CA2311594A1

CA2311594A1 - System and method for offering goods and/or services on an electronic medium

Info

Publication number: CA2311594A1
Application number: CA 2311594
Authority: CA
Inventors: Christopher John Bolton; Jeffrey Ross Poste; Nguyen Vu Vien Dai; Boris Simic; Kent Kwok-Keng Choy; Marcel Alexandre Joseph Jacques
Original assignee: PREFERSOFT INC.
Current assignee: PREFERSOFT Inc
Priority date: 2000-06-14
Filing date: 2000-06-14
Publication date: 2001-12-14

Abstract

A method, system, computer readable media and signals for offering goods and/or services and/or information in an electronic medium is disclosed. The method involves causing a vendor database structure to be established on a server and creating a system of business model objects cooperating with the vendor database structure and operable to be configured by the vendor, to permit offering goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

Description

e-control SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OFFERING GOODS ANDlOR SERVICES ON
AN ELECTRONIC MEDIUM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention This invention relates to the application of information technologies to facilitate the buying and selling of products, services andlor information over public standards based networks, more particularly to methods, systems, computer readable media and signals to facilitate offering, buying andlor selling products, services andlor information.

2. Description of Related Art With the increasing use of the Internet and the World Wide Web, it has become common for businesses to create databases (hereinafter "back office software") to gather and manage information gathered from Web sites for marketing, selling goods and for providing client care. The traditional approach has been for businesses to re-input the gathered information into existing in-house databases by hand, resulting in two or three steps in building databases. This is inefficient.
Traditional solutions to this problem involve lengthy consulting periods, custom programming, and additional hardware and software. These traditional solutions tend to exceed the financial resources of most small to medium sized businesses. In many cases a small to medium sized business lacks the expertise to operate or customize these solutions to meet their needs. In addition, the slow deployment of these solutions decreases their ability to gain entrance and compete on the open marketplace.
Another problem commonly faced by businesses is the ability to easily adapt their back office databases to better deal with the new demands placed upon e-control them by business-to-business andlor a business-to-consumer clients.
Customers are now demanding direct, secure on-line access to past order information, warranty information, individual pricing, shipping terms, payment terms and product lists. Vendors who wish to manage these new demands of their on-line customers are usually not able to easily configure their back office database to meet this demand without having to dedicate large amounts of time and money to hire third party consultants and system integrators.
Another problem commonly faced by businesses as they attempt to capitalize on the new markets opened by the World Wide Web is the difficulty of providing product and pricing information in the language and currency of the respective international customer. Traditionally, all customers have had to purchase products in English using the currency of the United States.
Vendors who wish to cater to the needs of their foreign customers are rarely able to manage translation and currency conversion issues of the jurisdictions of these customers.
Another problem commonly faced by businesses is choosing what model of e-business should they adopt given that new and more versatile e-business models may quickly outdate any model. Currently, the e-business market has defined three main business models: a vendor centric model, a buyer centric model and a many vendors-to-many buyers model. In the vendor centric model the vendor offers existing information to known buyers who then have access to individual product information. In the buyer centric model the buyer has access to multiple vendors and can canvass multiple vendors to locate the best product and price whether they are known to the vendor or not. In the many vendors-to-many buyer model buyer are able to offer multiple vendors and vendors are able to canvass products to both known and unknown buyers. The traditional approach to selection of an e-business model has been to provide a single model solution which may preclude the Vendor from implementing either of the remaining two models. There is an increasing demand on e-business model flexibility, and the ability to provide e-control such flexibility is costly and can create a barrier to entry for most small to medium sized businesses.
Another problem commonly faced by businesses is deciding how and where to store the information generated by back and front office software and how to deliver this information via the Internet. Traditionally such information was stored in-house and managed by staff trained in Information Technology (IT).
However, due to the shortage and the cost of qualified IT personnel, most small to medium sized businesses are precluded from hiring or accessing experts in hardware and software and are incapable of dealing with the issues of data storage, back-up, on-line security and Internet access. Recently, this problem has been transferred to Application Service Providers (ASP's) and Internet Business Services (IBS) (hereinafter collectively called ASP's) who charge a monthly fee to host applications for these businesses and to deal with issues of data storage, back-up, on-line security and Internet access.
However, as most front and back office software is not designed to be remotely hosted at an ASP the issues of re-design and customization have been passed from businesses to ASPs. Having to customize this software to operate on an ASP severely limits a Vendor's ability to change ASPs in the future and may prohibit the Vendor from offering goods andlor services on the Internet. This problem is further compounded if the ASP insists that all hosted applications be compatible with a particular operating system such as Microsoft NT or Unix.
The present invention addresses these and other problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above problems by providing a method and system for offering goods and/or services in an electronic medium by causing a vendor database structure to be established on a server and by creating a system of business model objects cooperating with the vendor database structure and operable to be configured by the vendor, to permit e-control offering the goods or services according to a business model selected for a target end user.
Effectively, the system is adaptable to virtually any business model used by a target end user and, in particular, is adaptable to provide information or receive information from internal processes of an end user's computer system.
One important advantage of the invention is that business model objects can be created to cooperate with respective database structures and can be configured by the vendor to permit offering the goods and/or services according to respective business models for corresponding respective target end users.
The vendor is able to synchronize information in the vendor database structure with information separately accessible by the vendor. Such separately accessible information may be held at the vendor site or a remote site, for example. In the above way, the business processes maintained by the vendor may create information for a database held by the vendor, and this information can be imported into the system according to the invention. Alternatively, information from the database on the server, may be exported to the vendor system.
In one embodiment, the vendor obtains access to configure the business model objects and database structure, through a website accessible by the vendor. In addition, a target end user may also access the system through a separate website. The system may provide a plurality of webpages, which are navigable by the vendor, to access various functional features to permit the business model objects to be configured to adapt to a particular business model for a target end user.
The target end user may cooperate with the system, through a website for example, to make a request of the vendor, to supply goods or services offered by the vendor. The system may communicate this request to the vendor, by way of an export of such requests, for example.

e-control Preferably, the database structure and business model objects associated with a particular vendor, are stored in a manner to facilitate portability of the database structure and preferably for portability of the business model objects.
In one embodiment therefore, the database structure is stored as a separate unit and the business model objects are stored as a system of business model objects which can be copied and compressed, if necessary, and transmitted to any other computer on which the system according to the invention is hosted.
The database and/or system of business model objects may be loaded up on such system to provide the same database structure and business model object configurations as were enjoyed on the previous host system. In this way, the database structure and business model objects may be transfer-ed between systems, allowing a vendor to move from host system to host system, as required. Thus, if the vendor should become dissatisfied with a particular host system, or application service provider, the vendor may easily move the database structure and business model objects to another one.
As part of providing goods or services according to a business model of the target end user, the business model objects may be configured to establish a one-to-one relationship between at least one of products and services offered by the vendor and a corresponding target end user. This may involve providing customized displays of data in the database for each of a plurality of respective users. In addition, a respective customized collection of data from the database, may be provided to each of a plurality of users.
In addition, the business model objects may be configured to associate a particular pricing structure for goods or services, with a corresponding target end user or perhaps a category of target end users. Different pricing structures may be associated with different categories of target end users, for example.
Thus, the system is not confined to providing goods or services according to only one business model. A particular group of target end users may receive goods or services in an electronic auction form, for example, or at least one product or service may be provided to more than one target end user under a particular pricing structure, or the above-mentioned one-to-one relationship between at e-control least one of products and services offered by the vendor may be provided to a corresponding target end user.
It is desirable that the establishment of the database and the creation of the system of business model objects associated with the vendor, may be achieved by operating a computer program to automatically establish and create these entities. In one embodiment, a system administrator need only identify a name of the system comprised of the database structure and system of business model objects, and the computer program automatically establishes the necessary database structure and system of business model objects associated with that vendor. The same may be done for another vendor, in which case the host system is able to host a plurality of systems of database structures and business model objects for a plurality of vendors.
Access to the database by target end users which may be at the vendor, at the target end user or at a buyer, for example, or both, may be controlled through webpages accessible by the vendor, for example. At least one business model object may be responsible for controlling such communication and this business model object may be accessible through the webpage. Access to information may also involve the control of display of information in the database structure and particular users may have limited ability to view particular information in the database structure. In one embodiment, there are tables in the database that can be associated with accessibility of a particular user. Different users, of course, can have different accessibility.
Desirably, the system of database structure and business model objects can be used over a wide area network, such as the intemet, and thus may be used in a plurality of different countries. This may be facilitated by providing at least one business model object operable to facilitate translation of information to permit the information to be presented in a language other than the language in which it originates. For example, webpages may contain labels for particular fields, and a business model object may facilitate translation of such labels into another language, which may appear when the webpage is accessed by a user.

