WO2000041116A2

WO2000041116A2 - Virtual vendor assisted marketing system

Info

Publication number: WO2000041116A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/000184
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marshall Merrifield; David Scott Mitchell
Original assignee: Clark Security Products, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-01-04
Filing date: 2000-01-03
Publication date: 2000-07-13
Also published as: AU2600300A; WO2000041116A8; WO2000041116A9

Abstract

An on-line, one-stop integrated process is described in which a customer can purchase products and/or services directly from a proprietary database of products and/or services maintained by a distributor in affiliation with a network of dealers under contract with the distributor. The products might require professional installation and/or servicing by a dealer retail agent for effective operation. The customer accesses the distributor's database and selects goods and/or services to be purchased. The distributor provides the customer with the identities of one or more dealers from the network, and a dealer is selected. The products are billed, together with service costs, by the distributor on behalf of the selected dealer and under the selected dealer's merchant account, to the consumer's credit or debit account. Purchased products then are delivered by the distributor either to the selected dealer, or directly to the consumer. The selected dealer provides the products and services to the customer as required to complete the purchase. The distributor subsequently bills the selected dealer for the dealer's cost of the products.

Description

VIRTUAL VENDOR ASSISTED MARKETING SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to systems for purchasing goods and services, and, more particularly, to a networked system configured for a central party, such as a distributor, to facilitate a customer's purchasing of goods and/or services from one of a network of dealers.

In some product and/or service sales industries, and particularly in industries involving the sales of goods that require configuration and/or installation, a central party (i.e., a product manufacturer or some other level of distributor) will use a network of individual dealers (i.e., any independent merchant that can act in a sales capacity for the distributor) to provide customers with its goods and/or services. Typically, a customer will visit a local dealer and conduct a purchase directly with that dealer. If there are problems with the goods or services, the dealer is easily available to the customer, providing corrective measures in a prompt and direct way that might not easily be matched by a distributor that is operated at a greater distance.

E-commerce is rapidly becoming prevalent, and therefore distributors and dealers would like to turn to cyberspace to increase their exposure to potential customers. However, in the move to cyberspace, problems arise in the efficient management of business transactions with a customer. In particular, while the customer normally deals with a local dealer, that dealer is less likely to have the financial and technical tools to implement a useful and cost effective e-commerce system. However, the distributor, which can be a larger entity that is more capable of managing e-commerce, and which has an interest in providing all customers with a uniform, high quality product image online, cannot typically provide for customer service needs, and might not be able to develop as strong a customer relationship as dealer can with personal contact. Presently, a number of system architectures exist for supporting e-commerce: For example, in a typical" virtual mall" architecture, a dealer's server provides a product search function and an accounting function to a customer who receives the desired products shipped directly from a supplier, and then is billed directly by the dealer. The dealer then pays the supplier for the goods that the supplier sends out. The dealer can work with, and offer products from a variety of suppliers, but the dealer must maintain and support the operations of the software and hardware to implement each transaction.

There are a number of system architectures in which independent businesses link their web sites in a cooperative manner in order to co-promote and share business.

However, these do not achieve the desired goals. These architectures can be described generally as fitting within the following three business models: the linking model, the co-branding model, and the hosting model.

In the linking model, one web site will place a link on their web site (e.g., banner advertisement) that will send traffic to another web site. The web site being linked to typically pays the linking site one or more of the following amounts: a flat fee for placing the link, a fixed amount per user clicking on the link, and/or a percentage of any purchases made by a user that clicked on the link to reach the linked site.

In the co-branding model, instead of one site linking to another, one site creates a frame and allows the other web sites pages to be displayed inside the frame. In this way the user is actually viewing both web sites at the same time. The revenue structures for this model are similar to the linking model described above.

Finally, in the hosting models, the site being linked to does not have an independent domain name on the Internet. Instead, it exists as a subsection of the other company's web site (e.g., www.companyA.com/companyB). In each of these models, the merchant maintaining the web pages that actually provide the e-commerce functions is also the merchant that conducts the transaction and collects the payment from the customer. That merchant is then paying the other merchant either a promotional fee or a sales commission.

In each of these three models exhibits shortcomings for use in a distributor-to- dealer-to-customer relationship. For instance, they can require both parties to have significant e-commerce capabilities (e.g., linking and co-branding), with one party simply receiving web traffic referral commissions. Likewise, the smaller of the two parties might have to subordinate its identity to the larger party (e.g., hosting) in order to leverage the larger party's e-commerce capability.

