WO2000060518A1 - Procede et appareil permettant de faciliter les communications entre acheteurs et vendeurs - Google Patents

Procede et appareil permettant de faciliter les communications entre acheteurs et vendeurs Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000060518A1
WO2000060518A1 PCT/US2000/009094 US0009094W WO0060518A1 WO 2000060518 A1 WO2000060518 A1 WO 2000060518A1 US 0009094 W US0009094 W US 0009094W WO 0060518 A1 WO0060518 A1 WO 0060518A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
vendors
vendor
buyer
request
list
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PCT/US2000/009094
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English (en)
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WO2000060518A9 (fr
Inventor
Robert K. Sanborn
Original Assignee
Cynaptec, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Cynaptec, Inc. filed Critical Cynaptec, Inc.
Priority to AU42025/00A priority Critical patent/AU4202500A/en
Publication of WO2000060518A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000060518A1/fr
Publication of WO2000060518A9 publication Critical patent/WO2000060518A9/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to electronic commerce. Since the Internet has been open to commercial use, its popularity has grown as businesses recognized its potential impact to business-to-consumer transactions. Also driving Internet usage are business-to-business transactions. For example, businesses use the World Wide Web to locate information about products and services.
  • An on-line directory publisher such as Thomas Register or Cahner's produces and manages on-line catalogs.
  • a method of facilitating purchasing communications between buyers and vendors across a network includes receiving a request from a buyer for vendor information corresponding to a selected category from a list of categories and returning, in response to the request for vendor information, a vendor matching list for the selected category, the vendor matching list including communication options available to the buyer relative to one or more of the listed vendors.
  • the method further includes transmitting a message corresponding to selected communication options over the network to the selected vendors.
  • the method can also include constructing a message to be sent to the selected vendors including preparing an electronic mail message addressed to each one of the selected vendors and attaching selected communication options thereto.
  • the communication options can include a document for requesting vendor response.
  • the method further can include associating with the message a set of one or more buyer-defined parameters specifying how responses to the message are to be delivered to the buyer.
  • the method further can include receiving a response to the message from at least one of the selected suppliers, checking the buyer-defined parameters associated with the message and processing the response in accordance with the user-defined parameters.
  • the buyer-vendor communications-facilitating mechanism of the invention enables a one-to-many request communication flow and a many-to-one response communication flow. Both flows are managed by the same entity and are part of the same transaction. That is, the managing mechanism directs a buyer's request to selected suppliers and directs the suppliers' responses back to the buyer in accordance with buyer-defined communication parameters which the mechanism maintains. The buyer thus has the capability to monitor, via the mechanism, the on-going transaction status. The buyer can also modify the communication parameters and/or the request itself prior to or after transmission. These modifications, in turn, effect how the suppliers' responses are handled.
  • the buyer-vendor communication process of the invention is therefore highly optimized from a buyer's perspective, as the buyer has greater flexibility and control with respect to a particular transaction.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a networked system for facilitating communications between buyers and sellers.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating software processes employed by the server during a buyer-vendor communication process.
  • FIGS. 3A through 3K are exemplary screen displays from a Web browser used in rendering pages at the client computer during the buyer-vendor communication process.
  • FIGS. 4A-B are flow diagrams of a server process used in the buyer-vendor communication process.
  • FIGS. 5A-B are representations of data structures used in the database of the networked system of FIG 1.
  • FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a "last ditch" advertising process.
  • FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen shot of a last ditch advertising page.
  • FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting a process of constructing a preferred vendor directory.
  • FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a vendor response management portion of the buyer-vendor communication process.
  • a networked system 10 includes a client system 12 connected to a server 14 and a plurality of vendor systems 16a-16m via a network 18.
  • the networked system 10 is implemented as a Web-style system that is used to facilitate communications between buyers at client computers such as client system 12 and vendors at the vendor systems 16a-16m over the network 18.
  • the network 18 can be the "Internet" and the server 14 a Web server. Private networks can also be used.
  • client system 12 receives input from a user (in this case, a potential buyer) via a Web browser 20, which communicates with the server 14 over the network 18.
  • the Web browser 20 renders display output in the form of hypertext markup language (HTML) pages.
  • HTML hypertext markup language
  • the Web browser 20 may be any commercially available browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.
  • the vendor computer systems 16 are servers operated and controlled by vendor companies ("vendors") .
  • a back-end resource shown here as a database 22 for storing vendor information. Referring to FIG. 2, the processes that run on the server 14 are shown.
  • the server 14 includes a server computer that executes a server process 30.
  • the server 14 stores information organized into distributed pages 32.
  • the pages are stored as information encoded into HTML.
  • the manner in which the HTML pages are produced is well known and therefore not discussed herein.
  • server 14 provides a mechanism for including dynamic information (e.g., from such sources as the database) in pages.
  • the server 14 uses a standard interface called the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) to execute a separate program that obtains the dynamic information, formats it into HTML and forwards it to the server 14.
  • CGI Common Gateway Interface
  • the server 14 also employs the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in transferring pages to and receiving page data from the Web browser 20 via the Internet 18 (from FIG. 1).
  • the server process 20 therefore includes an HTTP server process 33 augmented with CGI-based applications 34. Other protocols of course could be used.
  • the server process 30 further includes a database search engine 36 that is responsible for storing data in and retrieving data from the database 22 (FIG. 1) in response to queries. The queries are produced by the server 14 based on user-specified data that is received from the client system 12.
  • the database search engine 36 and the database 22 may be viewed as a "database system" 38.
  • database search engine is depicted as part of the server process 30, it will be understood that the components of the database system 38 may be integrated, as in a database management system, or include a separate back- end server.
  • the server 14 runs an e-mail application 39, used to send e-mail messages to vendors via the Internet, as will be described.
  • the server 14 and server process 30 will be referred to as the "buyer- vendor communication system” (or, simply, “the system") and the “buyer-vendor communication process (or, simply, “the process”) , respectively.
  • a sign-on/registration page 40 allows an already registered user to log onto the system by entering appropriate information in an e-mail address field 42 and an password field 44 and clicking the "enter" button 46.
  • the sign-on/registration page 40 also allows a user who has not previously registered with the system to do so by clicking the "click to register” button 48, which brings the user to a purchaser account application page 50, shown in FIG. 3B.
  • the purchaser account application page 50 has several fields for accepting personal user data.
  • the fields include a name field 52, an e-mail address field 54, phone number fields 56, a fax number field 58 and a password field 60. Additional fields are possible.
  • the information is saved to establish a user account.
  • the user account information is maintained by and stored on the server 14. When the user returns to the site, the user's account information is restored upon successfully entering a user name and password.
  • a search page 70 sent by the server 14 to the Web browser 20 in response to the earlier- described log-in procedure is shown.
  • the search page 70 allows the user to enter a keyword or keywords in a search field 72 for an item about which the user is seeking information. For example, the user enters as a keyword the word "phone” and hits a "search” button 74.
  • the search page also includes a "Bid Addendum” button 75, which will be discussed later.
  • FIGS. 3D and 3E the server
  • the matching categories page includes a matching categories list 80 generated by the system.
  • the server 14 returns all of the categories that it could relate to the word "phone".
  • a matching categories number 82 corresponding to the number of categories that match a particular query. In this example, there are 26 categories that match "phone”. Also provided is the total number of suppliers in the matching categories 84, in this case 1,752.
  • the page also provides a total displayed number 86. In the illustrated embodiment, only twenty-five categories per page are displayed. The categories are listed in table format, with matching category names 88 in the left column under a heading
  • matching categories and the number of matching vendors 90, that is, the number of vendors that match that category, in the right column under a heading "Number of Vendors in Database”.
  • a user interested in cellular telephone service and repair would scroll down to the "Cellular Telephones-Service & Repair" category (shown in FIG. 3E) .
  • Next to each category name is listed the number of matching vendors in the database 22 that are categorized under that category name.