e-control Although, the same page would appear in the English language, for example, when viewed by the vendor. In one embodiment, a business model object provides a list of labels in a particular selected webpage and provides fields which may be completed by a translator, to permit translation of the fields to occur. When configuring the system for use by a particular user, the user may be associated with a particular language selected by the vendor, and thus when the user views the webpage, the webpage is viewed in the language selected by the vendor. In addition, information associated with products and other variable information on webpages may be translated in a similar manner such that particular users also receive information from the database in a language of their choice.
The system may further include business model objects which permit the creation of reports representing at least some of the information in the database.
In addition, at least one business model object may be created to facilitate addition and modification of information in the database structure.
Business model objects capable of creating a system which can be adapted to provide goods or services according to business models of virtually any target end user may be capable of providing a variety of different functions. The greater the number of available functions, the greater the ability to configure the system to adapt to any end user. Some exemplary business model objects which provide useful features for enabling such a system to be adapted to any end user include business model objects: for identifying vendor users who can access the database, for setting vendor user status indicators in the database, for setting at least one of available languages, currency, country, industry and/or units of measurement in which information relating to at least one of the products and services offered by the vendor, for setting vendor functionality, for setting vendor service indicators in the database, for producing a report from data in the database, for setting language identifiers in the database to define a language in which information is presented, for setting vendor administrative options, for customization by the vendor of displays operable to be viewed by a e-control _$_ potential purchaser, for setting the look and feel of an interface between the vendor and the database structure, for setting the look and feel of an interface between a potential purchaser and the database structure, for providing for at least one of importing and exporting product data from the vendor system into the database structure, for providing for at least one of importing and exporting purchase order information from the database structure to the vendor, for producing a display of a product tree showing at least one of products and services available from the vendor, for setting at least one of a product and service category indicator in the database to identif)r a general category of the product or service offered by the vendor, for displaying a list of products and services available from the vendor to at least one of all potential buyers, selected buyer types, selected companies and selected users, for setting buyer information in the database structure, for displaying purchase order and purchase order status, for modifying purchase orders and purchase order status, for specifying a communication system to be used for communications between the vendor and the host computer, for vendor configuration of a buyer greeting, for display of one of a product and service tree of the vendor, for display of general information about the vendor, for viewing and modifying purchase orders by the buyer, for transmission of messages between the buyer and the vendor, for sending an authentication request to the vendor, for providing to a translator a list of assigned items to be translated, for enabling a translator to select an assigned item to translate, and for enabling a translator to submit a translation of an assigned item.
In addition, preferably the database structure is operable to hold a plurality of categories of end user information and establish the vendor database structure such that at least one description object is associated with at least one category of the end user information. Such description object may comprise a variable length description object, for example.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer readable medium for providing instructions for directing a processor circuit to facilitate offering goods and/or services in an electronic medium, by causing a e-control _g_ vendor database structure to be established on a server and by creating a system of business model objects cooperating with the vendor database structure and operable to be configured by the vendor to permit offering the goods or services according to a business model selected for a target end user.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a signal embodied in a carrier wave, the signal comprising a first segment comprising instructions for directing a processor circuit to cause a vendor database structure to be established on a server, and a second segment comprising instructions for directing a processor circuit to create a system of business model objects cooperating with the vendor database structure and operable to be configured by the vendor to permit offering the goods andlor services according to a business model selected for a target end user.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for offering goods andlor services in an electronic medium, the system comprising a system of business model objects operable to cooperate with a vendor database structure and operable to be configured by the vendor to permit offering the goods or services according to the business model selected for a target end user.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system according to a first embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a pictorial representation of a computer program archkecture run in a host computer shown in Figure 1;

e-control Figure 3 is a vendor account webpage produced by the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a vendor application installation webpage produced by the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects used to establish a new vendor account in the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 5, for creating a new vendor application or importing a database in the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 7 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for creating a vendor specific database structure and initial vendor specific functional modules for a particular vendor in the host computer;
Figures 8A-8N is a tabular representation of exemplary data fields in a relational database structure produced in the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 9 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 5, for confirming a new vendor database structure and vendor functional module system has been installed in the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 10 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 5 to permit the entry of vendor specific information into the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 11 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 5 for use in importing a vendor specific database and functional modules to the host computer shown in Figure 1;

e-control Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating various levels of business model objects in the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a system of business module objects which cooperate to effect importation of data into the database structure of the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figures 14A,14B illustrate webpages produced by one or more of the system of business model objects shown in Figure 13, which permit a user to specify specific tables in the database structure which may be imported into the host computer shown in Figure 1;
Figure 15 is a flowchart representing a system of business model objects which cooperate to provide for exportation of data from the host computer of Figure 1 to a vendor computer system;
Figure 16 is a webpage produced by one or more of the system of business model objects shown in Figure 15 for use in exporting data from the host computer of Figure 1 to a vendor computer system;
Figure 17 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for facilitating ordering of goods andlor services provided by a vendor, by a target end user;
Figure 18 is a website produced by one or more of the system of business model objects shown in Figure 17 illustrating products available to a buyer, in a product tree arrangement;
Figure 19 is a website produced by one or more of the system of business model objects shown in Figure 17, illustrating details of a selected product from the product tree shown in Figure 18;
Figure 20 is a website produced by one or more of the system of business model objects shown in Figure 17, illustrating a purchase order produced by the system;

e-control Figure 21 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects produced by the host computer for conveying orders for goods or services to the vendor system;
Figure 22 is a website produced by one or more of the business model objects of Figure 21 viewable by the vendor, for displaying a plurality of purchase orders entered by various buyers;
Figure 23 is a website of a purchase order form produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 21, and viewable by the vendor and updatable by the vendor to indicate order status;
Figure 24 is a website produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 21, and viewable by the vendor for permitting the addition of a new status indicator for use with the website of Figure 23;
Figure 25A, 25B provide a flowchart comprised of a system of business model objects produced by the host computer to configure a new buyer profile;
Figure 26 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for enabling entry of personal information relating to a buyer;
Figure 27 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for entering buyer address information;
Figure 28 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for permitting entry of vendor location information;

e-control Figure 29 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for permitting entry of passwords and preferences of a particular buyer;
Figure 30 is a website produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for permitting the entry of buyer details specific to an individual buyer or category of buyers;
Figure 31 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for displaying a list of registered buyers;
Figure 32 is a customized webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 25A and 25B for providing product information and product ordering information for a selected product;
Figures 33A, 33B are flowcharts depicting a system of business model objects for producing a new buyer profile;
Figures 34 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 33A and 33B for enabling a user to select from a plurality of already created buyer profile or to create a new buyer profile;
Figure 35 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 33A and 33B for producing a new buyer profile;
Figure 36 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects of Figures 33A and 33B for permitting entry of discount types;

e-control Figure 37 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 33A and 33B, for permitting entry of product category information;
Figure 38 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 33A and 33B for permitting identification and insertion of a multimedia file associated with a product category;
Figure 39 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for associating pricing schemes with respective products or services;
Figure 40 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 39, for listing a plurality of products which have been entered into the system;
Figure 41 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 39, listing various buyer base price adjustments associated with different categories of target end users;
Figure 42 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for permitting a vendor to set the look and feel of displays produced for buyers;
Figure 43 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 42, for permitting entry of specific values to be applied to different features in webpages produced for target end users;
Figure 44 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for permitting translations of webpage information;
Figure 45 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 44, for permitting a vendor to specify a e-control particular webpage and language into which labels on the webpage are to be translated;
Figure 46 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 44, for listing labels which are to be translated and for providing spaces for translations to be entered;
Figure 47 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for permitting translation of product information;
Figure 48 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 47, for providing a list of product translations and status thereof;
Figure 49 is a webpage produced by the system of business model objects shown in Figure 47 for providing information to be translated and space for receiving translations of such information;
Figure 50 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for generating reports based on data in a database structure of the system;
Figure 51 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 50, for enabling a user to specify parameters for building a report;
Figure 52 is a webpage illustrating a sample report produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 50;
Figure 53 is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for receiving information relating to a product;
Figures 54A, 54B illustrate webpages produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 53 for receiving product information;

e-control Figure 55 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 53, for associating products with other products, such as in an assembly;
Figure 56 is an exemplary webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 53, for receiving information relating to properties of a product;
Figure 57A-C is a flowchart of a system of business model objects for producing a user profile and for setting user access to information in the database structure shown in Figure 1;
Figure 58 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 57A-C for permitting entry of user identification information;
Figure 59 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 57A-C, for configuring access information and user preferences;
Figure 60A-C are webpages produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figures 57A-C, for specifying user access to particular areas of the database structure shown in Figure 1;
Figure 61 is a flowchart showing a system of business model objects for permitting selecting of payment services;
Figure 62 is a webpage produced by one or mare of the business model objects shown in Figure 61, illustrating available payment services available to a user;
Figure 63 is a webpage produced by one or more of the business model objects shown in Figure 61, for permitting user entry of information regarding the way in which payment transactions are to occur.

