Methods and apparatus for anonymously requesting bids from a customer specified quantity of local vendors with automatic geographic expansion

• US 20060155609A1
• Filed: 01/07/2005
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicholas Caiafa
• Original Assignee: Nicholas Caiafa
• Inventors: Caiafa, Nicholas
• Granted Patent: US 7,418,410 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to anonymously request bids from a geographically centered plurality of vendors are disclosed. The methods and apparatus enable a plurality of vendors to enter line card information (e.g., part numbers) and geographical information (e.g., zip codes) into a central database via a web page. Customers may then search for vendors in their area. The process automatically expands the geographical search area until a customer determined quantity of vendors are found. An anonymous e-mail message (i.e., a message not disclosing customer identity) is then sent to each selected vendor. The e-mail message preferably includes a hyperlink to a web page related to the customer request. Interested vendors may then supply vendor related information (e.g., price and delivery). If the customer locates a vendor able to meet the customer'"'"'s needs, the customer may select the vendor to complete the purchase via the broker server.

Claims

1. A method of requesting bids from a plurality of vendors, the method comprising:

storing product information and geographical information for each of the plurality of vendors;

receiving a request for a product from a customer, the request including data indicative of the product, data indicative of a desired delivery location, and data indicative of a quantity of a plurality of desired responses;

determining that a first geographical area is closer to the desired delivery location than a second geographical area is to the desired delivery location;

selecting a first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area;

selecting a second quantity of vendors associated with the second geographical area if the first quantity of vendors is less than the quantity of desired responses;

storing a unique message identifier associated with a unique customer identifier of the customer; and

sending a first electronic message to the first and second quantity of vendors in response to selecting the first and second quantity of vendors, the first electronic message including the unique message identifier, the first electronic message excluding the unique customer identifier.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein selecting the first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area is based on the data indicative of the product, the data indicative of the desired delivery location, the product information, and the geographical information.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein selecting the second quantity of vendors associated with the second geographical area is based on the data indicative of the product, the data indicative of the desired delivery location, the product information, and the geographical information.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first electronic message to the first quantity of vendors is anonymous with respect to the customer.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first electronic message includes a hyperlink to a web page associated with the request for the product.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising cross referencing the data indicative of the product to data indicative of a related product, wherein the first electronic message includes at least a portion of the data indicative of the related product.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising receiving a message indicative of a rejected vendor from the customer and automatically selecting a replacement vendor for the rejected vendor.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first electronic message includes an attachment from the customer, the attachment facilitating identification of the product.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising receiving a second electronic message from at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the second electronic message including data supplied by the at least one of the first quantity of vendors.

10. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the second electronic message includes the unique message identifier.

11. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the second electronic message includes at least a portion of the data indicative of the product.

12. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the second electronic message includes a hyperlink to a web page associated with the at least one of the first quantity of vendors.

13. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the second electronic message includes at least one of pricing information, quantity information, availability information, and delivery time information.

14. The method as defined in claim 9, wherein the second electronic message includes an attachment from the at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the attachment containing information associated with the product.

15. The method as defined in claim 14, wherein the attachment includes at least one of a manual associated with the product and a drawing associated with the product.

16. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising sending a third electronic message to one of the first quantity of vendors, the third electronic message including purchase information.

17. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the product information includes at least one of a list of products, a list of manufacturer names, general product descriptions, and detailed product descriptions.

18. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the geographical information includes at lease one of a zip code and an area code.

19. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data indicative of the product includes at least one of a part number, a manufacturer, and a part description.

20. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data indicative of the product includes at least one of a category and a keyword.

21. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data indicative of the desired delivery location includes a zip code.

22. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data indicative of the desired delivery location includes an area code.

23. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining that the first geographical area is closer to the desired delivery location than the second geographical area is to the desired delivery location includes retrieving data from a lookup table.

24. The method as defined in claim 23, wherein the lookup table includes at least one of zip codes and area codes.

25. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising receiving the product information for each of the plurality of vendors from the plurality of vendors via a web page.

