Method and system for providing goods and/or services
First Claim
1. A method of proposing a package of related goods and/or services to meet a customer'"'"'s requirements, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a customer'"'"'s requirements;
dividing the customer'"'"'s requirements into components;
submitting the components to multiple potential suppliers for a bid on each component;
receiving bids on each component from potential suppliers;
evaluating the bids for each component to determine the best price for the component; and
assembling the best bid price for each component into a proposal for the customer'"'"'s requirements and presenting a combined price for the customer'"'"'s requirements to the customer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of providing goods and/or services to a customer who has defined a proposed purchase (such as a trip) which includes multiple components. The proposed purchase is broken down into components, bids are sought on each component and then a total price is presented for acceptance to the customer based on a combination of the best bids for each component. The customer may view the prices for the individual components and selectively exclude components which are not desired based on what is offered, such as the supplier or the price, or may change the package to substitute bids from different suppliers and/or different items.
65 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of proposing a package of related goods and/or services to meet a customer'"'"'s requirements, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a customer'"'"'s requirements;
dividing the customer'"'"'s requirements into components;
submitting the components to multiple potential suppliers for a bid on each component;
receiving bids on each component from potential suppliers;
evaluating the bids for each component to determine the best price for the component; and
assembling the best bid price for each component into a proposal for the customer'"'"'s requirements and presenting a combined price for the customer'"'"'s requirements to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for providing a package price for a package defined by a customer, the system comprising:
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a database of potential suppliers;
a system for receiving a request from a potential customer, breaking the request into components and for comparing components of the request with the database of potential suppliers;
if the potential suppliers match the request from a potential customer, a communication system for querying the potential supplier about his price for a component which the potential customer requests;
a system for accumulating bids on components of the request from a potential customer into a bid on the combined request;
a system for communicating the bid for the combined request and its components to the potential customer for his acceptance; and
a system for receiving an acceptance of the bid by the potential customer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A program for receiving a definition of a proposed purchase and for providing a price for that purchase, the program comprising:
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a module for receiving a customer'"'"'s definition of a proposed purchase;
a module for separating the proposed purchase into separate components;
a module for sending each separate component to a supplier for a price for the separate component;
a module for receiving a price from the supplier and for comparing the prices for the separate components to determine the best price for the component;
a module for assembling the best price for each component into a bottom line bid for the proposed purchase; and
a module for providing the customer with a bottom line price for the proposed purchase. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification