AU2013206507A1 - Improvements relating to exchanges for goods and services - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer implemented method for a market place comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in 5 relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service. 5UI C -. - ILI ala.UllI VVClU3ILC± Io FIG. 2a Login Module 201 FIG. 2b FIG. 2c Registration Module 202 General Information Module 210 New User Terms and Market Mover Research Module Form Conditions Module 212 203 1 1 204 211 Benefits & FAQ Moduleommunication 205 Broadcast Module

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Since the application of the internet as a supply chain management tool in the mid 1990's there have been various systems and processes developed in order to improve operational, procurement and sales efficiencies as they relate to goods and services. Invariably these 5 systems essentially seek to either connect one buyer to multiple sellers (such as Alibaba.com or Ariba.com) or one seller to multiple buyers (such as eBay.com). Existing systems and processes require a significant degree of manual interaction, negotiation and research by buyers and sellers. Consequently whilst enhancing productivity for buyers (merchants/consumers) and sellers (suppliers) existing systems and processes still consume 0 significant time and human resources that would be better deployed into other more productive activities. In essence, existing systems and processes have simply computerised the manual process of sourcing goods, negotiating price and terms, striking a contract and settlement/delivery of the transaction. However they have not comprehensively solved the issue of time and pricing inefficiencies embedded within the practice of buying and selling 5 goods and services. One significant restriction of existing systems and processes is the requirement for the buyer or seller to negotiate on a bilateral basis either verbally or electronically (fax, email or message) to agree parameters of a transaction such as (but not limited to) variables such as price, delivery zone, delivery time and quantity. This bilateral negotiation consumes .0 significant time and resources. The primary issue that gives rise to the requirement for human interaction under the existing systems and processes is the lack of standardisation amongst goods and services. Consequently regardless of whether a buyer seeks to acquire a good via traditional methods (visit to supplier or phone call) or computerised method (email negotiation or auction) the buyer will need to undertake substantial research to satisfy 25 themselves that the item they wish to acquire will meet their expectations. Current practice would be for the buyer (merchant/consumer) to either (a) have an existing relationship with a single supplier and know to order a specific item which will meet their expectation or (b) call numerous suppliers to obtain the best price for an item without necessarily having any degree of certainty that qualitative expectations will be met. In both methods there is a trade 30 off between price (method (a) will generally result in a worse price than method (b)) and product quality risk (method (a) represents the lower risk of dissatisfaction with a product). At present, many companies provide the ability for buyers and sellers (via computerised systems and processes) to transact bilaterally. One key issue which restricts the ability for existing systems and processes to offer a digital marketplace for goods and services with 35 characteristics similar to a stock exchange is the lack of standardisation among products and 1 services. For example, a merchant may seek rump steak with a marble count of 4 + however one supplier may have a compliant item with a specific product name for this item such as 'Black Label' and another may call their product 'Blue Ribbon'. Consequently the merchant at a minimum must firstly confirm the correct product name for the item they wish to buy and 5 then secondly ask for a price. Due to the lack of standardisation a digital transaction cannot be executed. A second restriction is the potential productivity losses associated with corporate (businesses) buyers or sellers negotiating multiple bilateral transactions with smaller counterparties who may be located within a specific geographical are. For example, a single 0 retail precinct may have 5 caf6s all of whom require milk and they will individually engage with a seller of milk at numerous times of the day to order milk. This results in the supplier having to allocate significant resources to its sales and logistics departments to negotiate and execute 5 bilateral transactions for a single commodity within a specific delivery zone. Conversely a single buyer (for example a fruit and vegetable trader) may need to engage in 5 multiple bilateral transactions with 5 carrot farmers to meet their requirements despite the fact that the farmers are all within a specific area. A third restriction of current systems and processes related to the lack of digital aggregation for businesses is the lack of accessibility for individual consumers or suppliers (such as small scale farmers) to the marketplace. One of the reasons why individual consumers and .0 suppliers are generally unable to use existing computerised procurement or sales systems and processes is that the volumes individual consumers transact in can be quite small and therefore it is generally uneconomic for larger corporate buyers and sellers to do business with them. A traditional solution to this is the creation of group buying in order to achieve a minimum level of demand for a product (such as Groupon.com) however at present this 25 process still requires a degree of manual intervention (for example, the creation of a co operative by individuals to drive group buying or selling behaviour) and/or doesn't provide for digital transaction in goods and services. A fourth restriction of existing marketplaces for goods and services (such as Ariba.com and Alibaba.com) is the lack of accessibility to the marketplace for traders to buy and sell goods 30 and services without the obligation to effect physical settlement of the transactions. As a consequence, existing marketplaces have no arbitrage capability (i.e. ability for traders to execute transactions in the marketplace to exploit market inefficiencies). As a result, markets are less liquid and more prone to inefficient price discovery. A fifth restriction of existing processes and systems is the lack of derivatives available to 35 buyers and sellers to manage the price risk associated with the procurement and sale of 2 their products. At present, the lack of liquid and homogenous markets for the trade in goods and services means that there is insufficient data available for the efficient pricing and structuring of derivatives. A further restriction of existing exchange traded marketplaces is the ability for participants to 5 defer settlement of transactions without consequences for the counterparty or the successfully settlement of a transaction. At present, if a buyer has (a) entered into a transaction to acquire a good, service or financial instrument and (b) has insufficient funds available to effect settlement at the pre-defined settlement date and time the transaction is deemed to have failed. The consequences of this are three fold being (a) deterioration of 0 creditworthiness of the buyer (b) inconvenience and/or cash flow implications for the seller in addition to the wasted time in engaging in this transaction and (c) this inefficient transaction experience gives rise to disruption in the marketplace and a disorderly market. A risk for existing marketplaces for goods and services is the lack of a controlled settlement process which is embedded into the marketplace. At present there are two settlement 5 mechanisms used in the trade of goods and services being (a) prepayment and (b) post delivery payment. In the case of prepayment, the risk is born by the buyer in the sense that they make payment for goods or services in anticipation of their needs being satisfied. Consequently, if the item is not as per the agreement between the buyer and seller, the buyer then must enter into a dispute resolution process which may take considerable time .0 and money to resolve. In the case of payment upon delivery (cash on delivery COD) the risk is born by the seller who is reliant on the buyer honouring the terms of the contract. Again, if the buyer defaults on the contract then considerable time and money is consumed by the dispute resolution process. A further restriction not only for existing marketplaces for goods and services but almost 25 every web based system is (a) the communication of the terms and conditions of use and (b) the process of users accepting the terms and conditions of system use. The standard terms and conditions agreement mechanism is a lengthy legal document with two buttons at the bottom of the document titled 'I Agree' and 'I Disagree' which represents the confirmation by a user to (a) adhere to the terms and conditions of system use and (b) understand their legal 30 rights and obligations of system use. Most if not all documents are lengthy and often written in legal jargon which dramatically increases the risk of a user not fully understanding or remembering the benefits and risks of using a system along with the user potentially being unaware or forgetting of their legal rights and obligations. According to Jerome Bruner approximately 10 per cent of information communicated is retained and 20 per cent of visual 35 information is retained however nearly 80 per cent of audio visual information is retained. 3 The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge. 5 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for a market place comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; receiving by 0 a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage 5 medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of .0 such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the 25 program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; submit at least one instruction in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an 30 agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service. The information submitted by a user according to this aspect of the invention can be of any suitable type. If the user is submitting information about a good or service that the user is offering, then it may for example comprise information about the good or service, such as information relevant to its value, or other characteristics. It may also comprise information 4 relevant to a preferred price point for the good or service. If the user is submitting information in relation to a good or service of interest for purchase by the user, it may for example comprise one or more queries in relation to various aspects of the good or service, the value of the good or service or the price point suggested or preferred by the seller. 5 The instruction received by the server device may be of any suitable type. For example it may comprise information relevant to an information request or information provision, it may comprise a purchase instruction or a notification in respect of a price, etc. In some embodiments, such an exchange of information in relation to one or more offers may be referred to as 'continuous price discovery' and may for example facilitate the 0 creation of an agreement between a buyer and a seller. According to some embodiments, the method enables the equilibrium point for the market to constantly update, and optionally in real time. In some embodiments, a transaction is automatically executed as soon as the buyer and seller prices meet. In some of these embodiments, the buyer and seller prices converge and 5 eventually meet and are assisted in this process by the system. In some embodiments, there is provided a dynamic exchange traded market comprising a framework within which multiple buyers and sellers can make bids and offers for item/s in real time with the intention of closing the gap (or spread) between the bids and offers to the point where equilibrium is achieved and therefore an agreement between the buyer and .0 seller is struck. This process is referred to as continuous price discovery whereby the equilibrium point for the market is constantly updating as bids and offers are matched. This system (also referred to herein as DMACH) is a digital exchange traded market providing a means for buyers and sellers to buy or sell goods and services in a real time manner. The system affords buyers and sellers to transact in a dynamic exchange traded market for 25 physical goods and services with continuous price discovery. In some embodiments of the invention, buyers or sellers can buy or sell physical goods and services not securities (which represent the right to an economic benefit associated with a company/commodity/equity). The system affords buyers and sellers to transact in a dynamic exchange traded market for physical goods and services with continuous price discovery. 30 According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for managing price information of a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computing an adjusted price based on one or more variables and outputting to a display device the adjusted price. 5 According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computing an adjusted price based on one or more variables and outputting to a display device the adjusted price. 5 In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable receipt by a server of at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computation of an adjusted price based on one or more 0 variables and output to a display device of the adjusted price. The price information received by the server may be of any suitable type, for example, per unit price, pricing mechanism information, pricing for different market segments, price specificity based on market participant, etc. It may be as simple as a preferred price and a set of conditions associated with such a sale. The variables used to compute the adjusted 5 price may be of any suitable type, for example, they may comprise taxes, built-in costs such as for logistics / freight etc, date, time, location, brokerage or other fees, and so on. In some preferred embodiments the adjusted price is computed based on one or more variables associated with a user. Such embodiments allow an adjusted price to be computed which is unique to that particular user. Thus, for example a user living in a remote location will have .0 much higher shipping costs associated with any given purchase of goods and users in some countries or regions will have higher or lower applicable tax to pay. In some embodiments, the invention also compute market depth and bid / offer spread which again may be unique to a particular user. It will be appreciated that the invention therefore provides market participants with a true indication of actual price to be paid (or received) by them. 25 This aspect of the invention (also referred to herein as 'the price adjustment module') adjusts individual bids and offers based upon the unique variables that relate to individual market participants. Consequently at any given time the 'market price' (i.e. the price at which a participant can instantaneously execute an order to buy or sell) represents the best price at that particular point in time inclusive of all additional variables. Therefore, if multiple 30 participants (buyers and sellers) simultaneously elect to buy and sell at market there could be multiple market prices all of which represent the best possible price for the combination of buyers and sellers. For example at the close of trading if a netting period occurs (similar to the ASX) and there are four buyers and four sellers all of whom submit to execute during the netting period there may be up to four netting prices all of which represent the best value for 35 all eight participants. 6 In some embodiments, the price discovery mechanism involves the converging of bids and offers which once they meet results in a transaction being executed. This price discovery mechanism is continuous and results in a dynamic digital exchange traded market. The price adjustment module in this system adjusts the bids and offers received from buyers and 5 sellers prior to being released into the marketplace. Consequently the price discovery mechanism in this system is inclusive of all relevant variables that comprise the price of buying or selling goods or services (such as brokerage, delivery, taxes, and other factors). As a result, given variables relating to buying and selling goods and services are unique to every market participant, a market depth and bid/offer 0 spread will also be bespoke to each market participant and reflect a true picture of the price of buying and selling goods and services. The price adjustment module in this system adjusts the bids and offers received from buyers and sellers prior to being released into the marketplace. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method 5 for offering a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of information associated with a first good and / or service, searching a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregating the first and second goods and / or services into a marketable combination. .0 According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for receiving by a server at least one item of information associated with a first good and / or service, searching a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregating 25 the first and second goods and / or services into a marketable combination. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable receipt by a server of at least one item of information 30 associated with a first good and / or service, search of a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregate the first and second goods and / or services into a marketable combination. The item of information associated with the first good and / or service may be of any suitable 35 type. It may relate to one or more characteristics of potential interest to a purchase of such 7 a good or service, it may relate to supply chain-related factors (such as item location, shipping cost, etc), it may relate to price, one or more quality indicators, or any other suitable characteristic. In some embodiments, the item of information contains an instruction in relation to aggregation of the good and / or service with another. Such instructions may 5 contain information about one or more characteristics of the good and / or service on which to base aggregation with another good and / or service. In some embodiments, a user may flag an interest in aggregation at an earlier stage which then makes the good and / or service available for future searches for aggregation based on one or more pre-set characteristics. The data store may contain any suitable information in relation to offered goods and / or 0 services. In order for a good and / or service to be selected for aggregation, the datastore must contain at least an indication that it is available for aggregation and information in relation to at least one characteristic upon which aggregation may be done. The pre-set criteria upon which aggregation may be done can be of any suitable type as briefly described above, and might for example include location, dimensions, weight, quality, 5 source, manufacture process, etc. Aggregation of a first and second good or service may be done in any suitable way and the output from such aggregation may vary depending on the situation. In some embodiments, a new marketable 'parcel' of goods and / or services is created and made available for offer to prospective purchasers. In some embodiments information relating to a good or service .0 which newly appears in a data store of such goods and / or services may trigger a match with a pre-existing parcel. In such an instance, the user may be prompted to confirm whether they wish to add their offered good and / or service to the pre-existing parcel, or in some embodiments the user may have already provided instructions in this regard. This aspect of the system and method of the invention enables buyers and sellers to elect to 25 have their requirements automatically aggregated into marketable parcels that are compliant with minimum market requirements. Normally aggregation requires a number of pre determined qualifying factors that need to be in place and complied with prior to a participants orders being accepted into the aggregator (for example, participant must belong to a particular common grouping/co-op). The aggregator is a mechanism by which multiple 30 buyers and sellers can achieve scale to drive more efficient buying and selling practices in the first instance and in the second instance submit to market in marketable parcels. The aggregator is co-ordinated by an administrator of the system and method of the invention and has no pre-defined parameters (no two aggregated marketable parcels are likely to have the same participants involved as the aggregator compiles bids and offers purely on the 35 basis of 8 a) market place (for example, grade "A" beef mince) and b) geographical proximity to other participants within the particular aggregated parcel. In some embodiments, aggregation may require a number of pre-determined qualifying factors that need to be in place and complied with prior to a participants orders being 5 accepted into the aggregator (for example, participant must belong to a particular common grouping/co-op). The aggregator is a mechanism by which multiple buyers and sellers can achieve scale to drive more efficient buying and selling practices in the first instance and in the second instance submit to market in marketable parcels. According to one aspect of the invention, a plurality of users may create one or more co 0 operatives to coordinate activities such as buying or selling and thereby access the benefits of greater scale. In some embodiments, such a co-operative may have pre-defined parameters and is co-ordinated by its owners / creators. In some embodiments, the co operative is an automated system and does not require manual intervention. In some embodiments, liability for failure to settle rests with the individual members of the co 5 operative instead of the co-operative itself (ie: an administrator of the system and method of the invention will pursue the individual members of the co-operative for failure of settlement). In some embodiments, co-operatives may submit orders for goods and services into the marketplace and subsequently have these orders aggregated with other market participants to achieve minimum marketable parcel thresholds (i.e. aggregation of aggregated orders); .0 According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for managing price risk of a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, selecting a derivative product, and computing a derivative product price based on one or more variables. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage 25 medium containing machine-executable instructions for receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, selecting a derivative product, and computing a derivative product price based on one or more variables. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a 30 program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable receipt by a server of at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, selection a derivative product, and computation of a derivative product price based on one or more variables. 9 Any suitable derivative product may be used according to this aspect of the invention. These may include options, swaps, forwards, futures, binary options, warrants and any other suitable tradable derivative product. Selection of the derivative product may be done by a user or may be undertaken computationally based on one or more criteria or variables 5 obtained from a user or available information (such as prices, degree of desired risk, date, and other data). In some embodiments, the invention provides an automated and executable derivative pricing process and derivative products for physical goods and services to assist buyers and sellers to manage their price risk as it relates to future acquisition or sale of goods and 0 services. According to the present invention, the mechanism can be auto-priced and executed with market participants in an OTC fashion (with a bespoke size and expiry) with price adjustment applied to the derivative price prior to execution to provide known maximum price/minimum price to participants. In some embodiments, the invention provides a clearing house function with tripartite 5 settlement verification (system administrator, buyer and seller verification) to ensure that buyer and seller rights are protected by controlling the transaction settlement process. In some embodiments, the 3rd party control of funds during the settlement process with funds automatically released upon receipt of verification from (a) Ntrata.com (that funds held) (b) Seller (the goods or services have been dispatched) and (c) Buyer (the goods or .0 services have been received and are satisfactory). In some embodiments provide clearing house processes whereby automatic settlement actions are taken by the Clearing House based upon a series of outcomes from the buyer and seller. For example, (not limited to) (a) if funds are not received after two hours Ntrata.com automatically messages the buyer to seek funds (b) if the buyer forgets to verify 25 satisfactory receipt of goods, funds are automatically released after a predetermined period without verification and (c) if the supplier forgets to verify dispatch but verification is received from the buyer, then the funds are automatically released (d) an automatically administered dispute resolution management process; In some embodiments, there is an automated predetermined remedial action process in the 30 event of settlement failure, being the manner in which the seller's order to sell is automatically re-entered into the marketplace and compensation is paid to the seller (which is the failure fee charged by Ntrata.com to the buyer). In some embodiments, the invention provides a digital means for buyer or sellers to enter into priority style transactions via the digital marketplace in real time with a bespoke 10 counterparty price (for example, settlement terms change to T+1, delivery in 1 hour, in your geographical area). According to some embodiments, the priority style transaction process incorporates a bespoke counterparty price and the indicative pricing process prior to execution of the trade into the order pad. According to some embodiments, prior to 5 execution an indicative price for the priority trade is extracted from DMACH and has been passed through the price adjustment module with additional weightings reflecting the priority nature of the trade. In some embodiments, the invention provides for buyers and sellers to enter block trades (for example, a merchant enters multiple orders on one form, one time only, such as orders 0 for carrots, onions, lettuce, then Ntrata.com splits the block order into individual orders for carrot, individual orders for onions and individual orders for lettuce, then Ntrata.com submits the individual orders into their respective digital markets). Thus, the invention may in some implementations provide the ability for a market participant to populate a single order form with differing goods and services destined for different digital marketplaces and submit the 5 order once. In some embodiments the process of the receipt of the block trade by the transaction router splits the block trade into its individual components and then directs the components towards the appropriate modules within the DMACH. In some embodiments, there is provided a bespoke indicative market price for each individual component of the block trade is displayed in the order pad thus providing the market participant with an all up .0 indicative price for the entire block trade. In some embodiments, the invention provides for buyers and sellers to enter a contract and settle in their own name, however the price adjustment module calculates the executable price with reference to the delivery specifications of the specific job (for example, distance and taxation pertaining to the jurisdiction). For example, a procurement officer working for 25 GE in Atlanta USA can place an order to buy goods or services for their subsidiary in Brisbane Australia. The procurement officer would stipulate that GE Atlanta is the entity executing and settling the transaction however it is the subsidiary in Brisbane that will take delivery of the goods or services. The Price Adjustment Module then identifies the best price for GE Atlanta to have the goods or services supplied by a Brisbane based supplier 30 (assuming the supplier is cheapest) and delivered to the subsidiary in Brisbane (therefore the Price Adjustment Module will: (a) adjust the market price for the goods or services to reflect the distance between the Brisbane based supplier and the Brisbane based GE subsidiary and (b) adjust the price to reflect local taxes and (c) convert the price into a USD price for the GE Atlanta office to accept). 11 In some embodiments, there is provided a process for live dynamic market pricing to be adjusted in real time to reflect variables specific to a particular delivery zone other than the location of the requesting buyer or seller; In some embodiments, the system provides a means whereby participants in commodity 5 markets can execute transactions in a dynamic marketplace for commodities and simultaneously manage commodity, FX and basis risk associated with commodity transactions. The Price Adjustment Module can adjust market prices to provide commodity buyers and sellers with a known price for the physical purchase or sale of commodities. In some embodiments, this process fully integrates the multistep process that currently exists 0 for the transaction in goods (i.e. commodities) into a single and seamless transaction. In some embodiments, the invention provides a process for the deferred settlement of a funding obligation(s) for a buyer and/or a pre-payment to a supplier prior to settlement of the transaction (for example, funding SWAPS). The invention may provide a process for the deferred settlement/pre-payment of funding obligation(s) for the buying and selling of goods 5 and services. In some embodiments, the invention provides for the calculation of the deferred settlement funding cost via the deferred settlement pricing module. The deferred settlement pricing module is a matrix which cross-references the creditworthiness of the counterparty seeking deferred settlement against a series of margins that Ntrata.com applies to the transaction. .0 For example, Merchant 1046 may have a very strong credit rating based upon previous behaviour and consequently they may be graded an 'A' credit rating which equates to pricing of Benchmark (for example, LIBOR) + 3%. Alternatively, Merchant 1046 may have a poor credit rating (for example D) in which case they would be shown a price of Benchmark (for example, LIBOR) + 8%. This cost may then be added to the original notional amount 25 payable. Features of embodiments of this invention comprise: 1) The automatic calculation of the good or service SWAP price as an embedded formula within the system. 2) A dynamic credit rating mechanism updates a credit rating for buyers or sellers based upon variables such as behavioural and observable financial metrics and consequently the 30 SWAP pricing may move for a particular buyer or seller based upon changes in their credit rating. In some embodiments, the invention provides for the ability for traders to act as brokers in a dynamic digital exchange traded market for goods and services between buyers and sellers (for example, buying from a supplier at a low price and then selling to a merchant at a higher 12 price later in the trading session). A trader is able to go into the market and execute an equal and opposite transaction with the intention of netting out the transactions. Subsequently the seller and the buyer have settlement with the trader (and the trader will net a profit or a loss) however the delivery of the goods or services happen between the buyer 5 and the seller and not involve the trader. Of particular note here is the ability for traders to act as brokers in a dynamic digital exchange traded market for goods and services. The invention may also provide for market tolerance parameters which restrict market participants in how far from the prevailing bid/offer spread an order can be placed. This is designed to make the market more liquid by forcing pricing tension. 0 The invention may also provide real time calculation of counterparty risk and enable buyers and sellers to provision for this risk (the calculation provides a live intra-day open trading position and the risk to them if any counterparties fail to settle). For example, a supplier may have entered into a transaction with a merchant with questionable creditworthiness. The system automatically calculates the probability of settlement failure and automatically 5 communicates this to the supplier who can consequently make financial arrangements (i.e. put in place funding swap arrangements with Ntrata.com or alternatively advise their bank of a required increase in their overdraft facilities) in anticipation of not receiving funds from the merchant on settlement date. Of particular note here is the automatic calculation of counterparty risk associated with a transaction between a buyer and seller of a good or .0 service which is made available to both the buyer and the seller The invention may also provide for a product standardisation translation module which may for example be a matrix that takes the product offering from a supplier and then converts the product into an Ntrata.com compliant category and vice versa. For example, a meat processor may produce 'Joe's Black Label Beef Mince' which is certified organic, grass fed 25 beef with a fat content of less than 5%. The comparable Ntrata.com category for this item may be 'Grade A' Beef Mince. A critical requirement for functioning exchange traded marketplaces is homogenous items being bought and sold. The product standardisation translation module (a) classifies goods and services into categories with predefined characteristics and (b) subsequently directs bids and offers for these items towards the 30 relevant marketplace for execution. In particular, the product standardisation translation module converts the trademarked name for a good or service into a standardised category with specific and readily identifiable characteristics. Consequently a myriad of trademarked goods and services are able to be traded within a single marketplace as buyers and sellers have confidence that the goods and services within the specific marketplace are 35 homogenous regardless of which supplier provides them. 13 The invention may also provide for a transaction router that accepts trades that come into the DMACH and directs them to the correct market place (physical market or derivative market) or directs them to an aggregator in order to achieve the minimum marketable parcel threshold and then be released into the relevant market. In particular, it should be noted that 5 buyers and sellers may submit and/or execute bids and offers based upon their own specific requirements and the transaction router directs these individual bids and offers to the relevant parts of the DMACH in order to either be aggregated or entered directly into the market. In some embodiments, the invention provides for the ability for users to acknowledge they 0 have viewed/read and understood the terms and conditions of the use of the Ntrata.com system. The system may have embedded within it an audio visual verification tutorial as part of a) communication of the terms and conditions of use, b) verification of user competency and comprehension of the systems (for example, you understand how the system works and you can use it, so you are liable for the use of the system). 5 The Ntrata.com mechanism incorporates an audio visual medium to convey features, benefits and terms and conditions of use to users. The idea behind this is: a) People are more inclined to view a tutorial rather than read a manuscript, b) Peoples' information retention is higher with a combination of audio and visual .0 presentation versus reading text only, therefore retention and comprehension will be higher. For example, once a user creates an account they are then required to enter the terms and conditions module (204) to view the terms and conditions tutorial. The tutorial is displayed in segments and at the end of each segment, the user may be required to enter a random computer generated squiggly alpha numeric word to verify they have viewed/read the terms 25 and conditions and accept them, (for example, the first segment is what the system is and does, the second segment is how the system does it, the third segment is where the user acknowledges the comprehension of the terms and conditions of use). The benefits of doing it this way are: a) Ntrata.com are trying to enhance the comprehension and retention of the terms and 30 conditions b) Computers can read text but can not interpret audio visual therefore a computer can not understand what they have seen and heard and therefore make the right choice (selection of 14 the right radio button for the security question which is randomly generated in the verification process). c) The requirement for entering the random computer generated squiggly alpha numeric word at specific points after segments ensures greater prevention of the creation of accounts 5 being computer generated, thus preventing automated/programmed computer trading thus preventing the skewing of the dynamic market price discovery, therefore enhancing the integrity of the system. 3) The terms and conditions acknowledgement process based on the viewing of the audio visual tutorial. (for example a random computer generated question such as what is the 0 colour on the screen now, or what is the object shown in front of you now (for example, a tree). According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for a market place comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or 5 obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of a first user, a second user and an administrator. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage .0 medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receive by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of 25 a first user, a second user and an administrator. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for 30 display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; provide to the server device at least one instruction in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of a first user, a second user and an administrator. 15 The first and second users according to this aspect of the invention may of any suitable type. In some embodiments they comprise a buyer and a seller. The administrator may be of any suitable type, in some embodiments the administrator is a person or organisation which manages, controls or in some way supervises the market place. 5 According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for creating agreement comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about an intended agreement and receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information 0 comprises audio and or video information. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about an intended agreement and receiving by a 5 server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information comprises audio and or video information. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the .0 program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about an intended agreement and submit to a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information comprises audio and or video information. 25 In some preferred embodiments, the audio and / or video information comprises information about the intended agreement which optionally comprises acceptance of at least one term of the agreement. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for buying and / or selling goods and / or services comprising: outputting by a server device 30 an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and using a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is 35 used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics. 16 According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the 5 server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and using a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage 0 device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set 5 of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and use a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method .0 for buying and / or selling goods and / or services comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally 25 enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the 30 ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation. 17 In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for 5 display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement 0 of fund obligation. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method for buying and / or selling goods and / or services comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the 5 server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised transaction router which accepts trade data from parties comprising merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage .0 medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised transaction router which accepts trade data from 25 parties comprising merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals. In an another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the 30 program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised transaction router which accepts trade data from parties comprising merchants, 35 suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals. 18 Throughout this specification (including any claims which follow), unless the context requires otherwise, the word 'comprise', and variations such as 'comprises' and 'comprising', will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. 5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram providing an overview of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2a is an illustration of a login module contained within the Ntrata.com Website 0 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2b is an illustration of a registration module contained within the Ntrata.com Website according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2c is an illustration of a general information module contained within the Ntrata.com Website according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 FIG. 3 is an illustration of an individual portal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an illustration of a co-operative portal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an illustration of a supplier portal according to an embodiment of the present .0 invention. FIG. 6 is an illustration of a merchant portal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an illustration of a trader portal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 25 FIG. 8 is an illustration of a digital market module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is an illustration of a risk module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an illustration of a deferred settlement module according to an embodiment of the 30 present invention. 19 FIG. 11 is an illustration of a clearing house module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG 12a is a flow chart showing the direction of incoming bids and offers for the sale / purchase of goods and/or services into various modules within the Digital Market Module 5 (150). FIG 12b is a flow chart showing the filtering and adjustment of incoming bids and offers for the sale / purchase of goods and/or services through various modules within the Digital Market Module (150). FIG 12c is a flow chart showing the accepted and adjusted bids and offers for the sale / 0 purchase of goods and/or services through the various modules within the Digital Market Module (150) as well as updating the market view, derivative and the priority alerts sections within the dashboards of the supplier, merchant and co-op portals. FIG 13a is an example of the Internal Market Module (850) display showing bids (from individual merchants, individual consumers, aggregated merchants, merchant co-operatives 5 and consumer co-operatives) and offers (from individual suppliers and supplier co operatives) sorted in best price order to generate a market depth. FIG 13b is an example of the market display that a merchant may access through their Dashboard (400) with adjusted offer prices (from individual suppliers and supplier co operatives). The price adjustment calculations are an example of how the Price Adjustment .0 Module (860) would adjust the raw offer prices from suppliers to provide the merchant with an all-inclusive price to buy 'Grade A' Beef Mince. FIG 13c is an example of the market display that a consumer may access through their Dashboard (400) with adjusted offer prices (from individual suppliers and supplier co operatives). The price adjustment calculations are an example of how the Price Adjustment 25 Module (860) would adjust the raw offer prices from suppliers to provide the merchant with an all-inclusive price to buy 'Grade A' Beef Mince. FIG 14a is a flow chart showing an example of how a merchant could enter into a priority transaction with a supplier. FIG 14b is a flow chart showing an example of how suppliers may respond to a merchant 30 initiated priority transaction and the subsequent execution of a priority transaction. FIG 15a is a flow chart showing an example of a transaction being struck and the flow of funds that occurs in a short period after execution and held in escrow until submitted. 20 FIG 15b is a flow chart showing the flow of tripartite settlement verification and consequent release of funds held in escrow. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 5 It is convenient to describe the invention herein in relation to particularly preferred embodiments, some of which relate to an implementation using 'Ntrata.com' as an administrator of a system and / or method of the invention. However, the invention is applicable to a wide range of situations and it is to be appreciated that other constructions and arrangements are also considered as falling within the scope of the invention. Various 0 modifications, alterations, variations and or additions to the construction and arrangements described herein are also considered as falling within the ambit and scope of the present invention. Legend Number Description 101 USER 102 COMPUTER/IPAD/PC 110 NTRATA.COM WEBSITE 120 INDIVIDUAL PORTAL 125 CO-OPERATIVE PORTAL 130 SUPPLIER PORTAL 135 MERCHANT PORTAL 140 TRADER PORTAL 145 DMACH MODULE 150 DIGITAL MARKET MODULE 153 RISK MODULE 156 DEFERRED SETTLEMENT MODULE 160 CLEARING HOUSE MODULE 165 DATA STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL MODULE 170 CLIENT DATA MODULE 175 MARKET DATA MODULE 180 PRICE ADJUSTMENT DATA MODULE 185 PRODUCT STANDARDISATION DATA MODULE 190 THIRD PARTY DATA MODULE 195 BANKING SYSTEMS 197 THIRD PARTY SYSTEM USER 201 LOGIN MODULE 202 REGISTRATION MODULE 203 NEW USER FORM 204 TERMS AND CONDITIONS 205 BENEFITS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS MODULE 210 GENERAL INFORMATION MODULE 211 MARKET MOVER MODULE 212 RESEARCH MODULE 213 COMMUNICATION BROADCAST MODULE 300 DASHBOARD 21 301 SALES MODULE 302 ANALYTICS MODULE 400 DASHBOARD 401 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT MODULE 410 FINANCIAL DATA MODULE 415 CAPACITY MODULE 420 LABOUR ALLOCATION MODULE 425 PRODUCT MENU MAINTENANCE MODULE 430 INFORMATION MAINTENANCE MODULE 435 ANALYTICS MODULE 440 SPECIAL DEALS MODULE 450 PROCUREMENT MODULE 500 DASHBOARD 510 SALES MODULE 520 ANALYTICS MODULE 600 SUPPLIER MODULE 601 MERCHANT MODULE 602 CONSUMER MODULE 603 REGISTRATION MODULE 604 DASHBOARD 605 CO-OP USER PORTAL 606 CO-OP AGGREGATION MODULE 700 DASHBOARD 701 TRADER MODULE 702 ANALYTICS MODULE 800 TRANSACTION ROUTER 805 PRODUCT STANDARDISATION TRANSLATION MODULE 810 PRIORITY TRANSACTION MODULE 815 PRIORITY TRANSACTION ZONING MODULE 820 AGGREGATION MODULE 825 AGGREGATION ZONING MODULE 830 BILATERAL TRANSACTION MODULE 840 DERIVATIVE MODULE 843 DERIVATIVE PRICING MODULE 846 DERIVIATIVE PRICE ADJUSTMENT MODULE 850 INTERNAL MARKET MODULE 860 PRICE ADJUSTMENT MODULE 870 ANALYTICS MODULE 880 TRACKING MODULE 900 LIQUIDITY RISK MODULE 905 MARKET RISK MODULE 910 DEFAULT RISK MODULE 1000 DEFERRED SETTLEMENT PRICING MODULE 1005 DEFERRED SETTLEMENT PRICING CALCULATOR 1100 TRANSACTION VERIFICATION MODULE 1105 DISPUTED TRANSACTION MODULE 1110 BANKING MODULE The digital marketplace for goods and services provides an electronic means to buy or sell goods, services and derivative products without the requirement for manual interaction (verbal or electronic communication) with certainty that the qualitative features of the good/s 5 or service/s in question will meet the expectations of the buyer and/or seller. Access to the 22 digital marketplace is either obtained through (a) merchant portal (b) supplier portal (c) co operative portal (d) individual portal (e) trader portal. In some embodiments, the invention provides deals with the product or service standardisation problem using an automated digital mechanism which can map the 5 requirement for the item sought by the merchant (rump steak, marble count 4 +) to the product names used by suppliers ('Black Label' or 'Blue Ribbon') in order to ensure that product expectations are satisfied. Such a mechanism enables supplier products to be grouped into categories with prices displayed and able to be executed in a similar way to buying and selling financial assets on an electronic exchange. Furthermore, such a 0 mechanism enables executed transactions to be electronically communicated back to supplier inventory management systems using the product name (such as 'Black Label'). Finally, product standardisation enables the creation of liquid electronic markets for goods and services of comparable qualitative and quantitative features which would drive pricing efficiencies. 5 The invention in some embodiments also deals with the problem of buyers or sellers negotiating with multiple smaller counterparts. In such embodiments, the invention comprises a digital mechanism which enables smaller buyers and sellers of goods and services to digitally aggregate their supply or demand into marketable parcels to drive operational and pricing efficiencies. .O In some embodiments, the invention deals with the digital aggregation problem by providing a fully digital mechanism which can create co-operative entities and enable individual consumer demand or supply of goods and services to be aggregated into marketable parcels and electronically execute transactions in a digital marketplace. In some embodiments, the invention deals with the market accessibility problem by enabling 25 traders to enter into transactions and cash settle obligations which will increase liquidity and improve market conditions for all participants. In some embodiments, the invention deals with the lack of derivatives issue by creating a marketplace which will result in the availability of data for the construction and sale of derivatives (including but not restricted to the purchase and sale of Put and Call options) 30 which would be available for purchase or sale by market participants to manage their risk. An example of how this may be applicable (the operation of the derivative is not limited to the example following) is where a seafood restaurant may know that during summer it will have a substantial increase in demand for tiger prawns. The restaurant is also well aware that the significant demand for this product may result in an increase in price which will either 35 result in the restaurant increasing its prices for tiger prawn dishes or absorb the increase in 23 price and consequently reduce its profit margins. The restaurant can purchase a Call Option on a specific amount of tiger prawns with a specific expiry date and pay for this derivative (therefore buying an insurance contract). At expiry, if the observable price for tiger prawns in the market place is below the strike price for the Call Option then the restaurant will allow the 5 contract to lapse and buy the tiger prawns at the lower prevailing price. Conversely, if the observable price for Tiger Prawns at expiry is above the strike price the restaurant can (a) buy the tiger prawns at the market price and (b) receive a cash payment from Ntrata.com representing the difference between the strike price and the market price at which the Tiger Prawns were purchased resulting in the restaurant achieving a net price equal to the strike 0 price of the Call Option. In some embodiments, the invention deals with the lack of deferment of transaction settlement by providing an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller (i.e. no counterparty settlement risk) and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation (i.e. no 5 impediment to credit rating). In some embodiments, the invention deals with the lack of a controlled settlement process by embedding a tripartite settlement mechanism in the transaction process whereby a buyer prepays for purchases and the funds are held in escrow by the market operator until both (a) the seller confirms delivery of the goods and (b) the buyer confirms satisfactory receipt of the .0 goods at which time the funds are automatically released to the seller. In some embodiments, the invention deals with the issue of communicating vital legal information to users which comprises providing terms and conditions of systems use in an audio/visual format to maximise the probability of retention of the terms and conditions by users thereby minimising legal risk for system providers. 25 According to one aspect of the invention there is a centralised Transaction Router (800) which accepts trade data (such as but not limited to price, volume and goods and services parameters) from merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals. This data is processed and directed towards the relevant specific item (good or service) and/or exchange traded marketplace (which will not be publically 30 accessible). An Internal Market Module (850) sorts the bids and offers for the specific good or service based upon price in the first instance then the timestamp of the receipt of the bid or offer (for example, if two bids for 1 unit of an item are received at the same price, the first bid received is filled leaving the second bid unfilled). As bids and offers are received and trades are executed the Internal Market Module (850) instantly updates to reflect correct 35 market price and market depth. The prices contained within the Internal Market Module (850) 24 will be raw (unadjusted) prices for goods and services and from which (a) adjustments will be calculated from (for example, (but not limited to) delivery costs, taxes and Ntrata.com margin) and (b) a derivatives market will be priced from (whereby buyers and sellers can use derivative products to manage their price risk). 5 In another aspect of the invention is the existence of a series of pre-defined vetting rules contained in the Transaction Router (800) relating to how far away from the market price a bid or offer can be placed. This is important to provide orderly market conditions and ensure that the buy or sell side of a market depth are not skewed due to out of market order levels. For example, the current bid / offer prices in the 'Grade A' Beef Mince may be $9.48 / $9.62 0 per k/g and the market convention may be that bids and offers must be within a 10% distance from the prevailing market price. A merchant submits a price of $7.05 to buy 'Grade A' Beef Mince. This order would be rejected by the Transaction Router (800) and returned back to the merchant to either cancel or adjust the price to be within the confines of the predetermined vetting rules. 5 In another aspect of the invention the Price Adjustment Module (860) will use the raw prices from the Internal Market Module (850) to calculate and include delivery costs, taxes and Ntrata.com margin to the gross purchase price of the good/s and /or service/s. The Price Adjustment Module (860) will then calculate the total net purchase price of the good/s and/or service/s. For example, an Australian merchant may wish to buy 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef .0 Mince at the prevailing market price. The best offer price in the 'Grade A' Beef Mince Internal Market Module (850) may be $9.50 p/kg however the supplier is 25km away from the merchant and will apply a delivery charge of $2.00 per km to deliver the goods which will be subject to taxes of 10%. Furthermore, Ntrata.com will levy a 1% margin on the grossed up purchase price. The Price Adjustment Module (860) will adjust the raw $9.50 unit price by 25 calculating: {($9.50)+(($2x25km)/100)+((($2x25km)/100)x1 0% )}x1.01 = $10.15 p/kg, being the total net purchase price. The entire market depth will be subject to the same adjustments to provide prices that are inclusive of adjustments thereby enabling the merchant to be confident they are getting the best price for its purchase. Conversely a supplier may wish to sell 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at the prevailing market price. The best Internal Market 30 Module (850) bid price may be $9.48 p/kg, however the merchant is 25kms away from the supplier and the supplier will incur a delivery charge from its logistics division of $2.00 per km which will be subject to taxes of 10%. Furthermore, Ntrata.com will levy a 1% margin on the grossed up sale price. Therefore the Price Adjustment Module (860) will adjust the raw $9.48 unit price by calculating: {($9.48)-(($2x25km)/100)-((($2x25km)/100)xlO%)}xO.99 = 35 $8.84 p/kg, being the total net sale price. It is important to note that each individual buyer and seller will have a bespoke price display which will reflect the adjusted inclusive price at 25 which they can buy and sell product at (for example, a merchant 10km West of Brisbane may have a different market depth reflecting their proximity to suppliers when compared to a merchant located 25km North of Brisbane). Another aspect of the invention is a Derivative Pricing Module (843) which takes price data 5 from the relevant Internal Market Module (850) and calculates a premium cost for a buyer or a seller to purchase a Call or Put option to hedge the price risk associated with the sale or purchase of goods and services. A derivative pricing algorithm will produce an option pricing amount which will then be subject to a number of adjustments via the Derivative Price Adjustment Module (846) to adequately account for variables such as (but not limited to) 0 seasonality, location of the entity buying the option (in order to account for delivery costs) and market liquidity. This aspect of the invention will provide a digital method for merchants, suppliers, co-operatives, individuals or traders to purchase insurance against adverse price movements for a specific term. For example, a seafood restaurant in Australia may be concerned about the potential for the price of Tiger Prawns to dramatically increase in the 5 lead up to Christmas. The restaurant can request a Call Option price for 1,000 kg of Tiger Prawns at a protection level of $35.00 per kg with an expiry of 10:00am 15th December 2013 through the Merchant Portal (135). The request will be electronically directed to the Derivative Pricing Module (843) and a derivative algorithm will automatically generate a premium cost (for example $1,000). This value is then sent to the Derivative Price .0 Adjustment Module (846) and is adjusted to reflect the seasonality and market liquidity impacts on pricing and a final price of $1,500 (or $1.50 per kg) is calculated and sent to the merchant. The restaurant then pays this premium amount of $1,500 up front and has certainty that they will not pay more than $35.00 per kg in December 2013 for its Tiger Prawn requirements. At 10:00am 15th December 2013 the invention will assess the last 25 market price for Tiger Prawns and compare this price to the Call Option. If the best observable offer that the restaurant can transact at (observable adjusted offer price in the publically available marketplace for the specific merchant) is $29.50 per kg then the Call Option will lapse and the restaurant will purchase Tiger Prawns at market and achieve a benefit of $4.00 per kg {$35.00 - ($29.50 + $1.50 premium)}. If the prevailing offer price is at 30 $38.00 then the restaurant will buy the Tiger Prawns at $38.00 and then receive from Ntrata.com a cash settlement of $3.00 per kg to achieve the capped price of $35.00 per kg. All Put and Call options will be European style options and cash settled at expiry. Another aspect of the invention is an aggregation mechanism called the Aggregation Module (820). This digital mechanism automatically accepts bid and offer data from buyers and 35 sellers that do not meet pre-defined minimum market parcel size and aggregates these bids and offers into market compliant parcel sizes and then executes these transactions at the 26 prevailing market price. The Aggregation Module (820) will group bids and offers using an algorithm which will take into consideration (a) the specific good or service being sought to ensure that the same item is being transacted in by the various buyers or sellers and (b) proximity of the buyers or sellers to each other (in order to ensure that delivery of goods is 5 efficient and cost effective). For example, 6 merchants wish to buy 25kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince however the minimum marketable parcel in the system is 100kg. Of the 6 merchants, 5 are located within a predefined delivery zone whilst 1 is located outside of the zone. All 6 merchants submit their bids and can elect limit prices for their goods however these limits must be within a pre-defined distance away from the best offer price displayed in the Internal 0 Market Module (850) for 'Grade A' Beef Mince (for example, the furthest a limit price can be set may be 5% from the best offer price. Therefore, the best offer price for 'Grade A' Beef Mince is $10.15 and consequently merchants cannot set a limit price below $9.64). Assume that Merchant 1 (Ml) bids 25kg at a limit of $10.00, Merchant 2 (M2) bids 25kg at a limit of $9.95, Merchant 3 (M3) bids 25kg at a limit of $9.90, Merchant 4 (M4) bids 25kg at a 5 limit of $9.85, Merchant 5 (M5) bids 25kg at a limit of $9.80 and Merchant 6 (M6) bids 25kg at a limit of $9.65. The Aggregation Module (820) will group M1 - M5 together given (a) they are seeking the same product and (b) they are within a pre-defined delivery zone. M6 will be placed into a different aggregated order as they are in a different delivery zone. As additional buyers located in the same zone as M6 enter their bids, their bids will be aggregated with M6 .0 to create a new aggregated order. The Aggregation Module (820) will then consolidate the M1 - M5 bids into a single aggregated order for 125kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at a weighted average price of $9.90 per kilogram. This bid will then be directed to the Internal Market Module (850) where adjustments will be made to the price by the Price Adjustment Module (860) prior to being shown in their dashboard. 