Retail marketing method
First Claim
1. A method of managing information between businesses and vendors, comprising:
- a developer creating a system through which a business receives information associated with items provided to the business by a supply chain of at least one vendor, wherein the system comprises a specification and one or more subsystems, wherein the specification is defined by at least the business and the specification defines the type of information to be received through the system, and wherein each of the one or more vendor subsystems enables an operator of the respective vendor subsystem to provide information conforming to the specification to the business by storing the conforming information in information storage devices and associating the information storage devices with items that are provided to the business; and
the business facilitating installation of the system across the supply chain by requiring one or more of the at least one vendor to purchase one of the one or more vendor subsystems from the developer and operate the purchased vendor subsystem to provide information to the business as a condition to maintaining a business relationship with the business.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method is devised whereby a retailer may upgrade his operation by providing his suppliers (the vendors) with labeling standards including RFID and RSS bar code, guidelines for formatting and including in those labels additional supply chain logistical information, additional information including the item number, lot and expiration dates, the time and place of manufacture, descriptions in greater depth then was hitherto possible about the goods themselves, and a method of capturing that information and feeding it into the retailer'"'"'s information management systems through customized forms and middleware. The retailer uses the services of an information management corporation that sets up this program with the retailer'"'"'s suppliers, thereby eliminating the associated costs of augmenting his own systems. The retailer, vendors and customers profit by that additional information through various means of feedback, and extracting that information in useful ways that provide for greater inventory control, consumer safety, more efficient movement of merchandize, information about product content to the consumer, security, supply chain logistics, compliance with government regulations for the sale of retail goods, the bio-terrorism act as well as other government regulations and systems of pricing, rebates, coupons and returns by the customers.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of managing information between businesses and vendors, comprising:
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a developer creating a system through which a business receives information associated with items provided to the business by a supply chain of at least one vendor, wherein the system comprises a specification and one or more subsystems, wherein the specification is defined by at least the business and the specification defines the type of information to be received through the system, and wherein each of the one or more vendor subsystems enables an operator of the respective vendor subsystem to provide information conforming to the specification to the business by storing the conforming information in information storage devices and associating the information storage devices with items that are provided to the business; and
the business facilitating installation of the system across the supply chain by requiring one or more of the at least one vendor to purchase one of the one or more vendor subsystems from the developer and operate the purchased vendor subsystem to provide information to the business as a condition to maintaining a business relationship with the business. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of managing information associated with items between a business and one or more vendors, the method comprising:
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accessing, at the business, data from data storage devices associated with items received by the business from the one or more vendors, wherein the data stored in the data storage devices was selected by the one or more vendors based on requests issued by the business;
the business sending at least a portion of the accessed data to the one or more vendors; and
determining, by the one or more vendors, sales related information associated with the items based on the sent portion of accessed data provided by the business to the one or more vendors. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification