Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
Method and System for Facilitating Electronic Commercial Transactions
Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to a method and system for
facilitating electronic
commercial transactions and more particularly relates to a method and system
for transferring
product order information between electronic or on line "malls" or web-sites
and the small to
medium-sized business that market goods and services through such on-line
malls.
Background of the Invention:
Each year, several billion dollars worth of commercial transactions take place
on the Internet.
An Internet presence is quickly becoming vital to a company's commercial
success. Many
companies wish to market a variety of goods and services by way of the
Internet. A company
wishing to have a successful Internet commerce presence must be able to
process a commercial
transaction quickly, efficiently and accurately. Processing includes not only
receiving an order,
but also adjusting inventory levels, shipping orders, performing related
accounting tasks and the
like. Creating systems and software to achieve the goals of speed and accuracy
is expensive and
time consuming. As well, small to medium sized enterprises often lack the
managerial or
technical expertise to design, build or maintain these e-commerce
applications.
Several methods and systems for facilitating electronic commerce transactions
are presently
being sold on the market today or are in the process of market testing. These
products allow
Internet users to place a purchase order on an Internet merchant's Web site
who in turn takes the
purchase order information and fills the orders. While these products provide
effective ways of
handling and processing commercial transactions there are shortcomings to all
of them that limits
their use to medium to large companies with considerable resources.
One shortcoming of several of the e-commerce solutions available today is that
they require a
large outlay of money and time. As a result of this shortcoming, solutions of
this type are often
restricted to medium to large companies with significant assets or cash flow.
Small to medium
sized companies (SMEs) with modest levels of resources are restricted from
adopting many of
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
these solutions. As such, their ability to participate competitively in
Internet commerce is
severely limited.
A second shortcoming of the solutions available today is that the merchant,
large or small, is
often tied into using proprietary software or hardware and may become "locked
in" to the
hardware or software of particular vendors. Also, the software on the
transaction server and the
software on other workstation computers where the order is fulfilled must
often be purchased
from the same manufacturer. Thus, any merchant that adopts one of these
proprietary systems
is limited in the software and hardware choices that he or she can make. This
is true for both the
more expensive and also for the more affordable products available. For
example,
manufacturers such as SAPTM offer large, proprietary systems that offer high
degrees of
functionality but often provide more features than are required by the user,
have a significant
impact on business processes, and are not easy to interface with easier to use
and less expensive
"off the shelf' or "shrink-wrap" software, or with the unique business
processes typical of
SME's.
A third shortcoming of the systems that are presently available that further
restricts the SME's
ability to participate fully in Internet commerce is the SME's ability to
access and create
customer profile data. Access to this type of data is limited to those
merchants that have the
resources to either purchase this data or create it from the pool of their
customer base.
Institutions, such as banks or established e-commerce companies, such as
.AmazonTM or
YahooTM, often act as intermediaries between merchants and consumers.
Theymayprovide on-
line shopping malls that bring together consumers seeking goods and services
with merchants
who wish to provide them. Such intermediaries can be effective at aggregating
buyers and sellers
but often are unable or uninterested in providing "back-end" solutions that
provide reasonably
priced, effective back-end software solutions that can easilybe scaled as
demand for a merchmt's
goods and services increase. SMEs need solutions that provide back-end
functions such as order
fulfilment, inventory management, accounting and order tracking. Another
difficulty faced by
SMEs is that they often find it difficult to respond to sudden increases in e-
commerce
transactions or fluctuations in the number of transactions. One reason for
this is that order-entry
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
systems are often not integrated with order fulfilment or back-end systems or
are poorly
integrated with such systems.
Summary of the Invention~
S The present invention relates generally to a method and system for
facilitating electronic
commercial transactions and more particularly relates to a method and system
for transferring
product order information between electronic or on line "malls" or web-sites
and the small to
medium-sized business that market goods and services through such on-line
malls.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system
to facilitating
electronic commercial transactions that improves the functionality available
to SME.
An Internet merchant, lacking the software, hardware and resources to maintain
a server to host
an on line store, approaches an intermediary merchant host server that hosts
such online stores.
The Internet merchant specifies the online store configuration information,
such as. the
information that will be displayed on the Internet merchant's store,
specifications of the type of
information that an Internet shopper must provide in order to complete an
electronic transaction
on the Internet merchant's online store, the manner in which the purchase
order information
should be organized, the file format to be used to store the purchase order
information and the
mode by which the purchase order information will be transmitted to the
Internet merchant. The
Internet merchant also configures the order processing software that is
resident on its computer
to match the said specifications.