In sum, the known e-commerce system architectures do not provide a mechanism that utilizes e-commerce to allow a distributor to leverage its strengths (such as scale, technological sophistication and product array) in combination with the dealer strengths (such as local presence, personalized services and product knowledge) to reach more customers without disrupting the traditionally beneficial distributor-to- dealer-to-customer relationship.

Accordingly, there has existed a definite need for systems allowing a product distributor and a number of dealers to mutually and efficiently facilitate the sale of goods and/or services to customers over a network, and providing for dealers to offer continuing support and develop financial and personal connections with the customers. In various embodiments, the present invention satisfies some or all of these and other needs, and provides further related advantages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system for a product distributor and a dealer to mutually and efficiently facilitate the sale of goods and services to a customer from the dealer, helping the dealer to develop customer relationships, while having the distributor conduct the sales activities. It provides efficient support for the customers of a large number of dealers, while maintaining the traditional lines of sale that are particularly important when a customer requires the services of the dealer.

The system of the invention provides a method for a distributor to process a purchase request from a customer. The purchase request typically specifies at least one selection of one or more goods and/or services that are available. The services are typically provided by one of a number of dealers affiliated with the distributor. In the method, the distributor receives the purchase request from the customer, and selects a dealer from among the available dealers. The distributor's selection of a dealer could be based on a customer's input or on the distributor's own criteria.

The system of the invention typically features the distributor's communicating payment instructions so as to cause the customer to pay the selected dealer for the purchase. Furthermore, the system of the invention typically features the distributor's effecting the tender of the purchased goods and/or services to the customer by shipping goods out to the customer and/or by instructing the dealer to tender goods and services to the customer.

This is a mutually beneficial and self-reinforcing interactive process between a customer, a dealer, and a distributor. It allows the distributor to efficiently provide sales support to a wide variety of dealers, using a consistent and high quality Web Site presentation, while allowing for the establishment of a potentially on-going, longer-term relationship between the dealer and customer, such as for subsequent goods and/or service needs. The efficient provision of sales support benefits both the dealer and the distributor, as the increased efficiency makes both more competitive in the market.

The cooperative nature of the distributor-dealer relationship is a novel concept in the practice of the art, and is further enhanced by featuring the use of a data base of dealers that allows the distributor to facilitate financial transactions directly between a customer and a dealer. This database allows the automation of the process so as to minimize both response time and cost. It can take advantage of established product warehouses and various types of distributing networks, but it offers reduced product warehousing by dealers, thus reducing their overhead and improving their cash-flow. Thus, in the concept of the present invention, a cooperative and integrated relationship is established which is mutually beneficial to all the participants and which, therefore, provides a unique competitive advantage for each one.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A is a schematic representation of a computer-based system and a related process for a distributor to process a purchase request, embodying features of the present invention.

FIG. IB is a representation of the interaction between a distributor, a plurality of dealers, and a customer, operating under the system schematically represented in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is a network diagram of a network facilitating the system and process schematically represented in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the interaction between a database and software modules of the distributor, in an example of a specific implementation of the system and process schematically represented in FIG. 1 A over the network diagramed in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a detailed schematic representation of a process under the system and process schematically represented in FIG. 1A

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A computer-based system and a related method for a distributor 12 to process a purchase request, and thereby sell goods and/or services to a customer 14, according to the present invention is schematically represented in FIG. 1A, and interactions of the system and method are schematically represented in FIG IB. The distributor is affiliated with a plurality of dealers 16 that typically can provide goods and/or services to customers.

Responding to contact from the customer 14 over a network such as the Internet 15, the distributor 12 transmits a communication 17 that contains a variety of information to the customer, via the network. Typically, this information will include the identification, price, and description of one or more goods and/or services available for purchase by the customer. Also typically, the goods will be manufactured by and/or distributed by the distributor. From the communication 17, the customer preferably can select which of the goods and/or services the customer wishes to purchase. Optionally, either the communication 17 containing goods and/or service information, or a related communication, can include dealer selection information. This dealer selection information can be identification information for the plurality of dealers 16 that are affiliated with the distributor 12, or identification information for a selected subset 18 of the plurality of affiliated dealers 16, where the subset is selected based on criteria, such as: the customer's location; the customer's prior shopping or purchasing history; the type of goods and/or services that the customer wants to purchase; or some other type of business sharing arrangement being followed by the distributor to divide business between its dealers.

After reviewing the information transmitted by the distributor 12, the customer

14 transmits a communication 19 to the distributor, via the network. This communication 19 includes the customer's selection of a product or service to be purchased. The distributor and customer repeat the information and selecting communications 17, 19 until the customer has filled a virtual shopping cart 20 with the selected goods and/or services. The final selection purchase communication 19 indicates that the purchaser has decided to purchase 21 the selected goods and/or services and issues a purchase request that specifies the customer's selection of one or more goods and/or services.

In addition to the above information, the distributor 12 requests 22, and/or the customer 14 provides 23 other typical information for the purchase, such as the customer's identification, address, telephone number, email address, payment instructions such as credit card information, other shipping instructions such as shipment address, carrier type and class of service or dealer delivery, and the like. The customer preferably provides purchase authorization by pressing a virtual "buy" button 24.

Either as part of the same communication 23, or separately, the customer 14 preferably transmits to the distributor 12, via the network 15, a communication 25 including either identity information identifying the selection of a dealer 26 to participate in the sale, or information that will assist the distributor in selecting a dealer to participate in the sale, such as the above mentioned shipment address. Thus, the dealer-selection information can be of a variety of forms, including an explicit selection to be made by the customer, and including a request for location-based selection criteria such as a postal code.

Based either on dealer-selection information received from the customer, or on prearranged dealer selection criteria, the distributor searches for and selects a dealer 26 that will participate in the purchase from a database 27 containing the identification of the plurality of affiliated dealers 16. Preferably, the distributor 12 then proceeds to process the order and transmit payment instructions 29, to cause the customer to transfer funds 28 to the selected dealer 26, and thereby pay the selected dealer for the goods and/or services that the customer selected in the purchase request.

Preferably, the payment instructions are issued to a payment processing center 31, which debits funds from a credit or debit account of the customer 14, and then credits a merchant account associated with the selected dealer 26 with the debited funds. Optionally, the payment processing center might withhold transaction fees from the funds that are credited to the dealer. Preferably, the payment processing center notifies the distributor 33, or optionally the selected dealer, that the payment instructions are (or will be) successfully carried out (e.g., that the customer's credit card has adequate funds available). This notification can be by the assignment of a transaction ID.

Preferably after the distributor 12 has been notified 33 that the payment has been, or will be, successfully carried out, the distributor provides for and/or arranges for the provision of the goods and/or services that were specified in the purchase request, thereby effecting the tender of the customer's selection(s) from the purchase request. In doing so, the distributor can send or deliver 30 the purchased goods to the customer 14, and/or it can transmit a communication 34, possibly along with the purchased goods, directing the selected dealer 26 to send or deliver 32 the purchased goods to the customer. Preferably, the selected dealer also will provide all purchased services to the customer (e.g., installation services).

Regardless of whether the selected dealer 26 provides goods and/or services to the customer 14, the distributor's communication 34 to the selected dealer preferably includes a notification of the purchase, and of the transfer of funds 28 from the customer. Typically, the distributor's communication 34 will also include a notification of the selected dealer's resulting debt to the distributor for all portions of the purchase that were tendered by the distributor. Preferably, the selected dealer transmits a communication 36 confirming the distributor's communication 34 and most preferably confirming the selected dealer's actions in providing the goods and/or services. Additionally, the selected dealer transfers funds 38 to the distributor to satisfy selected dealer's resulting debt to the distributor for the portions of the purchase that were tendered by the distributor.

It should be understood from the simplicity of FIG. IB that it is possible to practice the invention using other systems than the one shown in FIG. 1 A. It is within the scope of the invention to have some or all of the transmissions and/or communications occur via other means, such as correspondence, telephone, facsimile, or even direct person-to-person contact. Indeed, the communication 29 that causes payment to occur might preferably occur via a secured communication line. Likewise, the communications between given parties can be combined, broken apart into separate portions, reordered, and/or can occur as part of a more complex dialogue between the communicating parties. For example, the customer's communications in selecting goods and requesting a purchase can be accomplished over the Internet in a series of web pages where the distributor alternately provides the customer with information on which goods and services are available from different dealers, and then asks the customer for information. Additionally, rather than being a transmission of dealer identification information, the dealer selection information could be a request for particular customer information that will subsequently be used by the distributor to select a specific dealer. This information could be based on the customer's location, on business needs or existing professional relationships of the customer . Furthermore, the distributor does not necessarily have to request dealer selection information from the customer, because the distributor could select a dealer based on non-customer related criteria, such as the chronological order of receiving the purchase request. In fact, the distributor could even select the dealer randomly if it were so desired.

