CA2320578A1 - Computer system and method for electronic commerce incorporating multiple wholesale suppliers, an integrated product catalogue and retailer participation - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic retail method and computer system for facilitating online purchasing by customers, involving at least one wholesale supplier, at least one fulfillment center, and a plurality of bricks-and-mortar retailers. The preferred system is implemented over a wide area network utilizing electronic data interchange. This method and system avoids the disintermediation of the traditional wholesaler-retailer distribution channels by involving, and preferably remunerating, a retailer and a supplier's sales representative for any online sales made to customers within an agreed radius of the retailer's bricks-and-mortar store.

Description

COMPUTER SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE INCORPORATING
MULTIPLE WHOLESALE SUPPLIERS, AN
INTEGRATED PRODUCT CATALOGUE AND
RETAILER PARTICIPATION
Backcrround of the Invention With the rapid introduction of online buying and selling on the Internet, so called "e-commerce", many wholesale suppliers and bricks-and-mortar retailers are searching for the optimum method for utilizing this new sales channel. Some retailers are developing their own Web sites or setting up a "storefront" under a shopping portal like Yahoo!. Some wholesale suppliers are establishing e-commerce shopping sites, keeping the retail margin from online sales for themselves, and diverting customers from their retailers, a process referred to as the disintermediation or "cannibalization" of the traditional distribution channels. Other large wholesale. suppliers would like to sell directly to the consumer on the Internet; however, they are constrained by the risk of alienating and losing their retail customers. That is, they are not prepared to disintermediate their existing distribution channel.
The retail channel is vital to most wholesale suppliers today because it still accounts for the majority of their sales revenues.
Several companies have developed large custom online shopping sites, such as amazon.com, yahoo.com and carpoint.com, to exploit e-commerce. Other companies such as BroadVison of Los Altos, CA have developed and patented a methodology and computer system to facilitate the development of e-commerce sites. The current state-of-the-art e-commerce sites include methods for presenting the products to the customer, allowing the customer to browse the electronic catalogue, and to purchase and pay for her goods or services online. Many software packages are commercially available containing this core e-commerce functionality such as IBM's Net.Commerce, Netscape's Merchant Xpert, Oracle's iStore and iPay, and Macromedia's Drumbeat 2000 e-Store.
Some companies such as yahoo.com, amazon.com and shopnow.com, offer a service to multiple suppliers under the same point of entry, so called "e-Commerce Portals". These services are primarily aimed at small retailers. These portals offer varying degrees of integration and search capability within a single product catalogue, but do not provide the customer with a single order including more than one supplier. Some of these companies allow the retailer to create and maintain their own "storefront" and their own electronic catalogue where the customer enters the shopping site through the Internet address (URL) of the shopping portal, and browses the collective electronic catalogue that includes all the participating sellers' products. However, the customer is typically re-directed to the retail "storefront" when the customer selects an item to purchase.
Summary of the Invention The present invention incorporates and utilizes the state-of-the-art e-commerce functionality that is available commercially, but also incorporates a unique business model and computer functionality to improve on the currently available methods. The invention provides unique methods and systems to assist the wholesale suppliers in selling directly to consumers, preferably on the Internet, while still preserving their value chain and distribution channels, by including sales representatives and retailers in a unique e-commerce partnership. In these systems and methods the retailer provides a vital role in e-commerce that includes instilling trust in consumers' minds during online purchases, providing after sales service, and assuring consumers that they have the choice to shop locally or purchase goods on the Web but at the same time remain loyal to their local retailer.
Similarly, in these systems and methods, the supplier's sales representatives enhance e-commerce by persuading their retailers to register and participate in the program, and by training their retailers in how to place wholesale orders online.
The products that may be sold using these systems and methods include non-brand name products or lesser-known, specialty brand name products.
Typically, the consumer is not able to easily perform comparison-shopping on the Web for these types of products. These products typically retail at a high mark-up factor (e. g. jewelry, giftware and hand crafted luxury products). The products are usually sold through retail stores that typically specialize in one type of product.
In many cases, the primary reason for online customers' reluctance in making their first e-commerce purchase is lack of trust. Many e-commerce Web sites rely on displaying the names and logos of products with well-known "brand names" in order to instill confidence in the customer's mind that she will be satisfied with the purchase. In the systems and methods of the present invention the confidence level is instilled in the customer's mind by displaying a retailer's name and other information, which is hopefully familiar to the customer. When looking at non-branded types of products on a Web site in accordance with the present invention, the consumer may not have a familiar brand name to rely on, but instead will have a familiar retail store name to rely on which will give the consumer confidence to make a purchase knowing that the retail store will stand behind it. In this way, trust in a local retailer is substituted for trust in a globally known brand name.
The invention improves' on conventional Web based online retailing in that it provides for a consumer's online order to be fulfilled from a plurality of wholesale suppliers. Furthermore, the invention departs from the conventional implementation of a retail e-commerce application in that it involves and preferably rewards the retailer and the sales representative when a consumer in his geographic region makes a purchase. The invention incorporates an e-commerce shopping portal and an electronic data interchange system, implemented over a wide area network (e. g. the Internet), which includes multiple wholesale suppliers, their sales representatives and bricks-and-mortar retailers. The invention expands on the services of existing e-commerce shopping sites by providing a means for the consumer to browse an integrated electronic catalogue containing goods and services from many wholesale suppliers or manufacturers in a seamless manner, a means to place orders from more than one supplier on a single order, and a means to obtain pre and post sales service from many retailers associated with each wholesale supplier. Furthermore, the invention determines which local retailer is applicable for each item selected by the customer by comparing the distance between customer's postal code (or zip code) and the retailer's postal code (or zip code). It then preferably displays the local retailer's address and promotional information for each item viewed. The customer receives pre or post sales service in the retail store indicated on her sales receipt at the time of purchase. The method can be applied to any type of goods or services (collectively "items") purchased online, especially those for which a traditional distribution channel exists.
In preferred embodiments, the invention may be implemented in part at a data center that provides the computer services through which the customer and all the business participants connect. This data center could be implemented at one of the wholesale supplier's corporate offices, or it could be a separate entity charging for the services on an outsourcing basis. The invention preferably contains the functionality included in many of the state-of-the-art online shopping applications currently implemented, and currently available in packaged software, such as catalogue browsing, "shopping carts", and payment validation.
Under the invention, a wholesale supplier (via his fulfillment center) may ship products directly to a consumer and credit a retailer and a sales representative with a commission for the sale.
Alternatively, the supplier may choose to drop ship to a retailer of choice, and the customer may pick up the goods from the retailer's store. The data center preferably retains a commission and processing fee and submits the net sales proceeds to the appropriate wholesale suppliers. Where no retailer exists in the consumer's area, the wholesale supplier and the data center may each retain a higher portion of the retail margin. The invention may calculate the amounts due to 20 the retailer, etc. based on a parameter driven system, and may send this information to the parties involved.
When a customer confirms a purchase and makes a payment to the data center via a Web application, order information is transmitted to one or more suppliers, and if necessary to their fulfillment centers, from which the goods are preferably shipped (or the services provided). Each supplier involved in the order may ship the product to the customer, and send back a shipping confirmation and carrier's waybill information to the data center. The commissions and processing fees charged and paid to each party may be negotiated between the data center, the wholesale suppliers, the fulfillment centers, and the retailers, and may be defined as parameters within the application's database. The data center preferably processes all the transactions and transmits the transaction data to each party involved.
Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a wide area network connecting wholesale suppliers, fulfillment centers, retailers, sales representatives, customers, and a data center in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram showing primary transactions passed between users and a data center in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram showing other transactions passed between users and a data center in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an entity relationship diagram showing database schema and relationships between database tables that may be used to store wholesale suppliers' and retailers' information in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an entity relationship diagram showing schema and relationships between database tables that may be used to store the customers' order information in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for creating a new supplier and ancillary data in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7a and 7b are flowcharts of a supplier log on process and a process for creating and maintaining a product catalogue for one or more suppliers in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a customer log-on process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 9a and 9b are flowcharts of a browse by retailer process and a browse by supplier process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a display retailer for selected item process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of shopping cart and shipping confirmation processes in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a product returns process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments 1. Overview The present invention expands on the existing methods of purchasing goods and services via e-commerce by providing online consumers with seamless electronic catalogues containing products or services of a plurality of wholesale suppliers, and, furthermore, by allowing the identity of wholesale suppliers to remain hidden from consumers if desired. The invention also enables the consumer to order products from more than one supplier on a single order if desired. An online shopping application in accordance with the invention may obtain the customer's postal code (or zip code), preferably early in the purchase transaction session, and the application can then display information about a local retailer for each item viewed. The invention may also provide a means for remunerating the local retailer in exchange for the retailer providing pre and post sales service to the consumer and for permission to use the retailer's name in connection with the product being sold. Suppliers using the invention can maintain their online catalogues, while knowing that other suppliers are prevented from seeing any information about their information that is designated as private. The invention also provides a means for remunerating a supplier's sales representatives for online sales in their territory. In addition to the business-to-consumer functionality, the system has the optional facility for providing business-to-business e-commerce between the retailers and their suppliers.
The invention may be implemented using one or more computer applications and a wide area network that allows users of the invention to communicate. In preferred embodiments, a data center is used to enable all users to communicate using a Web browses and the Internet.
Some of the components in such embodiments may comprise commercially available "package software"
or services. The invention could be implemented using any number of computer languages, database servers, and commercially available software packages for traditional e-commerce modules.

2. Physical Components One embodiment of the present invention may be implemented using the physical components of a system shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the Internet 1, or any other suitable computer network, may be used as a transmission layer of this system.
Over the Internet 1, a customer may use an Internet terminal 2 to perform online shopping. The Internet terminal can be a personal computer, a WebTV
terminal, a telephone Internet terminal or a mobile computer, connected to the Internet by wire or by a wireless connection, or any similar device. A
bricks-and-mortar retailer 5 also has the option to use an Internet terminal to enter wholesale orders and to receive reports from data center 6. It is not mandatory for retailers to have an Internet terminal in order to participate, because if retailer 5 does not have an Internet terminal, information may be sent from data center 6 using a facsimile machine 4 or other alternative messaging method such as voice mail or e-Mail. A supplier 10, and optionally a corresponding fulfillment center 3, may have an Internet terminal or server on which order information is received and through which the wholesale supplier's data may be maintained. A sales representative 12 may have a mobile Internet terminal 12 on which wholesale orders may be placed and downloaded to the supplier, and, in addition, on which online reports may be viewed.
Data center 6 may include a local area network 13 through which a Database Server 9 may be connected to a Web Application Server 8, which is in turn connected to a Web Page Server 7. A firewall security server 11 may optionally be positioned between Web server 7 and the rest of the network in the data center. Some or all of these components may be merged into a lesser number of components as desired.
3. Database Desian As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention may be implemented using a database server 9. Server allows the creation and maintenance of a database schema. Server 9 is preferably populated with tables of data using a standard command and data flow interface such as PL/SQL, SQL or ODBC. Server 9 could also implement a non-relational database. The database for a Web based shopping portal typically contains a multitude of tables and relationships. Tables and relationships that may be used to implement the present invention are shown in FIGS. 2-5. As can be seen therein:
1. Each supplier 40 may have a unique identifier and password (not shown). A supplier may be a wholesale distributor or a manufacturer that traditionally sells products or services through bricks-and-mortar retail outlets. The supplier may perform its own fulfillment or outsource warehousing and shipping functions to an outside fulfillment center 46.
2. Each supplier 40 may have many bricks-and-mortar retail outlets 41 that buy items 45 from the supplier. The information pertaining to the relationship between the supplier 40 and each retailer 41 may be stored in a cross-reference table 92. This information may include a percentage of a sales commission that is payable to the retailer for online sales to customers in the retailer's region. Several commission rates based on criteria defined by the supplier may be applicable.
3. For each retailer, the supplier may offer one or more items 45, i.e. goods or services, at a special discount or price. A cross-reference table 44 may contain information relating each item 45 in the supplier's catalogue to each retailer 41.
4. Each supplier may use one or more fulfillment centers 46 to warehouse and ship items 45 to customers. Each fulfillment center 46 may provide services for one or more suppliers 40 and information pertaining to each fulfillment center/supplier relationship may be stored in a cross-reference table 47.
5. Each sales representative 53 may have a unique identifier and user password (not shown). Each sales representative 53 should be associated with at least one supplier 40. A sales representative 53 may sell products from more than one supplier 40.
6. Each retailer 41 may have a unique identifier and user password (not shown). Each retailer 41 should be associated with at least one supplier 40. A retailer 41 may be assigned a sales representatives 53. Each retailer 41 may have a valid postal code (or zip code) that is part of its address.
In addition, there may exist one or more zip codes within one or more pre-defined radii of the retailer's store. When a new retailer is registered with the system, the invention may optionally scan every postal code (or zip code) a code table 48 for the country in which the retailer exists, and makes an entry in a retailer zip code table 49 for every postal code (or zip code) which exists within one or more predefined radii of the retailer's postal code (or zip code).

