WO2000042542A2

WO2000042542A2 - Computer implemented purchasing system with available inventory management functions

Info

Publication number: WO2000042542A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/001045
Authority: WO
Inventors: Douglas Sanford Nottage; Donald Paul Wolfe, Jr.; Kevin Joel Wagoner; Michael Corey Tedesco; Zane Adam Rathwick; John Erik Klein
Original assignee: Autobytel.Com Inc.
Priority date: 1999-01-14
Filing date: 2000-01-14
Publication date: 2000-07-20
Also published as: AU2507800A; WO2000042542A3

Abstract

A computer implemented purchasing system allows seller management of product inventory which is displayed to potential buyers. Inventory may be modified individually or in a batch mode. Records may be filtered with dealer defined filters so as to perform inventory management functions on only dealer defined portions of the inventory.

Description

COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED PURCHASING SYSTEM WITH AVAILABLE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

FUNCTIONS

Field

The present invention is related to systems and methods for conducting transactions using networked computers.

Description of the Related Art

The global economy has made the business of selling more competitive than ever. Businesses that do not maximize customer satisfaction and profitability may not survive in today's markets. Businesses are therefore demanding tools and methods to provide a competitive edge. In a conventional vehicle sales scenario, a potential automobile purchaser initiates a purchasing process by visiting a dealership. The customer may make several preliminary visits before making his or her purchasing intent known to the dealer. Until the purchasing intent is revealed, the dealer acts inefficiently in attempting to consummate a customer purchase.

For example, the dealer maintains potentially unnecessary resources to handle the preliminary visits. Not knowing whether the potential customer intends to make a purchase, a large number of salespersons stand ready to confront all visitors to the dealership. However, many visits are preliminary and do not require the assistance of a salesperson. In addition, a purchaser may be approached by a salesperson less qualified to assist the purchaser in making the purchase. The salesperson may not possess the required product knowledge, or may be too busy to provide the necessary assistance. But, a lack of cooperation between the sales staff can inhibit the purchaser from receiving better assistance and perhaps from receiving prompt and accurate information about a vehicle which assists in the purchasers decision making process. Thus, customer satisfaction is not maximized, and the purchaser may experience unnecessary frustration. This results in dealership inefficiencies and potential lost sales.

Unfortunately, information concerning a vehicle dealer's inventory of automobiles is often only available to a customer if the customer actually visits the dealership. It is difficult to obtain information concerning available features, pricing, etc. (which will vary depending on the specific vehicle being sold) in any other way. Thus, during the purchasing process, time and energy is wasted by the customer in obtaining this information prior to making a purchasing decision, and the inefficiencies mentioned above cannot be avoided.

Summary

In one embodiment, the invention comprises a computer implemented purchasing system including a central computing system accessible to a plurality of sellers of goods and to a plurality of buyers of goods. The central computing system comprises a database region having stored therein an inventory of available products for one of the plurality of sellers, wherein the inventory comprises a plurality of product records, and the product records comprise fields defining product characteristics and product information. The central computing system also comprises an inventory management module accessible by the seller, and the inventory management module is configured to allow both individual and batch modification of product records by the seller.

The inventory management module may also be configured to report information from the product records to the seller and to search the product records according to criteria defined by the seller. Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a system block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the overall network architecture of the invention; Figure 2 is a representation of one embodiment of an exclusive seller regions look up table of the invention;

Figure 3 is a representation of one embodiment of a dealer record of the invention;

Figure 4 is a representation of one embodiment of a new vehicle record of the invention;

Figure 5 is a representation of one embodiment of a used vehicle record of the invention;

Figure 6 is a high level block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a Data Center server system architecture of the invention;

Figure 7 is a representation of one embodiment of a manage inventory HTML page in accordance with the invention.

Figure 8 is a representation of one embodiment of a cyberstore settings record in accordance with the invention.

Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method of inventory management according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 10 is a representation of one embodiment of a inventory list HTML page in accordance with the invention.

Figure 11 is a representation of one embodiment of a search HTML page in accordance with the invention.

Figure 12 is a representation of one embodiment of a batch inventory record processing HTML page in accordance with the invention.

Figure 13 is a representation of batch of dealer modifiable vehicle records.

Figure 14 is a representation of one embodiment of an add vehicle HTML page in accordance with the invention. Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating a batch photograph processing method in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Figure 16 is a representation of one embodiment of a report by status record in accordance with the invention.