e-COr1tr01 DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to Figure 1, a system for offering goods and/or services in an electronic medium, according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 10. In this embodiment, the system 10 is comprised of a database structure 12 and a system 14 of business model objects which cooperate with the vendor database structure 12 and which are operable to be configured to permit offering goods andlor services in an electronic medium according to a business model selected for a target end user.
Effectively, the business model objects are objects preferably implemented in an object oriented programming language to provide a set of tools or framework configurable by a vendor of the goods andlor services to offer goods andlor services to a target end user in accordance with a business model appropriate for the target end user. In this context a business model is a broad term used to represent a set or subset of the internal processes, and input and outputs to the processes used by a given entity to conduct its business. Each business entity may have its own custom, possibly unique processes by which it carries out its business and therefore in this embodiment said business model objects are configurable to facilitate offering goods andlor services in a manner customized for a particular end user.
Such customization may involve providing custom displays of a customized set of data. Customized displays and data may involve offering a unique complex discount scheme to a particular end user, for example.
In this embodiment, the system 10 including the database structure 12 and the business model objects 14 are hosted by a common host computer 18, although they may be hosted by different computers at the same location or located remotely from each other and in communication with each other.
The common host computer 18 may also host a communications interface 20 which facilitates communications with a vendor's computer system 22, which hosts applications specific to the vendor and the host communications interface 20 may also facilitate communications with an end user's computer e-control 24 which hosts applications specific to the end user. Alternatively, if the vendor's computer system 22 is adequately equipped, that computer system may be used to host any or each of the vendor specific applications, the database structure 12, the system of business model objects 14 and the communications interface 20.
The communications interface 20 itself may be provided by some of the business model objects and preferably provides for communications according to a packet switching protocol such as the Internet protocol. Thus, preferably, communications between the vendor's computer system 22 and the system of business model objects 14 and the database structure 12, and between the user's computer 24 and the system of business model objects 14 and the database structure 12 may be carried out over a wide area packet switching network such as the intemet, or an intranet, for example. In this embodiment, the user's computer system has been shown as a separate entity, however, it will be appreciated that the user's computer system 24 may include or be implemented on the vendor's computer system 22, to implement a system where the end users may be the vendor's own employees, for example.
In the embodiment described the system 10 functions to provide a system and method of enabling a business (hereinafter "the Vendor") to readily deploy an easily configurable on-line database which integrates and stores data from accounting, inventory, shipping, client contact and banking software, for example, of the vendor. The Vendor can then use this information to rapidly and easily create relationships with buyers and other end users such that the Vendor can adopt a vendor centric, buyer centric or many vendors to many buyer e-business model, or other e-business model, for any particular end user, for example, while providing goods or services according to a different model for another particular end user.
In the case of the vendor centric option, for example the Vendor is able to create a one-to-one relationship between products and buyers such that each e-COnt~01 buyer is greeted by name, shown individual product and price lists, past and present orders, payment and warranty terms, all in their own currency or multiple currencies and even in their own language.
In the case of the buyer centric option, the Buyer is able to canvass multiple Vendors using e-control to locate the best product for the best price.
In the case of the many vendors to many buyers option both the Vendor and the Buyer are able to participate in an auction whereby they can canvass for and offer products for sale.
In one embodiment the use of XML andlor HTML messaging in an http protocol provides the ability for a vendor to upload data from its own proprietary inventory or accounting systems, for example, to offer information about products andlor services offered by the vendor to end users.
The vendor may be a wholesaler of Christmas ornaments, for example, and the end users may be a plurality of retail outlets which purchase ornaments from the vendor. The vendor may upload data relating to Christmas ornaments, from its own proprietary inventory system such as the vendor computer system 22 maintained at the vendor's premises, to the system 10 of the present invention and the system 10 may provide at least some of such information to the retail outlets (using end users computer 24) by making web pages available for viewing over the Internet, by computer operators at the retail outlets. If a retail outlet chooses to purchase a Christmas ornament, it makes a purchase request through the webpage and this request is communicated to the vendor, who may then fill the order according to its usual internal procedures. A record of the purchase request may be kept at the system 10 and downloaded to the wholesaler, for convenient entry automatically, or by hand, for example, at the wholesaler's premises, depending upon the degree of sophistication of computer systems at the wholesaler. Thus the wholesaler need not reconfigure its existing computer or business systems to facilitate offering products for sale on the Internet, when the present invention is used.

e-control Using the present invention a Vendor account for offering products andlor services in this manner can be set up in a short period of time merely by creating a set of business model objects 14 and a database structure 12 for the vendor. In addition a link can be provided on an existing website of the Vendor to link visiting users from the Vendor's own website, to a system website on the host computer 18, defined by the system 14 business model objects. Through this system website the Vendor is then able to import existing product, pricing and contact information directly into the system and can easily configure the system to adapt it to best offer the products andlor services of the Vendors business. The Vendor is in complete control and can update, modify or otherwise make changes to the data and function of the system.
Also through the system website the end user, such as a customer of the Vendor, can obtain access to information stored in the data base structure 12.
There may be a requirement that users be registered and such registered users who enter the Vendor's site may be greeted by name, may be shown individual product and pricing lists, and may place and track their individual orders, in their own currency, even in their own language. Registered customers may also be able to communicate directly with the Vendor via the Web site to discuss other matters unrelated to actual purchase orders, for example.
The business model objects 14 may be categorized into a plurality of modules including a Set-up module, a Vendor module, a Buyer module and a Translation module. User access to each module may be controlled.
The Set-up Module may permit an administrator to create the separate database structure for the Vendor and provide gross configuration defaults such as name of company, authorized Vendor administrator name, user ID, password and language, for example. This process may take less than 15 minutes and at the conclusion the Vendor is able to enter the Vendor module.
The Set-up Module may also be capable of generating general statistics e-control relating to the Vendor's usage of the database including the number of customers, number of products or services, number of orders, number of direct communications with the customers, the language of these communications, the file size and word count of these communications, the number of word translations and the total size of the Vendor's database, for example.
The Vendor may have access to the Vendor Module, which permits an administrator of the vendor's choice to configure the system to adapt it to existing business practices of the vendor and to offer products andlor services to end users according to a corresponding e-business model. For instance, the Vendor may configure product and service information, pricing information and purchase order information to reflect default values. Or, the administrator may wish to create a field to represent their own unique characteristics of their product or service, to enter a new currency value, to select multiple languages, to complete a pricing matrix which directly reflects their existing customer pricing structure which may include an unique discount calculation for a particular end user or set of end users, or to create a record to reflect their own Purchase Order statuses, for example.
Once the system 10 has been configured the Vendor is able to import data from accounting, inventory, client contact, shipping and/or banking software to provide the end user with direct access to information with which they are associated. The importation or export of data may be done by transmitting tab, colon, or semi-colon delimited text files, or by using XML messaging, for example. The administrator can then configure the access of both Vendor staff and customers to this database. In this way sales, marketing, administrative, management and support staff can have access to the most up-to-date product, pricing, order and customer information in a controlled and access-restricted manner. The Administrator may assign full access to pricing and order information to Sales and Accounting staff but not to product information and a front receptionist may be provided read only access to customer order information for tracking purposes, for example.