7. Each customer 50 may be assigned a unique identifier, and optionally a user password, after the customer has placed its first order. When customer 50 places an order online for the first time, a new entry in customer table is preferably created for that customer 50. When the customer places an order online, an entry 51 in a customer invoice table is preferably created for that order. The ship-to address on the customer's invoice 51 preferably has a valid zip code 48. Each customer invoice 51 may have one or more invoice items 52, each of which may be related to both a catalogue item 45 and a fulfillment center 96 responsible for shipping the item to the customer.

8. Each customer invoice item 52 should be for an item 45. Each customer invoice item may be accredited to a retailer 41. Each customer invoice item may also be accredited to a sales representative 53.
4. Trade Channel In order to accommodate both wholesale and retail customers, the invention may provide two separate Web addresses (or URLs), one for suppliers, retailers and sales representatives, and another for consumers. When a "trade" user, i.e. a supplier, retailer, or sales representative, logs on, the application will identify the user as such and present the appropriate menu or "home page" to that type of user.

5. Retailer Web Address Each retailer will be offered the option of having its own Web address (or URL). For example, if the data center is addressed as www.datacenter.com a retailer named "Smiths" could be assigned a URL
"www.smiths.datacenter.com" or a URL
"www.datacenter.com/smiths". This allows the retailer to direct consumers to the data center web site, but to initially restrict the consumer's view of the catalogue to only those products offered by the particular retailer's suppliers. In addition, this allows the invention to credit the retailer with the commission for the sale when the consumer uses the retailer's URL
to enter the site and the consumer purchases one or more items from one of the retailer's suppliers, even though the retailer in this case may not be the closest to the consumer.
6. Supplier Web Address Each supplier may be offered the option of having its own Web address (or URL). For example, if the data center is addressed as "www.datacenter.com" a supplier named "Jones Gifts Inc." could be assigned the URL of "www.jonesgifts.datacenter.com" or "www.datacenter.com/jonesgifts". This allows the supplier to direct retailers and trade browsers to the data center web site, and to restrict the retailers and browsers view of the catalogue to only those products offered by the particular supplier and to allow them to place wholesale orders online.

7. Introduction of a New Supplier A process 100 for introducing a new supplier to a system in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen, the supplier is initially provided with a supplier table maintenance screen which is used to insert and modify records in supplier table 40 at step 101. In this way, a data administrator at data center 6 can to create new entries in the database for the new supplier's corporate information, e.g. name, address, standard retail markup, and other parameters.
An optional feature is to accommodate suppliers that use one or more separate fulfillment centers. At test 102, process 100 determines whether a separate fulfillment center is to be used. If so, a fulfillment center table maintenance screen is then provided at step 103. This screen is used to insert and modify one or more records in fulfillment center table 46. This screen, or another screen, may also be used to insert and modify records in the supplier/fulfillment center cross-reference table 47.
As shown, the information entered using this screen is preferably stored in a database.
After fulfillment center information has been entered at step 103 or if it is determined at test 102 that no fulfillment center is to be used, the list of retail customers maintained by supplier is uploaded at step 104. This step populates retailer table 41 and retailer/supplier table 42.

