MickLinux's Journal: PUBLIC DOMAIN - self-referential web sales/data mining site

Okay, here's another PD idea.

Do web sales (shoot, telephone and catalog sales too, if you can use digital printing to make customized catalogs at high speed).

But the key here is that the program uses data mining of its own sales to autocorrellate what people are likely to buy. Then, along one column, is a *text* list of suggested products, based upon previous sales. Each item has a box next to it. A person can click on the boxes to select items, and add those items all at once. As of that point, those items are added to the shopping cart.

A person can also click on the text word, to bring up a java description of the item (and picture).

Aside from that, the server will also autocorrelate the person's own purchases: that is, if every three months the person purchases an inkjet cartridge, then those things start popping up at 10 week intervals after the previous purchase.

The goal here is to begin as many different sales contracts as possible, with automatic purchase mechanisms. Therefore, you don't just search for consumer products: you also include OEM electronics items, warehouse supplies, essentially anything that you'd find in McMaster-Carr, Phillips' Electronics, Digi-Key, or other such sites.

Also, you avoid graphics as much as possible. That keeps things fast, so that people will actually visit your website.