e-control Similarly, the Administrator can custom configure the access of authorized or unauthorized customers or end users 24 to the system website. Access to information displayed on the Web site can be facilitated through a login screen and access can be limited to the existing needs of a general or specific customer. For example, an unauthorized end user, or "guest", can be permitted access to general product and pricing information but may be denied access to special product and pricing terms. Conversely, authorized end users may be provided with personal information and can be greeted by name, and can be provided individual product, service, price and purchase order information. In addition existing pricing may be converted into multiple currencies using an on-line multi-currency calculator, which may be provided in this module. In other words, the system permits a Vendor to provide a unique Web site to each and every end user, using a common Web address. The end user's "guest" or "authorized buyer" status determines the level of personalization displayed to the customer. Guests may be encouraged to become "authorized" by completing an online registration form.
When an authorized end user logins on they may be greeted by name, in a language of their choice and they may be shown personalized product, messaging, services, pricing, order history and purchase order terms.
Authorized end users may be permitted to place new orders, track existing orders and re-order items previously ordered. An on-line purchase order form may be provided to display ship to and bill to addresses, and personalized payment and shipping terms. Authorized end users may save orders until they complete their own in-house procedures, if required. For example, an authorized end user may be a junior procurement officer who must first obtain the consent of a supervisor before submitting the order to the Vendor. If this precondition has been communicated to the Vendor the Vendor can configure the software to automatically save these orders until they have been approved by an authorized party. Once approved the order is submitted to the Vendor for processing. Orders may be submitted for deferred billing or may be submitted e-control for payment by on-line credit card. Finally, the Vendor Module may provide the administrator with access to reports and help facilities.
The Translation Module may provide for translation of product or service information and multi-lingual correspondence with potential or existing end users. The Translation Module permits human translators to securely receive requests to translate text relating to product, communication or purchase order information. Once received the translator is then able to convert the host text into translated text, which is then automatically updated for both the Vendor and the Customer in both the Vendor and Buyer Modules. The translator may translate this text by hand or utilize existing third party translation software in this module. The Translator Module also provides the Vendor and Buyer with the status of translation as well as the word count of the translation.
The Buyer Module provides for changing the look and feel of how information will be displayed to end users. The Vendor may use existing templates or customize existing templates to achieve this. These templates may provide for complete customization. The Buyer Module may provide an audit trail of when the order was submitted, a record of all updated order statuses as well as details concerning the order itself. End users may export this information to their in-house accounting, inventory, shipping, client contact and banking software using a tab, colon, semi-colon delimited text document or using XML messaging, for example. The precise fields which may be communicated to end users may be selected to adapt to the limitations of in-house systems owned by the end user.
In addition, since the Vendor can identif)r their products using the end user's own unique identifier numbers the buyer module can facilitate direct importation of new orders to the vendor directly. If end users request information or place an order, a response to such request or confirmation of the order may be re-conveyed back to the Nguest" or authorized buyer by email andlor via the Buyer Module. In this way the authorized end user is provided with up-to-date information regarding new product, purchase order, shipping and payment terms. The authorized customer may also be permitted to contact the Vendor via e-control the Buyer module and such communication may be stored using the same database for later retrieval by other in-house databases.
Referring to Figure 2, in order to produce a system capable of achieving the functionality described above, the computer system which hosts the business model objects preferably has a program architecture as shown generally at 30. This architecture is comprised of an operating system 32, such as UnixT"' or Microsoft NTT"", for example. Running on the operating system 32 is a Java Virtual MachineTM. On top of the Java Virtual Machine is a set 36 of programming tools comprised of Cocobase Object distributed by Thought Inc.
of California USA and Servidium Servlet Framework of Servidium Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The programming tools are configured into a set 38 of business model objects which are implemented in Java Servlet and are organized into a plurality of functional modules including a Setup Module 40 and a plurality of functional module templates 42 for the Vendor Module, the Buyer Module and the Translator Module. Effectively, the business model objects provide atomic functionality for offering goods andlor services according to virtually any business model and the grouping of the business module objects into modules merely categorizes them into groups of common usage.
For example, the Setup Module 40 includes business model objects for creating for a vendor, an initial set of business model objects for implementing the Vendor Module, the Buyer Module and the Translator Module from the functional module templates 42, and this initial set contains business model objects which modify or set values in the database structure andlor in vendor alterable business model objects used to actually facilitate offering goods andlor services according to one or more desired business models and provides for gross configuration defaults such as name of company, authorized Vendor administrator name, user ID, password and language, for example. Such business model objects also provide for generating general statistics relating to the Vendor's usage of the database including the number of customers, number of products or services, number of orders, number of e-control direct communications with the customers, the language of these communications, the file size and word count of these communications, the number of word translations and the total size of the Vendor's database, for example.
It is to be noted that preferably, there is not a finite selection of pre-identified business models under which the business model objects facilitate offering of goods andlor services, but rather a virtually infinite number of ways the business model objects and information stored in the database can be configured to adapt said business model objects to offer goods andlor services according to virtually any business model.
Still referring to Figure 2, if the database structure 12 is to be hosted on the same computer as the system of business model objects, a database manager 44 such as Oracle 8.1.5 or any other relational database manager is also run.
Referring back to Figure 1, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the database structure 12 and business model objects 14 are hosted by a remotely located host computer 18 provided by an application service provider (ASP), for example. Typically the application service provider will operate the common computer to host a plurality of vendor accounts, each of which can be created from the Setup Module 40 and functional module templates 42 shown in Figure 2.
To facilitate communications with remote vendors and end users, the communications interface includes a web server 46 such as Apache.
In order to create a new vendor account for a vendor, an administrator at the application service provider establishes communications with a program in the Setup Module 40 shown in Figure 2, through an administrator website as shown at 41 in Figure 3, having an address such as http://hostnamelmasteradmin. From the administrator website 41, the administrator navigates to an install website as shown in Figure 4, and e-control interacts with the host system through this website to invoke various business model objects as shown in Figure 5.
Referring to Figure 5, effectively, a business model object as shown generally at 50 presents to the administrator the install webpage shown in Figure 4 and waits for navigational and control input from the administrator. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, for example, the administrator may enter the name of the vendor and click "next" 51. In response, the business model object 50, temporarily stores the vendor name and then passes control to another business model object shown generally at 52, which presents the webpage shown in Figure 6 to the administrator, and waits for input. In this webpage, input may occur in the form of a click on either a "create new" or "import database" hyperlink. "Create new" is for creating a new vendor account and "import database" is for importing information from the vendor to the host computer.
Continuing with the creation of a new vendor account, when the administrator clicks on the "create new" hyperlink , referring to Figure T a test is made as indicated at fi0 to ensure there are no duplicate names already in use and if not, as indicated at 62, objects in the Setup Module 40 shown in Figure 2 communicate with the database manager 44 to create a vendor modifiable instance of the vendor database structure 12. Generally, this involves the creation of a plurality of tables as shown in Figures 8a-8m.
Referring back to Figures 2 and 7, after creating the vendor database structure 12, a business model object 64, makes a copy of the functional module templates 42 shown in Figure 2 to create a vendor configurable set 66 of functional modules. This vendor configurable set of functional modules comprises the complete set of business model objects 14 for offering goods andlor services of the vendor. Thus a Vendor Module 68, a Buyer Module TO
and a translation module 72 are established for the vendor on the host computer 18.

e-control Referring back to Figure 7 after creating the set of modules or during the process of creating them, a business model object 74 in the setup module configures certain business model objects in the modules 68, 70 and T2, shown in Figure 2 to act as an interface between the set of modules 66 and the web server 46 to provide for vendor communications with the modules through IP addresses such as http:I/hostnamelnamelchoicemodule. It is through these IP addresses that the vendor has access to the vendor, buyer and translator modules and associated business model objects to customize them to offer goods andlor services in a manner suitable for a target end user.
Referring back to Figure 5, upon completion of the creation of the database structure 12 and functional modules 66, control is passed to another business model object 76 which presents the web page shown in Figure 9 to the administrator, to confirm that the database structure and functional modules have been created without error. This business model object 76 then waits for user navigation to pass control to another business model object 78 which presents the web page shown in Figure 10 and waits for user input of vendor-specific information and further navigation.
After entering further information, the administrator clicks on "add" and the vendor specific information entered by the administrator is loaded into appropriate fields of the database tables. Or, more particularly, different bits of information are associated, or related with each other, in the database structure 12 shown in Figure 2. Upon completion of this task, basic administrator setup of the database structure 12 and functional modules specific to the vendor is completed and now the vendor can access the modules through the IP addresses of individual modules, to configure the database structure 12 and functional modules 68, ?0 and 72 and more particularly the business model objects, to offer goods andlor services to a variety of target end users, each with its own customized configuration, to suit the appropriate business model for offering goods andlor services to each individual target end user.