  • a number four (4) indicates that the system has four vendors in the category of interest.
  • the user selects a category 88 from the list of matching categories 80 by clicking on the particular category.
  • the category e.g., "Cellular Telephones-Service & Repair” is provided as a hyperlink that is sent back to the server to set up another database query.
  • the server 14 returns to the browser 20 a vendor matching page 100 which includes the vendors contained in the database that match the selected category.
  • the vendors are listed in some order, such as alphabetically, or in no order, i.e., random, and in a table format.
  • One column corresponds to a matching vendor name 102.
  • a check box 104 Next to and associated each vendor name is a check box 104 that allows the user to add the vendor with which the check box is associated to a list of vendors that the user wishes to send information to or receive information from.
  • the page can include banner ads linked to vendor listings. There are various subscription types available to the vendor which allow the vendor to have a banner display associated with the vendor's other information (e.g., name, address).
  • the page can include a check box 104, company (vendor) name, banner or logo (or some combination thereof) 102, information (e.g., on-line catalog) availability 106, status (e.g., minority certification) 108, as well as other information. If the user wishes to request information from or communicate with one or more of the listed vendors, the user checks the names of the desired vendors by selecting the check box 104 next to the vendor's name. Also included in the vendor matching page 100 is an "Add selected vendors to my page" button 110, which will be discussed later with reference to FIG. 8.
  • a first communication option selection device 114 is a drop-down communication options menu which includes communication options for requesting vendor response: "request for quotation” 114a, "request for information only” 114b, "request for proposal” 114c or "request for status” 114d (e.g., minority-owned or small business) .
  • Other options could be provided.
  • the server 14 returns a request options page 120, shown in FIG. 3G.
  • the request options page 120 includes second communication option selection devices 122, which allows the user to fill in a document (form) that the system provides on-line 122a (i.e., a form corresponding to the vendor activity request in drop-down menu 114), attach one of the user's own documents or files 122b or both. For example, if the user would like to send a specification along with an RFQ, the user attaches to the RFQ form the specification or a file.
  • the RFQ and specification are sent via a single e-mail message to the list of vendors, as determined by the user. As indicated above, the user can choose to fill in an on-line form. The form that the user receives will depend on the option selected in the communication options menu (of FIG. 3F) . Again, the completed form will be sent to the selected vendors on the vendor list.
  • the request options page 120 allows the user to set parameters for the request.
  • the parameters include e-mail address change 124 if the user would like to receive vendor responses at an e-mail address other than the default address (i.e., the one to which the cookie preference has been set) .
  • Other options include delivery and expiration dates.
  • a delivery date field 126 specifies the date for receiving the requested information. For example, if the user wishes to receive all of the responses at once, the server 14 can hold them until a pre-set date. Alternatively, the delivery date preference may be set for various intervals such as daily or weekly.
  • One or more expiration date fields 128 specify the "cut-off" date for submissions.
  • the server can have a default, e.g., 40 days, if the user does not enter a date. Additionally, there is a "short e-mail description" field 130 for the entry of a short description. The short description, if entered, will appear in the header (subject line) of the e-mail message the vendors receive. There is also a comments field 132 that allows the user to type in additional comments, free form, similar to a cover letter.
  • the server also has the capability to store transaction history for a fixed period of time (e.g., 6 months) .
  • a fixed period of time e.g. 6 months
  • the history is provided to the user in some form (e.g., text, MIME or HTML) .
  • the server 14 returns in response an RFQ page 140 that mimics an RFQ form, as shown in FIG. 3H.
  • the server 14 will carry forward the name and address, add a date and allow the user to enter an RFQ number in an RFQ number field 142.
  • the form has option boxes for delivery requirements 144, terms and conditions 146 and freight-onboard 148. It also has fields in which the user can enter quantity 150 and description 152.
  • the server forwards the completed form results to e-mail addresses of each of the selected recipient vendors using the e-mail application 39 (shown in FIG. 2) .
  • the e-mail application utilizes a standard ASCII text format, but could be adapted to use other formats, such as MIME.