An Internet shopper, wishing to make a purchase of an item advertised as being
available on the
Internet merchant's online store, submits the required purchase order
information in order to
complete the transaction. Once the required purchase order information is
received by the
intermediary merchant host server, it is organized, formatted (according to
the said configuration
information) and transmitted to the Internet merchant's computer. The
formatted purchase order
information is then loaded into the merchant relational database that is
residing on the Internet
merchant computer and the order processing software guides the Internet
merchant through the
order processing steps. The Internet merchant also sends this purchase order
information and
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
information relating to the status of the Internet shopper's purchase order to
the customer
management host server. An Internet shopper wishing to check the status of his
order from the
Internet merchant's online store clicks on a embedded status link that is
located on the Internet
merchant's online store. This request for order status information is then
transmitted to the
customer management host server which in turn queries the host relational
database for
information on the status of the Internet shopper's order. Information
relating to the status of the
Internet shopper's order is then transmitted to the Internet shopper.
An Internet shopper wishing to check the inventory status of items available
on the Internet
merchant's online store clicks on an embedded inventory Link that is located
on the Internet
merchant's online store. This request for inventory status information is then
transmitted to the
customer management host server which in turn queries the host relational
database for
information on the inventory status of the selected items. Information
relating to the inventory
status of the selected items is then transmitted to the Internet shopper.
IS
An Internet merchant, wishing to market its online store to potential Internet
shoppers, queries
a relational database, residing on either the Internet merchant's computer or
the customer
management host server, for a list of potential Internet shoppers. The
relational database then
retrieves and compiles a list of potential Internet shoppers that matches the
Internet merchant's
query. This list of potential Internet shoppers is then transmitted to the
Internet merchant.
Brief Description of Drawings:
The present invention will now be explained, by way of example only, with
reference to certaW
embodiments and the attached Figures in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for transferring product order
information between
Internet shoppers, electronic or on line "malls" or web-sites and the small to
medium-sized
business that market goods and services through such on-line malls in
accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention;
4
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method for transferring product order information
between electronic
or on line "malls" or web-sites and the small to medium-sized business that
market goods in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a flowchart of the system of Figure 1 showing an embodiment of the
present
invention;
Figure 4 is a flowchart of the system of Figure 1 showing an embodiment of the
present
invention;
Figure S is a flowchart of the system of Figure 1 showing an embodiment of the
present
invention;
Figure 6 is a flowchart of the system of Figure 1 showing an embodiment of the
present
I S invention;
Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing order processing software in an
embodiment of the
presentinvention;
Figure 8 is a flowchart of the system of Figure 1 showing an embodiment of the
present
invention;
Detailed Description of the Invention'
Referring now to Figure 1, a system for facilitating electronic commercial
transactions is
indicated generally at S. System 5 includes two computers, an Internet shopper
computer 10 and
an Internet merchant computer 30, and two servers, an intermediary merchant
host server 20 and
a customer management host server 40.
Intermediary merchant host server 20 and a customer management host server 40
are any suitable
servers, as will occur to those of skill in the art, such as the IBM
Netfinity~ 3000 sold by IBM~
of Armonk, NY, and are generally operable to function as network computing
servers. In an
5
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
embodiment of the invention, servers 20 and 40 are Windows-based and include a
central
processing unit (not shown), random access memory (not shown), a data storage
means (not
shown) and a communications means, such as a network interface card or other
network interface
means (not shown) to allow the servers to communicate with other computers
over a
communication medium such as the Internet (not shown).