e-control Referring to Figure 2, it will be appreciated that the ASP may host accounts of a plurality of different vendors (or of the same vendor) and each account will have an associated database structure such as VDBn shown at 71 and a vendor-specific (or account specific) functional module system such as FMSn shown at 73. Thus, each account has its own respective space on the host computer for its associated functional modules system of business model objects and database structure. Preferably, each functional module system and its associated database structure are relocatably modular in that they may be simply copied and sent to a computer of another ASP, if required.
Such sending may occur by email, for example. By making each functional module system and its associated database structure relocatably modular, these components are portable, allowing the vendor to leave one ASP and offer goods andlor services through another ASP, if required. Also, in the event that an ASP replaces its computer system, for example, these components are easily installed on another computer system. The effect of this is that the vendor who has configured these components can copy them to another system and be up and running immediately, without having to configure, or reconfigure a new system.
Referring to Figure 5, portability of the database, in particular, the ability to load up an entire database into the database structure is shown generally at ?5 and is provided by a first business model object ?7 which causes the web page shown in Figure 11 to be presented to the administrator and waits for user input of the name and path of a .zip file representing the entire vendor system including a database structure, complete with data, and functional modules which are to be loaded from the vendor's system to the host computer 18. (It is assumed that the vendor has already received the file from a previous host on which the system was installed.) Referring to Figures 5 and 11, the administrator then clicks the submit button and a further business model object 79 uploads the file to the host computer 18 to create the vendor database structure 12 and the vendor specific functional modules 66. In this e-control way a vendor "system" may be ported or moved from one host to another, allowing the vendor to easily switch application service providers, for example.
Referring to Figure 12, the business model objects may be organized into different levels of abstraction as shown at 80. These different levels of abstraction allow corresponding small to major changes in business operational characteristics to be implemented in the system. The multiple levels of abstraction may be organized into 8 layers of abstraction identified as levels 0-7. Level 0 (82) is a Physical Database Abstraction Level which provides interaction with the database. Business model objects in this level are operable to create new tables in the database structure, delete tables, modify tables, change data fields & attributes, change relationships between tables, and define new relationships between tables, for example.
Level 1 (84) is a mapping level and is implemented by Cocobase Object/Relational Mapping Middleware which is provided by the set 36 of CocoBase Objects software shown in Figure 2 to define database compositional components of business objects. Generally business model objects in this level provide for creating, modifying, and deleting Cocobase maps and beans that control how the database is accessed, and what data is returned from an access. This is accomplished by mapping the business model objects to the database. In some cases a single map, or Cocobase Bean, will be used to map directly to multiple tables, in the database in a multi-table join to directly represent a business model object. In other cases multiple maps, each representing a single physical relational table, and a Cocobase Bean, may be used together in a single business model object.
Level 2 (86) joins the Servidium Servlet Framework with Level 1 business model objects to perform create, update, and delete operations on physical database tables such as lookup tables, and on simple business model object constructs, such as a Person Object. Business model objects in this level allow a user to Create, Update, and Delete these simple business model object constructs. These operations are used later in the creation and e-control composition of higher level processes such as entering a new Buyer User ID
into the system. This operation involves multiple tables and more complex processes involving decision points about when and how to allow or disallow certain Create, Update, Delete operations to accomplish higher level objectives.
Level 3 (88) business model objects provide the capability to filter and group lower level operations to accomplish higher level objectives. An example of filtering may be only displaying addresses of a selected Address Type and for a selected Company when displaying the entries in a lookup table such as Address. An example of grouping would be allowing a user to assign Products to a ProductCatalog, or group one or more specific catalogs under a more general catalog. Level 3 business model objects may also involve the definition of basic navigational processes to accomplish higher level business objectives. An example of this is enabling the re-usable screen navigation processes, buttons, and actions that allow multiple Level 2 physical table create-update-delete constructs (such as Person, Address, Company, eAddress, Login, etc.) to be used to compose a Level 4 business object such as Buyer User ID.
Level 4 (90) business model objects provide business process constructs for entering a purchase order, for submitting that purchase order, and for receiving that purchase order, for example. The business model objects at this level may also provide for displaying a catalog for a user based upon their buyer profile and its inherent permissions, as well as the buyer parameters set by the vendor for that particular buyer, for example.
Level 5 (92) business model objects provide higher level constructs that deal with presentation parameters such as color, font, etc. and display structure such as how lower level constructs are grouped and ordered for presentation to a user to accomplish a business objective within the system. Examples of level 5 constructs are Dreamweaver Templates, HTML Templates, look and feel pages, and look and feel parameters that control background color, etc., e-control within frames and windows that make up more complex presentation structures.
Level 6 (94) business model objects may be used to add, control, and modify system capability. Examples of these constructs include EJB wrappers and containers, RMI, CORBA, or N-Tier constructs for deployment, Application servers, Management servers, Custom applets with enhanced user interface capability, and Java Server Page constructs for fast customization.
Level 7 (96) business model objects provide for interfacing, addition, or integration of custom or third party functionality into the system. Examples of level 7 constructs include Tax calculation systems, Credit card transaction systems, Inventory systems, Shipping systems, and Accounting systems.
Interface modules for these systems are also examples of level 7 constructs.
Preferably all interfaces are implemented with open XML standards wherever possible to minimize the number of interfaces that must be provided, while at the same time maximizing the interface capability and flexibility.
It will be appreciated that in implementing the functionality of the modules, business model objects from more than one level may be involved and there is no clear dividing line as to which business model objects are best categorized in which levels. The above description of levels merely provides a loose organization of business model objects to set out some considerations of system design. Other designs may be used to implement the same functionality, without categorizing business model objects as above.
Generally, the business model objects within a given module employ one or more business model objects to achieve a desired set of functionality, or functional features. Many of these functional features and hence many business model objects are executed in response to activation of one or more control buttons on a webpage hosted by the common computer and associated with a given module. As described above, there is a separate webpage which acts as an entry point, for each module. When a given web page is accessed, activation of control buttons on that webpage cause e-control corresponding business objects to be executed, which in turn may call on other business model objects to provide the corresponding functionality.
Thus, control buttons on the webpages of this embodiment are mapped to corresponding business model objects.
Some examples of functionality provided by business model objects according to this embodiment which enable a vendor to configure the database and functional modules to suit a particular target end user are provided below. It will be appreciated that the following examples are not exhaustive and other functional features may be provided without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Importation of Data into Database structure Referring to Figure 13, a system of business model objects for importation of data into the database structure 12 is shown generally at 100. A business model object shown generally at 102 causes a vendor import page as shown in Figure 14 to be displayed. The user is prompted to enter a file name and to specify a file type in field 103. Next, the user selects and deselects incoming fields to correspond to what is required by the corresponding database structure 12. After entering such information, a further business model object 104 of Figure 13 is activated when the user actuates an import button 105 on the webpage shown in Figure 14. This business model object 104 causes the host computer 18 to upload a file from the vendor's computer system 22. This business model object causes a further business model object 106 to parse the file according to the file type and to store the fields of the file in the corresponding database structure 12. Next, business model object 108 determines whether any errors have occurred during the copying of the file and object 110 indicates a status in the original webpage shown in Figure 14.
(Status is not shown in Figure 14, however it would appear as simply a message across the screen).