  • the system may notify a vendor that a bid is waiting for that vendor. In this option, the e-mail notification provides such a vendor with a Web address where the vendor can view the file in HTML format through a browser.
  • the server 14 provides a printable page listing all of the bid recipients that were selected (i.e., "checked off") earlier.
  • the server 14 assigns the user a reference number 161 that will allow that user to track and subsequently amend the communication if desired.
  • a "new search” button 162 which allows the user to return to the search page 70 (from FIG. 3C) to initiate a search for a new item as described earlier, or modify an existing document.
  • the My Transactions page 163 includes a transaction description 164, which corresponds to a selected category for a particular request, and the assigned reference number 161 (as also shown in FIG. 31) .
  • the page also includes a status 165 of that particular request (how many bids sent and received) and an expiration date override 166 that the user can use to override the preset or expiration date, or change (extend) the expiration date.
  • the user selects either the transaction description 164 or reference number 161.
  • the server returns a Bid Addendum page 165, shown in FIG. 3K.
  • the Bid Addendum page 167 allows the user to choose via vendor selection boxes 168 those of the already selected vendors to receive the addendum. It also allows the user to attach a bid addendum through a bid addendum field and attachment button 169 or type a bid addendum online via a bid addendum online field 170. The user transmits the bid addendum by clicking on the "send bid addendum" button 171.
  • FIG. 4A upon detection that a user has logged on 176, the server 14 sends to the user a search page 177.
  • the server 14 receives from the browser a search request based on a search string entered in the search page by the user 178.
  • a "matching categories" list is generated 179.
  • the server receives a selected category from the list of matching categories from the browser 180 and returns a matching vendors list 182.
  • the server receives from the user the selected vendors from the list of matching vendors (vendors contained in the "vendor matching" page) and communication option (e.g., RFQ) 184.
  • RFQ communication option
  • the server returns a request options form to the user 186 and receives back from the user the request options data and selections (i.e., parameters, along with selected second communication option or options) 188.
  • the server sends a form corresponding to the selected communication options (e.g., online RFQ) to the user as appropriate 190 and receives back the completed document, along with any attached files 192.
  • the server sends the completed document, along with any attachments, or a document contained in a file provided by the user to each of the selected vendors via a single e-mail transmission 194.
  • the system performs a number of operations, as illustrated in FIG. 4B.
  • One of the CGI-based applications or scripts (CGI applications 34 from FIG. 2) is invoked by the server 192.
  • the invoked script parses the string contents to receive the data and processes the data 194. That is, the script converts the data from web format into a format that is usable by the database search engine 38 (from FIG. 2) .
  • the script 34 strips off any special characters and processes the data string through fuzzy artificial intelligence software.
  • the script also enforces rules according to the needs of the database system. For instance, the database system might require that its input contain only word roots or have stop words (i.e., words that have no or little meaning to a query) removed.
  • slang words are converted into standard format that is accepted in the database and plural words are converted to the singular, unless stored in the database in plural form.
  • the database search engine accesses the database and tries to match the search string that it receives from the script with entries in the database 198. Once the database search engine obtains a match, it returns the matching categories to the script 200.
  • the script formats the information into HTML 202 and returns the formatted information to the browser in the form of a "matching categories" page 204.
  • the system that generates a matching vendors list is performed in a similar manner.
  • the system sends the data received from the browser to the CGI script for processing.
  • the CGI script provides the processed data to the database search engine, which accesses the database and returns a list (in this case, a list of vendors corresponding to the selected category) to the script for formatting.
  • the resulting HTML ("vender matching") page is returned to the browser .
  • the database has a category table 210 for each category or heading.
  • Each category table 210 stores a pointer 212 for each vendor related to that category.
  • the detailed vendor information is stored in a flat file 214 having a vendor record 216 corresponding to each vendor. Because the category table 210 stores only a pointer to the flat file that has all of the vendor information, searches are very fast.