Intermediary merchant host server 20 is operated by an intermediary party,
such as a bank or
Internet shopping mall, that hosts the Internet merchant's online store. The
software running on
intermediary merchant host server 20 includes Internet site hosting software
and transaction
processing software that is commercially available, such as Microsoft~ Windows
NT~ Server
4.0, with its built-in Web Server Internet Information Server (ITS) 4.0 as
licensed by Microsoft
Corporation of Seattle, Washington. In an alternate embodiment, the software
running on
intermediary merchant host server 20 is a proprietary merchant application
developed by the
intermediary party or is open source software. Alternatively,.the computing
environment may
be distributed and the software may be resident on one or more distant
computers. Intermediary
merchant host server 20 also includes a embedded status link 22 which in the
preferred
embodiment is used to direct an Internet shopper's queries regarding the
status of his or her order
to customer management host customer management host server 40 via embedded
inventory-
status communication link 80. Intermediary merchant host server 20 also
includes a embedded
inventory link 22 which in the preferred embodiment is used to direct an
Internet shopper's
queries regarding the inventory status of one or more selected items to
customer management
host customer management host server 40 via embedded inventory-status
communication link
80. Intermediary merchant host server 20 is able to communicate with Internet
shopper computer
10, Internet merchant computer 30 and customer management host customer
management host
server 40 via shopper communications link S0, merchant communication link 60
and embedded
communication link 80, respectively. Such links could include the Internet and
be comprised of
a series of routers and communications lines or could include portions of
dedicated
communications links. Customer management host server 40 is operated by a
customer
management host that provides order status information as well as Internet
marketing services,
and other customer relationship management software and functionality.
Customer management
host server 40 is able to receive communications indirectly from Internet
shopper computer I O
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
via embedded status link 22 in intermediary merchant host server 20 via
embedded inventory-
status communications link 80. The software inside customer management host
server 40
includes a host relational database 42 that in the present embodiment is based
on the File Maker
Pro version 5.0 developer application. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that other database
applications may be used to create the host relational database.
Specifications for the platform
of host relational database 42 can be found at
Http://www.filemaker.con~/products/fin requirements html.
Customermanagementhostserver
40 is able to communicate directly with Computers 10 and 30 via host
communications link 70
and status communication link 90, respectively.
Internet shopper computer 10 and an Internet merchant computer 30 are any
suitable computers,
as will occur to those of skill in the art, such as the IBM Aptiva 880 sold by
IBM of Armonk,
NY, and are generally operable to function as network computers or in a client-
server or
distributed computing mode. In an embodiment of the invention, Internet
shopper computer 10
and an Internet merchant computer 30 are Windows-based and include a central
processing unit
(not shown), random access memory (not shown), a data storage means (not
shown) and a
communications means, such as a network interface card or other network
interface means (not
shown) to allow the servers to communicate with other computers aver a
communication
medium such as the Internet (not shown).
The softyvare running on Internet shopper computer 10 includes an Internet
browser that is
capable of displaying the information contained in web pages, such as those
maintained by an
Internet merchant. Internet shopper computer 10 also has softyvare necessary
to maintain an
Internet connection with a merchant's online store via shopper communication
link 50. Internet
shopper computer 10 is run by an Internet shopper who browses Internet Web
sites, such as the
Internet merchant's online store that is hosted on Intermediary merchant host
server 20.
The software inside Internet merchant computer 30 includes a merchant
relational database 32
that in the preferred embodiment is based on the File Maker Pro version 5.0
developer
application. Specifications for the platform of merchant relational database
32 can be found at
Http://www.filemaker.com/~roducts/fm requirements html. In an alternate
embodiment, the
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
merchant relational database 32 may be resident on one or more distant
computers. The software
running on Internet merchant computer 30 also includes order processing
software 34 that can
be customized to receive purchase order information from any of a variety of
merchant software
packages, such as the merchant software package that is running on
Intermediary merchant host
server 20. It is not dependant on, nor does it function exclusively with any
one merchant
software package.
Figure 7 shows order processing software 34 that is intended for execution on
an Internet
merchant computer 30 for processing an Internet shopper's purchase order and
transmitting the
Internet shopper's purchase order information to a customer management host
40. In an alternate
embodiment, order processing 34 may be executed on the customer management
host server 40
or any other computer to which the Internet merchant has access. Order
processing software 34
is preferably written in an object-oriented language and structure known in
the art, and contains
six objects, order OBJ,, receiving OBJz, loading OBJ3, processing OBJ4,
archiving OBJS,
transmitting OBJ6 each of which interact with each other according to their
function within the
overall function of order processing software 34. (It will be appreciated that
the six obj ects order
OBJ~, receiving OBJ2, loading OBJ3, processing OBJ4, archiving OBJS,
transmitting OBJ6 in the
present embodiment are for purposes of simplifying the explanation of the
embodiment only and
that order processing software 34 can have a different number of objects.)