e-control Export of Data Referring to Figure 15, system of business model objects for exporting data from the host computer 18 to the vendor's computer system 22 is shown generally at 112 and includes a first business model object 114 which causes a vendor export page as shown in Figure 16 to be displayed. This page permits the user to select tables of the database structure to be exported to the vendor's computer system 22. The user selects which tables are to be exported and then clicks on an export button 115. Actuation of the export button 115 invokes an object as shown at 116 in Figure 15 which modifies the webpage as shown in Figure 16 to prompt the user for a storage location at the vendors site, and after entering such storage location, a further object 118 is invoked to transmit the file from the host computer 18 to the vendor's computer system 22.
Orderin Referring to Figure 17, a system of business model objects enabling the ordering of goods or services by an end user is shown generally at 120. This business model object begins by invoking a further business model object 122 which causes a webpage as shown in Figure 18 to be displayed to the target end user (buyer) and to wait for user navigation or product selection. Product selection is achieved by clicking on a hyperlink, a plurality of which are shown at 124 in a product tree arrangement as shown in Figure 18. Each hyperlink relates to a different product available to that end user. Upon selection of a particular product, a further business model object 127 presents a webpage as shown in Figure 19. On the left hand side of the webpage, the selected item 125 is highlighted and certain details for cooperating with the buyer's business are indicated on the page. For example, such details may include the shipping location, availability, unique characteristics, external I.D., list price, the buyer's price (your price) and an indication of savings. Specific values indicated under each of these fields are retrieved from the tables in the database, corresponding to the particular buyer and product. Should the user activate the add to order button 126 shown in Figure 19, an add to order business model object 128 e-control shown in Figure 17 is actuated to associate a product I.D., a buyer LD. and a purchase order I.D. with each other. The user may then select another product and choose to add that product, as required. This is shown at 130 at Figure 17.
If the user has indicated all products which are to be added to the order, the buyer may select the product ordering button 132 shown in Figure 19 to invoke a product ordering business model object 134 shown in Figure 17. This causes the webpage shown in Figure 20 to be displayed to permit the purchaser to add information such as purchase order number 135 and comments into the comment field 144. Other data such as "bill to" and "ship to" information, unit price, etc. is retrieved from the database structure 12.
While viewing the webpage shown in Figure 20, the user may choose to select currency and to calculate price by selection of the calculate price button 136 shown in Figure 20, which invokes a calculate price business model object 138 shown in Figure 17. This business model object looks in the database structure for a corresponding price table for the buyer and calculates a price value according to the price table and currency selection provided in Figure 20. The prices are shown on the webpage, in the appropriately calculated currency.
Alternatively, the user may select the order button 140 in Figure 20 which causes an order business model object 142 as shown in Figure 17 to be invoked. This business model object associates comments provided in the comment field 144 in Figure 20 with buyer purchase order number, buyer I.D., date, status, mod~ed on and internal PO I.D. numbers.
Alternatively, the user may select a save button 146 shown in Figure 20 which causes a save business model object 148 in Figure 17 to be invoked to associate a temporary purchase order I.D. with the purchase order. This allows it to be held for later processing, if desired. As a result of invoking the business model object shown in Figure 17, effectively the tables in the database structure are updated with information relating to items the user desires to purchase or acquire, together with further information regarding pricing and shipping, etc.
which are particularly unique to a user. Note that the user can adjust the e-control currency in which the prices of items on the purchase order are shown and this is just one way which the presentation of information is customized for the target end user. If the target end user has a personal business model in which it expects to receive pricing in Japanese Yen, for example, the above described process facilitates cooperation with such business model by providing pricing in Japanese Yen. In addition, comments can be added to the purchase order and the target end user can add its own purchase order number as indicated, for cooperation with its own internal business processes and this is another way in which this system is customizable to adapt to a particular end user's business model.
Processing of Purchase C7rders Referring to Figure 1, a vendor may choose to address the system to determine purchase orders which have been received from various buyers. In order to do this, the vendor navigates to a purchase order webpage, to activate a business model object as shown at 150 in Figure 21. This business model object presents an order webpage as shown in Figure 22 and permits the vendor to select a particular purchase order form to view. When the vendor selects a particular purchase order form, a further business model object 152 is executed which causes the webpage shown in Figure 23 to be displayed. The vendor may then choose to update the order status, or create a new order status. If the vendor chooses to update, a business model object 154 is operated which associates vendor specifiable data provided by the vendor on the webpage shown in Figure 23 with all other information associated with the purchase order, in the purchase order table. If the vendor selects order status, then a further business model object 156 causes the webpage shown in Figure 24 to appear, to permit the vendor to enter the status name and then when the save button 157 is actuated, business model object 162 shown in Figure 21 is run to save such status in association with the purchase order, such that the saved status will appear in the order status field 160 shown in Figure 23. It should be noted that the vendor may enter his own status name and is not confined to status names provided by the system. In this way, the system is adaptable to the e-control vendor's individual business model object processes because the same terminology used by the vendor can be used by the system, so the vendor can readily understand information provided by the system.
Adding a New Buyer If a new target end user (buyer) approaches the vendor as a guest with an interest to use the system to make purchases or receive goods or services from the vendor, the vendor may receive this request directly from a request information form provided to this guest buyer in the Buyer Module or may provide pre-authorization by adding the name of the buyer and identification of the buyer to the database, so the buyer may interact with the system in a way determined by the vendor. In other words, the buyer may indicate to the vendor certain requirements of its own internal business models, and the vendor may configure the system to interface wkh the buyer in a manner which is efficient and which cooperates with the buyer's internal business processes. To do this, through the vendor module the vendor runs a business model object as shown at 1T0 in Figure 25A. Effectively, this process begins with the presentation of a webpage as shown in Figure 26, which provides for execution of a first step in creating a new buyer profile. This first step involves the entry of personal information. Such information is automatically loaded into the fields if it is available already in the database structure, otherwise, the vendor enters the information directly, alternatively, fields can be configured and such information may be imported from an external, third party database, such as MaximizerT""
produced by Maximizer Technologies Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
With respect to addresses, the user may choose to add a new address for the new buyer, in which case a business model object 172 causes the webpage of Figure 27 to be presented, to permit the entry of address information, etc. In this webpage, there is an option to select a new location, and if this is selected, a further business model object 174 presents a new webpage as shown in Figure 28, to permit further details of the location to be entered. Such details may include time zone information, to permit local times of the buyer to be correlated e-control with the local time of the vendor, especially for the purpose of processing orders in a timely manner. Effectively, the information entered through the webpages shown in Figures 27 and 28 are saved in appropriate tables in the database structure on the actuation of either save button in either webpage. This is done by either of the business model objects 176 or 178, depending on the webpage in which the save button is actuated.
Referring back to Figure 26, electronic address information can be entered in a similar manner.
After entering such additional information, the vendor may actuate the next button 180 shown in Figure 26 to invoke a business model object 182 shown in Figure 25A, which stores the information shown in Figure 26, in appropriate tables, in connection with tables with which the information shown in Figures and 28 are associated. Next, business model object 184 presents the webpage shown in Figure 29, which prompts the vendor to enter login I.D., password, status, preferred currency and preferred data format information. Referring to Figure 25B, after entering such information, the vendor may actuate the next button 186 shown in Figure 29 to invoke a further business model object 188 shown in Figure 25B. This further business model object 188 stores the information entered by the vendor in Figure 29 in association with all other information associated with the buyer.
Next, a further business model object 190 is run, to present the webpage shown in Figure 30 to the vendor. This permits the vendor to enter or select attributes such as buyer type, terms associated with the buyer, a buyer profile, price list, currencies and purchase order currencies. In order to select this information, the user may select from any field of information or may actuate the add another button 192 shown in Figure 30 which permits another field to be added to any of the buyer type, terms, buyer profiles, etc. Such addition is done by a further business model object 194 shown in Figure 25B. Once the vendor has selected appropriate information as shown in Figure 30, the vendor may actuate the done button 196 which causes a further business model object 198 as shown in e-control Figure 25B to be actuated to store the information shown in Figure 30 in association with all other information associated with the buyer. This process is then completed with the actuation of a further business model object 200 which causes the webpage shown in Figure 31 to be displayed. This webpage displays a list of registered buyers together with certain information relating to the buyers.
It will be appreciated that Figures 29 and 30 permit the vendor to specify particular information relating to the buyer, to enable the system to present information to the buyer in a manner customized for that particular buyer. Web pages accessible by the buyer can be modified to provide a custom look and feel to the presentation of information displayed to the buyer, as shown in Figure 32. In particular, the vendor may modify the HTML of a particular web page, for example.
As a plurality of buyers may be registered as shown in Figure 31, each may have individually different, customized set of buyer details and display of information which are entered through the webpages shown in Figure 29 and 30, and in general through Figures 26 through 30. This is another example of how the system may be configured by the vendor, to provide customized display of information to a buyer.
New Buyer Profile Referring to Figure 33A, a set of business model objects for creating a new buyer profile is shown generally at 210. The user navigates to a webpage as shown in Figure 34, which is invoked by a business model object 212 as shown in Figure 33A. Referring to Figure 34, a list of existing buyer profiles is provided, and such profiles identify various categories of buyers and discount types associated with such categories. For example, one profile shown at 214 provides a no discount/all inventory buyer profile in which no discount is provided as indicated at 216. Alternatively, a wholesaler buyer profile such as shown at 218 may have associated with it a wholesaler discount type 220, where for example a forty percent discount may be provided on all inventory.

e-control Thus, various buyer profiles can be created in association with different buyers, such that all buyers of a particular category receive the same treatment with respect to pricing. Alternatively, a new buyer profile may be created for specific buyers to create a customized buyer profile for any given buyer.
Such a new buyer profile is invoked by the user actuating the new button 222 shown in Figure 34. Referring to Figure 33A, this invokes a business model object 224, which presents the webpage shown in Figure 35 to the vendor. This permits a new profile name to be added and a discount type and product category to be added. If the vendor selects to add a new discount type, then the webpage shown in Figure 36 is presented by a business model object 226 shown in Figure 33A. Referring back to Figure 36, the vendor may enter a name and a discount factor and actuate a save button 228, which invokes a further business model object 230 shown in Figure 32A to store the name and discount factor in association with a corresponding discount I.D. value and the buyer profile name.
On the other hand, referring back to Figure 35, if the vendor selects to add a new product category, a business model object 232 as shown in Figure 33A
causes the webpage of Figure 37 to be presented, to permit the vendor to enter details relating to product category, parent category, description, translation, multimedia such as graphics for example, etc.
If the user selects edit 233 under the multimedia category, for example, referring to Figure 33B, a business model object 234 is invoked, which causes the webpage shown in Figure 38 to be displayed. This webpage permits the vendor to associate a multimedia file with the product category to permit a graphical image, for example, of the product to be made available to the buyer. The webpage provides for browsing or direct insertion of a multimedia file caption to be associated with the product category LD. This may be a brief description of the product, for example. On entry of such information and actuation of an insert button 235 shown in Figure 38, the webpage shown in Figure 37 is redisplayed. User may then actuate the save button to cause information shown e-control in the product category form and the information shown in Figure 38 to be associated with a particular product category. Referring back to Figure 35, as each new product category is added, the fist shown in Figure 35 grows and this list is available to all buyers and individual items from the list may be selected to be made available to particular buyers. This is yet another way that the system is customizable for individual buyers.
If while viewing Figure 35 the user actuates an insert button 236 as shown, referring to Figure 33A, a further business model object 238 is actuated to cause the buyer profile name, discount type, and product category information to be stored in association with each other. In the above manner, discount types and product categories may be individually created for use by all potential buyers, and may be associated with a particular buyer through selection on the webpage shown in Figure 35. Thus, individual discount types and product categories may be associated with particular buyers, thus facilitating further customization of the offering of goods and/or services to particular buyers.
Pricing structure Referring to Figures 39, a plurality of business model objects for associating a complex pricing structure with particular products is shown generally at 250.
A
first business model object 252 invokes the webpage shown in Figure 40 in response to vendor access through the vendor module. Figure 39 shows a plurality of products identified by product I.D.s, product name, modification date and an indication of the person who made the last modification. The products may be sorted by any of the indicated fields. The user may select from a list of available products or may add a new product by actuation of the new button 254. If one of the existing products is selected, for example, referring to Figure 39A, a business model object 256 is actuated which causes the webpage shown in Figure 40 to be displayed.
Webpage 40 shows an indication of the product name and inventory I.D. and provides a table of buyer based price adjustment factors in various currency amounts, available with the particular product. In addition, it indicates threshold e-control quantities at which particular price factors and price modifiers become effective and the Vendor may then combine these price factors or modifiers to create a total discount sum. The vendor has the option to enter numbers representing the various factors and modifiers in the table, to select a particular pricing structure for the item, to indicate pricing to be provided to various categories of buyers. After such information has been entered, the user may actuate an update button 258 which causes the business model object 260 shown in Figure 38B to be run, to store the product pricing table indicated in Figure 41 in the database structure, in association with the particular product name and inventory I.D.
Referring to Figure 41, it will be appreciated that the various discount types which were entered through Figure 36 are shown as headings on columns of base price adjustment factors associated with the corresponding discount type and currency. In the above manner, separate discount factors or base price adjustments may be associated with each individual product. And thus, by associating a particular discount type with a particular buyer, a particular pricing can be associated with a particular buyer. This is yet another example as to how the system is customizable to suit the needs of the buyer.
Look and Feel for Vendor Referring to Figure 42, a plurality of business model objects for setting the look and feel of webpages seen by the vendor is shown generally at 261. A first business model object 262 causes the webpage shown in Figure 43 to be displayed to permit the vendor to associate various formatting attributes to webpages viewed by the vendor. The user may select from a default set of format attributes or may set custom attributes. Once attributes have been selected, the user may actuate an apply button 264 which causes a further business model object 266 as shown in Figure 42 to be invoked to store the indicated values in an associated page table (it will be appreciated that each individual webpage is stored as a template having adjustable attributes which are adjustable through the use of the webpage shown in Figure 43).

