, for example, the transfer of the references of the articles as well as other chosen information such as the name of the product, its brand, to his personal database. If the client is already listed by MARCHAND, the Merchant website being understood total ^¬ separate site of the database managed by the TTP but interconnected via a data transport network to the latter, the transfer operation is then facilitated and / or automated under customer control, this control being able to be carried out by means of a customer loyalty card for example or of any microprocessor card with corresponding function.

Thus, the structural organization of the data according to the purchasing screen represented and described above characterizing the products and / or services and optionally the customer / product association and possibly customer / product / MERCHANT, is used subsequently in order to '' assist the client user in his relations with the MERCHANT through the intermediary of a trusted third party.

When the client user accesses the database 1, by online consultation 105, the latter can check his purchases, delete products and / or personalize the product names, complete the list constituting the sieve of purchase by manual entry of references and names or electronic reading via a bar code reader associated with a computer or a WEBPHONE type terminal.

When the client user then performs an online consultation of the electronic shelving of a store through the trusted third party and after identification of the client user by means of a password for example, the trusted third party performs research operations in the electronic departments on the MARCHAND site thanks to the use of the purchase screen (s) available to the customer. This research per ^¬ then puts priority to offer the customer products clearly identified as having been your Acheson by it. The trusted third party can then launch product searches towards several merchants and put them in competition to allow the customer to choose one or more products at a better price or possibly the complete electronic shopping cart. It is recalled that the electronic shopping cart can be symbolized by an icon representing the image of a physical shopping cart.

The previously described operating mode of online shopping through a trusted third party provides an additional guarantee of con identiality of purchases vis-à-vis the MERCHANT due to the absence of a direct relationship between the customer user and the aforementioned MERCHANT. On the contrary, the customer fills his electronic shopping cart with products which he already knows well, then possibly new products and usual products and certain products of the competition being presented to the customer via the purchase screen.

The database 1 can then be updated from the products invoiced and delivered to the user client. In a preferred embodiment, when a recognized customer is connected to the electronic shopping center or kiosk using equipment with reduced possibilities such as in particular a GSM terminal or other, the MERCHANT may offer products in priority according to screens of purchase to the customer using a simplified presentation corresponding to the operating system of the terminal used.

In FIG. 2c, a non-limiting embodiment has been shown in which the database 1 is more particularly located at the level of the site MARCHAND and managed by the latter. The online consultation operations 105 are then similar to those represented in FIG. 2b but the management of the database is entrusted to the MERCHANT. Such an embodiment implies a relationship of trust between the MERCHANT and the client user. This relationship of trust appears to be satisfied when the products or services offered for sale by the MERCHANT are products or services marketed in particular under a well-known brand, for example, a well-known brand covering the marketing of highly technical products and / or services whose quality can be considered as a reference.

A more detailed description of a non-limiting preferred embodiment of the electronic commerce assistant system, object of the present invention, will now be given in conjunction with FIGS. 3a to 3d.

In general, it is indicated that the above-mentioned figures relate to an embodiment in which the database is a database dedicated to the client user and located in a microprocessor card provided with a non-programmable memory -volatile.

As shown in FIG. 3a, the consultation terminal, constituted by a PC-type microcomputer for example, is provided with a microprocessor card reader, the client user having in such a case a personal space of the database type 1 integrated into the microprocessor card 4.

By way of nonlimiting example, it is indicated that the microprocessor card can consist of a customer loyalty card for the MERCHANT in question, the customer user being called on the example given Mr. Dupont and the MERCHANT, Magasin Trouvetout .

In Figure 3a, there is shown so wk ^¬ lar to Figure 2c interconnection of con- sultation terminal 2, 3 which is associated with the card reader microprocessor and the smart card 4 in a transmission system data, itself interconnects to the MARCHAND site.

In the case of FIG. 3a, however, the database 1 is installed in the microprocessor card 4 and, more particularly, in the latter's non-volatile memory.

With reference to FIG. 3a, it is indicated that the online consultation operation of the MAR ^C HAND site, operation 105, is carried out in a similar manner to the consultation operation 105 in FIG. 2c, the database 1, however, being local at the level of the consultation terminal and more particularly installed on the microprocessor card 4. In FIG. 3b, an operation 104 of local consultation of the personal database has been represented in a microprocessor card environment. present on the microprocessor card 4, this consultation being carried out at the consultation terminal. In such a case, the client user can thus modify, if necessary, the purchase screen (s) by deletion of products, modification of the name and, in particular, of specific fields in the multi-field file constituting each purchase screen.

In FIG. 3c, a situation is represented comparable to that of FIG. 3a in which the database 1 relating to the shopping screen is installed in the microprocessor card 4 but where however the service for managing personal customer spaces and customer purchase screens, stored on the microprocessor card Δ of each customer user, is located in 5, no longer at the consultation terminal but in a specific site managed either by a trusted third party or by the MERCHANT, as shown in Figure 2b or 2c for example. In the embodiment of FIG. 3c, it is indicated that the security of the transactions can be appreciably reinforced insofar as this embodiment benefits from the absence of dependence on the management of the database user client 1 vis-a -vis the management services stored on the microprocessor card 4 of each client. In the case of FIG. 3c, as represented in step 104a, the user client, via a manager service located online, can consult his personal database 1 present in the microprocessor card and can thus proceed to the modification, if necessary, of the purchase screens by deletion of products, modification of the name. The data from the personal database 1 to the client user then remains in physical possession of the latter, any purchase operation requiring possession microprocessor card 4 and, of course, access codes to the aforementioned card.

