An executable shopping list (ESL) enables a user browsing an affiliate Web
site's Web page to order, with a single action, a bundle of multiple
items offered for sale by the affiliate's associated merchant Web site,
wherein the bundle is one that is not offered or available for sale as a
bundle to on-line visitors who directly access the merchant's Web site
server. By selecting a link on the affiliate's Web page, the ESL is
executed, thereby automatically loading the bundle of multiple items on
that list into a virtual shopping cart at the merchant's Web site on
behalf of the user. The virtual shopping cart, filled with the multiple
items, is then returned to the user's browser for completion of the
checkout procedure by the user. ESLs can be implemented on the affiliate
site's side using what is referred to as smart bookmark technology, which
records for later playback, the multiple steps required to load each item
on the list into a shopping cart at the merchant's Web server.
Alternatively, ESLs cam be implemented on the merchant's site side using
the merchant's Web server's infrastructure. A discount can be optionally
associated with the offer to purchase the multiple items in the bundle.
ESLs are also applied to permission marketing where a merchant can bundle
a group of items together and electronically offer that bundle to one or
more customers who have agreed to receive such merchandising offers.