8. Registration Of A Retailer Next at step 105, process 100 determines if all retailers have been registered. If not, process 100 provides a table maintenance screen to add a new retailer or to register a retailer at step 107. An optional method is to capture retailer information off-line on a sales representatives' mobile computer, and to download the information via the Internet at step 107.
When each retailer is registered (either by the supplier's sales representative or by online self registration) and agrees to participate in the program, additional information may also be required by process 100 and entered using retailer table maintenance screen 107.

9. Local Zip Code Generation Once all retailers have been registered, process 100 provides the option to improve performance by generating a table of all the valid zip codes within one or more pre-defined radii, and storing these in the retailers' zip code table 49 at step 106. This step preferably only selects possible zip codes that exist within the same country as the retailer, e.g. Canada or the USA. When a new retailer is registered the application scans every postal code or zip code in zip code table 48 for the country in which the retailer exists, and makes an entry in retailers' zip code table 49 for every zip code or postal code which exists within one or more predefined radii of the retailer's zip code or postal code.
In zip code table 48, the geographic location of each zip code may be defined in terms of decimal degrees of north latitude and degrees of west longitude. Because of the spherical shape of the Earth, calculating the exact distance between two zip codes may require the use of spherical geometry and trigonometric math functions.
In preferred embodiments, this step first populates a temporary table of all zip codes and their distance to the retail store zip code (zipl) within a specified maximum radius, say 50 miles. The distance between the retail store zip code, and each other possible zip code (zip2) is derived using the following algorithm. The radius of the Earth is assumed to be 6,371 kilometers, or 3,958.75 miles. The following algorithm defines the distance in miles between two zip code locations:
3958.75 * arccos[sin(zipl.lat/57.2958) sin(zip2.lat/57.2958) + cos(zipl.lat/57.2958) * cos(zip2.lat/57.2958) cos(zip2.lon/57.2958 - zipl.lon/57.2958)]
Next, this step inserts rows in a cross-reference table 49 for each zip code in the temporary table which falls within one or more pre-defined radii of the new retail store, as defined by system parameters or parameters specific to an individual supplier, e.g. 5 miles, 10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles and 75 miles. The distance between the retail store and each of the zip codes is stored on these cross-reference records 49.

10. Supplier Loa On A process 109 for supplier log on is shown in FIG. 7a. This process provides a means for the supplier to connect to data center 9 to maintain its data, to receive consumer and wholesale orders, to send shipment information and to obtain reports. When the supplier accesses a "trade channel" home page, it must enter an assigned identifier and password at the log-on page of step 110. If process 109 cannot find a valid identifier and password in the supplier table 40 at step 111, the process displays an error message at step 112 and allows the supplier to try again by looping back to step 110. If the supplier is identified at step 111, the process displays the supplier's menu or home page at step 113.
It is important that the Web page only show the supplier its information -- i.e., its catalogue items, its orders, its retailer database, and its report data. The invention may achieve this by maintaining a "view" of the database for each supplier based on its unique identifier. The supplier identifier may be stored in memory for the duration of the session. This identifier may also be stored in item table 45 and retailer/supplier cross-reference table 42. When the supplier uses a Web page to view or edit its retailers' data at the data center, only those retailers in retailer/supplier cross-reference table 42 that have its supplier ID are preferably shown or accessible. When a supplier uses the Web page to view or edit its product catalogue data at the data center, only those products in item table 45 that have its supplier ID are shown or are accessible.
When the supplier uses a Web page to view online sales reports 28, the only records aggregated are preferably those in customer invoice item cross-reference table 52 that have its supplier ID.

When the supplier uses the Web application to view online sales reports by retailer, the only records aggregated are those in customer invoice item cross-reference table 52 that have the retailer ID.

11. Maintain Product Cataloctue As shown in FIG. 7b, a process 118 in accordance with the present invention may be used to populate the electronic catalogue at the data center with the required records about the supplier and about the goods or services offered. One option provided by the process is to bulk insert the supplier's catalogue items from a suitable intermediary file such as a comma delimited ASCII file at step 114. Next at step 115, process 115 allows the user to add one or more graphical pictures or mufti-media objects related to a particular catalogue item. Process 118 then determines at step 116 whether there are any new items or modifications to make to item information. When the supplier has a new item or modifications to make to item information, process 110 provides an item table maintenance screen at step 117, which is a Web page used to insert and modify records in catalogue item table 45.