Detailed Description Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying Figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The invention relates to seller management of product inventory data which is made available for purchase to potential buyers electronically over a computer network. Purchase requests for elements of the inventory may be made via the computer network, and the invention finds advantageous application to a computerized purchase request communication system which facilitates a real time communication of a purchase request to a system determined seller. Although aspects of the invention are suitable for all forms of computer implemented commerce, the invention will be further described in the context of a computer implemented vehicle sales environment. In this embodiment, the system includes a plurality of HTML pages accessible over a network. A potential buyer accesses a first HTML web page over a network such as the World Wide Web (www) using a standard web browser. A participating seller accesses a second HTML page over a network advantageously utilizing a standard web browser and by providing a URL to identify the system. The system further comprises a web server and other program modules which enable both the buyer and the seller to obtain direct and immediate access into a system database. As used herein, "immediately" is understood to mean occurring without loss or interval of time other than the nominal delay necessarily caused by computing components such as microprocessors, memory devices, software and firmware program execution times, and the like.

A participating seller is a seller of goods which has entered into an agreement to participate in the computerized purchase request management system of the invention. The seller is identified by a unique seller record stored in the system database. The seller is further assigned an exclusive database region in the system database. The seller directly accesses its exclusive database region over the network utilizing the system's HTML pages.

The potential buyer uses the system's HTML web pages to formulate and submit a purchase request into the system. The just created purchase request is communicated to an appropriate participating seller upon the system storing a purchase request record into the seller's exclusive database region. Details on formulating and submitting a purchase request, identifying a seller, and communicating the purchase request to the seller are included in the commonly owner U.S. patent application entitled REAL TIME COMMUNICATION OF PURCHASE REQUESTS filed on even date herewith having Attorney Docket No AUTOB.040A and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The participating seller is initially assigned a group account in the Data Center system The seller is given a unique login identification and a password to access the group account. A person associated with the seller logs onto the system utilizing one of the plurality of HTML pages comprising the system and providing the login identification and password. Initially, there are no users set up in the group account. Thus, the person may advantageously establish one or a plurality of users for the group account. Each user created within the seller group is associated with a user profile which filters the information contained in the exclusive database region to be efficiently displayed to the user. All users in a seller group use the same login identification and password to initially log on to the Data Center system Having logged on, a user identifies himself or herself to the system by selecting his or her user identification from a displayed list. Details on logging into the system, establishing user profiles, and selecting a user are included in the commonly owned U S patent application entitled A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY RETRIEVING INFORMATION ITEMS filed on even date herewith having Attorney Docket No. AUTOB.050A and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Having successfully logged onto the system, the user is able to access the information stored in its exclusive database region. The plurality of HTML pages comprising the system provide direct and immediate access into the exclusive database region. The direct and immediate access enables the user to be immediately notified of newly created purchase requests along with seller information relating to inventory available for purchase by potential buyers. The immediate notification and direct database access enables the user to efficiently manage its purchase requests and the inventory on the database.

In one embodiment of the invention, a Data Center system utilizes a database to store dealer information, buyer information, and program logic, for example, to associate the potential buyer to a specific dealer. Additionally, the Data

Center system may advantageously include program logic facilitating access between the Data Center system and sources external to the Data Center system over a computer network.

Computer networks suitable for use with the present invention include local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), Internet, or other connection services and network variations such as the world wide web, the public internet, a private internet, a private computer network, a secure internet, a private network, a public network, a value- added network, and the like. The computers connected to the network may be any microprocessor controlled device that permits access to the network, including terminal devices, such as personal computers, workstations, servers, mini computers, main-frame computers, laptop computers, mobile computers, palm top computers, hand held computers, set top box for a TV, or a combination thereof. The computers may further possess input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse, and output devices such as a computer screen or a speaker. The computer network may include one or more LANs, WANs,

Internets, and computers. The computers may serve as servers, clients, or a combination thereof.

One network architecture which may be used with one embodiment of the invention is indicated generally by a system 10 in Figure 1. The system 10 may include a network 102, which represents a computer network as previously described, providing access to and from the Data Center system. In one embodiment of the invention, the Data Center programs and Data Center databases comprising the Data

Center system preferably reside on one or more Data Center servers 104 and one or more Data Center storage mediums

106. The Data Center servers 104 and Data Center storage mediums 106 may be interconnected by a LAN 108 and a gateway 110 to the network 102. The gateway 110 facilitates access to the Data Center system from the network 102.

One example of the LAN 108 may be a corporate computing network, including possible access to the Internet, to which computers and computing devices comprising the Data Center system are connected. In one embodiment, the

LAN 108 conforms to the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) industry standard. In alternative embodiments, the LAN 108 may conform to other network standards, including, but not limited to, the International Standards Organization's Open Systems Interconnection, IBM's SNA , Novell's Netware , and Banyon VINES . Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the Data Center programs, the Data Center databases, and gateway functionality may advantageously be implemented on one or more computers. These computers may be uniprocessor or multiprocessor machines. Additionally, these computers include an addressable storage medium such as random access memory and may further include a non-volatile storage medium such as a magnetic or an optical disk. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the Data Center server 104 is connected to the Internet and utilizes at least a first user web page remotely accessible by a potential buyer. This user web page permits the potential buyer to enter the necessary buyer and product information into the Data Center system. In another embodiment, the Data Center server 104 utilizes a second HTML page accessible by an authorized dealer. The authorized dealer utilizes this web page to access the Data Center system and features as further detailed herein. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a single web page may be used to provide both remote buyer and dealer access to the Data Center system. Further, access for a remote buyer could be through an entirely different network than that used for access by the dealer.