26. A server comprising:

a network connection;

a memory device storing (i) product information for each of a plurality of vendors, (ii) geographical information for each of the plurality of vendors, and (iii) a software program; and

a processor operably connected to the network connection and the memory device, wherein the software program is structured to be executed by the processor to cause the server to;

receive a request for a product from a customer, the request including data indicative of the product, data indicative of a desired delivery location, and data indicative of a quantity of desired responses;

determining that a first geographical area is closer to the desired delivery location than a location of one or more other geographical areas relative to the desired delivery location;

selecting a first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area;

successively selecting a second quantity of vendors associated with each of the other geographical areas until a total of the selected vendors is at least equal to the quantity of desired responses;

storing a unique message identifier associated with a unique customer identifier of the customer; and

sending a first electronic message to the first and second quantity of vendors in response to selecting the first and second quantity of vendors, the first electronic message including the unique message identifier, the first electronic message excluding the unique customer identifier.

27. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the server selects the first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area based on the data indicative of the product, the data indicative of the desired delivery location, the product information, and the geographical information.

28. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the first electronic message to the first quantity of vendors is anonymous with respect to the customer.

29. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the first electronic message includes a hyperlink to a web page associated with the request for the product.

30. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the first electronic message includes at least a portion of the data indicative of the product and at least a portion of the data indicative of the desired delivery location.

31. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the first electronic message includes an attachment from the customer, the attachment facilitating identification of the product.

32. The server as defined in claim 26, further comprising receiving a second electronic message from at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the second electronic message including data supplied by the at least one of the first quantity of vendors and the unique message identifier.

33. The server as defined in claim 32, wherein the second electronic message includes at least a portion of the data indicative of the product and a hyperlink to a web page associated with the at least one of the first quantity of vendors.

34. The server as defined in claim 32, wherein the second electronic message includes at least one of pricing information, quantity information, availability information, and delivery time information.

35. The server as defined in claim 32, wherein the second electronic message includes an attachment from the at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the attachment containing at least one of a manual associated with the product and a drawing associated with the product.

36. The server as defined in claim 32, further comprising sending a third electronic message to one of the first quantity of vendors, the third electronic message including purchase information.

37. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the product information includes at least one of a list of products, a list of manufacturer names, general product descriptions, and detailed product descriptions.

38. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the geographical information includes at lease one of a zip code and an area code.

39. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the data indicative of the product includes at least one of a part number, a manufacturer, a part description, a category and a keyword.

40. The server as defined in claim 26, wherein the data indicative of the desired delivery location includes at least one of a zip code and an area code.

41. The server as defined in claim 26, further comprising receiving the product information for each of the plurality of vendors via a web page.

42. A computer readable medium comprising a plurality of computer readable instructions operable to cause a computing device to:

store product information and geographical information for each of a plurality of vendors;

receive a request for a service from a customer, the request including data indicative of the service, data indicative of a desired delivery location, and data indicative of a quantity of desired responses;

determine that a first geographical area is closer to the desired delivery location than a second geographical area is to the desired delivery location;

select a first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area;

select a second quantity of vendors associated with the second geographical area if the first quantity of vendors is less than the quantity of desired responses;

store a unique message identifier associated with a unique customer identifier of the customer; and

send a first electronic message to the first and second quantity of vendors in response to selecting the first and second quantity of vendors, the first electronic message including the unique message identifier, the first electronic message excluding the unique customer identifier.

43. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the computing device to select the first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area based on the data indicative of the service, the data indicative of the desired delivery location, the product information, and the geographical information.

44. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the first electronic message to the first quantity of vendors is anonymous with respect to the customer.

45. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the first electronic message includes a hyperlink to a web page associated with the request for the service.

46. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the first electronic message includes at least a portion of the data indicative of the service, at least a portion of the data indicative of the desired delivery location, and an attachment from the customer facilitating identification of the service.

47. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the computing device to receive a second electronic message from at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the second electronic message including data supplied by the at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the unique message identifier, at least a portion of the data indicative of the service, and a hyperlink to a web page associated with the at least one of the first quantity of vendors.

48. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 47, wherein the second electronic message includes at least one of pricing information, quantity information, availability information, and delivery time information.

49. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 47, wherein the second electronic message includes an attachment from the at least one of the first quantity of vendors, the attachment containing at least one of a manual associated with the service and a drawing associated with the service.

50. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 47, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the computing device to send a third electronic message to one of the first quantity of vendors, the third electronic message including purchase information.

51. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the product information includes at least one of a list of products, a list of manufacturer names, general product descriptions, and detailed product descriptions.

52. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the geographical information includes at lease one of a zip code and an area code.

53. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the data indicative of the service includes at least one of a part number, a manufacturer, a part description, a category and a keyword.

54. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 42, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the computing device to select the first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area based on a customer requirement falling within a range of values associated with at least one of the first quantity of vendors.