While the distributor preferably transmits payment information 29 to a payment processing center, the distributor could make alternative forms of payment instructions, such as in a communication to the customer (e.g., directing the customer to make payment to the selected dealer), or to the dealer (e.g., directing the selected dealer to charge the customer). Thus, the payment instructions can be in a variety of forms, and can be issued to a variety of parties.

Typically, the delivered goods will be the distributor's products, regardless of whether the distributor 12 or the selected dealer 26 provides them to the customer 14, and regardless of whether the selected dealer has purchased them from the distributor prior to the customer's purchase. However, along with the distributor's products, the distributor can simultaneously arrange for the purchase other goods that it knows the selected dealer offers. This is particularly likely when the other goods are small accessories or installation hardware that the distributor does not elect to carry. The dealer's possession of, or offering of, other goods can be a criterion used in selecting the dealer.

The role of distributor in the above example includes any level party in the distribution chain, from a manufacturer down any merchant that distributes products to other merchants. Within a broader scope of the invention, some other sales facilitator could replace the distributor in the above example.

In limited situations, the distributor could optionally allow transactions to occur without the assignment of a dealer to a transaction. This option might be appropriate where a customer did not need any services, or only needed the limited services that the distributor could supply.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION Overall System Layout

A preferred embodiment of a system and related method for the present invention are described in more detail below, by way of example.

With reference to FIG. 2, a consumer 102 has access to a typical personal computer 104, including a central processing unit, random access memory and a hard drive. It also includes input and output devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor and a printer 106. Additionally, the computer includes a modem or other communications device configured to provide a networked connection 108 to the

Internet 110. The consumer has a house, and seeks to purchase a security system for the house.

A distribution company 112 designs and sells components for security systems, and has the components manufactured by separate manufacturing companies. The distribution company 112 does not have the personnel and outlets to configure packages of security system components into security systems customized and installed in each individual consumer's house. The distribution company 112 therefore has a network of small, affiliated dealerships 114 that are skilled in the configuring and physical installation of security systems. Under a normal, storefront-type operation, the distribution company 112 distributes packages of the security system components to the affiliated dealerships 114, either immediately billing them for the packages or operating on consignment. Consumers contact the dealerships, and contract with the dealerships for the purchase of the packages, and for the dealership's services in configuring and installing the packages to meet the consumers' individual security system needs.

The distribution company 112 has a computer system 116 including a web server and a printer 118, and further including a preferably high speed communications device configured to provide a relatively permanent networked connection 120 to the Internet 110. Similarly, some of the affiliated dealerships 114 have computer systems

122, printers 124, and communication devices configured to provide (semi) permanent networked connections 126 to the Internet 110. A group 128 of the affiliated dealerships, preferably each having computer systems and networked connections 126 to the Internet, has an agreement in place with the distribution company 112 to participate in Internet sales under the present invention.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, on their computer system 116, the distribution company 112 maintains a cyberspace presence, either by maintaining a web site 160 or by having a provider host the web site. Additionally, the distribution company maintains a database 150.

The database 150 includes a goods/services file 152 for storing information regarding goods and services. This file provides record formats for storing relevant information for all goods and services that are to be offered through the web site 160. The information preferably includes a good/service product number, a price, warranty information, and functionality information such as the installation requirements. The goods/services can include goods offered by the distribution company (whether offered through dealerships or not), goods offered by dealerships that are not from the distribution company, services offered by various dealerships, and services offered by the distribution company itself (if any are available).