In one embodiment, the Data Center storage medium 106 may be configured as a database from which information can be both stored, updated, and retrieved. For example, the database may conform to the SQL standard. In an alternative embodiment, the database may conform to any database standard, or may even conform to a non-standard, private specification. The Data Center programs may provide access to the information stored on the Data Center storage medium 106. The Data Center storage medium 106 may be accessed by devices such as clients, servers, workstations, personal computers, and the like, connected to the network 102 or the LAN 108.

In one embodiment, the Data Center storage medium 106 comprises exclusive database regions. The Data Center assigns each participating dealer an exclusive database region. In another embodiment, the exclusive database regions may be created by segmenting the storage media into distinct areas, with each area assigned to a dealer. These areas or regions could be dynamically allocated by the computer depending on the amount of data to be stored as the data is entered. In another embodiment, the collection of information associated with a dealer advantageously comprises the exclusive database region for the dealer. The exclusive database region may only be accessed by the assigned dealer and the Data Center system programs.

In another embodiment, the Data Center programs may transfer the information stored on the Data Center storage medium 106 to sources external to the Data Center system. For example, vehicle inventory information may advantageously be transferred to other third-party computers connected to the network 102. A potential buyer can then access the third-party computer to view vehicle data. In yet another embodiment, the potential buyer may also submit a vehicle purchase request from the third-party computer.

Various other devices may be connected to the LAN 108. For example, a workstation 112 and a personal computer 114 may be connected to the LAN 108 to provide access to the Data Center programs and Data Center databases. In one embodiment, a printer 116 may also be connected to the LAN 108 providing local and remote printing capabilities. The network 102 may connect devices, such as a user computer 116 or a user laptop 118, for example, by use of a modem or by use of a network interface card. As illustrated, potential buyers, may utilize such devices to remotely access the Data Center system via the network 102. A buyer may advantageously use such a device, collectively known as buyer terminals, to access the first user web page of the Data Center server 104 to create and submit a purchase request into the Data Center. The Data Center stores the purchase request directly into a dealer's database region.

A plurality of dealer computers 120 may also be connected to the network 102 through a modem or other network connection device. A vehicle dealer may advantageously use the dealer computer 120 to remotely access the Data Center system. The dealer obtains entry into the Data Center by logging in through the second HTML page of the Data Center server 104. Upon logging in, the dealer attains direct access to its exclusive database region and the contents thereof. Moreover, because a purchase request is directly stored in a dealer's database region, the dealer is immediately made aware of any newly created purchase request.

Although particular computer systems and network components are shown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention also works with a variety of other networks and components.

In one embodiment, for new vehicle sales, each zip code is an exclusive territory for a given make of vehicle Thus, a particular dealer is advantageously assigned an exclusive sales region based upon a vehicle make and a zip code. If a new vehicle purchase request is submitted, for example, for a vehicle make A in zip code 99999, then the dealer assigned to zip code 99999 for the vehicle make A will be notified of the new vehicle purchase request. In one embodiment, a particular dealer may be assigned multiple vehicle makes as well as multiple zip codes. In another embodiment, sales regions need not be based upon zip codes. Other factors such as, by way of example, telephone area codes, cities, and counties, may advantageously provide the basis for determining sales regions.

In an alternative embodiment, one or a plurality of dealers may be assigned to a single sales region. Here, if a new vehicle purchase request is submitted, for example, for a vehicle make B in a zip code 88888, then the plurality of dealers assigned to zip code 88888 for vehicle make B will all be notified of the new vehicle purchase request.

For used vehicles, the territories are advantageously not exclusive. The dealer and buyer may separately specify a search radius. For example, each dealer may specify a search radius indicating that the dealer's used vehicles are to be offered for sale to potential buyer's within the specified geographic radius from the dealer location. This could be done, for example, by utilizing zip codes to represent the area from which the dealer would accept buyers. Similarly, the buyer may specify a search radius indicating the desire to purchase a used vehicle from a dealer within the specified geographic radius from the buyer location. Thus, both the buyer's and the dealer's search radius must overlap before a potential vehicle match is considered.