12. Customer Locron As shown in FIG. 8, a process 119 in accordance with the present invention may be used to connect to the data center to browse the product catalogue, to place orders, to review order status, to process product returns, and to obtain reports.
Customers may enter the Web site via the "consumers portal". Initially, process 119 displays the shoppers' home page at step 120. If the shopper selects the "First Time" option on the home page at step 121, process 119 will display an alternative home page for first time users that contains instructive information and encourages the user to register as a "Preferred Customer" at step 122.
Another option for determining at step 121 whether the customer has ever used the web site before is for process 119 to send a request to the user's browser to read the appropriate "cookie" file and return the user's unique identifier, postal code, etc.
If the user has previously made a purchase then process 119 will extract the user's customer profile information from the central database using the user's ID, and stores the user's postal code in memory. If the user has never used the site or the user is using a different computer, no cookie will exist on the user's computer and the process 119 may display at step 122 an alternative home page for first time users which contains instructive information. The customer may then be prompted to log in as an existing customer or to register as a new customer.
Once the user is recognized as having been to the Web page before, process 119 may then prompt the user to enter the user's customer ID and password at step 123. The ID and password are then verified at step 124. If the ID and password exist in the database, process 119 selects the user's profile information from the database and creates a new cookie file on the user's Internet terminal at step 126. If the customer enters an identifier and password that is not valid, the application displays an error message at step 125 and allows the user to try again by branching back to step 123.
Referring back to step 122, the new customer may be prompted to register as a "Preferred Shopper", and to enter the customer's postal code or zip code and to choose an ID and password for future use. Process 119 preferably detects whether the customer is connected from a Canadian or a US location by parsing the postal code entered, and validates the code entered against database of known postal codes and zip codes 48. If necessary, process 119 displays an error message and prompts the customer to re-enter the postal or zip code.
The invention preferably extends the conventional management of customer profiles by using the customer's zip code or postal code to derive the retailers in a predefined radius from the customer. In order to improve performance, one option is to store the customer's zip code or postal code for subsequent visits. To do this the customer is assigned a unique identifier. One option is to use the customer's e-mail address as the identifier.
If a new customer chooses not to supply his or her postal code, the invention may still let the customer browse the catalogue. However, when a product detail Web page is requested, the customer may be prompted again for a postal code so that the retailer information may be selected from the database and displayed. If the customer still chooses not to supply a postal code, no retailer information will be displayed alongside the product information, however, the customer should be required to supply a valid postal code when the customer "checks out" and pays for the order so that credit (or a commission) for each item on the customer's invoice 51 may be attributed to an appropriate retailer 41 and a sales representative 53. The invention then preferably retains the postal code entered in the customer's profile, both in the database and in the cookie file stored on her Web terminal, for use when the customer next logs into the data center Web site.

13. Catalogue Browsing When the customer wants to look for items to purchase, the present invention may offer a wide choice of different methods to search the item catalogue. In addition to the conventional browsing methods included in commercially available online shopping systems (e. g.
search by item identifier, by product group or sub-group, or by gift-giving occasion), the invention may offer the unique ability to display items by supplier and by retailer.

14. Dvnamic Catalogue Page Display The customer may view the products returned by a database query created by a customer search request on a dynamically populated Web page layout.
This Web page layout differs from conventional Web page product displays that use fixed or "hard coded" page layouts, or Web page product displays that use tables to display results from a database in rows and columns of the same sized images. The application has several "templates" or possible page layouts, each containing pre-defined areas allocated for product image and information display. For example, a template could have a region containing a tabular scrolling area for small product images as well as three areas for larger product images. The records in item table 45 contain attributes that determine whether the image and product information is to be displayed in a larger format or in a scrolling region of the Web page. For example, a product that is being newly introduced could be assigned a higher profile during a promotion period.
When the application is required to display several products in the "Dynamic Catalogue Page Display"
format, the invention may use "best fit" logic to determine the most appropriate template to use in order to fit the products onto one page. For example, in a list of items returned from the database in response to a customer's query, those items with higher profile attributes may be displayed as larger images, and those items with normal profile may be displayed as a scrolling table of images of the same size.

15. Display Catalogue By Supplier As shown in FIG. 9a, a process 134 in accordance with the invention may be used to present a list of the suppliers that choose to display their catalogue to the public at step 130. This list may show the suppliers' names and a brief description of the type of products they offer. If customer then picks a supplier from the list at step 131, and process 134 will limit the browsing to only those items associated with the selected supplier at step 132.
Finally, at step 133, process 134 displays only those items associated with the selected supplier to the customer.
One option is to display the supplier's products in a manner that emulates turning the pages of a conventional printed paper catalogue. In this case, the items may be pre-assigned to specific catalogue page numbers and positions on the page as stored in item table 45. For example in the Sequential Query Language (SQL) the qualifying items could be selected as follows:
SELECT DISTINCT item_id, description, retl price, cat_page num, cat_page_pos_x, cat_page posy, hires photo FROM item WHERE supp_id = selected_supp_id ORDER BY cat page num, cat page pos x, cat_page_pos.y;
Where selected_supp_id is the unique identifier of the supplier picked by the customer.
An alternative option is for the invention to assign the product images to one or more catalogue page templates using a "best fit" algorithm in real time as the pages are produced for the Web browser.

16. Display Catalocrue by Retailer As shown in FIG. 9b, a process 145 in accordance with the present invention may be used to display retailers within a specified radius of the customer. As illustrated, process 145 begins by presenting a pull down menu of the available search radii, e.g. 5 miles, 10 miles, 25 miles, and 50 miles at step 141. When the customer selects a search radius, process 145 presents a second list which shows the names and a brief description of the type of products offered by retailers within the selected distance from the customer. This determination may be made by looking for the customer's zip code in retailer/zip code table 49.
Next at step 142, the customer picks one retailer from the list displayed. Alternatively, the customer could have entered the Web site using the retailer's unique URL (e. g. www.smiths.datacenter.com) instead of proceeding through steps 141 and 142. In either case, the customer then has the option of browsing a sub-set of the item catalogue using conventional drill down searches. The searches are constrained to only those items that contain the supplier identifier in the set defined by the supplier identifier in the retailer/supplier cross-reference table 42. Note that the results returned do not necessarily represent the items that the retailer may have in stock in his bricks-and-mortar store, but rather the items that his suppliers have in stock available for purchase online.
The selection may be executed in many ways in many programming languages. For example, SQL temporary tables could be used to derive the qualifying suppliers and the items corresponding to the search criteria as follows:
SELECT DISTINCT retl-supp xref.supp-id INTO temp_supp_list FROM retl_supp xref, retl_zip-code WHERE retl_supp_xref.retl_id =
retl_zip_code.retl_id AND retl_zip code.supp_miles <_ selected radius;
Where selected-radius is the distance specified by the customer.