25 If we assume that Supplier 1 (S1) is 10km away from M3 (who is the greatest distance from S1 of M1 - M5) then the price that will appear in Si's Dashboard (500) will be $9.53 per kg being: {($9.90)-(($2.50x1Okm)/100)-((($2.50x1Okm)/100)xl0%)}xO.99 = $9.53 p/kg noting that an additional charge (for example 50c per km) has been applied by the Price Adjustment Module (860) to compensate for multiple drop off points for the delivery. S1 30 executes the transaction and notification of the transaction is then sent to each of the individual merchants (Ml - M5) confirming that M1 has bought 25kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at a total price of $10.00 inclusive of delivery, taxes and Ntrata.com margins and M2 has bought 25kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at a total price of $9.95 etc. Settlement of the transaction will occur on a pre-determined settlement date where 5 35 individual amounts of $250.00 (Ml), $248.75 (M2), $247.50 (M3), $246.25 (M4) and $245.00 27 (M5) will be debited from respective merchant accounts (either held with Ntrata.com or their working account with a financial institution) totalling $1,237.50. Of this amount, $34.38 is paid to the logistics company (or the supplier's logistics department) for services rendered and taxes, $12.03 is retained by Ntrata.com as the margin applicable for facilitating the 5 transaction and $1,191.09 is paid to the supplier (or the sales division of the supplier) upon delivery of the goods or services. The Aggregation Module (820) will also be made available to small scale suppliers who wish to aggregate their goods or services into marketable parcels which can be transacted in the marketplace with the same methodology. 0 In another aspect of the invention is a digital group buying and selling mechanism called the Co-Operative Portal (125). This mechanism enables individual merchants, consumers or suppliers to co-ordinate themselves into groups of buyers and sellers in order to aggregate their demand or supply to achieve economies of scale and drive pricing efficiencies. For example, a single apartment block of 20 residential units may establish a buying co 5 operative. A responsible entity or individual (for example, a resident in the apartment building or the body corporate for the apartment building) can set up a co-operative entity within Ntrata.com (for example, CO-OP 64 Smith Street, Toowong, QLD 4520). Individual residents can register to access this co-operative and submit product or service bids which are aggregated up within the co-operative entity for a predefined period. For example, Consumer .0 1 (Cl) may wish to buy 5kg, Consumer 2 (C2) wants to buy 2kg and Consumer 3 (C3) wants to buy 3kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince for a total order of 10kg. The purchase requirements are aggregated in the Co-Operative Portal (125) up until a pre-defined cut-off time and date (for example, weekly every Thursday at 8:00am). When the cut-off time is reached, the aggregated demand for 'Grade A' Beef Mince is batch 25 loaded and either (a) directly sent into the Internal Market Module (850) for sorting and vetting by the Price Adjustment Module (860) if the bid volume meets the minimum marketable parcel threshold or (b) directed to the Aggregation Module (820) to be combined with other bids for 'Grade A' Beef Mince from buyers (merchants, consumers or co operatives) within predefined delivery zones and then directed to the Internal Market Module 30 (850) for sorting and vetting by the Price Adjustment Module (860). A contract is then executed as previously discussed with the delivery cost, taxation and Ntrata.com margin adjustments based upon the geographical location of the co-operative entity. The same methodology would be applied to supplier co-operatives (for example, a group of dairy farmers could create their own supplier co-operative). 28 An additional adjustment may be applied to the co-operative bid or offer to compensate Ntrata.com (or the relevant buyer / seller) for the administrative and handling costs of breaking bulk transactions into individual consumer, merchant or supplier parcels at a centralised distribution centre. This adjustment would be made by the Price Adjustment 5 Module (860) as per predefined parameters. Another aspect of the invention is the ability for market participants to arbitrage market inefficiencies by buying and selling goods and/or services and instead of taking physical delivery of the items net out the exposures and realise a profit or loss. This activity results in the trader essentially broking transactions between buyers and sellers who are looking to 0 transact physical goods and services and enhances market liquidity and price discovery. This aspect of the invention is facilitated by the Trader Portal (140). In another aspect of the invention is the ability for buyers and sellers to complete a series of orders for different goods and services and submit these orders into the market simultaneously via the Procurement Module (450). For example, a merchant may have a 5 requirement to buy 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince, 50kg of 'Grade C' Carrots and 25kg of 'Grade E' Onions. Within the Procurement Module (450) the merchant will have the option of either (a) opening individual order pads for each item or (b) open a 'Block Order' pad which can be populated with the three different products and amounts and submit these orders with a single click of the 'Submit' button. The block order is received by the Transaction .0 Router (800) and directed to the correct marketplace. In another aspect of the invention is a Product Standardisation Translation Module (805). A key requirement for this invention to function in a fully digital manner is to be able to ensure that markets for products are homogenous. By ensuring that markets are homogenous digital transactions can be executed with minimal risk of buyer or seller dissatisfaction from a 25 qualitative perspective. The Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) is a database which contains a list of Ntrata.com defined product categories (such as 'Grade A' Beef Mince) which have specific characteristics (for example: certified organic, grass fed beef, fat content of less than 5%). The Ntrata.com stipulated product category is then mapped to the product lists made 30 available and regularly updated by suppliers (for example, Joe's Black Label Beef Mince is certified organic, grass fed beef with a fat content of less than 5% and would consequently be mapped to 'Grade A' Beef Mince). When a buyer prepares to submit a bid order they will have a product field in the order pad which they can type a key word and click 'Search' (for example, Beef Mince). A list of 35 Ntrata.com categories will be returned listing available options to the buyer. The buyer will 29 be able to move their mouse cursor over the product name and a text box will appear providing a summary of the key product specifications as defined by Ntrata.com. If the buyer would like further detail they can click on the product name and a full product specification sheet will become available. The buyer selects 'Grade A' Beef Mince and submits their bid. 5 When the buyer accesses the Internal Market Module (850) they can monitor their bid in the 'Grade A' Beef Mince Market. From the supplier perspective the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) will translate the title of the market place and buyer bid from 'Grade A' Beef Mince to 'Joe's Black Label Beef Mince'. Consequently, when the supplier submits an offer to be matched 0 against the bid, the offer of 'Joe's Black Label Beef Mince' will be translated into 'Grade A' Beef Mince and the transaction will be executed. Upon transaction execution a contract note will be electronically sent to the buyer confirming the key transaction details (such as but not restricted to date, time, price, volume, settlement date and time, delivery address) which will also include the name of the supplier (Joe's 5 Meats) and both the Ntrata.com product category ('Grade A' Beef Mince) and the supplier's product name (Joe's Black Label Beef Mince). A similar contract note will be sent to the supplier. Furthermore, upon execution, the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) will translate the transaction for "100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince" into "100kg of 'Joe's Black .0 Label Beef Mince" and an electronic message will be sent to the supplier's inventory management system and be recognised as a valid product name. Therefore, the supplier will not be required to change the product names in their existing inventory management system to the Ntrata.com category names. Where the supplier has no existing product name (for example, a small scale supplier) or inventory management system, they will simply use 25 Ntrata.com product specifications. In another aspect of the invention is the ability for a buyer or seller to have multiple distribution or delivery points located under a single user profile. For example, a merchant may be a builder and consequently may have multiple job sites that he is working on simultaneously. Consequently, he may wish to buy goods or services that relate to a specific 30 job he is working on and have these items delivered to a specific job site. In this case, the builder would log into their Merchant Portal (135) and access the Dashboard (400). Within the Dashboard (400) the builder will access a specific job profile (which he would have instructed Ntrata.com to create for him) and then launch his order pad out of this job site profile. Consequently the Price Adjustment Module (860) would extract the delivery 30 distances relevant to the specific job site in question and produce bespoke market pricing for this specific job. Another aspect of the invention is the ability for buyers and sellers to enter into priority transactions. The aforementioned transaction styles involving bilateral, aggregated and co 5 operative transactions will be for a specific future value/delivery date (for example, trade date + three days) however in some circumstances buyers and/or sellers may need to transact in a more immediate manner (for example, a restaurateur may have their inventory of 'Grade A' Beef Mince run low after an unusually high evening of demand for a specific menu item). In this situation, the merchant (buyer) can submit an order to buy 10kg of 'Grade 0 A' Beef Mince in the same manner as it would ordinarily enter into a bilateral (if the order size was compliant with the minimum market parcel size) or aggregation (if the order size was non-compliant with the minimum market parcel size) style order. However within the order pad the merchant would click a checkbox which would identify the order as a 'Priority Order'. At the point of submitting the priority order an indicative price range will be displayed 5 which may be derived from the current market price obtained from the Internal Market Module (850) that has been passed through Price Adjustment Module (860) with an additional margin reflecting a premium payable for the priority order. The order is then directed to a panel of suppliers (sellers) of the specific good or service (for example 'Grade A' Beef Mince) within an appropriate distance from the merchant (buyer) .0 and appears in a section titled 'Priority Order Alert' in the Dashboard (500) of their Supplier Portal (130). If the order has been submitted during trading hours (for example, between 8:00am and 5:00pm) then the merchant can expect to receive a response from the supplier within a predetermined timeframe (for example one hour). If the order is received outside of business hours then the merchant can expect a response from merchants in a 25 predetermined timeframe from the commencement of trading (for example if the market opens for trade at 8:00am then a response will be received by 9:00am). The supplier will click on the priority order which may contain a pre-populated price which will be derived from their best existing offer price (if the supplier has an existing order to sell in the Internal Market Module (850) inclusive of adjustments made by the Price Adjustment 30 Module (860) and the additional margin reflecting the premium payable for the priority order). In the event the supplier has no existing order to sell in the Internal Market Module (850) then the price field will be unpopulated. In both cases, the supplier may amend the price prior to committing to supply the good or service. There will be three potential actions by the supplier being (1) the supplier confirms or amends the price and submits and offer for the 35 priority order, (2) the supplier cannot meet the requirements of the buyer (for example, 31 insufficient inventory or lack of logistical capacity to facilitate the order) in which case the supplier declines the order or (3) the supplier doesn't take any action and after the predetermined response time the system automatically declines the order. All responses are compiled by the Priority Transaction Module (810) and are then sent to the 5 merchant in order of price. For example, the panel of suppliers totals ten entities of which three respond with a price, three decline to make an offer and four take no action. The merchant will see ten responses with the three available offers placed in an order of best to worst price. The merchant will then select the supplier they wish to buy from and the transaction is executed. 0 In another aspect of the invention is the tripartite settlement verification process facilitated by the Clearing House Module (160). This process requires that payment is made by the buyer of a good or service within a predefined time period after trade execution (for example two hours) and held in escrow with Ntrata.com until settlement date (for example T + 3 days). At settlement date the seller will confirm dispatch of goods by selecting the relevant transaction 5 settlement message in the Dashboard (for example, a supplier would access their Dashboard (500)) and click 'Delivery Complete'. When the goods or services are received by the buyer they will confirm receipt by selecting the relevant transaction settlement message in the Dashboard (for example, a merchant would access their Dashboard (400) and click 'Delivery Complete'). .0 The tripartite settlement verification process takes a message from (a) Ntrata.com that funds are held for the settlement (verification element 1) (b) the seller that goods have been dispatched (verification element 2) and (c) the buyer confirming satisfactory receipt of goods (verification element 3). The receipt of all three elements of the verification process automatically triggers the release of net funds from Ntrata.com to the seller thereby 25 controlling settlement. In another aspect of the invention is the ability for market participants to enter into deferred settlement arrangements via the Deferred Settlement Module (156). For example, a buyer (merchant) may enter into a transaction to buy 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at $10.00 per k/g with settlement of $1,000 due in three days (T + 3) however due to cash flow reasons the 30 merchant may not have the ability or desire to prepay the transaction in the predefined time (for example, two hours) after transaction execution. The merchant may elect to defer settlement of the transaction by entering into a SWAP with Ntrata.com whereby the first leg of the SWAP involves the merchant selling 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at $10.00 per k/g to Ntrata.com and receiving $1,000 in funds from 35 Ntrata.com. The second leg of the SWAP involves the merchant buying back the 'Grade A' 32 Beef Mince from Ntrata.com at $10.50 per k/g involving a payment of $1,050 to Ntrata.com. The first leg of the SWAP is netted with the funds payable to the supplier which leaves the merchant with a $Nil net position payable whilst the second leg of the SWAP is the deferred settlement element of the transaction with the funding cost being built into the unit price for 5 'Grade A' Beef Mince. The establishment of the SWAP is automated and provides a digital mechanism for market participants to lengthen and/or shorten trade terms using Ntrata.com. This aspect of the invention is facilitated by the Deferred Settlement Pricing Module (1000) and the Deferred Settlement Pricing Calculator (1005) both of which are located in the Deferred Settlement 0 Module (156). Another aspect of the invention is the Market Risk Module which provides users (both internal Ntrata.com employees and external users such as individuals, merchants, suppliers, co-operatives or traders) with a real time calculation of liquidity risk, market risk and counterparty default risk. This information is accessible to external users through the 5 analytics section of their respective portals. This aspect of the invention assists users to provision for this risk and potentially take remedial action prior to a risk event occurring (for example, entering into offsetting transactions to crystallise and quarantine the risk). This aspect of the invention is facilitated by the Liquidity Risk Module (900), Market Risk Module (905) and Default Risk Module (910) all of which are housed in the Market Risk Module .0 (153). Users can only access Ntrata.com dynamic digital exchange traded market for goods and services (DMACH) via the Ntrata.com website. Once a user accesses the website they will be able to register themselves as a user via the Registration Module (202) by firstly reviewing the terms and conditions located in the Terms and Conditions Module (204) and 25 accepting the terms and conditions of use. The terms and conditions contained within the Terms and Conditions Module (204) may be provided in two formats being (a) standard text document outlining the legal terms and conditions of using Ntrata.com and (b) an audio/visual presentation of the terms and conditions. The audio/visual presentation of the terms and conditions will be broken into various segments addressing characteristics 30 including (but not limited to) the features of DMACH, the risks and benefits of using DMACH, the trade execution and tripartite settlement process and the user's rights and obligations associated with using DMACH. At the end of each segment may be a confirmation process which will ensure that the user 35 (a) fully understands their rights and obligations, (b) fully understands how to use DMACH 33 and is made completely aware of the trade execution and settlement process and (c) give the user the opportunity to submit any questions they have to Ntrata.com whilst using the audio/visual terms and conditions. The confirmation process at the end of each segment will serve as the execution of an agreement between the user and Ntrata.com. The primary goal 5 of providing the terms and conditions agreement in an audio/visual format along with contractual terms embedded into this process is to combine the contract process with an educational process to minimise the risk of a user making use of DMACH without fully understanding the risks and benefits of doing so. Once this has been done the user can complete the New User Form (203). Once the registration form has been completed, 0 submitted and validated by Ntrata.com a login name and password will be provided to the user. The user can then access the DMACH via the Login Module (201) which will direct them to their applicable portal from where they can begin using the DMACH. Users who don't wish to register with Ntrata.com can still access general information on the market via the General Information Module (210) which will provide information such as 5 major market movements on the day via the Market Mover Module (211), research regarding the market for goods and services provided via the Research Module (212) and any general communication broadcasts via the Communication Broadcast Module (213). Individual Portal The present invention may also incorporate an Individual Portal (120). The primary (however .0 not exclusive) purpose of this portal is to provide a means for individuals to offer their services in a digital marketplace. For example, at present a labourer may review advertisements in the newspaper or online for casual work directly with companies or alternatively register with a labour-hire company and be provided with work. Ntrata.com will provide individuals with the ability to submit an offer for their labour in a digital marketplace. 25 Registered individuals access this portal by entering their login details. They are then directed to the Dashboard (300) which will display alerts concerning any priority bids for labour that have been submitted by registered merchants for actioning. The individual will be able to click these priority order alerts (as per the supplier and merchant dashboard) which will generate a pre-populated offer form that can be amended by the individual prior to being 30 communicated to the merchant. Within the Dashboard (300) will also be a 'Submit New Order' button. Individuals will be able to click this button and an unpopulated new order form will appear. Individuals will be able to populate this form with relevant information (such as but not limited to hourly rate) and submit this into the market. Individuals will be able to submit orders in precisely the same manner as suppliers (as the individual will be supplying 35 their labour. 34 The Sales Module (301) is the gateway through which individuals can access the market, manage their outstanding orders, trade history, live market prices for specific goods and services and other market specific information. Individuals can make amendments to existing orders by clicking a specific order hyperlink located in this module which will display 5 the existing order details and enable amendments and/or cancellations to be made. In addition to this, individuals may be able to click specific merchant bids displayed in the market depth to execute an 'At Market' transaction. Further detail of this process is located in the detailed embodiment description of the Digital Market Module (150) The Analytics Module (302) is accessible to individuals by clicking the appropriate tab 0 located at the top of the individual portal page. This module provides detailed win/loss analysis and enables individuals to better understand any deficiencies in their service offering (i.e. is the hourly rate sought too high). This module also provides individuals with the ability to peer benchmark. The benefit to individuals is the ability to evaluate their performance relative to industry, area and historical performance. This module may not be 5 offered as a standard feature of the supplier portal but may, for example, be offered as a premium paid service. Co-Operative Portal The present invention may also incorporate a Co-Operative Portal (125). Responsible entities (such as an individual, church or other not-for-profit entity) can instruct Ntrata.com to .0 establish a co-operative profile which will then have a specific portal assigned to it. The portal will be able to be configured to meet the requirements of the co-operative based upon whether the co-operative is a supplier, merchant, consumer or a combination of these three categories. The responsible entity will have administration rights for the Co-Operative Portal (125). 25 Where the portal is for a supplier co-operative (for example, a group of small vegetable farmers) the Supplier Module (600) will be enabled. The Supplier Module (600) will provide supplier specific data to be displayed within the Co-Operative Portal (125) such as competitor analysis and supplier specific market data. Where the portal is for a merchant co-operative (for example, a group of small caf6s located 30 within a shopping precinct) the Merchant Module (601) will be enabled. The Merchant Module (601) will provide merchant specific data to be displayed within the Co-Operative Portal (125) such as industry analysis and merchant specific market data. Where the portal is for a consumer co-operative (for example, residents located within the same apartment building) the Consumer Module (602) will be enabled. The Consumer 35 Module (602) will provide consumer specific data to be displayed within the Co-Operative Portal (125) such as any products which are currently trading at a discount to historical prices and other consumer specific market data. Responsible entities will be able to invite users to participate in the specific co-operative by 5 various means of communication (such as but not limited to email, text message or social media such as Facebook) which will be able to be initiated from the Co-Operative Portal (125). The user will click on the hyperlink contained in the communication which will direct them to the Co-Operative Portal (125) that they have been directed to. Users will then access the Registration Module (603) to join the co-operative. Upon successful registration, 0 the user will be able to log into the Co-Operative Portal (125). Users will have view only access to the Dashboard (604) in the Co-Operative Portal (125) which will contain information determined by which of the Supplier Module (600), Merchant Module (601) or Consumer Module (602) has been enabled in the portal. Regardless of the enabled modules the Dashboard (604) will display standard information such as orders 5 which are currently available for users to add their demand/supply to, orders that are in the process of being executed and the delivery status of executed orders. The Dashboard (604) will also display relevant analytical data relevant to the co-operative (for example, number of users and trade volumes). The Co-Op User Portal (605) is a portal that is specific to a particular user and the means by .0 which users can lodge and amend their individual orders. This portal will have a section outlining the specific orders that are pending execution and orders that have been executed among other relevant information for the specific user. This is the only section that a co operative user has full access to. Within this portal will be a button titled 'Submit New Order' which the user can click. An order form will appear and the user can complete the required 25 details in the form and then click 'Confirm' to submit the order. The Co-Op Aggregation Module (606) collects all orders from the various co-operative users within the co-operative and groups them into standardised product types. When a predetermined cut-off time is reached (for example, 18:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time) the aggregator may batch load the aggregated order for a specific item into the Digital 30 Market Module (150) for execution. At the point of loading the order into the Digital Market Module (150) a record of the aggregated order (for example, 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince) will appear in the Dashboard (604) in the Co-Operative Portal (125) confirming the status of the order in addition to a record of the individual co-op user's component of the aggregated order (for example, 3kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince) will appear in the Co-Op User Portal (605). 35 When an order has been executed the status of the orders in both the Dashboard (604) in 36 the Co-Operative Portal (125) and the Co-Op User Portal (605) will be updated to reflect the executed status. The Digital Market Module (150) contains the mechanisms (such as but not limited to algorithms, processors and databases) that enable the operation of a digital marketplace for 5 goods and services. This module is not publically accessible however (a) market data and analysis from the Digital Market Module (150) is accessed by merchants through their Dashboard (400) and (b) the ability to interact with the market (for example place an order to buy a good or service) is conducted through the Procurement Module (450). Suppliers access the market and associated data or analysis through their Dashboard (500) and 0 interact with the market via the Sales Module (510). Members of a co-operative can access the market and associated data or analysis through their Dashboard (604) and interact with the market via their own Co-Op User Portal (605). Supplier Portal The present invention may also incorporate a Supplier Portal (130). Registered suppliers 5 access this portal by entering their login details. They are then directed to the Dashboard (500). The Supplier Portal (130) may either operate as a standalone business management system for suppliers or alternatively interface with existing proprietary inventory management and sales systems. The Dashboard (500) may display alerts advising the supplier of priority orders that have .0 been submitted by Ntrata.com registered merchants for actioning. In addition to this suppliers may see any relevant market information such as significant movements in the market price for goods or services the supplier transacts in or win/loss ratios associated with market transactions. As with the merchant Dashboard (400) there will be the ability to click priority order alerts 25 which will generate a prepopulated offer form that can be amended by the supplier prior to being communicated to the merchant. Suppliers will also have the ability to decline priority orders. Within the Dashboard (500) there will also be a 'Submit New Order' button. Suppliers will be able to click this button and an unpopulated new order form will be generated. Suppliers can populate this form with trade parameters (such as minimum or limit price, 30 quantity and product type) and then submit this new order into the market. Suppliers will have the ability to submit a priority order (which will be directed to a predefined panel of merchants and be executed within a short time frame such as 24 hours) or a standard order form which may be executed immediately for a standard delivery time (for example, trade date plus 3 days) or remain in the market until filled (where the market is not yet trading at or 37 above the minimum price stipulated in the new offer form). Further detail of this process is located in the detailed embodiment description of the Digital Market Module (150). Suppliers will also be able to submit orders for derivative products from Ntrata.com by clicking 'Submit New Order' and selecting 'Derivative' within the order form. Once 5 transactions have been executed they will appear as alerts in the Dashboard (500) and information updates (such as changes to inventory when a transaction has been executed) will flow through to the relevant sections of the Supplier Portal (130). The Sales Module (510) is the gateway through which suppliers can access the market, manage their outstanding orders, trade history, live market prices for specific goods and 0 services and other market specific information. Suppliers can make amendments to existing orders by clicking a specific order hyperlink located in this module which will display the existing order details and enable amendments and/or cancellations to be made. In addition to this, suppliers may be able to click specific merchant bids displayed in the market depth to execute an 'At Market' transaction. Further detail of this process is located in the detailed 5 embodiment description of the Digital Market Module (150) The Analytics Module (520) is accessible to suppliers by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the supplier portal page. This module provides detailed win/loss analysis and enables suppliers to better understand any deficiencies in their business model. This module also provides suppliers with the ability to peer benchmark. The benefit to suppliers is the .0 ability to evaluate their performance relative to industry, area and historical performance in addition to assessing the impact of hypothetical adjustments to their business model on performance. This module may not be offered as a standard feature of the supplier portal but may, for example, be offered as a premium paid service. A key advantage of the digital marketplace for goods and services for suppliers is that 25 potential sales can be quoted and executed quickly and efficiently which in turn should substantially enhance productivity. Furthermore, suppliers are able to potentially access more markets with minimal advertising by being a registered supplier for Ntrata.com. The key advantage for merchants is the introduction of pricing tension and the ability to assess multiple offers from suppliers in real time with minimal cost and effort. Operational costs for 30 both suppliers and merchants should decrease through the implementation of this system. Merchant Portal The present invention may also incorporate a Merchant Portal (135). The Merchant Portal (135) may operate either as a standalone business management system for merchants or alternatively interface with existing proprietary inventory management systems and 38 procurement systems. Registered merchants access this portal by entering their login details and are directed to the Dashboard (400). The Dashboard may display a summary position of the merchant's inventory status (for example, any items that are at or below predetermined thresholds and for which orders need to be placed), financial information, capacity 5 information, labour allocation information, website hits and conversion rate. The Dashboard enables merchants to quickly assess business performance and identify any areas of concern within the business. The summary details may contain hyperlinks which the merchant can click on to access the relevant modules within the merchant portal. An additional feature of the Merchant Portal (135) is the ability to procure goods or services. 0 Merchants are able to submit orders (requests to procure goods and services) by either (a) clicking an inventory alert in the Dashboard (400) which will generate a new order form prepopulated with various information relating specifically to the alert or (b) clicking 'Submit New Order' button located in the Dashboard which will generate a new order form which will be unpopulated. Merchants will be able to populate the form with trade parameters (such as 5 maximum or limit price, quantity and product type) and then submit the order into the market. Merchants will have the choice of either submitting a priority order which will be executed immediately for delivery within a short timeframe (for example 24 hours) or a standard order that may be executed immediately for a standard delivery time (for example, trade date plus 3 business days) or will remain in the market until filled (where the market is not yet trading .0 at or below the maximum market price stipulated in the new order form). Merchants will also be able to receive priority orders from suppliers which will be displayed as alerts in the Dashboard (400). Merchants can accept and execute the order by clicking the alert and accepting the order. Alternatively merchants can elect to decline the order. Further detail of this process is located in the detailed embodiment description of the Digital Market Module 25 (150). Merchants will also be able to submit orders for derivative products from Ntrata.com by clicking 'Submit New Order' and selecting 'Derivative' within the order form. Once transactions have been executed they will appear as alerts in the Dashboard (400) and information updates (such as changes to inventory when a transaction has been executed) 30 will flow through to the relevant sections of the Merchant Portal (135). The Procurement Module (450) is the gateway through which merchants can access the market, manage their outstanding orders, trade history, live market prices for specific goods and services and other market specific information. Merchants can make amendments to existing orders by clicking a specific order hyperlink located in this module which will display 35 the existing order details and enable amendments and/or cancellations to be made. In 39 addition to this, merchants may be able to click specific supplier offers displayed in the market depth to execute an 'At Market' transaction. Further detail of this process is located in the detailed embodiment description of the Digital Market Module (150). The Inventory Management Module (401) is accessible to merchants by clicking the 5 appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal home page. This module may provide inventory position per line item and may also project anticipated utilisation based upon historical sales data which may be obtained from Sales History (192). Merchants can access a detailed position for individual line items by clicking the product name hyperlink. This detailed position may provide product life, opening, work in progress and closing 0 balance. The purpose of the inventory management module is to provide merchants with real time inventory position which is adjusted for anticipated demand. Furthermore this module assists merchants to better manage their inventory and shorten inventory holding periods. The Financial Data Module (410) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab 5 located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module is an analytics tool that may provide merchants with a high level summary of debtors and creditors, projected cash flows for selected time periods, profit and loss position and current/non-current asset and liability position. The merchant may be able to access historical data and may export data to other proprietary software. The module may forecast financial performance based on selected .0 criteria in addition to providing scenario analysis. The Capacity Module (415) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides merchants with a snapshot of their current productive capability based upon available capital and labour. It also enables the merchant to optimise capital and labour allocation based upon anticipated 25 and historical demand. A key advantage of this module to merchants is the ability to enhance operational efficiencies. The Labour Allocation Module (420) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides merchants with the overview of current demand and supply imbalances within their business. This module may 30 have a rostering feature which will communicate information to staff. This can ensure better alignment of human resources with current/projected customer demand. The Product Menu Maintenance Module (425) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides merchants with the ability to make adjustments to their product offering and communicate 40 these changes to consumers via the Ntrata.com Website. The benefit of this module is real time communication of product information to their clients. The Information Maintenance Module (430) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides 5 merchants with the ability to make adjustments to their business information and communication this information via the Ntrata.com Website. For example phone numbers, operating hours and addresses. The Analytics Module (435) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides merchants with the 0 ability to peer benchmark. The benefit to merchants is the ability to evaluate their performance relative to industry, area and historical performance in addition to assessing the impact of hypothetical adjustments to the business model on performance. This module is not necessarily a standard feature of the merchant portal but may for example be a premium paid service. 5 The Special Deals Module (440) is accessible to merchants by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the merchant portal page. This module provides merchants with the ability to add, delete or edit special deals. The advantage to merchants is the offering of exclusive deals in real time. Trader Portal (140) .0 The present invention may also incorporate a Trader Portal (140). This portal will be used by market participants to both buy and sell goods and services and then net out these transactions to effectively take advantage of any inefficiency in the marketplace (i.e. arbitrage). As opposed to the Individual Portal (120), Co-Operative Portal (125), Supplier Portal (130) and Merchant Portal (135) which enter into transactions which give rise to 25 physical delivery of goods and services, the Trader Portal is designed for participants to essentially act as brokers between buyers and sellers (for example, buying from a supplier at a low price and then selling to a merchant at a higher price later in the trading session) and then ideally making a capital gain as a result. One advantage of having market participants such as traders is increasing liquidity in the marketplace which leads to more efficient 30 markets. Traders access this portal by entering their login details. They are then directed to the Dashboard (700) which will display alerts concerning any priority bids for goods and services that have been submitted by registered buyers and sellers for actioning. The trader will be able to click these priority order alerts (as per the supplier and merchant dashboard) which 41 will generate a pre-populated offer form that can be amended by the trader prior to being communicated to the buyer or seller. Upon successful execution of this transaction the trader will be able to go into the market and execute an equal and opposite transaction with the intention of netting out the transactions. Subsequently the seller and the buyer will have 5 settlement with the trader (and the trader will net a profit or a loss) however the delivery of the goods or services will happen between the buyer and the seller and not involve the trader. Within the Dashboard (700) will also be a 'Submit New Order' button. Traders will be able to click this button and an unpopulated new order form will appear. Traders will be able to 0 populate this form with relevant trade information and submit this into the market. As per the previous paragraph, once the transaction has been struck (to buy or sell a good or service) the trader will enter into an equal and opposite transaction and net the two transactions out and crystallise a gain or a loss. The Trader Module (701) is the gateway through which traders can access the market, 5 manage their outstanding orders, trade history, live market prices for specific goods and services and other market specific information. Traders can make amendments to existing orders by clicking a specific order hyperlink located in this module which will display the existing order details and enable amendments and/or cancellations to be made. In addition to this, traders may be able to click specific merchant bids (or supplier offers) displayed in .0 the market depth to execute an 'At Market' transaction. Further detail of this process is located in the detailed embodiment description of the Digital Market Module (150). The Analytics Module (702) is accessible to traders by clicking the appropriate tab located at the top of the Trader Portal page. This module provides detailed win/loss analysis and other information that will assist traders in their business. 25 DMACH (145) The DMACH Module houses the dynamic digital exchange traded market place and the clearing house functionality of Ntrata.com. This functionality is facilitated by four modules being the Digital Market Module (150), Risk Module (153), Deferred Settlement Module (156) and Clearing House Module (160). 30 Digital Market Module (150) There are at least five categories of users of the system being (1) Individuals (2) Co Operatives (3) Suppliers (4) Merchants and (5) Traders. These five user groups will place orders (bids and/or offers) into the Digital Market Module (150) that will pass through the Transaction Router (800). 42 The Transaction Router (800) conducts a series of validation tests that will ensure that each order (bids and offers) that is submitted into the Digital Market Module (150) is compliant and directed to the correct filter prior to being submitted into the Internal Market Module (850). One validation test is where a buyer or seller has submitted a priority order the Transaction 5 Router (800) will immediately direct the order to the Priority Transaction Module (810) for further filtering by the Priority Transaction Zoning Module (815). The Priority Transaction Module (810) is an algorithm which matches the buyers and sellers based upon (a) the ability of the seller to provide the good or service being sought and (b) the proximity of the seller to the buyer which is vital given it is a priority order. The proximity 0 test is conducted by the Priority Transaction Zoning Module (815) which will calculate the distance between the delivery address for the consumer and the distribution centre of the supplier. Once this process is complete the order is then passed into the Internal Market Module (850) and indicative prices (adjusted by the Price Adjustment Module (860)) from the identified panel of sellers will be communicated to the buyer for actioning. The buyer can 5 confirm that they would like to proceed and the order is dispatched directly to the panel of sellers for them to accept or decline the opportunity to fill the order. A second validation test is where a buyer has submitted a standard order (bid) however it is not large enough to meet the minimum size test (for example, an individual consumer submits an order for 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince however a threshold of 1,000kg of .0 'Grade A' Beef Mince exists). In this situation, the Transaction Router (800) will direct the order to the Aggregation Module (820) for the order to be aggregated with other orders for 'Grade A' Beef Mince with buyers within a pre-defined delivery zone as determined by the Aggregation Zoning Module (825). Once the aggregated order has reached the threshold of 1,000kg the order is released into the Internal Market Module (850) as a 'marketable parcel'. 25 A third validation test is where a buyer has submitted a standard order for 1,000kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince. As this order meets the minimum size threshold the Transaction Router (800) directs the order (bid) directly into the Internal Market Module (850) via the Bilateral Transaction Module (830). The Bilateral Transaction Module (830) provides a second series of more detailed validation tests (the first being those of the Transaction Router (800) to 30 ensure that the order (bid) is fully compliant and is directed to the correct part of the Internal Market Module (850)). A fourth validation test is where a buyer or seller has submitted an order for a derivative product to manage their price risk. The Transaction Router (800) will direct this order to the Derivative Module (840) to obtain a derivative price based upon market data from the 43 Internal Market Module (850). The derivative module will perform a number of validation tests confirming the derivative pricing request contains all necessary information. The Derivative Pricing Module (843) extracts historical price data and performs a number of calculations (such as quantifying volatility) which are then inserted into a formula embedded 5 into the Derivative Pricing Module (843) which will automatically generate a derivative price as per the buyer/seller's request and is communicated to the buyer/seller. The formula used is a version of the Black-Scholes formula for the calculation of European Put and Call options. The resultant price generated by the Derivative Pricing Module (843) is then passed through the Derivative Price Adjustment Module (846) which applies a number of weighted 0 factors (such as seasonality, market liquidity and other qualitative factors) to the price to generate a final price which a buyer (merchant or individual) or seller (supplier) can buy or sell at to manage their price risk. From a supplier perspective there are at least two categories of users of the system being (1) Individual Suppliers and (2) Supplier Co-Operatives. These users will place orders 5 (offers) into the Digital Market Module (150) in a similar manner to consumers with one additional step with the original order (offer) being passed through the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805). The Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) is a matrix which takes the entire product offering from a supplier and then converts the product into an Ntrata.com compliant .0 category. For example, a meat processor may produce 'Joe's Black Label Beef Mince' which is certified organic, grass fed beef with a fat content of less than 5%. The comparable Ntrata.com category for this item may be 'Grade A' Beef Mince. Therefore, a supplier may submit an order (offer) to sell 1,000kg, which will be reflected in the supplier's existing inventory management systems (which may be configured in the name of Joe's Black Label 25 Beef Mince) however once it has passed through the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805), both Ntrata.com and the consumer will recognise the product as 'Grade A' Beef Mince. Conversely, if a consumer order (bid) for 1,000kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince is being communicated to the supplier this order will pass through the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) and be converted into an order for 1,000kg of Joe's Black Label 30 Beef Mince from the supplier perspective. This means that if the supplier accepts the order and executes it, the transaction will flow into the supplier's existing inventory systems in the name of Joe's Black Label Beef Mince despite the fact that the transaction within Ntrata.com and from the consumer's perspective is 'Grade A' Beef Mince. This removes the requirement for suppliers to reconfigure existing inventory management systems. 44 Once the supplier order (offer) has been converted into an Ntrata.com compliance category by the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) it is sent to the Transaction Router (800) to be directed to the (a) Priority Transaction Module (810), (b) Aggregation Module (820), (c) Bilateral Transaction Module (830) or (d) Derivative Module (840). Once the order 5 has been directed into one of these four modules it undergoes the same filtering process as the consumer side described above. Additionally the Derivative Module (840) and the Derivative Pricing Module (843) behave in the same way for suppliers as consumers described earlier. The Internal Market Module (850) is the central hub through which all orders (consumer bids 0 and supplier offers) are received, allocated into specific market places (such as 'Grade A' Beef Mince) and sorted into order of best to worst price in order to generate a market depth (refer to Fig 13a Internal Market Module Display). The prices contained in the Internal Market Module (850) are raw (unadjusted) prices for goods and services as received from merchants, consumers and suppliers. As new orders (bids or offers) are received for goods 5 and services the Internal Market Module (850) is constantly updated to provide a live market price for users to buy or sell. The Price Adjustment Module (860) is a final filter which the raw (unadjusted) prices for goods and services are passed through to produce a market depth (accessible to merchants, consumers and suppliers in their respective portals) which displays all up pricing .0 for a good or service inclusive (for merchants and consumers) or exclusive (for suppliers) of delivery costs, Ntrata.com's transaction margin and any relevant taxes. Other adjustments that may be applied by the Price Adjustment Module (860) could be foreign exchange adjustments for cross border transactions and other duties or tariffs that may apply to such transactions. 25 Given delivery costs will differ from one user to another it may mean that Merchant 1046 may see the best price for 'Grade A' Beef Mince as coming from Supplier 0020 due to its cheaper delivery costs to Merchant 1046 (refer to Fig 13a Internal Market Module Display) however for Consumer 0197 may find that Supplier 0034 provides the best price for 'Grade A' Beef Mince due to the impact of delivery costs on the price (refer to Fig 13b Merchant 30 1046 Market View Post Price Adjustment Module (860)). From the consumer perspective, competing bids from other merchants or consumers will remain unadjusted to provide transparency and the ability for real time peer benchmarking. From the supplier perspective adjustments will be made to merchant and consumer bids to strip out taxes and delivery costs (as well as tariffs and foreign exchange effects) to provide 35 a supplier with a true sale price for the good or service. For example, a merchant may place 45 an order (bid) to buy 1,000kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince at a price no higher than $10.00 p/kg. The delivery costs, Ntrata.com margin and taxes may equate to $0.90, therefore the true sale price for the purposes of assessing profitability of the trade is $9.10. This means that suppliers can make informed decisions to sell goods or services at a price that they can be 5 confident will be greater than their cost of goods (for example $8.10). If this transaction is executed, the merchant will pay $10,000 (1,000kg x $10.00 p/kg) with $900 payable in transport, Ntrata.com margin and taxes and $9,100 in net revenue which will result in a profit of $1,000 achieved by the supplier. If the cost of goods was $9.50 p/kg a supplier may execute a trade with a merchant or consumer for $10.00 believing they are making a $0.50 0 p/kg profit however after adjusting for delivery, taxes and Ntrata.com margin they would actually be making a loss of $0.40 p/kg. Competitor orders (offers) remain unadjusted to enable real time competitor benchmarking to be undertaken. The Analytics Module (870) is a system which enables Ntrata.com to be able to extract data such as (but not limited to) market participant behaviour, price action in various 5 marketplaces and liquidity. The primary purpose of this module is to assist Ntrata.com in identifying any participants that may be manipulating the market or engaging in other unethical behaviour. The Tracking Module (880) is a system which enables users and Ntrata.com to be able to monitor the status of orders (bids and offers), the delivery of goods and services and the .0 status of transaction settlement. Users are able to access this information via their respective Dashboards. Examples The following non-limiting examples are used to illustrate certain preferred embodiments relating to an implementation referred to therein as 'Ntrata.com'. 25 Example 1 - Consumer (Merchant or Consumer) to Supplier Priority Transaction Process Figure 14a Priority Transaction Merchant to Supplier is a flow diagram outlining how a consumer (in this case an individual merchant) will procure 'Grade A' Beef Mince from a supplier using the priority transaction alternative within Ntrata.com. There are at least three ways in which a merchant may make the decision to enter into a priority transaction. 30 The first way is that the Inventory Management Module (401) will generate an alert that the supplies of 'Grade A' Beef Mince has fallen below a predetermined threshold. This alert will appear in the merchant's Dashboard (400) as a hyperlink. The merchant can click on the hyperlink and a pre-populated order pad will appear. 46 A second way is that the existing merchant proprietary inventory system records that inventory levels for 'Grade A' Beef Mince has fallen below a predetermined threshold. An alert is generated and directed into the Merchant Portal (135) and appear in the Dashboard (400) as a hyperlink. The merchant can click on the hyperlink and a pre-populated order pad 5 will appear. A third way is that the merchant may not wish to refer back to any inventory management systems to make a decision to order 'Grade A' Beef Mince (for example, the merchant may be aware that they have a large booking for dinner and they may wish to increase inventory levels in anticipation of this booking). The merchant logs into the Merchant Portal (135) and 0 accesses their Dashboard (400) and manually generates the order pad. The merchant in this case will need to manually populate the order pad. At the point of the product type field being populated with 'Grade A' Beef Mince (either automatically or manually) the order pad will send a message into the Internal Market Module (850) which will be directed to the market for 'Grade A' Beef Mince. A range of prices 5 from suppliers will be obtained (for example, the best four prices) and these raw prices will be directed to the Price Adjustment Module (860) and adjusted to account for factors such as delivery, taxes and Ntrata.com margin. The price will then have an automatic priority transaction margin applied reflecting the fact that this is a priority transaction. As a result of this four indicative prices are generated for the merchant and will provide the merchant with .0 an idea of what to expect if they seek to enter into a priority transaction (for example, "'Priority Transaction Grade A' Beef Mince Indicative Price $9.32 - $10.05"). This information is displayed in the order pad. If the merchant does not want to accept a price within this price band then they can cancel the transaction and not proceed at which time the order pad will disappear and the merchant 25 is returned to the dashboard. If the merchant wishes to proceed they can complete the order pad including variables such as (but not limited to) item quantity (for example 100kg) and delivery time. The merchant then can click 'Submit'. The priority transaction order is directed through the Procurement Module (450) and arrives at the Transaction Router (800). The Transaction Router (800) determines that the order is a 30 priority transaction and directs the order to the Priority Transaction Module (810) where it is validated to confirm that it is market compliant. If the order is not market compliant the order is rejected and a message is generated and sent to the Dashboard (400) for actioning by the merchant. If the order successfully completes this validation process is then directed to the Priority 35 Transaction Zoning Module (815) where a panel of applicable suppliers are identified to 47 receive the priority transaction order. Once this panel has been selected the order is sent to the Internal Market Module (850) to extract live market prices from the identified suppliers for 'Grade A' Beef Mince. The order (now with live market prices) is then sent to the Price Adjustment Module (860) and adjustments are made reflecting factors such as delivery time, 5 taxes, Ntrata.com margin and the priority transaction margin to produce an executable price for the suppliers. The order is then directed to the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) and the good or service name (e.g. 'Grade A' Beef Mince) is converted into the name which the relevant supplier will recognise. For example, the order for 100kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince is 0 converted into 100kg of Joe's Black Label Beef Mince for Supplier 1, 100kg of ABC Premium Beef Mince for Supplier 2, 100kg of Bill's 5 Star Beef Mince for Supplier 3 and 100kg of Blue Ribbon Beef Mince for Supplier 4. When the order alert (hyperlink) appears in the supplier's Dashboard (500) it will use the product names the supplier is familiar with (therefore removing the requirement for a reconfiguration of supplier's existing inventory and sales 5 management systems. Suppliers can click on the order alert hyperlink and the order pad will appear as per the details stipulated by the merchant. The supplier will only be able to amend the price. Supplier 1 decides not to quote on this transaction and so clicks 'Decline Order'. Supplier 2 doesn't respond before the order times out (for example, the order may be live for one hour .0 only so if the supplier doesn't respond within an hour they are unable to submit a response to the order). Supplier 3 wants to accept the price generated by the Internal Market Module (850) and Price Adjusted Module (1060) of $9.65 p/kg and clicks 'Submit'. Supplier 4 has excess capacity and takes the price of $9.72 p/kg which was generated by the Internal Market Module (850) and Price Adjustment Module (860) and edits it to $9.42 p/kg and clicks 25 'Submit'. All four responses are passed through the Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) and converted back into 'Grade A' Beef Mince specifications. The responses are then passed through the Price Adjustment Module (860) for any applicable adjustments for the merchant and appear in the merchant's Dashboard (400). 30 The merchant accesses the order which now contains four responses from the suppliers and identifies that Supplier 4 has offered the best price for the transaction. The merchant selects the price from Supplier 4 and clicks 'Accept'. A message is generated and sent to the Dashboard (400) belonging to Supplier 4. Messages are also sent to Supplier 1 - 3 advising that they have been unsuccessful in their offer to meet the merchant's requirements. 35 Market Risk Module (153) 48 The Market Risk Module (153) captures and quantifies liquidity, market and counterparty risks that face Ntrata.com. This module is designed to provide authorised users with a snapshot of Ntrata.com funding and operational requirements as they relate to these potential risks. Furthermore, the information contained within the Market Risk Module (153) 5 may be available to external users (individuals, merchants, suppliers, co-operatives and traders) via the analytics modules contained in their respective portals reflecting their individual risks. The Liquidity Risk Module (900) provides a series of funding mismatch ladders which will identify any funding shortfalls or surpluses that Ntrata.com may have on any given 0 settlement date. This means that Ntrata.com will be able to accurately identify funding mismatches which will enable Ntrata.com to either (a) place surplus funding on short term deposit with financial institutions, (b) allocate funding to any transactions that have elected to be funded by way of deferred settlement (further detail contained in Deferred Settlement Module (156)) or (c) call on short term funding lines to finance any funding shortfalls. 5 The Market Risk Module (905) provides a snapshot of the potential Value at Risk (VaR) Ntrata.com has at any given time with respect to transactions that have been executed but not yet undertaken the tripartite verification process (i.e. transactions that may fail and consequently need to be placed back into the marketplace and any resultant losses that may be incurred by innocent parties). The data calculated in this module may also be used by .0 market participants to calculate the potential VaR that faces their individual circumstances with respect to sale or purchase of goods and services that have not been executed as yet. The Default Risk Module (910) provides Ntrata.com with a real time view of the probability of default by buyers and sellers and enables Ntrata.com to manage its risk with regards to this probability of default. 25 Deferred Settlement Module (156) The Deferred Settlement Module (156) contains the algorithms and calculations required for Ntrata.com to be able to offer funding to buyers of goods and services to facilitate deferred settlement. For example, Merchant 1046 may have agreed to purchase 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince from Supplier 0020 for the settlement date of T + 3 and has agreed to pay a 30 notional amount of $10.00 per k/g for these goods (therefore Merchant 1046 will be obliged to pay $12,000 on T + 3). If Merchant 1046 doesn't have the funding to pay for this purchase they may elect to enter into a deferred settlement transaction with Ntrata.com to fund the purchase from Supplier 0020. This would involve Merchant 1046 to enter into a 'SWAP' with Ntrata.com where the first leg of the SWAP would be for Merchant 1046 to sell 35 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince to Ntrata.com at a price of $10.00 per k/g and then buy 49 back 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince from Ntrata.com at a price of $10.50 per k/g 7 days later (T + 10). From a settlement perspective, on T + 3 Ntrata.com will pay Merchant 1046 $12,000 for the front leg of the SWAP which the Merchant will then pay back to Ntrata.com to settle the 5 transaction with Supplier 0020 (therefore the net funds required from Merchant 1046 is $Nil and Supplier 0020 receives their money whilst Merchant 1046 receives its goods). On T + 10 Merchant 1046 must settle the second leg of the SWAP by paying Ntrata.com $12,600 (which is calculated by 1,200 x 10.50). The $600 additional cost is the price of deferring settlement. 0 The Deferred Settlement Pricing Module (1000) is a matrix which will cross-reference the creditworthiness of the counterparty seeking deferred settlement against a series of margins that Ntrata.com will apply to the transaction. For example, Merchant 1046 may have a very strong credit rating based upon previous behaviour and consequently they may be graded an 'A' credit rating which equates to pricing of Benchmark (for example, LIBOR) + 3%. 5 Alternatively, Merchant 1046 may have a poor credit rating (for example D) in which case they would be shown a price of Benchmark (for example, LIBOR) + 8%. The Deferred Settlement Pricing Calculator (1005) contains the formula required to generate an automatic price for deferred settlement by extracting (a) the relevant margin over benchmark as it relates to the merchant and then (b) applying it to the particulars of the .0 transaction for which settlement is deferred to generate a unit price for the SWAP. Clearing House Module (160) The Clearing House Module (160) is the component of the DMACH Module (145) which receives trade notifications from the Digital Market Module (150) arising from successfully executed transactions and then facilitates settlement of these transactions. A key feature of 25 the Clearing House Module (160) is the tripartite verification process where each Trade ID (related to a single transaction in a good or service) has three verification elements which need to be successfully completed prior to the transaction being settled by way of release of funds. The first element is Ntrata.com verification which occurs at a predetermined period after the 30 transaction has been executed (for example two hours) where Ntrata.com successfully debits a buyer's bank account for the notional amount of the transaction (unless the buyer has selected the 'Deferred Settlement' option whereby Ntrata.com will automatically fund the transaction on behalf of the buyer). The second element is the seller verification which occurs when the goods have been dispatched by the seller to the buyer. The seller (for 50 example a supplier) will access the Trade ID / Transaction Settlement message displayed in their Dashboard (500) and click 'Delivery Complete'. The third element is the buyer verification which occurs when the goods are delivered and the merchant is satisfied with the quality of the goods. The buyer (for example a merchant) will access the Trade ID / 5 Transaction Settlement message displayed in their Dashboard (400) and click 'Delivery Complete'. Once all three elements (Ntrata.com, buyer and seller) have been completed the funds held in escrow are released to the seller. Transaction Settlement Process Once the bid (from the buyer) and the offer (from the seller) have been matched a 0 transaction is considered to be executed. For example, Merchant 1046 buys 1,200 kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince from Supplier 0020 at a price of $9.62 p/kg for a total consideration of $11,544 for delivery (settlement) in three days (T + 3 days). This transaction is executed at 10:00am 9th April 2013. Scenario 1: Funds transfer successful and delivery of goods / services complete 5 Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. If this attempt is successful, the funds are held in escrow by Ntrata.com until the transaction is settled on 12th April 2013. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is generated and sent to .0 Supplier 0020 confirming that funds are held on their behalf with the message appearing on their Dashboard (500). There will be a status associated with the message advising 'Pending Settlement'. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is simultaneously generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that funds are held by Ntrata.com awaiting settlement. On the 12th April 2013 the Supplier 0020 delivers 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince to 25 Merchant 1046. Upon delivery Supplier 0020 clicks on the 'Transaction Settlement' message in their Dashboard (500) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Supplier 0020 has fulfilled their element of the tripartite verification process. Merchant 1046 review the goods and find them acceptable. They click on the 'Transaction 30 Settlement' message in their Dashboard (400) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Merchant 1046 are satisfied with the goods. As all three elements of the tripartite settlement process have been completed Ntrata.com may release the funds to the supplier in the following manner: $11,397 is paid to Supplier 51 0020 Sales Account, $30 is paid to Supplier 0020 Logistics Account, $3.00 is paid to Supplier 0020 Taxes Account and $114 is withheld and paid to Ntrata.com. Scenario 2: Funds transfer unsuccessful Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 5 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. If this attempt is unsuccessful a message is generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that insufficient funds are held to complete the transaction and requesting funds to be made available (or in the case that Ntrata.com deems Merchant 1046 to be an acceptable credit 0 risk offering deferred settlement where Ntrata.com will make the funds available for settlement - for the purposes of the example we assume that Merchant 1046 declines the option for deferred settlement). A message is simultaneously sent to Supplier 0020 advising that the risk of settlement failure has increased. A second attempt is made two hours after the first attempt at 2:00pm to direct debit the 5 funds. If successful then the transaction can proceed as per Scenario 1. If unsuccessful, then Ntrata.com will attempt to contact Merchant 1046 to verbally instruct them to make funds available. A message will also be sent to Supplier 0020 advising that a second attempt to secure funds has been unsuccessful. A third attempt is made two hours after the second attempt at 4:00pm to direct debit the .0 funds. If successful then the transaction can proceed as per Scenario 1. If unsuccessful, then Ntrata.com will (a) terminate the transaction and (b) debit Merchant 1046 a transaction failure fee which will be split between Ntrata.com and Supplier 0020 and (c) lock Merchant 1046 Ntrata.com access to ensure that Merchant 1046 cannot enter into any further transactions. Ntrata.com will then reinstate Supplier 1020's offer to sell 1,200 kg of 'Grade A' 25 Beef Mince into the Internal Market Module (1050) at $9.50. Scenario 3: Funds transfer successful however delivery is delayed Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. 30 If this attempt is successful, the funds are held in escrow by Ntrata.com until the transaction is settled on 12th April 2013. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is generated and sent to Supplier 0020 confirming that funds are held on their behalf with the message appearing on their Dashboard (500). There will be a status associated with the message advising 'Pending 52 Settlement'. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is simultaneously generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that funds are held by Ntrata.com awaiting settlement. On 12 April 2013 the goods do not arrive and the transaction is recognised by Ntrata.com as 'Outstanding'. Contact is initiated with Supplier 0020 and supplier is advised that a daily 5 settlement failure fee will be deducted from the sale proceeds held by Ntrata.com until such time as the transaction is settled (for example, if delivery is delayed by two days and the daily fee is $100 per day then an amount of $200 is withheld from Supplier 0020). When delivery is effected two days later the settlement process is as per Scenario 1 however the flow of funds will be: $11,197 is paid to Supplier 0020 Sales Account, $30 is 0 paid to Supplier 0020 Logistics Account, $3.00 is paid to Supplier 0020 Taxes Account, $114 is withheld and paid to Ntrata.com with $100 payable to Merchant 1046 as compensation for delivery delay and $100 retained by Ntrata.com for administration costs. Scenario 4: Funds transfer successful however good/service quality disputed Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 5 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. If this attempt is successful, the funds are held in escrow by Ntrata.com until the transaction is settled on 12th April 2013. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is generated and sent to Supplier 0020 confirming that funds are held on their behalf with the message appearing on .0 their Dashboard (500). There will be a status associated with the message advising 'Pending Settlement'. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is simultaneously generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that funds are held by Ntrata.com awaiting settlement. On the 12th April 2013 the Supplier 0020 delivers 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince to Merchant 1046. Upon delivery Supplier 0020 clicks on the 'Transaction Settlement' message 25 in their Dashboard (500) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Supplier 0020 has fulfilled their part of the transaction. Merchant 1046 review the goods and find them unacceptable. They click on the 'Transaction Settlement' message in their Dashboard (400) and clicks 'Dispute'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Merchant 1046 are unsatisfied with the goods. The transaction 30 will be moved from the Transaction Verification Module (1100) to the Disputed Transaction Module (1105) As one element (the seller verification) of the tripartite verification process is not completed Ntrata.com will not release the funds to the supplier until the dispute has been resolved 53 between the merchant and the supplier. Upon resolution Ntrata.com will release funds in a manner dependant on outcome. Scenario 5: Funds transfer successful and delivery of qoods / services complete however merchant doesn't complete their element of the tripartite verification process 5 Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. If this attempt is successful, the funds are held in escrow by Ntrata.com until the transaction is settled on 12th April 2013. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is generated and sent to 0 Supplier 0020 confirming that funds are held on their behalf with the message appearing on their Dashboard (500). There will be a status associated with the message advising 'Pending Settlement'. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is simultaneously generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that funds are held by Ntrata.com awaiting settlement. On the 12th April 2013 the Supplier 0020 delivers 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince to 5 Merchant 1046. Upon delivery Supplier 0020 clicks on the 'Transaction Settlement' message in their Dashboard (500) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Supplier 0020 has fulfilled their part of the transaction. Merchant 1046 review the goods and find them acceptable however they omit to click on 'Transaction Settlement' message in their Dashboard (400) and click 'Delivery Complete'. .0 After an acceptable period, Ntrata.com will determine that the transaction has not been disputed and release the funds to the supplier. Scenario 6: Funds transfer successful and delivery of qoods / services complete however supplier doesn't complete their part of the tripartite verification process Immediately after transaction execution (T = 0 days or 9th April 2013) funds totalling $11,544 25 are payable to Ntrata.com by Merchant 1046. At 12:00pm (two hours after execution) Ntrata.com will attempt to directly debit $11,544 from Merchant 1046's working account. If this attempt is successful, the funds are held in escrow by Ntrata.com until the transaction is settled on 12th April 2013. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is generated and sent to Supplier 0020 confirming that funds are held on their behalf with the message appearing on 30 their Dashboard (500). There will be a status associated with the message advising 'Pending Settlement'. A 'Transaction Settlement' message is simultaneously generated and sent to Merchant 1046 advising that funds are held by Ntrata.com awaiting settlement. 54 On the 12th April 2013 the Supplier 0020 delivers 1,200kg of 'Grade A' Beef Mince to Merchant 1046. Upon delivery Supplier 0020 forgets to click on the 'Transaction Settlement' message in their Dashboard (500) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. Merchant 1046 review the goods and find them acceptable. They click on the 'Transaction 5 Settlement' message in their Dashboard (400) and clicks 'Delivery Complete'. A message is received by Ntrata.com confirming that Merchant 1046 are satisfied with the goods. As Merchant 1046 has confirmed receipt and that the goods are acceptable, Ntrata.com will accept this as verification of settlement being completed and release the funds to the supplier. 0 The Transaction Verification Module (1100) keeps a record of all live transactions that have been executed and are awaiting tripartite verification to be complete. Authorised users will be able to click on individual transactions and identify at what stage the transaction is at. The Disputed Transaction Module (1105) keeps a record of all incomplete transactions that are currently being disputed. Ntrata.com will monitor these transactions and regularly liaise 5 with the buyer and seller to confirm status of these disputes. The Banking Module (1110) is the mechanism where funds are directly debited from buyers and directly credited to sellers upon completion of the tripartite settlement process. This module will interface with Ntrata.com accounts held with respective financial institutions. Data Storage and Retrieval Module (165) .0 The Data Storage & Retrieval Module (165) houses all data which is used by the various modules contained within the DMACH module (145) to adjust pricing for goods and services and derivative transactions. Within the Data Storage and Retrieval Module (165) there are four modules. Client Data Module (170) 25 The Client Data Module (170) is where all client specific data is held such as the client credit rating and profile details such as location, name etc. This module may be a database which holds information lodged at the time that a user is registered with Ntrata.com. This module also will hold analytical data such as participant behaviour in the market place which may be accessed by users via the respective analytics modules located in the user's specific portals. 30 Market Data Module (175) The Market Data Module (175) captures all trade related data such as (but not limited to) market turnover, volumes, volatility and liquidity. This data is then extracted by various 55 modules in the DMACH Module (145) to provide source data for the calculation of derivatives and other financial instruments that may be applicable to the market. This module also will provide source data for calculating market performance metrics such as transaction duration times for business purposes such as optimising the system. 5 Price Adjustment Data Module (180) The Price Adjustment Data Module (180) captures and houses all data which will be used by the Price Adjustment Module (860) and Derivative Price Adjustment Module (846) to adjust raw market prices into executable market prices for the system. Source data for the Price Adjustment Data Module (180) may come from the initial registration process of system 0 users, external financial market feeds (such as FX and Interest Rate Feeds), taxation schedules, fuel levy schedules, delivery charge schedules and the GPS co-ordinates of market participants to calculate delivery distances (these delivery distances may be housed in a distance matrix from which the Price Adjustment Module (860) and Derivative Price Adjustment Module (846) will extract values from). Note that the data outlined above is not 5 an exhaustive list of data that may be available in the Price Adjustment Data Module (180). Product Standardisation Data Module (185) The Product Standardisation Data Module (185) may house a good and service matrix where itemised goods and service schedules provided by suppliers are (a) categorised by Ntrata.com into market standards (for example, Joe's Black Label Beef Mince is classified by .0 Ntrata.com to be 'Grade A' Beef Mince) and then (b) entered into a matrix. The Product Standardisation Translation Module (805) will then extract data from the Product Standardisation Data Module (185) to ensure that buyers and sellers have a clear understanding of what goods they are buying and selling. Third Party Data Module (190) 25 The Third Party Data Module (190) may house relevant statistical data that may be provided to third parties such as banks or universities for the purposes of better understanding the market for goods and services. The provision of such data will be within the confines of relevant privacy laws that the market operates within. Banking Systems (195) 30 The banking systems refer to the financial institution systems that Ntrata.com may use to facilitate transfer of payments resultant from market activities. Third Party System User (197) 56 Third party system users refer to the systems that third parties may use to access data from the Third Party Data Module (190). 57