The dealer and the buyer may simply specify large geographic regions, such as states, counties, or zip codes, and only those dealers and buyers within the geographic region specified by both are considered to determine a potential vehicle match. Thus, if a dealer specifies New York and New Jersey as its sales region and a buyer accesses the Data Center from Pennsylvania, then the dealer's used vehicles would not be considered for a potential sale. Likewise, if a buyer specifies an intent to purchase from New York, a Texas dealer will not be considered. In some embodiments, the system may accommodate a number of defined geographic regions for a dealer, whereby the dealer may have different regions specified for different types of cars. Classic, rare, or especially expensive cars may have a larger radius associated with them than other vehicles the dealer may sell. Figure 2 illustrates an example of a record of exclusive dealer regions suitable for use with one embodiment of the invention. Advantageously, the record of exclusive dealer regions may be implemented as a matrix. The matrix may be stored in the Data Center Storage medium 106. Along the horizontal axis may be listed all the regions according to zip codes. Along the vertical axis may be listed all the available vehicle makes. Each matrix cell 202 may contain a dealer identification number uniquely identifying a dealer. In this manner, each region, and each vehicle make for that region, may be assigned to a unique dealer. In an alternative embodiment, each matrix cell 202 may contain one or a plurality of dealer identification numbers.

Figures 3, 4, and 5 illustrate information concerning vehicle dealers and associated vehicles which may be stored on the storage medium 106 of the Data Center system. Figure 3 illustrates an example of a dealer record according to one embodiment of the invention. Each dealer eligible to sell through the Data Center system is assigned a dealer record. The dealer record may be stored in the dealer's exclusive database region in the Data Center storage medium 106. By way of example, six fields are illustrated comprising the dealer identification number 302, dealer information 304, access list 306, product list 308, new vehicle purchase requests 310, and used vehicle purchase requests 312. One of ordinary skill in the art will realize that any number of the fields may be broken down into additional sub-fields and that additional fields could be added. In one embodiment, the dealer information 302 may be comprised of additional fields such as, for example, a dealer name, dealer address, dealer group, and the like. Furthermore, any of the dealer record fields may be implemented as pointers to other fields or other data records. For example, the product list may point to a list of new vehicle model records indicating the new vehicle models offered for sale by the dealer.

Figure 4 illustrates a new vehicle record suitable for use with the invention. Seven fields are illustrated comprising a vehicle make 402, vehicle model 404, vehicle year 406, vehicle type 408, vehicle estimated price 410, vehicle features 412, vehicle photo 414, and vehicle aftermarket accessories 416. It should be understood that appropriate fields may be added and a field may contain additional sub-fields. The vehicle make field 402, model field 404, and year field 406 specify a specific vehicle such as a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The vehicle type field 408 may specify whether the vehicle is a passenger car, a luxury car, a sports car, or the like. The vehicle features field 412 may advantageously be comprised of a standard features field and an optional features field. In another embodiment, each new vehicle model record may further point to a vehicle model specifics record and a vehicle model accessories record. The vehicle features field 412 will include those features and options which are available as part of or with the vehicle from the vehicle manufacturer directly. Thus, the vehicle model specifics record may identify the vehicle model specifics such as available transmission type, available number of doors, and the like. The vehicle model accessories record may identify the accessories such as leather seats, power windows, and the like, available for the vehicle model. In an alternative embodiment, the vehicle model specifics record contents and the vehicle model accessories record contents may be appropriately displayed in a web page. The buyer may then specify the desired vehicle specifics and the desired vehicle accessories. In another embodiment, the new vehicle record fields may be implemented as pointers to other fields or other records. For example, the vehicle photo field 414 may be implemented as a pointer pointing to a representative photo of the new vehicle. Thus, the representative photo may advantageously be stored in a different region in the Data Center storage medium 106. In yet another embodiment, the vehicle year field 406 may be implemented as a pointer pointing to one or a plurality of records, each record containing, for example, a year field, a type field, an estimated price field, a features field, a photo field, and the like.

In one embodiment, each new vehicle model record may in turn either include or point to a list of aftermarket accessory products, shown in Figure 4 as the aftermarket accessory field 416. Aftermarket accessories on the list will typically comprise options and features which may be added to a vehicle but which are not provided by the vehicle manufacturer. These items may include products such as special rims or tires, pinstriping, floormats, stereo equipment, special lights, alarm systems, etc. Services such as extended warranties may also be offered in this way as aftermarket accessories. The aftermarket product record may be comprised of an aftermarket product, a retail price for the product, and a discounted price for the product. These aftermarket product records associated with each vehicle make and model may be updated periodically by the seller and displayed to potential buyers during the process of formulating a vehicle purchase request. In one embodiment, a new vehicle database may be comprised of a list of new vehicle records which may be stored in the Data Center storage medium 106. Each new vehicle model available for purchase through the Data Center system is associated with a new vehicle record.

