KR100897675B1 - Combined auction and fixed price checkout system - Google Patents

Abstract

A first user interface that facilitates a first type of procedure for purchasing a first offering, allowing a buyer to select the first offering; A second user interface that facilitates a second type of procedure that allows a buyer to bid for a second offering; And a third user interface that enables a buyer to complete a transaction for both the first offering and the second offering.

Description

Combined Auction Price and Reconnaissance Payment System {COMBINED AUCTION AND FIXED PRICE CHECKOUT SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to online electronic commerce. More specifically, the present invention relates to a payment system for a multiple pricing-setting process within an online commerce environment.

Many methods for setting prices to sell goods or services are used on online commerce systems. One way is to have sellers pre-set prices that they are willing to offer, like Amazon OneClick. Alternatively, an online auction or competitive bidding purchase process, such as eBay, generates a sale price. In the reconnaissance purchase process, once the price is set, the buyer is typically delivered directly to the final payment system for the goods or services. This allows payment methods, delivery methods and other important information to be entered, edited or confirmed.

A first user interface that facilitates a first type of procedure for purchasing a first offering, which allows a buyer to select a first offering, a second user interface that facilitates a second type of procedure, which is a buyer Is capable of bidding on a second offering, and a third user interface, which enables a buyer to complete a transaction for both the first offering and the second offering.

The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network-based commerce facility in the form of an internet-based auction and sales facility.

2 is a database diagram illustrating an example database for implementing and supporting auction and sales facilities.

3 is a representative view of a virtual shopping cart according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for purchasing both a scout offering and an auction offering online.

5 is an interface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for facilitating the purchase of a scout offering.

6 is an interface according to an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention for facilitating bidding of an auction offering.

7 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for a buyer to complete an online transaction of a scout offering or auction offering.

8 is an interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to facilitate purchase.                 

9 is an interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for facilitating the selection of an alternate payment method.

10 is an interface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for facilitating a review of a purchase.

11 is an interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for facilitating confirmation.

12 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for a system for completing an online transaction of a Scouting Offering.

13 is a representative view of a computer system in which a set of instructions is executed.

A network-based system and method is disclosed for at least partially completing transactions established using one or more price setting processes. In the following detailed description, several specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required to be used in practicing the present invention. In other circumstances, well-known structures, devices, procedures and interfaces are not shown or described in detail in order not to obscure the present invention.

Performing the payment procedure of both the scout offering and the auction offering in a single procedure, for example, can increase the speed and efficiency of online transactions. By combining payment systems (and user interface screens) for the payment of offerings sold through multiple pricing processes (eg, scouting offerings and auction offerings), buyers of these offerings can no longer create two separate payment systems. There is no need to use it. The combined payment system allows for the separation of transactions so that different offerings can be paid by different methods and also use different delivery methods.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network-based commerce facility in the form of an internet-based auction and reconnaissance facility 10. Although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described in terms of auction and reconnaissance facilities, the present invention may be used in many other forms of computer-based and network-based commerce facilities.

The auction and reconnaissance facility 10 dynamically stores various types of front-end servers, namely page servers 12 that deliver web pages (eg, markup language documents), images to be displayed within the web pages. Image server 14, listing servers 16, an Internet server application program interface (ISAPI) or common gateway interface (CGI) server 18, which provides an intelligent interface to the rear end of the installation 10, and One or more of the search servers 20 that process search requests for the facility 10. The email server 21 provides for automated email communication, in particular to the users of the facility 10. The page server 12, the image server 14, the CGI server 18, the search server 20, the email server 21 and the database engine server 22, individually or in combination, are for example client machines ( 32) and acts as a communication engine to facilitate communication between the network-based auction facility 10.

The latter servers include a database engine server 22, a search index server 24 and a credit card database server 26, each of which maintains and facilitates a connection to a separate database.

The internet-based auction and sales facility 10 may be accessed by a client program 30 such as a browser (eg, Internet Explorer distributed by Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, USA), which is a client machine 32. It is performed at and connects to the installation 10 via a network such as the Internet 34. Other networks that clients use to connect to the auction facility 10 include wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless communication networks (eg, cellular networks) or public switched telephone networks (PSTN) networks.