In an embodiment of the present invention, objects OBJ1, OBJ2, OBJ3, OBJ4,
OBJS and OBJ6 are
proprietary File Maker Pro objects and the genics specifications for such
objects are outlined at
Http://www.filemaker.comldevelopers/index html.
System 5 functions generally as follows: An Internet merchant, operating
Internet merchant
computer 30, wishing to set up an online store, but lacking the software,
hardware or resources
to maintain a server to host the online store approaches the owner or
operator, such as a bank,
of an internlediary merchant host server 20 that hosts online stores, such as
the one that the
Internet merchant wishes to establish. The Internet merchant provides the
online store
configuration information to the intermediarymerchanthost server 20. This
information includes
information that will be displayed on the Internet merchant's store as well as
specifications of
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
the type of information that an Internet shopper, operating Internet shopper
computer 10, must
provide in order to complete an electronic transaction on the Internet
merchant's online store.
Further specifications include the manner in which the purchase order
information should be
organized, the file format to be used to store the purchase order information
as well the mode by
which the purchase order information will be transmitted to the Internet
merchant computer 30.
The Internet merchant then configures the order processing software that is
resident on the
Internet merchant computer 30 to match the configuration information provided
to the
intermediary merchant host server 20.
An Internet shopper wishing to make a purchase of an item configured to be
available on the
Internet merchant's online store, selects said item and submits a request to
purchase the item.
The intermediary merchant host server prompts 20 the Internet shopper computer
I O to provide
the required purchase order information in order to complete the transaction.
Once the required
purchase order information is received by the intermediary merchant host
server 20, it is
organized, formatted and transmitted, according to the configuration
information, to the Internet
merchant computer 30. In the preferred embodiment, the formatted purchase
order information
is then loaded into the merchant relational database 32 that is residing on
the Internet merchant
computer 30 and the order processing software 34 guides the Internet merchant
through the order
processing steps. It could also be loaded into other database or data storage
formats. In an
alternate embodiment, the merchant relational database may be distributed and
resident on one
or more distant computers. In addition to processing the order, the Internet
merchant also sends
in the preferred embodiment, the purchase order infornation as well as the
status of the Internet
shopper's purchase order to the customer management host server 40. This
information is loaded
into the host relational database 42.
a. An Internet shopper wishing to check the status of his order from the
Internet merchant's
online store selects, typically by pointing a mouse and clicking, on the
embedded status
link 22 that is displayed on the web pages of the intermediary merchant host
server 20.
This generates a request for order status information which is then
transmitted to the
customer management host server 40 which in turn queries the relational
database 42 for
information on the status of the Internet shopper's order. Information
relating to the
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
status of the Internet shopper's order is then transmitted to the Internet
shopper computer
10. Examples of status information including shipping date, courier company,
and
courier transaction identifier number.
An Internet shopper wishing to check the inventory status of one or more items
on the Internet
merchant's online store selects, typically by pointing a mouse and clicking,
on the embedded
inventory link 24 that is displayed on the web pages of the intermediary
merchant host server 20.
This request for inventory status information is then transmitted to the
customer management
host server 40 which in turn queries the relational database 42 for
information on the inventory
status of the selected items. Information relating to the inventory status of
the selected items is
then transmitted to the Internet shopper computer 10.
An Internet merchant that wishes to market its online store to potential
Internet shoppers can
either query the merchant r elational database 32 for a list of potential
Internet shoppers or it may
send a request to the host relational database 42 to generate such a list. The
customer
management host server, upon receiving the Internet merchant's request for a
list of potential
Internet shoppers, queries the host relational database and then compiles a
list of potential
Internet shoppers in response to this query which is then transmitted to the
Internet merchant
computer 30.
Configuration Information; setting up System 5
In a present embodiment, an Internet merchant, such as a small to medium
"bricks and mortar"
store establishing an Internet presence, operating Internet merchant computer
30 transmits via
merchant communication link 60 to an intermediary party, such as an online
shopping mall
established by a Large financial institution, operating intermediary merchant
host server 20,
configuration information that is to be displayed, at least in part, on the
Internet merchant's
online store. The configuration information in the case of products consists
of information such
as a product list, product information and product descriptions such as
prices, delivery options,
and the like. The configuration information in the case of services consists
of information such
as a service List, service information and service descriptions such as
prices, location of
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
performance options, etc. For both products and services, the information also
includes whether
the products or services that are displayed are available for sale, lease,
licence, assignment, etc.
