Apparatus and process facilitating customer-driven sales of products having multiple configurations
First Claim
1. A process for completing a contractual agreement over a wide-area network for purchasing a product having multiple configurations characterized by a set of product attributes and exclusively sold by manufacturer-licensed sellers, comprising:
- (a) configuring a customer'"'"'s desired product by selecting the customer'"'"'s desired set of product attributes to form a request for quote (RFQ), wherein the desired set of product attributes comprises a plurality of product configuration characterization parameters;
(b) selecting a target set of manufacturer-licensed sellers located within a geographical area, wherein the target set sellers comprises at least one manufacturer-licensed seller;
(c) transmitting the RFQ to the target set of sellers using the wide-area network;
(d) responding to the RFQ with a price quote from at least one seller from the target set of sellers, wherein the price quote is transmitted using the wide-area network to the customer;
(e) selecting a price quote for acceptance by the customer; and
(f) transmitting the customer'"'"'s acceptance to the seller.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and process for facilitating customer-driven sales of products having multiple configurations, preferably automobiles and trucks. The apparatus is a computer network comprising a server with a product database thereon, an intermediary subsystem, and a seller subsystem. The server, intermediary subsystem, and seller subsystem function together and communicate with each other to allow an intermediary, on behalf of a customer, to configure a feasible product, transmit a request for quote (RFQ) to a target set of sellers in the customer'"'"'s geographic area, receive quotes from the target sellers in response to the RFQ, and transmit the customer'"'"'s acceptance of one of the quotes to the appropriate seller. The apparatus may also include a customer subsystem by which the customer may configure their own feasible product and transmit their feasible product information to the intermediary. The intermediary subsystem can optionally include a product database thereon which the intermediary can use to configure a feasible product without communicating with the server. The process allows an intermediary to configure a feasible product, transmit a request for quote (RFQ) to a target set of sellers in the customer'"'"'s geographic area, receive quotes from the target sellers in response to the RFQ, and transmit the customer'"'"'s acceptance of one of the quotes to the appropriate seller.
-
Citations
47 Claims
-
1. A process for completing a contractual agreement over a wide-area network for purchasing a product having multiple configurations characterized by a set of product attributes and exclusively sold by manufacturer-licensed sellers, comprising:
-
(a) configuring a customer'"'"'s desired product by selecting the customer'"'"'s desired set of product attributes to form a request for quote (RFQ), wherein the desired set of product attributes comprises a plurality of product configuration characterization parameters; (b) selecting a target set of manufacturer-licensed sellers located within a geographical area, wherein the target set sellers comprises at least one manufacturer-licensed seller; (c) transmitting the RFQ to the target set of sellers using the wide-area network; (d) responding to the RFQ with a price quote from at least one seller from the target set of sellers, wherein the price quote is transmitted using the wide-area network to the customer; (e) selecting a price quote for acceptance by the customer; and (f) transmitting the customer'"'"'s acceptance to the seller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A computer network apparatus for facilitating purchase of a product, wherein the product has multiple configurations, is sold by manufacturer-licensed sellers and having multiple configurations characterized by a set of product attributes, comprising:
-
(a) a server comprising a processor and a storage device connected to the processor, (b) a product database stored on the storage device, wherein the product database consists essentially of information regarding existing combinations of product attributes, (c) a seller database stored on the storage device, the seller database including seller information such as geographic location, (d) a program stored on the storage device for controlling the processor, wherein (1) the program is operative with the processor to receive a customer'"'"'s selected set of product attributes, (2) query the product database using the customer'"'"'s desired set of product attributes to confirm the feasibility of the customer'"'"'s selected configuration, (3) query the seller database using a set of seller attributes to select a target set of sellers in the customer'"'"'s geographic area, (4) transmit a request for quote (RFQ) to the target set of sellers, (5) the RFQ including the customer'"'"'s desired set of product attributes, receive a quote from at least one seller from the target set of sellers, (6) transmit the quote to the customer, (7) receive an acceptance of one of the quotes, and (8) transmit the acceptance to the seller whose quote was accepted. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A computer network apparatus for facilitating customer purchase of a product having multiple configurations, sold by manufacturer-licensed sellers and having configurations characterized by a set of product attributes, comprising:
-
(a) a server comprising a processor, a storage device connected to the processor, a product database stored on the storage device, wherein the product database includes information regarding existing combinations of product attributes, and a seller database stored on the storage device, wherein the seller database including seller characterizing information, (b) a program stored on the storage device for controlling the processor, wherein the program is operative with the processor to (1) receive a request for quote (RFQ) from a foreign server, wherein the RFQ consists essentially of a customer'"'"'s selected set of product attributes, and communicated in a common language for describing the product, (2) query the seller database using a set of seller attributes to select a target set of sellers in the customer'"'"'s geographic area, (3) transmit the RFQ to the target set of sellers using the common language, (4) receive a quote from at least one seller from the target set of sellers, (5) transmit the quote to the foreign server, (6) receive an acceptance of one of the quotes from the foreign server, and (7) transmit the acceptance to the seller whose quote was accepted. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
-
Specification