2 is a database diagram showing an example database 23 connected and maintained through a database engine server 22, which at least partially implements and supports an auction and sales facility 10. In one embodiment, database 23 is implemented as a relational database and has a number of tables containing entries or records, which are linked by indexes and keys. In an alternative embodiment, database 23 is implemented as a collection of objects in an object-oriented database.

Located in the user table 40 in the center of the database 23, which contains a record for each user of the facility 10. The user trades within the facility 10 as a seller, a buyer, a bidder or all three. The database 23 includes an offering table 42 linked to the user table 40. The offering table 42 includes a seller offering table 44, a reconnaissance buyer offering table 45, and a bidder offering table 46. The user record in the user table 40 is linked to a number of offerings that were being auctioned or auctioned or being offered or offered for sale through the facility 10. The link indicates whether the user is a seller, a bidder, or a buyer for the offering, where the user record exists in the offering table 42.

Database 23 includes one or more category tables 47. Each record in the category table 47 describes an individual category. In one embodiment, the specific category table 47 describes a plurality of hierarchical category structures, and a plurality of category records, each of which provides a view of a particular category within one of the plurality of hierarchical category structures. Described-Includes. For example, the category table 47 describes a number of actual or current categories to which offering records in the offering table 42 can be linked.

The database 23 includes a note table 48 occupied by one or more offering records in the offering table 42 and / or note records that are linked with one or more user records in the user table 40. Each note record in note table 48 includes comments, descriptions, histories, or other information, in particular belonging to an offering that is auctioned through auction facility 10, or belonging to a user of auction facility 10.

Many other, such as user past alias table 50, feedback table 52, feedback details table 53, bid table 54, account table 56, account balance table 58, and transaction history table The tables are shown to be linked to the user table 40. The transaction record table contains a record of the items purchased by the buyer and functions as a virtual shopping cart 60. The virtual shopping cart 60 stores data pertaining to the offerings, which data is included in the transaction, the seller, the buyer, the price of the item, the method of purchase (e.g., a reconnaissance, immediate purchase or auction), the date of purchase and the current date of delivery. State (eg, in progress or delivered).

One embodiment of the virtual shopping cart 60 is shown in FIG. The virtual shopping cart defines a number of areas for each record to record transactions associated with the user. These areas include the ID field 300 for the traded item, the item description field 310, the ID field 320 for the seller of the item, the ID field 330 for the buyer of the item or the bidder of the item, the pricing process. A field 340 for storing a description of (reconnaissance, immediate purchase or auction), a field 350 for storing a flag indicating whether the pricing process has been completed, a field 370 for storing the date the article was listed for sale A field 380 for storing a flag indicating whether a transaction has been completed, and a field 390 for storing a flag indicating whether a payment reminder has been automatically sent from the auction facility 10 to the winning buyer. have. If only two pricing processes are available, then the pricing process description field 340 is a flag. The presence of this field allows the virtual shopping cart to include a first type of record for the first type of pricing process and a second type of record for the second type of pricing process.

A user who wants to purchase or bid on an offering connects to the facility 10 and a database within the facility to find the desired offering. The offering may be a good or service to be sold. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method 400 for selecting an offering to purchase is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4. In block 410, the buyer begins the purchase process by connecting to the sales site. In block 420, once the buyer views the interface of the sales site, the buyer has the option to list the interface of the auction site or the interface of the fixed-price (FP) site. At block 430, selecting the type of offering to be listed, facility 10 displays a selection of offerings to purchase.

For the reconnaissance offering, the buyer selects an offering that meets the buyer's needs and price conditions (500). The facility 10 then displays a screen describing the offering for sale as shown in FIG. 5. In one embodiment, the screen displays a brief description of the offering for sale. In further embodiments, the screen displays a mechanism 530 indicative of the offering's price 520 and the intended signal for purchase. In a further embodiment, the seller's location 540 and contact information 550 are generated for use by the buyer.

At the auction, the user bids on the offering 600 by setting a maximum amount 440 that the user is willing to pay. If the price of the item exceeds its maximum amount, the user has the option to increase that maximum amount until the bidding time is over. In bidding, the system displays a screen describing the auction offering for sale as shown in FIG. Like the Scout screen in one embodiment, the auction screen includes a brief description 610 of the offering to be sold. In further embodiments, the screen includes a bid-forming component 620. The bid-forming component 620 includes a current bid list 622, a minimum allowable bid increment list 624, and input fields 626 for the buyer's maximum allowable bid amount. In further embodiments, additional information about the seller may be used, such as the seller's location 630 and contact information 632. Bid related information such as bid history 640 and bid remaining time 642 may be available on the screen. In an alternative embodiment, bids for the exhibits of the scout offerings 650 and the auction offering are located on the same screen.

