An embodiment of the present invention provides a method, comprising identifying in-market purchasing interests and representing them as a user goal to determine when a user is in-market for a specific product and to determine general shopping preferences and habits of the user, and wherein the goal has a timeline, and goal satisfaction can be identified via a variety of contextual inputs selected from the group consisting of: location; traces from online shopping activity; credit card bills; or a pay-by-phone transactions.