SELECT item. item-desc, item. item retail price FROM item, temp_supp_list WHERE item.product_group =
selected product_group AND item.supp_id = temp-supp_list.supp_id:
Where selected product-group is the product type specified by the customer.

17. Display Catalog by Supplier When any user of the "trade" channel selects to display the catalogue by supplier, the invention preferably presents a pull down menu of the available suppliers. Once a supplier is selected, the catalogue searches are constrained to only the selected supplier's items 45. Alternatively, when any user of the "trade" channel enters the Web site via a supplier's, URL (e. g. www.jonesgifts.datacenter.com), the catalogue searches are constrained to only those items 45 that contain the supplier's identifier.

18. Item Retailer Lookup When the customer requests more detailed information on a specific item, the invention may select the detailed product information from item table 45 and then search for the logo and address information for the bricks-and-mortar retail store closest to the zip code or postal code that the customer has specified. The application may perform a distance-to-retailer calculation as each item is displayed. Alternatively, the acceptable radii from the customer's specified address to the retailer's bricks-and-mortar store may be derived from a database of rules. The preferred implementation improves on performance by utilizing a pre-generated table of zip codes or postal codes within a specified radius of each retailer 49. This implementation may use a query based on the table of known retailers 41 and a table of zip codes within specified radii of the retail store 49.
The SQL query to obtain the possible retailers in the customer's area that are related to the item may be as follows:
SELECT retailer.retl_id, retailer. address, retailer. logo, retl_zip-code.supp_miles FROM retailer, retl-zip-code, retl-supp xref WHERE retl zip_code.zip_code_id =
customer_zip_code_id AND retl_zip-code.supp miles <= search_radius AND retl supp xref.supp_id = search_supp_id AND retailer.retl-id = retl-supp_xref.retl_id ORDER BY retl_zip-code.supp miles;
Where search-radius is the maximum distance specified by the customer, customer zip code id is the customer's postal code, and search supp id is the identifier of the supplier that sells the product as derived from the item being displayed.
If this query returns more than one retailer which is the same or substantially the same distance from the customer, the invention may prompt the customer to pick one retailer from a list, otherwise the application may select the first retailer in the result list returned by the query. Another alternative is to "rotate" the list of overlapping retailers so that the credit is shared among them in an equitable manner for each successive online purchase in their territory. when the appropriate retailer is selected (by one of the above methods), the invention preferably displays the retailer's information, such as address, distance in miles between the customer's specified zip code and the retailer's zip code, and image data for the retailer's logo and/or promotional information (such as a storefront picture), on the Web page alongside the product information. Alternatively, the application may be configured to always present a list of retailers within the specified radius so that customer may pick the most familiar retailer to be displayed with the product information.
If there is no retailer, another option is to allow the customer to increase the radius of the search up to a maximum specified by a system parameter.
A process 150 for implementing this function in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 10. As shown, process 150 begins by the customer being prompted to select item information at step 151. This information may be retrieved from a database as illustrated. Next, at test 152 process 150 determines if the retailer is within a specified radius of the customer. If not, the search radius may be increased at step 153 and test 152 repeated. If the maximum search radius has already been reached, process 150 branches to test 155.
Otherwise, the retailer information and logo are then displayed at step 154. After the retailer information and logo are displayed, or after the maximum search radius has been reached, process 150 inquires whether the customer would like to add the item to the shopping cart at test 155. If so, process 150 creates a customer invoice item at step 156. Once this item has been created or if the item is not to be added to the shopping cart, process 150 determines if more items are to be displayed at test 157. If so, process 150 loops back to step 151; otherwise process 150 terminates.

19. Shopping Cart Transactions A "shopping cart" is a feature of the invention that keeps track in memory of items added to an order by a customer, and that displays the order lines and totals on demand. When the customer clicks on an "add to shopping cart" button next to an item displayed on a Web page, the item is added to the "shopping cart". When the customer uses the shopping cart function to "check out", a process 160, such as that shown in FIG. 11, may be performed in accordance with the present invention. Initially in process 160, the customer is asked to submit payment information at step 161. If the payment is authorized, process 160 inserts a new row in customer invoice table 51 containing a unique customer ID and unique invoice ID
for the order, and inserts one row in customer invoice item table 52.
Process 160 then validates the payment at steps 162 and 163. Payment validation may be performed by a third party validation service that the process communicates with.
This approach expands on the standard shopping cart functionality by inserting additional information for each item in the shopping cart memory, including, the identifier of the retailer, the sales representative, the wholesale price, the retail price, the commission due to the data center, and the commission due to the retailer. Furthermore, when displaying the order to the customer, the application may also display against each item on the order the unique ID of the retailer who has been assigned to the order item.
The amounts due to each party may be calculated using the commission parameters stored in Whole supplier table 40 and the retailer/supplier cross-reference table 42. In some instances, there may be special commission applicable for a particular item, and this information may be stored in retailer/item cross-reference table 44. If there is no retailer available and the customer confirms the purchase, the application may make a note on the customer invoice item 52 that the retailer commission is zero. The customer is optionally prompted to print a copy of the sales receipt showing the retail outlets assigned to provide after sales support for each item (provided such retailers exist within a preset radius of the customer's home or other preferred postal code).