A used vehicle record identifies a used vehicle, and is created for each used vehicle offered for sale through the Data Center system. The collection of used vehicle records comprise a used vehicle inventory. The used vehicle records may be stored in the Data Center storage medium 106. For example, the used vehicle inventory may be comprised of a linked list of used vehicle records.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of a used vehicle record suitable for use with one embodiment of the invention. Seven fields are illustrated, including the dealer identification number, a dealer stock number 502, vehicle make 504, vehicle model 506, vehicle information 508, and vehicle photo 510. Each used car record may also include a status field 512. In one embodiment, the status of a used car record may be selected from one of the following options: (1) available,

(2) not available, (3) removed from inventory, (4) sold, (5) input with image, and (6) input without image. In one embodiment, only records which have a status of "available" are accessible by buyers who are communicating with the Data Center system and are searching for cars to purchase. In another embodiment, only records having a status of "available" and which also include an image present in the photo field 510 are accessible to buyers. As will be described in additional detail below, the status field may also be utilized in the seller management of vehicle records. One of ordinary skill in the art will realize that appropriate fields may be added and any number of the fields may be broken down into additional sub-fields. Furthermore, any of the fields may be implemented as pointers to other fields or other data records. For example, the vehicle photo field 510 may advantageously point to an image of the vehicle stored elsewhere in the Data Center database.

Figure 6 illustrates in more detail selected components of the Data Center server 104 of Figure 1 suitable to implement one embodiment of the present invention. The Data Center server 104 includes a buyer access module 602 connected along a communications path 606 to a process purchase request module 604. Also connected to the communications path 606 is a database access module 608, a buyer-dealer association module 610, a dealer access module 612, and a network access module 614.

The communications path 606 facilitates communication amongst the modules comprising the Data Center server 104 (Figure 1). The communications path 306 may be implemented as a procedure or a function call interface. In an alternative embodiment, the communications path 606 may be implemented as an interprocess communication method. For example, the modules comprising the Data Center server 104 may be implemented as one or a plurality of software processes. The various software processes may then communicate with one another by means of interprocess communication. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the modules comprising the Data Center server 104 may be distributed amongst a plurality of Data Center servers 104 utilizing well known distributed technology techniques.

The buyer access module 602 provides a purchase request entry system. In one embodiment, the purchase request entry system may facilitate a data entry environment for a buyer to enter a purchase request for a requested vehicle into the Data Center system. The buyer access module 602 may be comprised of a generate new vehicle purchase request module 616 and a generate used vehicle purchase request module 318. The generate new vehicle purchase request module 616 and the generate used vehicle purchase request module 618 may advantageously be implemented as a plurality of web pages.

In one embodiment, the web pages may advantageously be implemented in hypertext or hypermedia. Thus, the web pages may contain one or a plurality of selectable items or links. The links may provide access to other web pages contained in the Data Center system. The plurality of linked web pages guides the user in entering the necessary data to formulate and submit either a new vehicle purchase request or a used vehicle purchase request.

In another embodiment, the links may provide access to any location in the World Wide Web. For example, a link may exist to third-party web sites which advantageously provide additional product information. The generate new vehicle purchase request module 616 facilitates a new vehicle purchase request formulation and submission process. A potential buyer utilizes at least a first web page in the generate new vehicle purchase request module 616 and provides information from which the process purchase request module 304 formulates a new vehicle purchase request. Likewise, the generate used vehicle purchase request module 618 facilitates a used vehicle purchase request formulation and submission process through its web pages. There may be a one-to-one correlation between a purchase request and a purchase request record.

The process purchase requests module 604 may generate either a new vehicle purchase request record or a used vehicle purchase request record. The new vehicle purchase request record may be generated from the information supplied through the plurality of web pages utilized during the new vehicle purchase request formulation and submission process. In one embodiment, the buyer information gathered through the plurality of web pages comprising the generate new purchase request module 616 is input to the process purchase request module 604. The process purchase request module 604 formulates a new vehicle purchase request record from this information. The used vehicle purchase request record may likewise be generated from the information supplied through the plurality of web pages utilized during the used vehicle purchase request formulation and submission process. In another embodiment, the purchase request information may also be obtained from web pages external to the Data Center system.

The buyer-dealer association module 610 associates a purchase request and an appropriate dealer. In one embodiment, the buyer-dealer association module 610 may receive purchase request information from the process purchase request module 604 via the communications path 606. The buyer-dealer association module 610 may then access the Data Center storage medium 106, utilizing the database access module 308 and the network access module

614, to determine the appropriate dealer for the purchase request. In one embodiment, as previously stated, the buyer- dealer association module 610 may advantageously determine an appropriate dealer to receive the purchase request from the vehicle make and the buyer zip code.

The database access module 608 provides an interface to the information stored on the Data Center storage medium 106. The database access module 608 thus enables the modules of the Data Center server 104 to be implemented independent of the specifics of the Data Center storage medium 106. This enables the Data Center storage medium 106 specification to be altered without impacting the various modules, other than the data base access module 608, comprising the Data Center server 104.