The database 150 also includes a dealership file 154 for information regarding the affiliated dealerships 128. For each dealership in the dealership file, the dealership file includes record formats for typical dealership contact information, such as addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and the like. Preferably, the dealership file further includes record formats for dealership information defining one or more sales areas, delimiting the locations for which the dealership can perform services and/or the locations for which the dealership will qualify for Internet sales, or an outside contractor, such as MapQuest™, provides a related location selection service. Optionally, the dealership file can include record formats for information indicating how a dealership prefers to be contacted by the distributor, and how it prefers goods to be tendered to a consumer (e.g., direct shipping or dealership delivery). Additionally, if the dealerships have substantially different services available, the goods and services file could be supplemented by having record formats for storing information on unique services available through the individual dealerships.

In order to facilitate consumer payments, the dealership file 154 further includes record formats for storing dealership payment information, such as each dealership's merchant account information with a bank, and including the appropriate payment processing center (if more than one is used) and the appropriate user names and passwords. If the distribution company 112 has differing agreements with its various dealerships regarding qualifying for given Internet purchases, then the database also includes record formats for indicating the qualification criteria.

If the distributor 112 has linking agreements that provide for remuneration to affiliated web sites that refer consumers to the distributor's web site 160, affiliate site database files 156 can be maintained in the database 150 for identifying the organizations having the affiliated sites. These files would likely contain record formats for contact information and payment information.

In order to conduct e-commerce, the database 150 provides a purchase file 158 using typical record formats for storing purchase transaction information. This information will include record formats for indicating a customer's identification and contact information, the goods and/or services to be purchased, the form of payment and related reference information (e.g., credit card number and expiration date), and the form offender to be used (e.g., direct distributor to customer shipping, distributor shipping to dealership for delivery, etc.). The purchase file also uses record formats for storing information regarding the dealership that is involved in a given transaction.

Additionally, the purchase file can also use record formats for storing information identifying what party referred the customer to the distributor's web site 160.

The distribution company's web site 160 includes a series of modules (i.e., HTML code for web pages and/or supporting code, such as in Java). These modules can be separate, or interwoven within larger programs and web pages. As is typical of corporate web sites, some general corporate page modules 162 communicate corporate information, investor information, employment information, business partner information, and other such types of information. They can also include educational information and exercises. Among these modules will be support for a home page that provides links to other parts of the web site.

A product ordering module 164 provides for a customer to order products via the Internet. In particular, this module can incorporate known e-commerce technology for informing potential customers of available products and services, and for requesting and recording customers desired purchases, such as with known e- commerce shopping cart software. This module can gather product information from the goods/services file 152 of the database. If sales offerings and/or limitations are contained in the dealership file 154, this information can also be used to supplement the information from the product order module.

The product ordering module 164 will preferably be configured to determine the source of the customer contact, and attach that information to any order that is produced. This would include information regarding affiliated web sites from the database's affiliate site file 156. If the customer already has a related dealer for the order, such as would occur if the customer was referred to the distribution company's web site by a dealership's web site, then the related dealership information would be displayed during the ordering process. If the customer contact was due to a link occurring under a linking agreement with an organization listed in the affiliate site files

156, this information would also be part of the attachment to any order that is produced.

If a customer does not already have a related dealer for the order, a dealership selection module 166, which can operate either concurrently or serially with the product ordering module 164, will preferably be configured to provide the user with a variety of dealership options from the dealership file 154. The dealership selection module will include code to identify a customer's location, and then provide a map showing the locations of the customer, and the nearest five dealerships that can provide the customer with service. As noted above, Internet companies such as MapQuest™ can provide mapping functions of this type.

A payment module 168 is configured to request and receive payment information from a customer. It is further configured to transmit payment instructions to an Internet payment organization, and receive verification that the payment is guaranteed or successfully completed. The necessary payment information will either be passed along from the dealership selection module 166, or retrievable from the dealership file 154. The price of the transaction can be calculated from the goods' and/or services' prices, which will either be passed along from the product ordering module 164, or retrievable from the goods/services file 152. Additionally, the payment module is configured to store all information from the transaction in the purchase file 158.

If the payment was guaranteed or successfully completed, the payment module 168 preferably initiates a tender module 170. The tender module is configured to transmit instructions for tendering the goods and/or services to a purchasing customer. In particular, this module is configured to transmit delivery instructions to the distribution company's shipping department, and also to the distribution company's services department, if one exists and is involved in the purchase. The module is further configured to transmit instructions to the appropriate dealership, directing that dealership to provide the ordered goods and/or services to the customer. If necessary, dealership contact information can be retrieved from the dealership file 154.