20. Shipping Calculations In accordance with the present invention, the shipping and handling charges may also be calculated on a line-by-line basis, since the items may be shipped from more than one supplier.
Because the items on the customer's order may be shipped from more than one supplier or fulfillment center, when each item is added to the customer invoice, the shipping charges associated with the item may be calculated and added to the total shipping charges for the customer's order. When more than one item is to be shipped from the same fulfillment center, the total weight of the items from the same fulfillment center may be used to derive the appropriate shipping charge, and the total order shipping charge adjusted accordingly. Alternatively, the distance from the fulfillment center's postal code to the customer's postal code may be calculated from latitude/longitude information and used to derive the shipping charges applicable. Note that in some cases, the shipping charge may be absorbed by the data center or by the supplier, for example, if the item ticket price is over a specified minimum, in which case no shipping will be charged on the customer's order. This rule may be implemented by storing a flag on item table 45.

21. Construct Ship Requests Next, process 160 sorts customer-invoice item 52 rows for the order in question by fulfillment center or supplier ID, groups the order lines for each fulfillment center 46 into "sub-orders," and constructs the data interchange message. This message is then sent to the supplier, and optionally the fulfillment center, as the "ship request" 26 at step 166. Steps 165 and 166 may be repeated for each supplier involved with shipping the customer's order items.
If the fulfillment center and the corresponding supplier are different entities, then this ship request message is preferably also sent to supplier 31. The supplier then extracts the information from online reports available through the Web terminal interface to data center 28 and passes the information on to the supplier's corporate order entry system at step 170.
An alternative implementation may use an automated message handling system such as a commercially available EDI application to ensure the order detail is transmitted to the suppliers.

22. Shipping Confirmation Once the customer's items are packaged, shipped and the shipping information is known at step 171, the supplier may then log-on to the "trade"
channel, pull up the outstanding order, and enter the shipped date, the carrier's name, a shipping reference (e.g. the waybill number) and a quantity shipped for each item at step 172.
Optionally, the fulfillment system will automatically construct a message containing the customer's invoice number, the fulfillment center ID
and the waybill number for tracking the package with the carrier and passes the message back to the data center via the Internet 27 the next time the supplier logs on.
The application at the data center may then update the status code on each related item on customer's invoice 52 to "shipped" and store the waybill number for online queries to the carrier's information system at step 173.

23. Order Status To determine order status, a customer may use a process 189 as shown in FIG. 12 in accordance with one embodiment of this present invention. Initially, the customer is preferably required to log into the shopping portal Web site using a unique customer ID and password at step 180. If there is any outstanding orders for the customer, process 189 displays an additional function on the home page to review outstanding orders at step 181. If there are more than one item on the order, process 189 may expand on the conventional order review by displaying the shipping status of each item separately. The process may also automatically notify the customer by e-mail whenever the status of the order changes, e.g. when. each supplier updates the shipped date and quantity.

24. Product Returns In the event that the customer wants to return an item, the customer may next select an option to Request Return to Manufacturer Authorization, see a list of all items shipped, and select each item in turn and picks one of two options: "Return for Credit" or "Return for Repair", at step 182.
Since there may be more than one supplier and more than one retailer involved in the return, this approach expands on the conventional functionality of processing returns by grouping the requests and packaging them in messages that are sent to the appropriate suppliers over the Internet 35 at step 183.
When the suppliers log onto the Web site, they may then be alerted that there are requests for returns to be processed, and that they are required to enter return authorization codes to be passed back to the data center 36. The supplier may determine whether to validate each return against their policy at test 184.
If the request is denied, the supplier preferably enters a reason at step 185. If the request is authorized, the supplier preferably enters an RMA code at step 186.
Process 189 preferably then composes an e-mail message for each supplier involved which contains the return authorization information, and sends these e-mail messages to customer 37.
Alternatively, the customer may log onto the Web site using a customer ID, display the return authorizations) and print them from the Web page at step 187. The RMA preferably shows the appropriate return instructions applicable to each supplier, such as shipping at step 188.
In the case of a return for repair, the customer may be required to include a printed copy of the e-mail return authorization message with the parcel when shipped back to the supplier's repair center. One option in the case of a return for credit is for the customer. to present the printed copy of the e-mail return authorization message with the item when brought back to the retailer. In the case where there is no retailer associated with an item on the customer's order, the customer may include a printed copy of the return authorization message in the parcel when shipped back to the supplier's return center.
Alternative implementations of this method may be employed where the return procedures are unique to a particular supplier.

25. Wholesale Order Entry Because of the infrastructure and communication inherent in the present invention, it provides an improved method for retailers to browse the product catalogues and place wholesale orders to the suppliers. The invention may require the supplier to store the wholesale prices for all items in the integrated catalogue.
The wholesale order entry aspect to the invention expands on commercially available business-to-business e-commerce functionality by allowing retailers to browse an integrated catalogue and to see the names of the supplier of each item. The retailer can create a shopping cart of multiple items from multiple suppliers, and then the invention will sort and group the order lines to create individual orders for each supplier.
Another option is for the invention to request that the retailer select one supplier at a time from the registered suppliers. In this case, the retailer preferably may only browse the selected supplier's catalogue, and use conventional wholesale shopping cart functionally to place its order.
If a retailer is registered with at least one supplier, it may order from other participating suppliers with whom it does not currently have an account. The suppliers may establish the appropriate wholesale price in this case, which may be more that the price offered to its regular retail customers.