Claims (27)

1. A computer implemented method for a market place comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good 5 and / or service from the information interface; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service. 0

2. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the 5 good and / or service and optionally wherein a plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service.

3. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, .0 and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service from the information interface; submit at least one instruction in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and optionally wherein a 25 plurality of such instructions from a plurality of users enables an agreement to be reached between a buyer and seller of the good or service.

4. A computer implemented method for managing price information of a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computing an adjusted price based on one or 30 more variables and outputting to a display device the adjusted price.

5. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computing an adjusted price based on one or more variables and outputting to a display device the adjusted price. 35

6. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, 1 and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable receipt by a server of at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, computation of an adjusted price based on one or more variables and output to a display device of the adjusted price. 5

7. A computer implemented method for offering a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of information associated with a first good and / or service, searching a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregating the first and second goods 0 and / or services into a marketable combination.

8. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for receiving by a server at least one item of information associated with a first good and / or service, searching a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, 5 and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregating the first and second goods and / or services into a marketable combination.

9. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable .0 receipt by a server of at least one item of information associated with a first good and / or service, search of a data store for at least a second good and / or service which comprises at least one characteristic in common with the first good and / or service, and based on one or more pre-set criteria, aggregate the first and second goods and / or services into a marketable combination. 25

10. A computer implemented method for managing price risk of a good and / or service comprising: receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, selecting a derivative product, and computing a derivative product price based on one or more variables.

11. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for 30 receiving by a server at least one item of price information associated with a good or service, selecting a derivative product, and computing a derivative product price based on one or more variables.

12. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, 35 and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to enable receipt by a server of at least one item of price information associated with a good or 2 service, selection a derivative product, and computation of a derivative product price based on one or more variables.

13. A computer implemented method for a market place comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby 5 providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of a first user, a second user and an administrator. 0

14. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receive by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein 5 transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of a first user, a second user and an administrator.

15. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause .0 output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; provide to the server device at least one instruction in relation to an offer in relation to the good and / or service and wherein transaction settlement requires at least one instruction from each of a first user, a second user and an 25 administrator.

16. A computer implemented method for creating agreement comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about an intended agreement and receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the 30 user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information comprises audio and or video information.

17. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information 35 about an intended agreement and receiving by a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information comprises audio and or video information. 3

18. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and 5 thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about an intended agreement and submit to a server device at least one instruction from the user in relation to the intended agreement wherein the information comprises audio and or video information.

19. A computer implemented method for buying and / or selling goods and / or services 0 comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and using a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely 5 identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics.

20. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information .0 about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and using a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics. 25

21. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a 30 good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered; and use a unique identifier in respect of that offered good and / or service which uniquely identifies it according to one or more characteristics wherein the unique identifier is used with all goods and / or services with the same characteristics. 35

22. A computer implemented method for buying and / or selling goods and / or services comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain 4 information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the 5 buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation.

23. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of 0 information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation.

24. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage 5 device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set of information in .0 relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising an automatic deferred settlement mechanism which optionally enables the trade to settle on the pre-defined settlement date for the seller and provides the buyer with a deferred settlement of fund obligation.

25. A computer implemented method for buying and / or selling goods and / or services 25 comprising: outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised transaction router which accepts trade data from parties 30 comprising merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals.

26. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-executable instructions for outputting by a server device an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information 35 about a good and / or service; receiving at the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised transaction router which accepts trade data from parties comprising 5 merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals.

27. An apparatus, comprising: a storage device; and a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, 5 and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause output by a server device of an information interface for display by a client device and thereby providing a user with the ability to submit and / or obtain information about a good and / or service; send to the server device at least one set of information in relation to a good and / or service to be offered and further comprising a centralised 0 transaction router which accepts trade data from parties comprising merchants, suppliers, individuals, co-operatives and traders via their respective portals. 6