With the payment guaranteed or successfully completed, the remuneration module 172 is also initiated. The remuneration module is configured to process accounting instructions to bill the dealership for the transaction, including the dealership's costs for the products that the distributor 112 shipped out. If commissions are due from the transaction, such as to an affiliated site, the remuneration module also makes the accounting arrangements for those commissions to be paid. The dealership file 154 and the affiliate site file 156 might need to be accessed to conduct these functions.

Customer's Process of Purchasing - Arriving at the Web Site

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is preferable that the consumer 102 initially accesses a home page 202 of the distribution company's web site. The consumer can arrive at the distribution company's web site in a number of different ways. If the consumer arrives via a web link from another web site, the distribution company's computer preferably logs the address (i.e., the URL) of the site from which the consumer linked.

As is typical on the Internet, customers can arrive at the site via a link from a search engine, a general informational web site, or an Internet advertising banner 204. Alternatively, the consumer can arrive by directly entering the web site's address in a browser's address field 206. The address can be learned from a variety of sources, such as word of mouth, or advertising in other media (e.g., television, newspapers, or the like). These sources do not typically require remuneration for subsequent sales, although advertising will have an overhead cost, such as a fee for each presentation of an Internet advertising banner, or for each click-through (i.e., accessing the banner's link to reach the web site).

It is also possible that the customer 102 will arrive at the home page 202 via an affiliate site link 208 that operates under a commission agreement. When the link occurs, a parameter (i.e., a name value pair) is passed to the home page and stored as a session variable. The parameter contains an identification number representing the organization owning the affiliate site. Using the identification number, the distribution company can give the organization a commission for any sale that results from the link. Typically, such commissions will be totaled up and paid on a periodic basis, such as monthly.

If the customer 102 arrives at the distribution company's home page 202 via a link from an authorized dealership's web site 210, then the dealership's account number with the distribution company is passed as a parameter (i.e., a name value pair) during the link and stored as a session variable. So long as the customer is located within the service area of the dealership, the dealership can be preassigned to the customer for servicing that purchase transaction. Thus, the dealership can also profit by the sale of services to the customer. In the unusual occurrence that the customer arrives at the distribution company's home page via a link from a dealership that can not service the account, the dealership could be remunerated in a number of ways. For example, it could receive a commission similar to an affiliated site that links a customer, or it could be associated with the sale of goods, while an appropriately located dealership is associated with the sale of services.

Customer's Processes of Purchasing - Selection Method

The home page 202 initially identifies the distribution company to the consumer. If a dealership's account number with the distribution company is stored as a session variable, the home page 102 also identifies the dealership to the consumer.

Preferably, the identification of the dealership is prominent, and clarifies to the consumer that all goods and/or services will be purchased from the dealership.

After arriving at the home page, the consumer 102 is preferably offered the option of going to web pages providing informational stories and exercises 212 to help secure the consumer's home. The consumer optionally reviews some or all of this material, and eventually decides to become a customer.

From the home page 202, the consumer 102 will typically have other options, including links to web pages for selecting goods and services for purchase 214, and links to web pages for selecting and assigning a dealership for a transaction 216. Optionally, these two options can be available from other web pages, such as those offering information and educational exercises 212.

The selection of a dealership can be done prior to, during, or after the selection of goods and/or services for purchase. However, in some cases it might be preferable for one to be done prior to the other. For example, for a consumer living in an area with many dealerships, some of whom offer different services than others, then it might be preferable to select the goods and/or services first, so that the selection of dealership can be made from among dealerships offering the requested services. Likewise, for a consumer living in an area with only one dealership, then it might be preferable to have this dealership selected prior to selecting goods and services so as to have the selection of goods and/or services limited to those that are available.

Once a dealership has been selected, either due to a link from dealership's web site, or due to a selection made by the consumer, then the option to select a dealer is preferably removed or deactivated. However, in the situation where some dealerships do not offer all the services that others do, this might not be preferrable.

Customer's Processes of Purchasing - Selection of a Dealership

Preferably there are a number of ways to select a dealer from the web pages for selecting and assigning a dealership 216. For one, the consumer 102 can enter a dealer account number that the consumer previously learned, either from direct contact with the dealership or from a prior transaction. Dealerships will likely advertise this number on their own web sites and in literature along with their own web site.