  • a user request table 220 having a request record/entry 222 for each user request. Data is gathered over a series of pages using the same user entry. If the user disconnects, the server 14 saves the user request record. When the user logs on again, the server gives the user the opportunity to resume work on the saved (but incomplete) request.
  • FIG. 6 a target advertising mechanism 230 is illustrated. Conventionally, websites display banners and the owner of the banner will pay the web page owner some fee when the banner is clicked on. Because the networked system 10 is geared towards the needs of buyers, there is a high probability that the user of the system is interested in purchasing or getting information about a particular product or service.
  • the target advertising mechanism also referred to as a "last ditch advertising” option allows the advertiser (advertising vendor) to virtually stand behind the purchasing agent during the purchasing decision-making process.
  • the server 14 returns a list of vendors that match a buyer's search request 232.
  • the server receives from the user/buyer the list with certain ones of the vendors selected (i.e., "checked off") as recipients of a user document or communication 234, the server detects that one or more of the vendors have not been selected 236. It should be noted that the server 14 keeps track of the selected category all the way through the process. If the server 14 detects nonselected vendors for that category with the "last ditch advertising" option enabled prior to sending the options request page, the server checks 14 for pre-determined selection criteria 237 and selects one or more of the detected vendors using the pre-determined selection criteria (e.g., according to subscription information) if it exists 238.
  • pre-determined selection criteria e.g., according to subscription information
  • the server 14 already has the category/heading to which the vendor or vendors belong, therefore the server 14 retrieves from the database and presents to the user any one or more of the nonselected vendors.
  • the server presents vendor information (such as a banner ad or company name/address) for one or more of the detected, nonselected vendors to the user 242 and allows the user the option of adding the one or more of those vendors to the list of recipients prior to the transmission of the document or communication to the selected vendors 244.
  • a last ditch advertising page 245 includes nonselected vendor information 246.
  • the nonselected vendor information 246 can be "clicked on” via a corresponding hyperlink 247, thereby adding the vendors associated with such information to the recipients list.
  • the buyer is also given the opportunity to modify previously set request options parameters 248.
  • the last ditch advertising option provides the nonselected vendor a chance to make one last pitch to the user in order that the vendor may be considered during a potential sourcing or purchasing decision.
  • the user has the option of adding that company to the user's existing "basket" of recipients prior to submitting the communications document (e.g., RFQ) for transmission to the vendors on the list of recipients.
  • Vendors added, and all options are stored in a unique file on the server. That file is loaded and verified every time a change is made. Having such information stored in a file allows the user to return and complete an RFQ at a later time. It is also used by the server to determine which "last ditch" supplier to show.
  • target advertising mechanism has been described with reference to and within the context of the illustrated buyer-vendor communication process 14, it need not be so limited. It will be appreciated that such a technique could be used in other purchasing environments, such as web-based shopping applications, in which a buyer chooses to buy an item by adding the chosen item to the buyer's "virtual shopping cart". That is, the addition of an item from a particular source to the basket (as opposed to the detecting of a nonselected vendor as described above) could trigger the advertising of an alternative source of the chosen item or source of a competitive item.
  • Another feature of the purchasing communications system is the ability to construct and utilize a user-specific vendor directory or list.
  • a process to produce a preferred vendor list or directory 250 is shown.
  • the list will take the form of an HTML page.
  • the website administrator for the Web server and associated applications receives from a user (e.g., purchasing department or agent) a file including preferred vendor information 252.
  • the system can accept the preferred vendor information in any format.
  • the system detects the format in which the information is stored 254.
  • the system opens the file and determines if the file is commented, fixed field, etc., or stored in some format like Excel, Access or Word. Once the system determines how the information is stored, it removes the data from the encapsulated form in which it is received 256 and applies an Artificial Intelligence "filtering" operation to the data 258.
  • the Al program automatically corrects any out-of-date names/numbers, and provides the formal legal names of listed vendor companies as needed. It also strips off any apostrophes and dashes to get the "raw" name.
