Method and system for facilitating fulfillment of electronic commercial transactions
First Claim
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1. A method of fulfilling on-line sale of products through at least one electronic storefront comprising the steps of:
- establishing an inventory of products at a single physical location that are offered for sale through an electronic storefront of at least one Internet retailer, said inventory including products received from a plurality of different vendors; and
assembling products from said inventory that are ordered by a customer through an electronic storefront and shipping the products of said order to said customer.
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Abstract
A method of fulfilling on-line sale of products through at least one electronic storefront comprises establishing an inventory of products at a single physical location that are offered for sale through an electronic storefront of at least one Internet retailer. The inventory includes products received from a plurality of different vendors. Products from the inventory that are ordered by a customer through an electronic storefront are assembled at the physical location and are shipped to the customer to fulfill the order.
233 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method of fulfilling on-line sale of products through at least one electronic storefront comprising the steps of:
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establishing an inventory of products at a single physical location that are offered for sale through an electronic storefront of at least one Internet retailer, said inventory including products received from a plurality of different vendors; and
assembling products from said inventory that are ordered by a customer through an electronic storefront and shipping the products of said order to said customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for facilitating electronic commercial transactions between Internet retailers and vendors, comprising the steps of:
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allowing vendors to select Internet retailers permitted to offer for sale products of the vendors and to establish rules of exchange by which selected Internet retailers are permitted to sell products of the vendors; and
monitoring the manner by which the selected Internet retailers sell products of the vendors to on-line customers to ensure compliance with the established rules of exchange and thereby inhibit Internet retailers from selling products in a manner that potentially causes brand erosion and/or channel conflicts with conventional retailers of products of the vendors. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for electronic commerce between branded vendors and Internet retailers comprising the steps of:
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allowing Internet retailers to display products of different vendors for sale through electronic storefronts;
allowing Internet retailers to manage purchases of the products offered for sale by on-line customers on behalf of the vendors; and
communicating the purchases to a pooled repository holding the products of the different vendors to allow the purchases to be fulfilled. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A method of managing inventory in a common pooled repository, said inventory including products from a plurality of different vendors, said method comprising the steps of:
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establishing minimum and maximum threshold levels for each product held in said common pooled repository;
as product in said repository is shipped to fulfill product orders and as product is received from vendors to replenish inventory, comparing the level of each product with the established threshold levels; and
when a product level falls below the established minimum threshold level, generating an order for more of that product. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A system to enable Internet retailers to sell products of different vendors on-line through electronic storefronts comprising:
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a facility storing an inventory of products received from a plurality of different vendors; and
an electronic transaction system (ETS) including a global product catalog listing the products in said inventory, said ETS being accessible to said Internet retailers to enable said Internet retailers to view products listed in said global catalog and to select products in said global catalog that said Internet retailers wish to offer for sale, information concerning selected products being downloaded to the Internet retailers for display on their electronic storefronts, said ETS receiving orders for products made through electronic storefronts of said Internet retailers and conveying said orders to said facility to enable said facility to assemble and ship the products in the orders from the inventory thereby to fulfill the orders. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 49, 50)
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45. An electronic transaction system (ETS) to facilitate interaction between product vendors and Internet retailers wishing to offer products of vendors on-line through electronic storefronts, said ETS comprising:
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a global product catalog listing the products of said vendors;
means for enabling Internet retailers to view products listed in said global catalog and to select products in said global catalog that said Internet retailers wish to offer for sale;
means for downloading information concerning selected products to the Internet retailers for display on their electronic storefronts; and
means for receiving orders for products made through the electronic storefronts and conveying said orders to a facility to enable said facility to assemble and ship the products in the orders from the inventory thereby to fulfill the orders. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 51, 52)
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Specification