Method and system for determining the optimal travel route by which customers can purchase local goods at the lowest total cost

摘要

A method and system for providing customers with means to determine a) how far the customer should be willing to travel to a vendor to purchase locally sold goods and b) what routes the customer should take to minimize his or her total costs. Customers use an Internet search engine to find products or services that they are interested in purchasing in their local area. The search results provide a list of goods along with their current price and store location. Customers select one or more goods they are interested in purchasing and add these goods to a shopping list. A recommendation is provided based on variables such as the customer's estimated value of time, traffic conditions, gas prices, parking fees, automobile miles per gallon, the difference in prices between stores, or other relevant variables. The recommendation informs the customers as to vendors at which he or she should purchase goods and the order in which the locations should be visited so as to minimize total purchase costs.