The Internet merchant also submits to intermediary merchant host server 20 the
URL for an
embedded status link 22 that is to be located on the Internet merchant's
online store. The
S embedded status link, which is displayed on the web site of intermediary
merchant host server
20, via embedded communication link 80, will direct an Internet shopper's
request for
information on the status of her order from the Internet merchant's online
store to customer
management host server 40. This is done because the intermediary may not want
to be
responsible for such queries or may not have the resources necessary to
support such queries.
The Internet merchant also submits to intermediary merchant host server 20 the
URL for an
embedded inventory link 24 that is to be located on the Internet merchant's
online store. The
embedded inventory link, which is displayed on the web site of intermediary
merchant host
server 20, via embedded inventory-status communication link 80, will direct an
Internet
shopper's request for information on the inventory status of the selected
items on the Internet
merchant's online store to customer management host server 40. This is done
because the
intermediary may not want to be responsible for such queries or may not have
the resources
necessary to support such queries.
The configuration information also includes the purchase order information
that an Internet
shopper must provide, that is required by the Internet merchant, in order to
complete a
commercial transaction on the Internet merchant's online store. This purchase
order information
may consist of an Internet shopper's name, address, shipping address, phone
number, the item
or service chosen, method of payment, credit card information, etc. In an
alternate embodiment,
the purchase order information is specified by the intermediary party such as
a Bank or Financial
Institution, operating Intermediary merchant host server 20 or the customer
management host
operating customer management host server 40.
In addition to the purchase order information that an intermediary party must
collect in order to
complete a commercial transaction on the Internet merchant's online store, the
manner in which
the purchase order information is ordered, the file format and the mode of
communicating the
purchase order information file to the Internet merchant are specified by the
intermediary party.
lI
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
In an alternate embodiment, the order of the purchase order information may be
specified by the
Internet merchant or the customer management host. In an alternate embodiment
the order of the
purchase order information may be specified in the form of pre-determined data
templates or
fully customizable data sheets that are provided by the Internet merchant,
intermediary party or
the customer management host.
In the preferred embodiment the file format to be used for transmitting the
purchase order
information file is in the form of a text file. In an alternate embodiment,
the purchase order
information file may he saved as a spreadsheet file from a commercial,
proprietary or open source
product, etc. The format may be specified by the Internet merchant,
intermediary party or the
customer management host.
In a present embodiment the purchase order information file from intermediary
merchant host
server 20 to Internet merchant computer 30 transferred via merchant
communication link 60 by
e-mail. In an alternate embodiment, the purchase order information file may be
sent by FTP or
the Internet merchant may download the purchase order information file via
HTTP. The mode
of communication may be determined by the Internet merchant, intermediary
party or the
customer management host.
After all the configuration information has been specified, the Internet
merchant then configures
the software on Internet merchant computer 30, including merchant relational
database 32 to
receive the formatted purchase order information file from intermediary
merchant host server 20
via merchant communication link 60 according to said configuration
information.
Internet shopper makes a purchase
An Internet shopper operating Internet shopper computer 10 logs on the
Internet via a shopper
communication link SO that has been provided by an Internet service provider
or other access
provider. The Internet shopper locates the Internet merchant's online store
that is hosted on
intermediary merchant host server 20 and browses through the configuration
information that is
displayed on the screen. The intennediaryparty, operating
intermediarymerchanthost server 20,
presents at least one available item, product or service, to the Internet
shopper. The Internet
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
shopper, having selected the available item or items, transmits to
intermediary merchant host
server 20 via shopper communication Link 50 a request to complete the
transaction for the
available item or items Intermediary merchant host server 20 receives this
request to complete
a transaction from the Internet shopper and through the same communication
link prompts the
Internet shopper to provide the previously specified purchase order
information. The Internet
shopper submits this purchase order information via shopper communication link
S0.
Intermediary merchant host server 20, through the same communication link,
receives the this
purchase order information and then organises and stores in memory or saves
purchase order
information in a previously specified file format. The purchase order
information file is then
transmitted to Internet merchant computer 30 via merchant communication link
60.
The Internet merchant receives the purchase order information file at Internet
merchant computer
30 which is then stored into Internet merchant computer 30, for example, in
random access
memory. In an alternate embodiment, the file is saved in read only memory of
Internet merchant
computer 30. The content of the purchase order information file is then loaded
into a merchant
relational database 32 that is running on Internet merchant computer 30. In an
alternate
embodiment, the merchant relational database maybe resident on one or more
distant computers.
Once the purchase order information has been loaded into merchant relational
database 32, it is
accessed by the order processing software 34 which guides the Internet
~erchaxit through the
order processing steps. These steps may include reviewing the purchase order
information,
conducting an inventory check (in the case of products) or time availability
(in the case of
services) and adjusting inventory to reflect the current purchase, billing,
invoicing, preparing
shipping materials and shipping the item or items to the Internet shopper.
Once the Internet shopper's orderhas been processed, the purchase order
information is archived
in the merchant relational database 32. In an alternate embodiment, the
purchase order
information is archived at any point during the order processing sequence. The
archived
purchase order information is then transmitted from Internet merchant computer
30 to customer
management host server 40 via host communication link 70. In a preferred
embodiment, the
content of the archived purchase order information that is transmitted to
customer management
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
host server 40 consists of the purchase order information that the Internet
shopper submitted to
intermediary merchant host server 20. In an alternate embodiment, only
selected items of the
archived purchase order information as selected by either of the Internet
merchant or the
customer management host are transmitted.
In addition to the archived purchase order information, the Internet merchant
also submits, from
time to time, information relating to the status of the Internet shopper's
purchase order, as well
as information such as the order tracking number and place of shipment, to the
customer
management host server 40 via the host communication link 70. The order status
information
10~ includes inventory status information and whether the order has been
processed, shipped or is on
back order. The purchase order information and the order status information
are sent
automatically by Internet merchant computer 30 via host communication link 70
to customer
management host server 40. In an alternate embodiment, the purchase order
information and the
order status information are sent at times specified by either of the Internet
merchant or the
customer management host or upon the happening of specified status-related
events.
The archive purchase order information and the order status information is
stored into the random
access memory of customer management host server 40. In an alternate
embodiment, the file is
saved in read only memory of customer management host server 40. The purchase
order
information and the order status information are then loaded into a host
relational database 42
that is running on customer management host server 40. Alternatively it may be
stored into
another type of database or storage means.
Internet shopper requests the status of her order
An Internet shopper operating Internet shopper computer 10 logs on to the
Internet via a shopper
communication link SO that has been provided by an Internet service provider
or other access
provider. The Internet shopper locates the Internet merchant's online store
that is hosted on
intermediary merchant host server 20 and browses through at least a portion of
the configuration
information that is displayed on the screen. The Internet shopper places an
order.
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
The Internet shopper clicks on to the embedded status link 22 located in
intermediary merchant
host server 20 in order to check on the status ofhis or her purchase order.
Customer management
host server 40 receives this request for order status information via embedded
inventory-status
communication link 80. In an alternate embodiment, Internet shopper computer
10 transmits the
order status request directly to customer management host server 40 directly
via inventory-status
communication link 90. Customer management host server 40 then queries host
relational
database 42 for order status information relating to the Internet shopper's
purchase order. This
order status information is retrieved from host relational database 42 and
transmitted from
customer management host server 40 to Internet shopper computer. 10 via
inventory-status
communication link 90.
Internet shopper requests the inventory status of one or more items
An Internet shopper operating Internet shopper computer 10 logs on to the
Internet via a shopper
communication link 50 that has been provided by an Internet service provider
or other access
provider. The Internet shopper locates the Internet merchant's online store
that is hosted on
intermediary merchant host server 20 and browses through at least a portion of
the configuration
information that is displayed on the screen.
The Internet shoppex clicks on to the embedded inventory link 24 located in
intermediary
merchant host server 20 in order to check on the inventory status of one or
more selected items.
Customer management host server 40 receives this request for inventory status
information via
embedded inventory-status communication link 80. In an alternate embodiment,
Internet shopper
computer 10 transmits the inventory status request directly to customer
management host server
40 directly via inventory-status communication link 90. Customer management
host server 40
then queries host relational database 42 for the inventory status information.
This inventory
status information is retrieved from host relational database 42 and
transmitted from customer
management host server 40 to Internet shopper computer 10 via status
communication link 90.
Targeted Marketing to potential Internet shoppers
An Internet merchant operating Internet merchant computer 30 may wish to
market its online
store that is located on Intermediary merchant host server 20 to potential
Internet shoppers.
