E-commerce bargain-hunting with an unBun model

摘要

First-generation comparison-shopping software tools in generalhave limitations in dealing with bundled products. A new generic modelfor e-commerce comparison-shopping, based on a logical unBundling ofsellers' offerings, is presented. The model captures dominancerelationship between offerings and consumer requirements and may serveas a foundation for a variety of shopping decision support softwaretools. The model provides a basis for defining notions of bargains anddesigning algorithms for searching for them. Various implications andremaining challenges are outlined