A general description of the operating mode of an electronic commerce assistant system in accordance with the object of the present invention in a microprocessor card environment will now be given in conjunction with FIG. 3d:

• The client user opens or already has a personal database space 1 integrated in a microprocessor card 4.

• This client user authorizes, after entering the confidential code when calculating his invoice, for example at the checkout in a physical store, the transfer of the references of the articles, by barcode reader, which he has just purchased as well as other specific information such as the name of the product, the brand of the latter towards the microprocessor card 4. While the structural use of the characteristic data of the products or services and optionally the user association client / products or services and possibly customer / products / services user / MERCHANT can be used to assist this customer user in his relations with the MERCHANT by means of purchase screens conforming to the object of the present invention, confidentiality in this mode due to the fact that the data is stored on the microprocessor card itself, this confidentiality can be guaranteed by subjecting the reading of the latter to the entry of the confidential code of the microprocessor card. • The client user, from the consultation terminal equipped with the card reader, can then access his purchasing screens and he can check his purchases, delete products and / or personalize the name of these products, complete the multi-field file, that is to say the list of products or services constituting the shopping screen by means of a bar code reader associated or integrated into a computer or a WEBPHONE type terminal . With reference to FIGS. 3b and 3c, it is indicated that the management of the purchase screens can be local or accessible online.

"When the client user then carries out an online consultation of the electronic shelving of the electronic merchandise via the INTERNET network or Minitel, the MERCHANT or an intermediary trusted third party invites the client user to provide his screen of purchase via a clear message via interactive dialogue or protocol exchange.

¹ Depending on the degree of confidentiality and / or data protection of the purchase screen, the customer identifies himself or not by his password, the confidential code of his microprocessor card for example. "The customer user transmits a purchase screen and / or allows the MERCHANT or the intermediary trusted third party to recover the latter." The MERCHANT or the intermediate trusted third party collects the aforementioned purchase screen and offers products based on purchase screens retrieved from the customer's microprocessor card. "When the client user then performs an online consultation from the consultation terminal, and when he is identified after recognition of the password, the confidential code of the microprocessor card for example, a list of products or services are offered primarily to the customer user either by the MERCHANT or by the intermediary trusted third party, depending on the purchase screens recorded in the microprocessor card 4. • The customer user fills his electronic shopping cart with products which he already knows well and to which he is accustomed as well as, if necessary, new products which have been able to attract his attention. ^u The microprocessor card 4, and in particular the personal database 1 thereof, is update from invoiced products and books to the client user According to the preferred embodiment previously mentioned in the description, when the consultation terminal is constructed ited by equipment with reduced possibilities, such as a personal assistant or a GSM terminal, the MERCHANT or trusted third party primarily offers products according to the purchase screens to the customer using a simplified presentation according to capacities of the operating system of the consultation terminal.

Claims

1. Electronic commerce assistant system, the electronic commerce operations being carried out by a client user from a network connected access terminal to an electronic purchasing center or kiosk distributing products or services, characterized in that said assistant system comprises at least: a database of products or services usually purchased by this user, said products or services usually purchased being organized in a purchase screen; means of presentation to this customer user of the products or services offered by said electronic shopping center through said purchase screen, said presentation means allowing the joint presentation to this user of said products or services usually purchased by this user customer and competing products or services distributed and offered for sale by said shopping center or electronic kiosk; means of selection, by said client user, of at least one of the products or services distributed and offered for sale, which allows said client user to understand the product or service sought under similar conditions and according to personal representation comparable to those which exist in a shelving or a physical presentation.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said database is respectively combined with our products or services haoi- purchased by actual purchase by the customer user.

3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said database and said purchase screen are updated each time an electronic commerce operation is carried out by the user client.

4. System according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said purchase screen is personalized according to the identity of the client user.

5. System according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said purchase screen is personalized by the usual designation assigned by the customer user to each product or service usually purchased by the latter.

6. System according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said purchase screen is personalized by the synthetic designation assigned by the client user to each product or service usually purchased by the latter.

7. System according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that each product or service usually purchased and organized in a purchase screen is constituted according to a multi-field data file comprising at least: - a code field product or service identification; a field of subjective definition of the product or service by the customer user.

8. System according to claim 7, characterized in that said multi-field data file further comprises: a field for defining the intrinsic structural and / or functional qualities of the product or for defining the services relating to a service; a field relating to the manufacturing brand for marketing the product or service; a field relating to a logo or image representing the packaging of the product or accompanying the provision of a service.

9. System according to claim 7 or 8, character πse in that said multi-field data file further comprises: a field designating the average periodicity of purchase of the product or service by the purchasing user; a reminder field for exceeding an end-of-life time for the product or service since the last purchase by this client user; a field relating to the maximum price and the minimum price of the product or service; a field relating to the indication, by the management authority of the shopping center or kiosk, of a promotional campaign relating to this product or service.

10. System according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said database is an online database, managed by a trusted third party.

11. System according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said database is a data base dedicated to the client user.

12. System according to claim 11, characterized in that said database dedicated to the user is located in a microprocessor card provided with a non-volatile programmable memory.