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
In the preferred embodiment, the Internet merchant sends the target customer
list query to
customer management host server 40. In an alternate embodiment, the Internet
merchant sends
the target customer list query to the merchant relational database 32.
Customer management host
server 40 receives a request from the Internet merchant for target customer
lists that conforms
to the specified criteria and query. Customer management host server 40
transmits the query to
host relational database 42. In the preferred embodiment, the host relational
database consists
of purchase order information from at least one of the Internet merchant's
that have submitted
their respective purchase order information to the host relational database
42. The host relational
database 42 generates a target list of potential Internet shoppers which is
transmitted to the
Internet merchant. The Internet merchant then sends marketing material to
those potential
Internet shoppers on the target customer list.
In an alternate embodiment, customer management host server 40 receives the
request for
customers matching the Internet merchant's specified criteria and also
receives the Internet
merchant's marketing material. Customer management host server 40 queries host
relational
database 42 for a target customer Iist that match the Internet merchant's
request. The host
relational database 42 generates a target list. Customer management host
server 40 then
transmits the Internet merchant's marketing material to those individuals on
the generated target
customer list.
A method for transfernng purchase order information between intemlediary host
server 20 and
Internet merchant computer 30 will now be discussed with reference to the
flowchart of Figure
2 and system 5. In a present embodiment, the method of Figure 2 is commenced
based on
receiving the Internet merchant's online store configuration information. At
step 2010, this
information consists of the information that is to be displayed on the
Internet merchant's online
store, such as item descriptions and prices. At step 2015, this information
also includes placing
an embedded status link on the online store that will be used to direct an
Internet shopper's
request for the status of his or her order to the customer management host
server 40 (a method
that is outlined in Figure 4). At step 2016, this information also includes
placing an embedded
inventory link on the online store that will be used to direct an Internet
shopper's request for the
16
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
inventory status of one or more selected items to the customer management host
server 40 (a
method that is outlined in Figure 9).
At step 2020, the purchase order information that an Internet shopper must
provide to complete
a purchase of at least one available item from the Online Store is specified.
This consists of the
Internet shopper's name, phone number, shipping address, and the like. Further
information that
is specified may include how the purchase order information is to be organized
in the purchase
order information file (step 2030) and the file format that is to be used for
the purchase order
information file (step 2040).
At step 2060, an Internet shopper operating Internet shopper computer 10
accesses the Internet
merchant's online store and browses the displayed information, which is
presented to the Internet
shopper at step 2070. At step 2080, if the Internet shopper chooses an item
from those that are
available on the Internet merchant's online store, he or she sends a request
to the intermediary
merchant host server 20 to purchase or otherwise choose the selected item. The
intermediary
merchant host server 20, at step 2090, then prompts the Internet shopper to
provide the purchase
order information or set of information that was specified in step 2020.
At step 2100, the intermediary merchant host server 20 receives the specified
purchase order
information which is then organized (at step 2110) in the manner specified at
step 2030. At step
2120, the organized purchase order information is saved in a file format
specified in step 2040
and then at step 2130 the file is transmitted to the Internet merchant
computer 30 via
communication link 60. At step 2140 intermediary merchant host server 20
receives
confirmation that said order has been accepted.
A method for processing an Internet shopper's purchase order and transferring
the purchase order
information between Internet merchant computer 30 and customer management host
server 40
via communication link 70 will now be discussed with reference to the
flowchart of Figure 3 and
System 5. In a present embodiment, the method of Figure 3 is commenced at step
3010, where
the information consists of the information that an Tnternet shopper must
provide to complete a
purchase of at least one available item from the Online Store is specified.
This consists of the
17
CA 02360221 2001-10-26
Internet shopper's name, phone number, shipping address, and the like. Further
information that
is specified consists of the how the purchase order information is to be
organized in the purchase
order information file (step 3020), the file format that is to be used for the
purchase order
information file (step 3030) and the mode by which the purchase order
information file is to be
communicated to the Internet merchant (step 3040).
At step 3050, Internet merchant computer receives the organized and formatted
purchase order
information file from the intermediary merchant host server via the mode of
communication
specified in step 3040. At step 3060 the purchase order information is loaded
into the merchant
relational database 32 and at step 3070 the order processing software 34
directs the Internet
merchant the steps of completing the order processing. Optionally, the
purchase order
information is archived at step 3080 and at step 3090 the archived data is
transmitted to the
customer management host server 40. Also, in a preferred embodiment at step
3100, the order
status information is transmitted to the customer management host server 40.