At block 450, for both the scouting offering and the auction offering, if the shopping has not ended, the buyer can return to block 420 to look at the auction list or scouting list. If the shopping is over, the buyer will proceed to the payment site at block 460.

An embodiment of a process for describing the payment interface 700 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7. In block 800, the seller begins with the purchase article screen. The user enters the desired quantity and clicks "buy now". In block 710, the buyer proceeds to the payment screen. At block 720, the buyer selects a payment method for the offering. The payment method includes payment of an internet transaction at block 730, a credit card at block 740, and other agreements established between the seller and buyer of block 900. After the payment method is selected, the buyer reviews the order at block 1000. Finally, if the buyer wants to proceed with the order, the order is confirmed at block 1100. In block 750, the order is submitted and provides the user with a complete list of transactions, including the final total amount, item information for the ordered item, and special information for the seller and the store.

In one embodiment, the purchase article screen is configured in the manner shown in FIG. The purchase item screen lists the items purchased by the buyer 810. Information about purchased items, such as quantity 812, price per item 814, incidental costs 816 such as taxes and shipping and handling costs, and total cost of the article 818, are listed. In a further embodiment, the input fields 820 allow the buyer to be identified 822 and allow security features such as a password to be implemented 824. In further embodiments, the buyer may select a purchase method 830. Meter 840 is displayed in one embodiment and shows the buyer progress according to a payment procedure. The screen in the current embodiment shows the goods purchased, but in an alternative embodiment it may show the offering of services or a combination of goods and services.

If the buyer wants to sort the alternate payment method, in one embodiment the buyer will see a payment options screen as shown in FIG. The screen displays the offering 910 to be purchased and the amount 920 to be paid for this offering. In a further embodiment, the address to which the offering will be delivered or the service will be listed is listed 930. The buyer is provided with a list of checkpoints to select a payment method 940. These options include cashier's check 942, money order 944, or payment at the seller's home 946.

Before completing the transaction, a review screen is shown to the buyer, an example of which is shown in FIG. 10, which allows the buyer to review the purchase conditions. In one embodiment, purchased offerings are listed 1010 along with prices 1020 for the offerings. The buyer is shown the shipping address 1030 and the selected payment method 1040. In a further embodiment, a meter is displayed 1050 showing the purchaser the process of confirmation processing. In another embodiment, the screen displays 1060 a buyer's ability to individually determine payment methods for individual offerings. The buyer may set payment methods separately for the auction offering and the scout offering, or may set the payment methods separately for two offerings of the same price type. In one embodiment, the buyer selects an insurance option. In addition, the buyer can specify different shipping methods for different offerings. In an alternative embodiment, such hyperlinks may be located on earlier screens or later screens.

Once the transaction is completed, a confirmation screen is shown to the buyer, an example of which is shown in FIG. In one embodiment, the screen displays seller 1110 and seller contact information 1112. The screen allows the buyer to check the shipping address 1120, billing address 1122, and payment method 1024 twice. In addition, the purchased offering 1130, the number of purchased offerings 1132, and the purchase price 1134 are listed.

One embodiment of a payment procedure 1200 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12. In block 1205, the buyer selects an item. In block 1210, the price of the article, including shipping and taxes, is estimated. At decision block 1215, the buyer selects the desired payment method. The payment method may include a credit card at block 1220, an internet transaction payment at block 1225, or another method at block 1230. In block 1235, delivery information is obtained from the seller. At block 1240, the buyer selects his shipping and insurance options. At block 1245, the total price is calculated. At decision block 1250, the availability of the selected article is checked. If the article is not available, the transaction is canceled at block 1255. At block 1260, a notification of cancellation of the transaction is sent. If the article is available, the inventory containing the article is reduced at block 1265. At block 1270, the buyer and seller are charged. At block 1275, a transaction is made and the buyer and seller are advertised at block 1260.