  • the system performs a fuzzy logic matching to match the data with records already residing in the database 260. Once all the data has been matched (or achieves a certain level of correctness) and an account has been set up for the user 262, the server populates a "My Vendor" page with the preferred vendors from the preferred vendor information and makes the page available to the user when the user signs on 264.
  • the server automatically e-mails/faxes or mails a letter from the user to all of the vendors on the "My Vendor" page indicating that the user has an account with and will be utilizing the purchasing communications system in future procurement activities 266.
  • the buyer/user can run a search on a category and check off all of the vendors that the user's particular purchasing department procures from and could create a running list in that manner.
  • the "My Vendor" page also includes competitive vendor data.
  • the competitive vendor data is generated by pooling together the preferred supplier information from a group of similar users (e.g., a group of universities) .
  • the server runs each user's list through the database "filter” as described above and categorizes the information.
  • the check box also allows the user to add to "My Vendor" page by simply checking the box corresponding to a particular company name and clicking on the "Add selected vendors to my page” button 110. In response, the user will get a screen confirming that he has added the selected vendors to his personal page.
  • the purchasing agents controls how the vendor page is updated or changed. It also controls access to the rest of the system.
  • the system provides parameters that allow purchasing agents to specify different levels of access, e.g., vendor page only, search page, or up through post search where the user has a list of recipients.
  • the administrator has the ability to block the user from sending to suppliers other than those included on the "My Vendor" page .
  • the system receives a response from a vendor 272 and sorts that response based on reference number 274. In order to determine how to proceed with the processing of the response, the system consults the request options parameters specified by the user prior to transmission 276. It accomplishes this task by reading the user request entry data corresponding to the reference number in the request data table of FIG. 5B. Specifically, the system 14 will determine if the submissions period has expired 278. If the submissions period has not expired, the system will check the delivery field to determine if the delivery date parameter is met. If not, the system will hold the response for delivery on the appropriate delivery date 282. If the submissions period has expired (at 278), the response will be deemed late and discarded 284. If the delivery date parameter has been met 280, the response will be sent to the user 286.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un appareil permettant de faciliter les communications entre acheteurs et vendeurs. Un vendeur reçoit une demande d'informations émanant d'un acheteur et correspondant à une catégorie choisie parmi une liste de catégories (180). En réponse à cette demande, une liste adaptée en fonction de la catégorie choisie est retournée à l'acheteur (182). Cette liste adaptée comporte des options de communication (184) disponibles pour l'acheteur, en relation avec un ou plusieurs des vendeurs répertoriés (182). Un message correspondant à ces options de communication choisies est transmis via le réseau à des vendeurs choisis. Ce message peut être associé à une série d'un ou plusieurs paramètres définis par l'acheteur et spécifiant la manière dont les réponses au message doivent être renvoyées à l'acheteur. Lorsque ces réponses sont reçues de la part d'au moins un des fournisseurs choisis, les paramètres définis par l'acheteur associés au message sont consultés et la réponse est traitée en fonction des paramètres définis par l'utilisateur.
PCT/US2000/009094 1999-04-06 2000-04-06 Procede et appareil permettant de faciliter les communications entre acheteurs et vendeurs WO2000060518A1 (fr)

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AU42025/00A AU4202500A (en) 1999-04-06 2000-04-06 Method and apparatus for facilitating communications between buyers and vendors

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US28696499A 1999-04-06 1999-04-06
US09/286,964 1999-04-06

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EP1220124A3 (fr) * 2000-12-28 2003-03-05 Hitachi, Ltd. Méthode pour soutenir l' introduction d'un participant et méthode et système pour l' introduction d'un participant
US7917406B2 (en) 2000-12-28 2011-03-29 Hitachi, Ltd. Introduction support method and system, and introduction method and system
GB2373071A (en) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-11 Supplynetone Ltd Online shopping
WO2011050498A1 (fr) * 2009-10-30 2011-05-05 北京阿林网络信息服务有限公司 Procédé et système de diffusion et de contrôle de données de présentation d'article ou de données d'acceptation activées par un serveur

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