A method for relaying an Internet shopper's request for the status of his or
her order from the
Internet merchant's online store from the Internet shopper computer 10 to the
customer
management host server 40 will now be discussed with reference to the
flowchart of Figure 4 and
System 5. In a present embodiment, the method of Figure 4 is commenced at step
4010, where
embedded status link 22 is placed on the Internet merchant's online store that
is being hosted on
intermediary merchant host server 20. Embedded status link 22 directs the
Internet shopper's
request for order status information to the customer management host server 40
via embedded
inventory-status communication link 80.
At step 4020, the Internet shopper requesting order status information
accesses the intermediary
merchant host server 20 and at step 4030 clicks on to the embedded status link
22. At step 4040,
customer management host server receives the Internet shopper's request for
status order
information.
A method for relaying an Internet shopper's request for the inventory status
of one or more
selected items available on the Internet merchant's online store from the
Internet shopper
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
computer 10 to the .customer management host server 40 will now be discussed
with reference
to the flowchart of Figure 9 and System 5. In a present embodiment, the method
of Figure 9 is
commenced at step 9010, where embedded inventory link 24 is placed on the
Internet merchant's
online store that is being hosted on intermediary merchant host server 20.
Embedded inventory
link 24 directs the Internet shopper's request for order status information to
the customer
management host server 40 via embedded inventory-status communication link 80.
At step 9020, the Internet shopper requesting the inventory status of one or
more selected items
accesses the intermediary merchant host server 20 and at step 9030 clicks on
to the embedded
inventory link 24. At step 9040, customer management host server 40 receives
the Internet
shopper's request for inventory status information.
A method for processing an Internet shopper's request for the status of his or
her order from the
Internet merchant's online store and transferring the status order information
between the
1 S customer management host server 40 and the Internet shopper computer 10
will now be discussed
with reference to the flowchart of Figure 5 and System S. In a present
embodiment, the method
of Figure 5 is commenced at step 5010, where the customer management host
server 40 receives
the Internet shopper's request for the status of his or her order from the
intermediary merchant
host server 20 via status communication link 80.
At step 5020 the customer management host server 40 queries the host
relational datab ase 42 for
information relating to the status of Internet shopper's order and retrieves
the order status
information at step 5030. At step 5040, the customer management host server 40
transmits the
order status information to the Internet shopper computer 10 via status
communication link 90.
A method for processing an Internet merchant's request for a list of potential
Internet shoppers
and transferring the Iist between customer management host server 40 and
Internet merchant
computer 30 will now be discussed with reference to the flowchart of Figure 6
and System 5.
In a present embodiment, the method of Figure 6 is commenced at step 6010
where customer
information is sent from Internet merchant computer 30 to customer management
host server 40
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CA 02360221 2001-10-26
via host communication link 70 and then at step 6020 this customer information
is loaded into
the host relational database 42.
At step 6030, an Internet merchant wishing to market its online store sends a
request to customer
management host server 40 via host communication link 70 for a list of
potential Internet
shoppers that conform to a specified set of search criteria. At step 6040, the
customer
management host server 40 queries the host relational database 42 for a list
of potential Internet
customers that match the Internet merchant's search criteria and at step 6050,
the matching list
of potential Internet shoppers is retrieved.
At step 6060, the list of matching potential Internet customers is transmitted
to the Internet
merchant computer 30 via host communication link 70.
In a present embodiment, the execution of order processing software 34 will
now be discussed
with reference to the flowchart of Figure 8 and System 5 is commenced at step
8010, where order
OBJ1 specifies the ordering of the purchase order information in the purchase
order information
file. At step 8020, receiving OBJz receives the organised and formatted
purchase order
information file from the intermediarymerchant host server 20 via merchant
communication link
60 and at step 8030 loading OBJ3 stores and loads the content of the purchase
order information
file into merchant relational database 32.
At step 8040, the stored and loaded purchase order information is processed
byprocessing OBJ4
after which it is archived at step 8050 by archiving OBJS. At step 8060,
transmitting OBJ6
transmits the archived purchase order information, along with the information
relating to status
of the Internet shopper's purchase order, to the customer management host
server 40 via host
communication link 70.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many equivalent
embodiments of the
invention described above. The scope of the invention is defined in the
claims, set out below.