Optionally, the distribution company can maintain a database keyed on customer information, or on cookies written to the customer's machine, so that the customer is provided the convenience of either being offered or being automatically provided with the same dealership as was assigned in a prior transaction.

A second way for the consumer 102 to select a dealership is based on location.

The consumer enters full or partial information of a location for the goods and/or services to be delivered. This information could be general, such as a postal code, or more specific, such as a complete address. Using an internal database and/or services provided over the net, the consumer is provided a map indicating the closest (by distance) dealerships to the location entered. More particularly, every dealership that is affiliated with the distribution company, and that participates in the distribution company's Internet sales program, is entered into distribution company's dealership file 154 in its database, or an equivalent file stored with a company specializing in mapping. The address of the customer (or any address desired) is compared to this file, and a list is compiled that contains nearby dealerships sorted by ascending distance from the comparison address. Preferably, this information is provided to the consumer with a larger map showing the locations of all suggested dealerships, and with thumbnail maps showing the detailed location of each dealership along with dealer information and logos. The customer reviews the options and selects a dealership.

Additionally, the dealership database files 154 can contain information on dealerships that are anticipated to be added to the Internet sales program soon, and information on dealerships that provide the distribution company's products, but that do not participate in the Internet sales program. In this way, the distribution company has the option of listing these stores as available for visitation, particularly for consumers that are not located near dealerships that do participate in the Internet sales program.

If the consumer 102 has selected items to purchase and has not been associated with a dealership by the time the consumer proceeds to pay for the purchase, a streamlined process of selecting a dealer is preferably provided by the dealership selection module 166 and the payment module 168. This is discussed below, in the section describing the payment module. Customer's Processes of Purchasing - Selection of Goods and/or Services

Using the web pages for selecting goods and services 214, the consumer is provided with a catalog of available goods and services from the goods/services file 152. A variety of selection software exists for implementing the selection process. These programs typically provide some type of virtual shopping cart to compile a list of items for purchase. As noted above, the selection of available goods and services might be varied, depending on whether a dealership that has a limited inventory of available goods and services has been selected.

Customer's Processes of Purchasing - Payment

One or more Internet credit card transaction services, such as signio^SM are set up with individual (usernames and passwords protected) accounts for each dealership. Each transaction service account includes the individual merchant account number(s), with an institution such as WELLS FARGO^®, for its associated dealership.

After the consumer 102 has selected goods and/or services for purchase, adding them to a shopping cart, it clicks on a button to complete the order. The consumer is then asked for a shipping address and credit card number. Upon entering this information, the consumer is taken to a confirmation page. If a dealership has already been associated with the consumer, that dealership will be displayed. However, when a dealership has not been associated the shipping information is used to provide the five closest dealerships that can provide the purchased goods and/or services. The costs of the items are subtotaled, taxed if necessary, and the shipping cost is added from locally stored values of the current shipping rates from a preferred shipper. Preferably, the consumer is given the information in a form that is convenient for printing so that the consumer can make a written record of the purchase request. After reviewing the information, the customer confirms the order and submits it for processing. The distribution company retrieves the dealership's username and password to the dealership's Internet transaction service account. Typically using software provided by the transaction service, the distribution company sends information on the transaction, including a request for cash, the dealership's username and password, the customer's credit card number and expiration date, the amount, and any additional comments (such as dealership identification for the customer), to the transaction service. This will typically occur via a proprietary and secure connection to the transaction service.

The transaction service verifies that the consumer's credit card is good (i.e., valid, not stolen and not expired) and can accept a charge of the correct amount. If the credit card is good for the transaction, then the dealership's merchant credit card account is accessed, and money is transferred from the consumer's credit card to the dealership's merchant account. Finally, if the transaction proceeds without error, the transaction service then returns a transaction number to the distribution company, which can optionally print a backup record of the transaction. However, if a problem occurs, it returns an error code. The error code, and preferably information on the related error, are then displayed to the consumer. The payment module 168 also sends e-mail to individuals at the distribution company to warn that problems are occurring with a part of the ordering process.

Customer's Processes of Purchasing - Tender

When a valid transaction occurs, the tender module 220 enters the order into the database, including an identification of which goods and/or services were ordered, as well as the shipping information. The database generates a unique order number for the transaction, which is provided to the consumer 102 for reference. An e-mail copy of an order confirmation is sent to the customer, the dealership, and a records area of the distribution company. Via its copy of the order, the dealership is directed to tender whatever goods and/or services that the distribution company does not tender.