In one embodiment, as hosted by ISAPI server 18, the payment is performed by adding software payment functionality for the reconnaissant item to the software used to pay for the auction items. The payment function generates multiple Internet server application program interface (ISAPI) pages during processing. The final object is created at the ISAPI level and passed to the payment function for use. A payment result class with ISAPI post information resides on the page. The payment function verifies this new information and completes the purchase. Each purchase as well as the final purchase changes the state of the payment result object. This new state is returned to the ISAPI caller to process and determine the next steps.

Public functions of the payment function class include class destructor, review result search, and shipping address review result search. The class destructor deletes all the memory created by the object. The review results search function verifies the goods, quantity, insurance, payment options and users. Verification errors and results are copied into the result object that the function returns. The search result retrieval function also calls the purchase ID function to generate a purchase identification number. The purchase identification number is generated during this function, so that each payment is unique and ensures that the user does not perform the same transaction twice by clicking the confirm button twice. The constraint in the bid table ignores any second thread created by double clicking. The shipping address review result retrieval function verifies the shipping address for the user and ensures that the seller delivers international shipments when the buyer or buyers choose an international address. The delivery address review result retrieval function returns a result object that holds at least copies of verification errors and results.

The protection function of the payment function includes functions for verifying goods and quantities, verifying payment options, verifying insurance, verifying users, verifying shipping address, and purchasing. The verify item and quantity function verifies that the item exists and is the item of the scout, the auction is not over and the requested quantity is available in the database. The availability of the item is a preliminary inspection to be repeated during the purchasing function. Upon verification, article specific data numbers reside in the result object for later use. The verify payment option function checks whether the payment options are available by the seller and checks if the buyer has already selected one of these options. This function takes place after the insurance has been selected and the buyer has been verified so that payment is redirected if necessary. The verification insurance function checks whether the seller provides insurance and whether the buyer has selected the insurance. The verify user function checks the user ID and password for the purchaser and adds appropriate error signals as needed. The verification shipping address is checked to ensure that all necessary fields such as street address, street name, zip code and others have been filled in by the user. This feature also validates international delivery requests for sellers' sales preferences.

The purchase function includes all the logic to verify availability and to adjust the quantity of the item upon successful purchase. The settlement transaction will finalize their purchase on the final confirmation page with this purchase processing wrapper. Transactions with direct credit card billing can use the API currency to verify quantity and reduce inventory immediately before payment is made to the buyer's card to ensure that the buyer's credit card is charged only when the desired quantity is available. We will use these wrappers to do this. In an alternative embodiment, the items are booked for the time being once payment has started. If the desired quantity of the article is available, the inventory of the article is reduced and a transaction record is created. Reduction of quantity in the database is automatic, and both threads will not be able to reduce quantity at the same time. In addition, the purchase processing wrapper will send the transaction end email to both the buyer and the seller, enable feedback in the transaction, and collect the final fee. The transaction end email includes the buyer's shipping address, the payment option selected, the quantity the buyer desires, and a time stamp of the transaction.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a machine in an exemplary form of computer system 1300, in which a set of instructions may be executed to cause the machine to perform any of the methods discussed above. In an alternative embodiment, the machine is a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web device, or any machine capable of executing a command sequence that defines actions to be performed by the machine. It may include.

Computer system 1300 includes a processor 1302, main memory 1304, and static memory 1306, which communicate with each other over a bus 1308. Computer system 1300 also includes a video display unit 1310 (eg, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1300 also includes an alphanumeric input device 1312 (e.g., a keypad), a cursor control device 1314 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1316, a signal generator 1320 (e.g. For example, the speaker) and the network interface device 1322.

The disk drive unit 1316 includes a machine-readable medium 1324, on which a set of instructions (ie software) that implements any or all of the methods described above is stored. Software 1326 is also shown to reside in whole or at least partially within main memory 1304 and / or processor 1302. Software 1326 may also be transmitted or received from network 1328 via network interface device 1322. For this purpose, the term “machine-readable medium” includes any medium that can store or encode a sequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that allows the machine to perform any of the methods of the present invention. Should be regarded as Thus, the term “machine-readable medium” is considered to include, but is not necessarily limited to, solid state memory, optical and magnetic disks, and carrier signals.

