SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC BID SOLICITATION DURING TRANSACTION PROCESS

• US 20090299874A1
• Filed: 05/29/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Mattox, John R., Pierce, Darryl L., Allen, Timothy E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,160,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for automatic bid solicitation during a transaction process, in which a user'"'"'s checkout basket is automatically transmitted to a set of vendors for potential bids based on the user'"'"'s selected items. The user can select products or services for purchase from an original Web site or vendor. Upon receipt of those selections, a transaction server can identify vendors who wish to receive notification of a pending purchase of particular items. The set of selections can be transmitted to participating vendors to determine a bid on the same or related goods or services. A vendor may wish, for example, to bid to offer after-market support or supplies for a printer or other pending hardware purchase. The user can view the additional bid items in a bid dialog, make selections from those options, and incorporate options of their choosing in the finalized transaction.

Claims

1. A method of automatically generating a bid solicitation during a transaction, comprising:

receiving selection information from a user for a transaction;

identifying a set of vendors each registered to receive notification of the selection information;

transmitting notification of the selection information to the set of vendors; and

receiving a set of bid options from respective vendors based on the selection information before completion of the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction comprises a Web purchase.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selection information for the Web purchase is stored in a checkout basket.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection information comprises a set of selection IDs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of identifying a set of vendors comprises identifying vendors registered to provide a bid action based on at least one of the set of selection IDs.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least one product or service identified in the selection information under alternative terms to the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the alternative terms comprise at least one of a different price, a different quantity, a different term, and a different set of associated services from the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least one additional product or service in addition to products or services identified in the selection information in the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the user'"'"'s selections from the set of bid options and finalizing the transaction based on the selection information and the selections from the set of bid options.

10. A system for generating a bid solicitation during a transaction process, comprising:

a network interface to a client; and

a transaction engine, communicating with the network interface, the transaction engine being configured to—

receive selection information from a user operating the client to conduct a transaction,

identify a set of vendors each registered to receive notification of the selection information,

transmit notification of the selection information to the set of vendors, and

receive a set of bid options from respective vendors based on the selection information before completion of the transaction.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the transaction comprises a Web purchase.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the selection information for the Web purchase is stored in a checkout basket.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the selection information comprises a set of selection IDs.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the identification of the set of vendors comprises identifying vendors registered to provide a bid action based on at least one of the set of selection IDs.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least one product or service identified in the selection information under alternative terms to the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the alternative terms comprise at least one of a different price, a different quantity, a different term, and a different set of associated services from the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least additional product or service in addition to products or services identified in the set of selections in the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the transaction engine is further configured to receive the user'"'"'s selections from the set of bid options and finalize the transaction based on the selection information and the selections from the set of bid options.

19. A set of bid options for a transaction, the set of bid options being generated by a method comprising:

receiving selection information from a user operating a client to conduct a transaction;

identifying a set of vendors each registered to receive notification of the selection information;

transmitting notification of the selection information to the set of vendors;

aggregating a set of bid options from respective vendors based on the selection information before completion of the transaction; and

transmitting the set of bid options to the client.

20. The set of bid options of claim 19, wherein the transaction comprises a Web purchase.

21. The set of bid options of claim 20, wherein the selection information for the Web purchase is stored in a checkout basket.

22. The set of bid options of claim 19, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least one product or service identified in the selection information under alternative terms to the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

23. The set of bid options of claim 22, wherein the alternative terms comprise at least one of a different price, a different quantity, a different term, and a different set of associated services from the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.

24. The set of bid options of claim 19, wherein the set of bid options comprises options to purchase at least additional product or service in addition to the products or services identified in the selection information in the user'"'"'s originally selected transaction.