To effect tender of goods by the distribution company, the tender module generates an EDI (electronic data interchange) file, which is a standardized file that contains all of the information for the order. The file is directed to a warehouse of the distribution company, where the order is filled and sent out. Typically, the goods are shipped to the customer's provided address, or to the dealership, on the same day as ordered.

Preferably, after the purchase order has been processed and the goods to be shipped have been provided with a tracking number, the tracking number is automatically entered into the distribution company's database. After that time, the consumer can access the database, and enter their order number and zip code, to retrieve the status of the order. This access also provides the consumer with reference contact information for their dealership.

Remuneration of the Distribution Company

Upon generating the EDI file, the distribution company's remuneration module

172 charges its account for the dealership with the dealership's cost of the goods and shipping 222. The distribution company is thereby paid for the goods, and the dealership is left with a profit since the remuneration is normally less that the amount that the consumer paid to the dealership.

If an affiliated web site referred the consumer to the distribution company's web site, commission information is recorded for later payment.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a system for a product distributor and a dealer to mutually and efficiently facilitate the sale of goods and services to a customer from the dealer, helping the dealer to develop customer relationships, while having the distributor conduct the sales activities. It also provides related computer systems, related systems of computer programs on computer readable media, related methods for a customer to purchase goods and/or services, and related data streams.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, although the invention has been described in detail with reference only to the preferred embodiments, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications can be made without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited, and is defined with reference to the following claims.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method for a distributor to process a purchase request from a customer, using a plurality of dealers affiliated with the distributor, the purchase request specifying at least one selection from at least one good or service that is available from the distributor and the plurality of dealers, comprising: receiving the purchase request from the customer; selecting a dealer from among the plurality of dealers; communicating payment instructions, so as to cause the customer to pay a payment amount to the selected dealer for the at least one selection specified in the purchase request; effecting the tender of the at least one selection specified in the purchase request to the customer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the distributor and the customer are connected by a computer network; in the step of receiving the purchase request, the distributor receives the purchase request from the customer via the computer network; and in the step of receiving information relating to dealer selection, the distributor receives the information from the customer via the computer network.

3. The method of claim 1, and further comprising receiving information relating to dealer selection from the customer, wherein the selection made in the step of selecting a dealer is based upon the received information relating to dealer selection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of effecting the tender comprises shipping a selected good to the customer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of effecting the tender comprises communicating instructions to the selected dealer, the instructions directing the selected dealer to tender at least part of the at least one selection to the customer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the instructions directing the selected dealer to tender at least part of the at least one selection to the customer include instructions directing the selected dealer to provide a selected service to the customer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein: the distributor, the selected dealer and the customer are connected by a computer network; in the step of receiving the purchase request, the distributor receives the purchase request from the customer via the computer network; and in the step of receiving information relating to dealer selection, the distributor receives the information from the customer via the computer network. in the step of communicating instructions to the selected dealer, the instructions are communicated via the computer network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of communicating payment instructions comprises transmitting electronic payment instructions to a payment processing center, the payment instructions including the payment amount, the identification of a payment account for the customer, and the identification of a merchant account for the selected dealer, wherein the customer pays the payment amount to the selected dealer by approving the transfer of the payment amount from the payment account to the merchant account.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: the distributor, the payment processing center and the customer are connected by a computer network; in the step of receiving the purchase request, the distributor receives the purchase request from the customer via the computer network; and in the step of receiving information relating to dealer selection, the distributor receives the information from the customer via the computer network. in the step of communicating payment instructions, the instructions are communicated via the computer network.

10. A computer system usable by a distributor to process a purchase request from a customer, using a plurality of dealers affiliated with the distributor, the purchase request specifying at least one selection from at least one good or service that is available from the distributor and the plurality of dealers, comprising: means for receiving the purchase request from the customer; means for receiving information relating to dealer selection from the customer; means for selecting a dealer from among the plurality of dealers, based upon the received information relating to dealer selection; means for communicating payment instructions, so as to cause the customer to pay a payment amount to the selected dealer for the at least one selection specified in the purchase request; means for effecting the tender of the at least one selection specified in the purchase request to the customer.