Accordingly, network-based systems and methods are disclosed for at least partially completing a transaction built using one or more pricing processes. Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to certain preferred embodiments, many changes and modifications will be readily made by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, all such changes and modifications are intended to fall within the intended scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (42)

A buyer purchases fixed price offerings, bids to purchase auction priced offerings, and creates one or more user interfaces that allow the scout and auction to simultaneously complete a transaction for the offerings. Interface subsystem; A virtual shopping cart subsystem for simultaneously maintaining records in which the scout and the auction represent offerings; A database for storing records in the virtual shopping cart subsystem representing the scout and the auction offerings; And Payment subsystem that allows multiple payment methods to be used for the transaction A computer-implemented system for facilitating the purchase of offerings through a network-based transaction facility, including. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, And the one or more user interfaces comprise a scout interface and an auction interface created to be displayed on the same interface screen. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, The plurality of payment methods include credit card payment and internet money transaction, the computer implemented system to facilitate the purchase of offerings through a network-based trading facility. delete The method of claim 1, And a delivery interface system that enables the buyer to select one of a set of delivery methods. The method of claim 11, The set of delivery methods includes direct mail, courier service, and computer-implemented system to facilitate the purchase of offerings through a network-based trading facility. The method of claim 11, Wherein each offering is delivered by an individual delivery method of the set of delivery methods, a computer implemented system for facilitating purchase of offerings through a network-based trading facility. delete delete The method of claim 1, The virtual shopping cart subsystem provides a virtual shopping cart associated with the buyer, wherein the virtual shopping cart is responsible for purchasing purchases of offerings through a network-based trading facility, which stores data belonging to offerings by the scout and auction before completion of the transaction. Computer implemented system to facilitate. The method of claim 16, The virtual shopping cart associated with the buyer facilitates the purchase of offerings through a network-based trading facility, allowing the reconnaissance and auction to concurrently pay from the buyer to the seller for offerings, thereby simultaneously completing the transaction. Computer implemented system. The method of claim 17, And wherein the concurrent payment is for the reconnaissance and the auction to the sum of offerings. delete delete delete delete delete At least one trading interface, through which the buyer using the network-based trading facility sets the first price for the first offering as a reconnaissance price and the second price for the second offering through bidding processing; Generating a; While a transaction for the two offerings is completed, using a virtual shopping cart, a first record representing the first offering for purchases using the reconnaissance process, and the second offering for purchases using the bidding process Simultaneously storing a second record representing a; Allowing to create a number of payment methods to be used in the transaction; And Simultaneously completing the transaction A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the program. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete A system for facilitating the purchase of offerings through a network based trading facility, At least one trading interface-through the trading interface, a buyer using the network-based trading facility sets a first price for a first offering as a reconnaissance price and a second price for a second offering through bidding processing An interface subsystem for generating; A payment subsystem that enables each offering to be paid by a different payment method among a plurality of payment methods; And In order to facilitate concurrent completion of transactions related to the first and second offerings, a virtual shopping cart subsystem providing a virtual shopping cart that stores data pertaining to the buyer and belonging to the offerings. And a system for facilitating the purchase of offerings through a network-based trading facility. The method of claim 34, wherein And the virtual shopping cart stores data pertaining to both the first and second offerings prior to the completion of the transactions related to the first and second offerings. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein The virtual shopping cart associated with the buyer allows simultaneous payment from the buyer to the seller for the first and second offerings, thereby simultaneously completing the transactions related to the first and second offerings. A system for facilitating the purchase of offerings through a facility. delete delete The method of claim 34, wherein The interface subsystem may include a first pricing processing interface, wherein the buyer using the network-based trading facility sets the first price through the first pricing processing interface, and a second pricing processing interface. And the buyer using the underlying trading facility sets the second price via the second pricing processing interface. The method of claim 39, The virtual shopping cart associated with the buyer stores data pertaining to multiple offerings, wherein prices for the multiple offerings have been set via multiple pricing processing interfaces, such that the buyer is associated with the multiple offerings. A system for facilitating the purchase of offerings through a network based trading facility that allows multiple transactions to be completed at the same time. The method of claim 40, Wherein the plurality of offerings are offerings from a single seller, the system for facilitating purchase of offerings through a network based trading facility. The method of claim 41, wherein The virtual shopping cart subsystem provides a plurality of the virtual shopping carts associated with the buyer, each of the plurality of virtual shopping carts associated with a respective merchant, to facilitate the purchase of offerings through a network based trading facility. .

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