e-control Screen translation Referring to Figure 44, a plurality of business model objects for providing translation of information in webpages presented to the user is shown generally at 270. A first business model object 272 causes the webpage shown in Figure 45 to be displayed to the user which permits the user to identify a page template from a list of predefined page templates as shown at 274 and to select from a list of predefined languages shown at 276, to indicate the language into which the information of the associated page template is to be translated. After selecting the desired language into which the selected page template is to be translated, the user selects the next button 278 which causes the business model object 280 shown in Figure 44 to be invoked. This business model object causes the webpage shown in Figure 46 to be displayed to permit the English or base language labels of the indicated webpage to be listed, and to have a corresponding column for a translator or a third party translation software to enter the corresponding translated term. Thus, the webpage shown in Figure 46 would normally be used by a human translator to translate the webpage into any desired language.
It will be appreciated that the user of the webpage shown in Figure 46 allows a translator, pefiaps located remotely, perhaps several thousand miles away, to perform the required translation.
It will also be appreciated that the user of the webpage shown in Figure 45 allows a user to convert the existing default language tables to represent other base language terminology. For example, a user could change the base language of a control button which has a default setting of "Product and Services" to "Real Estate Listings". In this way a user can configure the base language tables displayed in the Vendor, the Buyer and the Translator modules to best reflect their unique industry terminology.
When the translation values have been entered into the fields shown generally at 282 in Figure 46, the translator may actuate the update button 284 to cause the business model object 286 shown in Figure 43 to be invoked. This business e-control model object simply stores a translation table of values provided by the translator through the webpage of Figure 46, in the database structure such that whenever a particular webpage is invoked by the system, labels appear in the indicated language.
Translation of Items Referring to Figure 47, a plurality of business model objects for effecting translations of item descriptions is shown generally at 290 and includes a first business model object 292 which causes the webpage shown in Figure 48 to be displayed. This webpage shows a plurality of translations which may be in progress, which may have yet to be completed, or which may be completed.
Each row of the indicated table relates to a separate translation, which may be expected to be done by a particular translator.
A French translator, for example, may select the first product in the row which causes the business model object 294 shown in Figure 47 to invoke the webpage shown in Figure 49. This webpage provides English descriptions of name, description, warranty and guarantee, and provides spaces shown generally at 296, for a translator to enter corresponding name and description values, for example. The translator may only partially translate and if so, the translator would address the status field 298 to indicate whether the translation is unread, partially completed, or completed, for example. After the translator has entered the indicated information, the translator may activate the update button 300, which invokes an associated business model object 302 as shown in Figure 47 to cause the information to be stored in a translation table in the database structure such that when the webpage of Figure 48 is invoked, appropriate status and other information related to the translation is shown.
Thus, using Figure 48, the vendor can keep track of translations in progress and completed, and using the webpage of Figure 49, the translator can receive the information to be translated, translate it, and send it back to the host system.

e-control Reports Referring to Figure 50, a plurality of business model objects for providing reports is shown generally at 310. These include a first business model object 312 which causes the webpage shown in Figure 51 to be displayed. This webpage permits the user to select a purchase order report, for example, and to filter information to appear in the report by currency type andlor status, simply by selecting the appropriate categories. In addition, a particular output format may be selected, such as HTML. Once the above selections have been made, the user activates the generate report button 314 which causes the business model object 316 shown in Figure 50 to invoke other business model objects to retrieve and organize information retrieved from the database structure and to cause it to be presented as a report such as shown in Figure 51. In this way, the vendor can obtain information regarding outstanding purchase orders, details of particular outstanding orders and details of products listed in the purchase orders, for example. In addition, an audit trail is also provided.
Npw Prnriiirt Referring to Figure 53, a plurality of business model objects for permitting the entry of new product information is shown generally at 320. A first business model object 322 causes a webpage as shown in Figures 54A and 54B to be displayed to permit the vendor to add information relating to product name, inventory LD., product category, etc. It will be appreciated that various fields may be expanded to permit the entry of additional information. For example, the user may select the structure button 323 on the webpage shown in Figure 53A
which causes the webpage shown in Figure 54 to be presented. The webpage of Figure 54 allows the user to associate other products using existing information already in the database. Thus, for example, a product such as Superfilter 2 may be comprised of 5 '/Z' bare pipe and an oil filter. To associate these products with the Superfilter 2, the user selects from the list of available products and activates the insert button, which adds the selected available product to the list of selected products associated with the Superfilter 2.
The e-control quantity of available products used in the Superfilter 2 can also be specified.
Thus common components of assemblies need not be entered more than once.
In addition the unit field shown in Figure 54A may be expanded by selecting the drop down menu button 324, to permit a list of available physical units to be displayed to permit the user to select one. Alternatively, the user may click on the new button, 32fi, to add a new physical unit of its own design as required.
Similar additions and selections are provided for various other fields. When the user has added all of the requisite information relating to the product, the user may select the save button shown at 328 in Figure 54B, which causes a business model object 325 to store all of the entered information into associated tables, associated with the product. Properties of the product or service or information which may include warranty, name and symbol, guarantee type and innovation, availability, characteristics identification, and location can be entered using webpages such as that shown in Figure 56.
User Type Referring to Figure 57A, 57B and 57C, a plurality of business model objects for setting user types is shown generally at 330. A first business model object causes the webpage shown in Figure 58 to be displayed. This webpage permits the user to enter the last name, first name, initials and preferred language, and to enter associated addresses and e-addresses in a manner similar to that described in connection with Figure 26. After entering such information, the user selects the next button 334 shown in Figure 58, which causes a second business model object 336 to store all of the entered information in appropriate tables in the database structure.
Next, referring to Figure 57, a further business model object 338 causes the webpage shown in Figure 59 to be displayed. The vendor administrator enters or selects information relating to log in I.D., password, status, prefer-ed currency, preferred date format and user type. In addition, new user types may be added. A plurality of new users may be added, simply by entering the indicated information and actuating the add another button 340. When all e-control information relating to the users has been added, the done button 342 may be activated, which causes a business model object 339 to store the indicated information in tables in the database, to associate the above indicated information.
If at the user type selection shown in Figure 59, the new button 344 is actuated, another business model object 346 causes the webpages shown in Figures 60A, 60B and 60C to be displayed. These webpages permit entry of information specifying the conditions under which the associated user can view data in the database system. Thus, a particular user type may be entered into the field indicated at 348 and an associated description may be entered at 350. Then a plurality of permissions shown generally at 351 may be set to indicate whether an associated user type can view only, viewledit, or have no access to indicated sections of the database structure. Thus, access permissions and view and modify provisions for a particular category of user can be customized. In addition, custom categories of users can be made with the various selections provided in Figures 60A through 60C, and a plurality of different user type permissions can be set.
Payment Services Referring to Figure 61, a plurality of business model objects for providing payment services is shown generally at 351. A first business model object 352 causes the web page shown in Figure 62 to be displayed. This web site displays the enabled status of various payment services. The user may select a particular service listed, in which case the business model object 354 is invoked, which causes the web site shown in Figure 63 to be displayed. The web page shown in Figure 63 permits various details of the selected payment service to be specified. In addition, new payment services may be added through the web site shown in Figure 63. Upon setting appropriate information association with a particular service, the vendor selects the "save configuration" button 356 which causes a business model object 358 shown in Figure 61 to be invoked, which e-control saves the configuration data in an appropriate payment service table in the database structure.
The above are exemplary of the many possible business model objects and functions which provide for a customized and adaptable way of offering goods andlor services in an electronic medium to target end users in a manner which suits the target end users' own unique business models.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A method of offering goods and/or services and/or information in an electronic medium, the method comprising:
a) causing a vendor database structure to be established on a server; and b) creating a system of business model objects cooperating with said vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor, to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein creating comprises creating business model objects cooperating with said vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to respective business models for corresponding respective target end users.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein creating comprises creating at least one business model object operable to synchronize information in said vendor database structure with information separately accessible by said vendor.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising operating said business model objects to provide at least one website through which access to data in said vendor database structure is achieved.