26. Wholesale Order Entry on Mobile Computer Another option that the invention supports is to have Sales Representatives take wholesale orders off-line on a mobile computer, and later log on to the "trade" channel at the data center to download the orders. In this case, the mobile computer would mirror the functionality of the wholesale catalogue display and order entry that is available via a thin client connection to the e-commerce application running at the data center. The mobile computer would preferably also include a facility for downloading the orders in batch while connected to the data center via the Internet.

27. Supplier Order Download In each case, when each supplier logs into the data center to pick up his orders, the wholesale orders will preferably also be available for downloading.

28. Reporting This invention also expands on the conventional e-commerce applications by producing online reports for the supplier, the retailer, the sales representative to verify the volume of sales and the remuneration earned by each party.
Using a Web browser, suppliers may submit selection criteria that returns information formatted as reports, e.g. online sales month-to-date sorted by retailer region 28. The separation of one wholesale supplier's information from the next is unique to the present invention.
Similarly, using a Web browser, retailers may submit selection criteria to the Web application that returns information formatted as reports, e.g. online sales month-to-date for their regions 29. The separation of one retailer's information from the next is unique to the present invention.
Also, using a Web browser, sales representatives may submit selection criteria to the Web application that returns information formatted as reports, e.g. online sales month-to-date for their regions 29, un-registered retailers who should have received commission for online sales, or customers' zip codes or postal codes in their territories that do not yet have registered retailers nearby. The separation of one sales representative's information from the next is unique to the present invention.
Finally, the customer may request information about the customer's purchase order(s). The invention may return information formatted as reports, e.g. a copy of the customer's sales receipt showing the retailer associated with each item 30. The tracking of information pertaining to each item on the customer's order, by retailer, and by supplier is unique to the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will thus appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims (35)

1. A method for enabling a consumer to purchase at least one item from at least one supplier that is associated with a plurality of retailers, the method comprising:
displaying items that are supplied by the at least one supplier in an online catalogue displaying an identifier which corresponds to one of the plurality of retailers with at least one of the items in the online catalogue:
enabling the consumer to purchase the at least one of the items displayed from the at least one supplier; and compensating the one of the plurality of retailers corresponding to the identifier displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising relating at least one of the at least one supplier and at least one of the plurality of retailers.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising relating at least one of the items and at least one of the plurality of retailers.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising relating at least one of the items and at least one of the at least one supplier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining which of the plurality of retailers is located closest to the consumer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining which of the plurality of retailers is located closest to the consumer comprises determining the distance between a zip code associated with the consumer and a zip code associated with each of the plurality of retailers.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising selecting the one the plurality of retailers corresponding to the identifier displayed based upon which of the plurality of retailers is determined to be located closest to the consumer.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user interface that enables a user to enter information associated with the at least one supplier.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user interface that enables a user to enter information associated with the plurality of retailers.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising allowing the user to enter the information on a mobile computer in an offline mode.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the items in the online catalogue in a consistent manner.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically arranging the items in the online catalogue.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising giving position priority to at least some of the items in the online catalogue based upon a level of importance.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing the consumer to select the one the plurality of retailers corresponding to the identifier displayed.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising restricting which of the plurality of retailers can be selected by the consumer based upon a maximum distance between each of the plurality of retailers and the consumer.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising allowing the consumer to designate the maximum distance.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer is enabled to purchase at least two items from at least two different suppliers:

18. The method of claim 18, further comprising calculating shipping charges separately for each of the at least two different suppliers.

19. The method of claim l, further comprising providing a user interface which displays an amount of compensation due to each of the plurality of retailers.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising compensating at least one sales representative for at least one of the items purchased from the at least one supplier.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising providing a user interface which displays an amount of compensation due to each of the at least one sales representative.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining when no retailer corresponds to an item to be displayed in the online catalog; and when no retailer corresponds to the item to be displayed, not displaying an identifier which corresponds to any of the plurality of retailers with the item in the online catalogue, and not compensating any of the plurality of retailers for the item purchased from the at least one supplier.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein no retailer is determined to correspond to an item to be displayed in the online catalog when no retailer is located within a maximum distance from the consumer.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user interface that enables a user to view status information relating to the item purchased from the at least one supplier.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein at least two items are purchased from at least two different suppliers, and wherein the user interface enables the user to view status information that is particular to one or more items purchased from one of the at least two different suppliers.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two items are purchased from at least two different suppliers, further comprising enabling the consumer to return at least one of the items purchased.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the consumer to restrict the items that are displayed in the online catalogue to items corresponding to one of the plurality of retailers.

28. The method of claim l, further comprising enabling the consumer to restrict the items that are displayed in the online catalogue to items corresponding to one of the at least one supplier.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a separate user interface for consumers and a separate user interface for suppliers and for retailers.

30. The method of claim l, further comprising providing a user interface that identifies suppliers and retailers accessing the user interface and that presents a custom display to the suppliers and retailers identified.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a mobile user interface that is substantially identical to another user interface provided online.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplier is a fulfilment center.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplier is a manufacturer.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplier is a wholesaler.

35. A system for enabling a consumer to purchase at least one item from at least one supplier that is associated with a plurality of retailers, the system comprising:
a display and data entry device that enables the consumer to view information and enter data;
a wide area network that is coupled to the display and data entry device; and a data center that is coupled to the wide area computer network, that causes the display and data entry device to:
display items that are supplied by the at least one supplier in an online catalogue, display an identifier which corresponds to one of the plurality of retailers with at least one of the items in the online catalogue, and enable the consumer to purchase the at least one of the items displayed from the at least one supplier, and that determines an amount of compensation due to the one of the plurality of retailers corresponding to the identifier displayed.