System and method for matching an offer with a quote
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of matching an offer for a product with a supplier, comprising:
- receiving the offer from a customer machine;
obtaining at least one quote for the product from each of a plurality of suppliers and obtaining at least two quotes from one supplier in the plurality of suppliers, a first quote from the one supplier being lower than a second quote from the one supplier;
identifying a qualifying quote for the product from each of the quotes obtained from the plurality of suppliers;
comparing the qualifying quotes from each of the quotes obtained to identify a most-preferential quote of the qualifying quotes;
if the offer exceeds the most-preferential quote, matching the offer with the supplier corresponding to the most-preferential quote; and
evaluating any other quotes provided by the supplier corresponding to the most-preferential quote.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a system and method that satisfies offers from customers with quotes from suppliers in a way that increases the likelihood of achieving an acceptable match. The system of the present invention is configured to receive from a customer an offer for a product. The system queries in parallel multiple suppliers for rate quotes on the desired product. Each of the suppliers is ranked according to the lowest rate quoted by each supplier. The supplier quoting the lowest rate is selected as the winner of the offer. The system may then evaluate any other rate quotes provided by the winning provider. The system may satisfy the customer'"'"'s offer with the winning provider at a higher rate (if one was provided) than the winning rate quoted, up to the customer'"'"'s offer (perhaps adjusted for a reasonable profit). In this way, even though the provider provides low rate quotes to win the offer, the provider may still realize a much higher rate for the goods or services by quoting additional, higher rate quotes as well.
-
Citations
37 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method of matching an offer for a product with a supplier, comprising:
-
receiving the offer from a customer machine;
obtaining at least one quote for the product from each of a plurality of suppliers and obtaining at least two quotes from one supplier in the plurality of suppliers, a first quote from the one supplier being lower than a second quote from the one supplier;
identifying a qualifying quote for the product from each of the quotes obtained from the plurality of suppliers;
comparing the qualifying quotes from each of the quotes obtained to identify a most-preferential quote of the qualifying quotes;
if the offer exceeds the most-preferential quote, matching the offer with the supplier corresponding to the most-preferential quote; and
evaluating any other quotes provided by the supplier corresponding to the most-preferential quote. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, comprising:
-
receiving from a customer machine an offer representing a value that the customer is willing to exchange for a product;
receiving a set of quotes from each of a plurality of suppliers to provide the product, and receiving at least two quotes from one supplier in the plurality of suppliers, a first quote from the one supplier being lower than a second quote from the one supplier;
ranking each supplier in the plurality of suppliers according to the value of at least one quote in the set of quotes received from each supplier;
selecting a highest ranked supplier from the plurality of suppliers;
matching the offer from the customer with the highest ranked supplier; and
evaluating any other quotes provided by the supplier corresponding to the most-preferential quote. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A computer-implemented method for matching an offer for a product with a supplier, comprising:
-
receiving the offer from a customer machine, the offer identifying a price and a minimum acceptable quality for the product;
calculating a first value based on the offer that reflects a desired margin;
obtaining at least one quote for the product from each of a plurality of suppliers, each quote identifying a price for the product that a corresponding supplier is ready to accept, each quote also having a rating for the quality of the product being quoted by the corresponding supplier;
selecting one quote from each of the suppliers;
for those suppliers for which the one quote provided is below the first value, ranking those suppliers based on the rating associated with the product being quoted by the supplier; and
selecting a most preferentially-ranked supplier as the match for the offer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26-31. -31. (Canceled)
-
32. A computer system for satisfying offers with quotes, comprising:
an electronic travel agent, including;
a web server component configured to interface with a customer machine over a network connection and receive from the customer machine an offer for a product, the offer identifying a price for the product and a minimum quality rating for the product;
a travel server component configured to obtain from each supplier in a plurality of suppliers, at least one quote to provide the product at a price and at a particular quality rating;
a sorter component configured to rank the plurality of suppliers according to one quote provided by each of the plurality of suppliers with preferential rankings being awarded based on the quality rating associated with the corresponding quote; and
the electronic travel agent being further configured to match the offer with a most-preferentially ranked supplier and to negotiate a purchase of the product from the most preferentially-ranked supplier. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
Specification