A PURCHASING SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a purchasing system using a communications network such as the internet.
A known type of method of offering products for purchase using the internet is to advertise the products on a web site on the world wide web. Potential purchasers of the product must then access the web site and use a search facility provided by the web site in order to obtain details of the desired product.
In order to compare prices of a particular product offered for sale by a plurality of vendors, a web site for each vendor must be found, often by means of a search engine, and then searched in order to obtain pricing information about the product. This can be a lengthy process, and relies on the efficiency of the search engine in order to find all relevant vendors.
In order to utilise this method of offering prices for sale, vendors are required to maintain their web site and update the available items and pricing information regularly. This can be an onerous task. This method also requires the transfer of information using HTML protocol. This protocol requires the transfer of entire web pages across the internet.
The present invention attempts to overcome at least in part some of the aforementioned disadvantages of previous purchasing systems using the internet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided an information from a plurality of sources, each source having a database containing relevant information, characterised in that the system comprises means for identifying sources; means for searching the database of each source for particular information; means for acquiring that information; and means for displaying to a user a list of sources and the information acquired from each source.
Preferably the information transferral system is a purchasing system, the source being a vendor and the user being a purchaser.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of offering products from a plurality of vendors for sale using a communications network, each vendor having a database including a list of products sold by that vendor and pricing information relating to the products, the method characterised by comprising the steps of providing each vendor with a first program capable of obtaining information from the database and presenting it in a predetermined manner, and providing a potential purchaser with a second program arranged to identify a set of vendors and to obtain information concerning a requested product from the first program of each of the set of vendors such that when a potential purchaser requests information from the second program regarding a product the potential purchaser is supplied with pricing information regarding that product from at least one of the vendors.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of purchasing products from one of a plurality of vendors using a communications network, each vendor having a database including a list of products sold by that vendor and pricing information relating to the products, characterised in that each vendor further has a first program capable of obtaining information from the database and presenting it in a pre-determined manner, and in that the method comprises the steps of inputting into a second program details of a desired product, the second program being arranged to identify a set of vendors, to obtain pricing information regarding the desired product from the first program of each of the vendors in the set of vendors and displaying that information to a purchaser, choosing a vendor from the information supplied by the second program, and placing an order for the desired product to that vendor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a purchasing system in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the Figures, there is shown a schematic representation of a purchasing system 10 for purchasing a product from one of a plurality of vendors 12. Each vendor 12 has a database 14 containing information about the products sold by that vendor. The database may include such information as the price of each product sold, a description and / or photograph of the product, the availability of that product, and estimated delivery times to particular destinations.
Each vendor 12 has a vendor computer 16 arranged to be able to access information from the database 14. Each vendor computer 16 is connected to a communications network 17 and has a unique identifying network address. The communications network may be the internet with the internet address being an internet protocol address.
Each vendor computer 16 operates a first program 18. The first program 18 is arranged to receive requests for information regarding particular products, search the associated database 14 for this information and respond to the request with the relevant information. The first program 18 further includes at least primary and secondary category information 20, 22.
The primary category information 20 may include generic information regarding the types of products sold by the vendor, or the industry within which the vendor operates. Examples of primary categories 20 are clothes, toys and automotive parts. The secondary category information 22 may include details regarding the location of the vendor, the areas in which the vendor operates, or the make of product in which the vendor specialises. Secondary categories 22 such as the country in which the vendor operates may include sub-categories such as state or region details. It is envisaged that many vendors may be entered into a plurality of secondary categories 22. It is also envisaged that some vendors may be entered into a plurality of primary categories.
Each of the first programs 18 is arranged to communicate to a central server 30 which is also connected to the communications network 17.
Each of the first programs 18 supplies to the central server 30 details of the current network address of the respective vendor computer 16, and the respective primary and
secondary category information 20,22. The central server 30 has a central register 32 which stores this information.
A purchaser 24 uses a purchaser computer 26. The purchaser computer 26 is connected to the internet and operates a second program 28. The second program 28 is arranged to receive from the purchaser 24 details of a desired product, and desired primary and secondary categories 20, 22. The second program 28 is then arranged to request from the central server 30 a set of vendors 12 having respective first programs 18 which include the desired primary and secondary categories 20, 22. The central server 30 provides a corresponding set of network addresses from the central register 32. The second program 28 is then arranged to commumcate with each of the respective first programs 18 of the set of vendors 12 and to request from each of the set of vendor computers 16 information concerning the desired product. It will be understood that the purchaser 24 may select a subset of the set of vendors supplied by the central server 30.
In use, a purchaser 24 enters into the second program 28 details of the primary category 20 of vendors 12 the purchaser 24 wishes to purchase from, for instance "Automotive Parts". The purchaser 24 also enters into the second program 28 details of all secondary categories 22 which the purchaser 24 feels are relevant. In the present example these may be categories concerning the make of Automotive Parts available and the region in which a vendor 12 operates.
The purchaser 24 then enters into the second program 28 details of the product required. This may be in the form of a product code, product description or some other relevant information.
The purchaser computer 26 accesses the network 17 and queries the central server 30 for the set of vendor computers 16 which are operating respective first programs 18 having the required primary and secondary category information 20, 22. The purchaser may select a subset of these vendors 12. The second program 28 then requests from each of the set or subset of first programs
18 the details of the product requested by the purchaser 24. Each such first program
18 searches an associated database 14 and retrieves the requested information. The first program 18 then sends this information over the network 17 to the purchaser computer 26. The purchaser 24 is thus able to see concurrently information from each of the set of vendors 12.
The purchaser 24 may then select a desired vendor 12 and place an order for a product directly to that vendor 12.
It will be appreciated that the first program 18 and the second program 28 may include further desired functions. For example, it may be possible for a purchaser 24 to access the database 14 of a single vendor 12 and select a desired product, and for the second program 28 to then obtain from a plurality of other vendors 12 information concerning similar products.
It will also be appreciated that the first program 18 may be arranged to obtain data from existing databases, even where the existing databases are of different types or store information in different ways.
It will be further appreciated that the central server 30 may include further functions, including the provision of advertising material and/or the collection of information regarding transactions between vendors 12 and purchasers 24.
Although the embodiment described hereinabove has referred to specific information, it will be appreciated that any type of information can be supplied from a vendor 12 to a purchaser 24 using the purchasing system 10.
Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.