5. The method of claim 4 further receiving a request from said target end users for goods and/or services and/or information offered by the vendor.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising communicating said request to the vendor.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising storing said database structure, data in said database structure and said business model objects to facilitate portability of said database structure.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing a one-to-one relationship between at least one of products and services offered by the vendor, and a corresponding target end user.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein creating a system of business model objects comprises providing a respective customized display of data in said database for each of a plurality of respective users.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein creating a system of business model objects comprises providing a respective customized collection of data in said database for each of a plurality of users.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein creating a system of business model objects comprises providing a respective customized collection of data in said database for each of a plurality of users.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising associating a particular pricing structure for said product or service with said corresponding target end user.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising offering at least one product or service to more than one target end user under a particular pricing structure.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising offering at least one product or service to more than one target end user in an electronic auction.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein establishing and creating comprises operating a computer program to automatically establish said vendor database structure and which automatically creates said business model objects.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising receiving input for identifying said vendor database and running said computer program in response to said input.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein creating comprises creating at least one business model object operable to control user access to information in said database.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein creating comprises creating at least one business model object operable to control communication of information from said database structure to at least one user.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein creating at least one business model object operable to control communication comprises creating at least one business model object operable to control display of information in said database structure.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein creating business model objects comprises creating a business model object operable to facilitate at least one of import and export of data to or from said database structure.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein creating business model objects comprises creating a business model object operable to facilitate translation of information to permit said information to be presented in a language other than the language in which it originates.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein creating business model objects comprises creating a business model object operable to produce reports presenting at least some of said information in said database.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein creating business model objects comprises creating a business model object operable to facilitate addition and modification of information in said database structure.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein creating business model objects comprises creating at least one or more business model objects operable to provide for one of identifying vendor users who can access said interface; setting vendor user status indicators in said database;
setting at least one of available languages, currency, country, industry and units of measurement in which information relating to at least one of products and/or services and/or information offered by the vendor is provided; setting vendor functionality; setting vendor service indicators in the database; identifying translators authorized to access the database and setting translator functionality identifiers in said database; producing a report from data in the database; setting language identifiers in said database to define a language in which information is presented; setting vendor administrative options;
customization by the vendor, of displays operable to be viewed by a potential end user; display of resource locator information and language selections available from the vendor; setting the look and feel of an interface between the vendor and the database; setting the look and feel of an interface between a potential end user and the database;
at least one of importing and exporting product and/or service and/or information data from the vendor into the database; at least one of importing and exporting client contact information from the vendor to the database; at least one of importing and exporting purchase order information from the vendor to the database; producing a display of a product tree showing at least one of products and/or services and/or information available from the vendor; setting at least one of a product and/or service and/or information category indicator in said database to identify a general category of said product and/or service and/or information offered by the vendor; permitting the definition of products and/or services and/or information; displaying a list of products and/or services and/or information available from the vendor, to at least one of all potential end users, selected end user types, selected companies and selected end users; setting end user information in said database;
displaying purchase order and purchase and/or service order status and/or history; modifying purchase andlor service orders and purchase and/or service order status; specifying a communications system to be used for communications between the vendor and the host computer;
displaying translation status information; displaying reports; end user selection of a preferred language in which information is presented;
vendor configuration of an end user greeting; display of at least one of a product and service tree of the vendor; display of general information about the vendor; display to the end user service options assigned to the vendor; viewing and modification and entry of purchase and/or service orders by the end user; transmission of messages between the end user and the vendor; and sending an authentication request to the vendor, providing to a translator a list of assigned items to be translated; enabling a translator to select an assigned item to translate; and enabling a translator to submit a translation of an assigned item.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein creating said vendor data base structure comprises creating a database structure operable to hold a plurality of categories of end user information and wherein establishing a vendor database structure comprises associating at least one description object with at least one category of said end user information.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein associating said at least one description object comprises associating a variable length description object with said at least one category of end user information.

27. A computer readable medium for providing instructions for directing a processor circuit to facilitate offering goods and/or services and/or information in an electronic medium, by:
a) causing a vendor database structure to be established on a server; and b) creating a system of business model objects cooperating with said vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor, to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

28. A signal embodied in a carrier wave, said signal comprising:
a) a first segment comprising instructions for directing a processor circuit to cause a vendor database structure to be established on a server; and b) a second segment comprising instructions for directing a processor circuit to create a system of business model objects cooperating with said vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor, to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

29. A system for offering goods and/or services and/or information in an electronic medium, the system comprising:
a) means for causing a vendor database structure to be established on a server; and b) means for creating a system of business model objects cooperating with said vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor, to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

30. A system for offering goods and/or services and/or information in an electronic medium, the system comprising:
a) a system of business model objects operable to cooperate with a vendor database structure and operable to be configured by said vendor, to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to a business model selected for a target end user.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein said business model objects are operable to be configured by said vendor to permit offering said goods and/or services and/or information according to respective business models for corresponding respective target end users.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to synchronize information in the vendor database structure with information separately accessible by said vendor.

33. The system of claim 30 further wherein at least one business model object to provides for at least one website through which access to data in the vendor database structure is achieved.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein at least one business model object is operable to receive a request from said target end users for goods or services offered by the vendor.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein at least one business model object is operable to communicate said requests to the vendor.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein said business model objects are operable to store the database structure, data in said database structure and said business model objects to facilitate portability of the database structure.

37. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to establish a one-to-one relationship between at least one of products and services offered by the vendor, and a corresponding target end user.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein at least one business model object is operable to associate a particular pricing structure for said product or service with said corresponding target end user.

39. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to offering at least one product or service to more than one target end user under a particular pricing structure.

40. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to offer at least one product or service to more than one target end user in an electronic auction.

41. The system of claim 30 further comprising a set of instructions for directing a processor circuit to automatically establish said vendor database structure and to automatically create said business model objects.

42. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to control user access to information in said database structure.

43. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to control communication of information from said database structure to at least one user.

44. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to control the display of information in said database structure.

45. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to facilitate at least one of import and export of data to or from said database structure.

46. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to facilitate translation of information to permit said information to be presented in a language other than the language in which it originates.

47. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to produce reports presenting at least some of said information in said database structure.

48. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to facilitate addition and modification of information in said database structure.

49. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one business model object is operable to provide for one of identifying vendor users who can access said interface; setting vendor user status indicators in said database;
setting at least one of available languages, currency, country, industry and units of measurement in which information relating to at least one of products and/or services and/or information offered by the vendor is provided; setting vendor functionality; setting vendor service indicators in the database; identifying translators authorized to access the database and setting translator functionality identifiers in said database; producing a report from data in the database; setting language identifiers in said database to define a language in which information is presented; setting vendor administrative options;
customization by the vendor, of displays operable to be viewed by a potential end user; display of resource locator information and language selections available from the vendor; setting the look and feel of an interface between the vendor and the database; setting the look and feel of an interface between a potential end user and the database;
at least one of importing and exporting product and/or service and/or information data from the vendor into the database; at least one of importing and exporting client contact information from the vendor to the database; at least one of importing and exporting purchase order information from the vendor to the database; producing a display of a product tree showing at least one of products and/or services and/or information available from the vendor; setting at least one of a product and/or service and/or information category indicator in said database to identify a general category of said product and/or service and/or information offered by the vendor; permitting the definition of products andlor services and/or information; displaying a list of products and/or services andlor information available from the vendor, to at least one of all potential end users, selected end user types, selected companies and selected end users; setting end user information in said database;
displaying purchase order and purchase and/or service order status and/or history; modifying purchase and/or service orders and purchase and/or service order status; specifying a communications system to be used for communications between the vendor and the host computer;
displaying translation status information; displaying reports; end user selection of a preferred language in which information is presented;
vendor configuration of an end user greeting; display of at least one of a product and service tree of the vendor; display of general information about the vendor; display to the end user service options assigned to the vendor; viewing and modification and entry of purchase and/or service orders by the end user; transmission of messages between the end user and the vendor; and sending an authentication request to the vendor, providing to a translator a list of assigned items to be translated; enabling a translator to select an assigned item to translate; and enabling a translator to submit a translation of an assigned item.

50. The system of claim 30 wherein creating said vendor data base structure creating a database structure operable to hold a plurality of categories of end user information and wherein establishing a vendor database structure comprises associating at least one description object with at least one category of end user information.