In one embodiment, as previously mentioned, the Data Center storage medium 106 may be configured as a SQL database. The database access module 608 implements the specifics of the SQL commands to interact with the Data

Center storage medium 106. Thus, other modules comprising the Data Center server 104 may be developed independent of the SQL specifics. For example, if the Data Center storage medium 106 is re-developed as a DB2 database, only the database access module 608 needs to be updated. The other modules comprising the Data Center server 104 need not be re-developed. The network access module 614 provides the modules of the Data Center Server 104 (Figure 1) a uniform interface to the LAN 108. In one embodiment, the network access module 614 may be implemented as an application program interface. The network access module 614 enables the modules of the Data Center server 104 to be implemented independent of the underlying network specifics. Thus, the underlying network specifics may be altered without impacting the various modules, other than the network access module 614, comprising the Data Center server 104. The dealer access module 612 facilitates the interaction between a participating dealer and the Data Center system. More particularly, a dealer may directly access its exclusive database region, and the information contained therein, by logging into the Data Center system. In one embodiment, the dealer access module 612 may be implemented as a plurality of HTML pages providing the dealer a mechanism to access its exclusive database region. The Data Center system may advantageously communicate to the dealer its purchase requests through one or a plurality of the HTML pages. The dealer may also advantageously perform real time operations such as purchase request management, inventory management, and the like, through the plurality of HTML pages. Thus, the dealer access module 612 may also comprise a login module 624, a home module 626, a manage customers module 628, and a manage inventory module 630. These modules may be comprised of one or a plurality of linked HTML pages which enable the participating dealers to interact with the Data Center system.

The manage inventory module 630 advantageously performs two major functions. First, it allows dealer creation and alteration of the aftermarket accessory product lists associated with a given vehicle make and model. Second, it allows dealer creation, alteration, and management of vehicle records such as are described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5. This function is described in additional detail below with reference to Figures 7-16. In one embodiment of the Data Center system, each seller may manage, update, and enter records in connection with their own vehicle inventory list. In some advantageous embodiments, described in more detail below, the system allows dealer modification of vehicle records in individual or batch processing modes. Inventory searching and report generation may also be provided. Thus, and as described above, the system database on the storage medium 106 (Figure 1) comprises a set of vehicle records for each dealer. It is this list, and the information contained in these records, that the manage inventory module manipulates. In one embodiment, the inventory management functions are directed to a set of used vehicle records, and this embodiment is described in additional detail herein, although the principles are equally applicable to new vehicle inventory as well.

Figure 7 illustrates an example HTML page which may be presented to a dealer entering the inventory management module 630 of the Data Center system. The page may include a table of contents having a set of links 710 for access to inventory management functions. These functions advantageously include inventory list, inventory search, add a car to inventory, batch inventory processing, batch photo processing, Kelly KarPower inventory uploads, and a consumer search radius. For convenience, the page may also include a summary table 720 which provides a seller with a quick overview of the vehicles by status and aging days. The criteria and values used in the summary table 720 are of course only illustrative and, hence, may be modified to fit virtually any variable needed by the vehicle dealers. It will be appreciated that the dealer may wish to view and/or modify only certain subsets of the records at any given time. To allow the dealers this flexibility, record filters, which may be accessed by a filter link 730, are provided. These filters may be based upon the status field of the records and are advantageously dealer configurable. Figure 8 illustrates an example HTML page which a dealer may access to create or modify a record filter. This page includes a set of check boxes 810 which may be selected by a dealer for setting the filter. In the example filter of Figure 8, only records having a status of available, input with image, and input without image, will be utilized during inventory management functions such as searching, list and report generation, etc. Other records not having these selected statuses will be ignored. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that different filters could be used for different inventory management features. For example, a report might be generated using a different filter than is used for a search request. To accomplish this, a single filter setting could be serially modified, or several filters could be provided with the system, each one dedicated to a selected inventory management function. Also illustrated in Figure 8 is an aging filter field 820. This field filters out all records which have been on the database longer than the selected period, which in the example of Figure 8, is 90 days. An additional selection, Kelley Blue Book 830, enables Kelley KarPower inventory uploads, which are described in additional detail below. Figure 9 is a flowchart describing the operation of one embodiment of the manage inventory module 630. As shown in this Figure, the process typically begins in block 900 when a seller accesses the Data Center system via the network 102 and enters the inventory management module, and in one embodiment, is presented the HTML page illustrated in Figure 7. At decision block 902, the seller determines whether or not to reset their filter preferences. If they do, they may select, for example, the filter link 730 (Figure 7), and move to step 904 wherein they modify the criteria for filtering out records during the inventory management functions. After updating the filters at step 904, or if no filter updating is performed, the process continues to step 906 where selected vehicle records may be retrieved from the database and displayed to the dealer using the system.

Records may be retrieved in a variety of different ways, either individually or in batches. For example, the "Inventory List" link of Figure 7 may generate a list of the vehicle records and selected information in the records in the inventory, subject, of course, to any dealer selected filtering. An example of such a list is shown in Figure 10. Lists may also be generated by using the "Inventory Search" link of Figure 7. Use of this link is illustrated in Figure 11. Each of these functions will produce a list of stored vehicle records, each one of which may in turn link to the record itself. At step 908, desired records may be modified by the dealer. For example, the dealer may click on one of the vehicles on a list produced at step 906 above so as to retrieve another HTML page which allows dealer access to the information fields of the record, and to thus allow modification of the fields. Most commonly, this will be used to update the status field 512

(Figure 5) of a vehicle record in the database, although corrections to mileage, color, or any other element of vehicle information may also be made.

Batch modification may also be performed. In this case, a set of records, each of which has its data fields available for modification, may be retrieved at step 906. This is illustrated in more detail with reference to Figures 12 and 13. In this case, records need not be downloaded, modified, and uploaded one at a time.

Next, at step 910, a new vehicle record may be created and added to the database. An HTML page suitable for this purpose is illustrated in Figure 14. After completing the desired changes or additions to the inventory list, the process completes at end step 912. As mentioned above, Figure 10 illustrates a list of inventory which has been generated by the inventory management module. Record items displayed on the list include the vehicle mileage 1030, price 1032, status 1034, stock number 1036, make of car 1038, year 1040, date entered into the database 1042, and an expiration date of offer 1044. The list of Figure 10 was generated with a filter which removed all vehicles having a status other than "available" or "input with image" from consideration. In advantageous embodiments, the vehicle make 1038 comprises a hyperlink to another

HTML page which allows modification of the data fields of that vehicle record.

Figure 11 is a representation of one embodiment of an HTML page implementing a record search function. The search page allows the seller to search for vehicles using one or more search criteria. The search criteria may include the year, make, model/series, VIN, or stock number. The ability to format a search filter based on record status may also be present on the search page. For example, as shown in Figure 11, if a seller selects "year" as the type of search and enters a year (e.g., 1995), and selects available, input with image, and input without image as the criteria, the seller may request the Data Center system to conduct the search for vehicles having these criteria by clicking on the search icon 1160. In response to seller's request, the Data Center system displays a list of all 1995 vehicles in inventory which have a status of available, input with image, or input without image. Figure 12 illustrates an HTML page which allows the dealer to download a large number of records at once, and have them all available for modification at the same time. This page includes a batch size selection 1210 which determines the maximum number of vehicle records to download for modification. The page also includes a "sort by" selection 1220, which does not determine which records are retrieved, but only determines in what order they appear to the dealer after they are downloaded from the database. This page may further include a filter link 1230, so that the dealer can specify a status field filter for record selection as described above. To download the batch of records, the list batch link 1240 is used.

Figure 13 illustrates the HTML page which may be generated when the list batch link 1240 is selected. Every record which satisfies the filter conditions (up to the batch size of 20 is retrieved from the database and is displayed as a set of fields which are available for on-screen modification together. After the desired modifications are made, all of the changes can be uploaded to the database with the submit changes link 1300. This feature is useful, for example, when a sale over a weekend occurs, and many of the vehicles are sold. In this case, altering the status field of many vehicles from available to sold or removed from inventory can be done faster and without downloading, modifying, and uploading records one at a time.

Figure 14 is a representation of one embodiment of an add vehicle record in accordance with the invention. The add vehicle record allows the seller to add one or more vehicles to the inventory in the Data Center system. As shown in

Figure 11, the add vehicle record includes a plurality of fields such as stock number, VIN, year, and make of the vehicle.

After completing the information in this part of the record, the seller may hit the "next" location 1400 to enter further criteria describing the vehicle for sale. Typically, the type of criteria depends on the make of the car being entered. These criteria may include engine size, series, color, number of doors, seating type, transmission type, and available car options such as AM/FM radio, power windows, tilt wheel, power locks, and many others. Finally, the seller may conclude and save the record of the newly added vehicle by entering the price and expiration date of offer, and submitting the information by selecting "submit."

Batch additions of vehicles may also be performed by using the Kelley Kar Power upload feature as shown in Figure 7. Some vehicle dealers have existing software into which vehicle inventory data is already input. One commercial embodiment of such software is sold by Kelly as Kelly Kar Power. For the convenience of the dealer, this feature may be used to upload data which has been entered into an existing Kelly Kar Power application program for many vehicles into vehicle records to be stored on the Data Center database all at once.

Another useful feature of the inventory management module 630 is the batch photo upload procedure. As described above, a complete vehicle record includes a vehicle photograph. It is possible, however, to produce and store a record on the database prior to obtaining or linking the photograph to the record. Thus, "input without image" is one possible status for a vehicle record. The inventory management module advantageously includes provisions for easily adding photographs to records in a minimally time consuming manner. This is illustrated by the flowchart of Figure 15.

The process of Figure 15 begins at step 1500, where the dealer enters the inventory management module. From there, a selection is made at step 1510 to batch process photographs of vehicles. Upon this selection, a list of all vehicles, by vehicle stock number for example, which have no associated image may be downloaded from the Data Center system and displayed on the dealer system. Also, the dealer may display photos stored in the dealer system. At step 1512, using, for example, a drag and drop method, the photos are associated with the appropriate record by dragging them onto the appropriate stock number. This may be done for several different photos and vehicle stock numbers. After this association is performed for one or several photos, at step 1514 the photos are uploaded to the Data Center system all at once. This saves time because a large upload of several photos may run unattended.

Figure 16 is a representation of one embodiment of a report by status in accordance with the invention. The report by status allows the seller to obtain a report for vehicles entered into the Data Center system during a given time period based on a selected vehicle status and sorted by a selected criteria. The sorting criteria may include the asking price, make/model/year, stock number, and VIN. For example, if the seller desires a report for the period of January 1-14,

1999, the seller may specify the start and end dates in the "Start Date" and "End Date" fields 1662 and 1664. If the seller desires the report to indicate the vehicles that are available for sale, the seller may select "Available" in the status field 1666. The seller may sort the available vehicles by the asking price by selecting "Asking Price" in the "Sort By" field 1468. To obtain the report in accordance with these criteria, the seller clicks on the "Display Report" icon 1670. In response to the seller's selection, the Data Center system displays the report to the seller for viewing, copying, or printing.

Thus, convenient inventory management, including modifications and additions, are provided by the above described system. Buyer access to information in well managed records improves the efficiency of the process, and increases customer and dealer satisfaction. This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics as described herein. The embodiments described above are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive in any manner. The scope of the invention is indicated by the following claims rather than by the foregoing description.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A computer implemented purchasing system comprising: a central computing system accessible to a plurality of sellers of goods and to a plurality of buyers of goods, said central computing system comprising: a database region having stored therein an inventory of available products for one of said plurality of sellers, wherein said inventory comprises a plurality of product records, and wherein said product records comprise fields defining product characteristics and product information; an inventory management module accessible by said one of said plurality of sellers, wherein said inventory management module is configured to allow both individual and batch modification of said product records by said one of said plurality of sellers.

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein said inventory management module is further configured to report selected information from said product records to said one of said sellers in response to requests made by said one of said sellers.

3. The system of Claim 1 , wherein said inventory management module is further configured to search said product records in accordance with criteria selected by said one of said sellers.

4. The system of Claim 1 , wherein said available products comprise automobiles.

5. The system of Claim 1 , wherein said inventory management module is configured to display information from a seller selectable subset of said product records to said plurality of potential buyers.

6. A computer implemented method of managing a display of an inventory of products to a potential buyer comprising: uploading a product description to a host computer system accessible to said potential buyer, said product description forming a product record; uploading a product photo to said host computer system; and associating said product photo with said product record.

7. The method of Claim 5, wherein said product is an automobile.

8. A system for matching vehicle buyers with vehicle dealers comprising: buyer terminals coupled to a central computer system through a network; dealer terminals coupled to said central computer system through said network; wherein said central computer system comprises: a database storing a plurality of vehicle records, wherein a portion of said vehicle records are configured such that information contained therein is available for routing to said buyer terminals, and wherein a portion of said vehicle records are configured such that information contained therein is not available for routing to said buyer terminals.

9. The system of Claim 8, wherein said vehicle records are configured by a dealer modifiable status field associated with said records.

10. The system of Claim 9, wherein said central computer system is configured to route dealer defined lists of said vehicle records to a vehicle dealer.

11. A server for computer initiated commercial transactions having a central database which is accessible to buyers and sellers of goods via a computer network, wherein said database has stored therein a plurality of records associated with a corresponding plurality of items of goods; wherein said server additionally comprises an inventory management module accessible to said sellers, said inventory management module comprising: means for displaying a list of at least a portion of said records to said dealer; means for modifying said records one at a time; means for modifying said records in dealer defined batches; means for adding new records to said database.

12. The server of Claim 11 additionally comprising means for filtering said records based on one or more dealer defined parameters so as produce a dealer defined list of at least a portion of said records.

13. The server of Claim 11, additionally comprising means for making at least some of said records unavailable for viewing by said buyers.

14. The server of Claim 11, additionally comprising means for associating photographs of said items with records corresponding to said items.