METHODS AND APPARATUS TO AUTOMATE HAGGLING BEFORE PHYSICAL POINT-OF-SALE COMMERCE
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Abstract
In one example embodiment of a method for automating business negotiations, a vendor offers a product for sale at an original price. Subsequently, an automated haggling system receives a counteroffer to buy the product from a mobile device controlled by a shopper. The counteroffer proposes a second price for the product. In response to the counteroffer, the automated haggling system automatically determines whether the second price is acceptable. This determination may be based on data from a negotiation database with data identifying acceptable reduced prices. If the counteroffer proposes an acceptable price, the automated haggling system sends a message to the mobile device of the shopper to signify acceptance the counteroffer. In response to a determination that the shopper is purchasing the product at a point-of-sale (POS) station, the POS station automatically charges the shopper the negotiated price tier the product. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1-23. -23. (canceled)
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24. A method to automate business negotiations, the method comprising:
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offering a product of a vendor for sale according to an original set of one or more sales terms; receiving a counteroffer to buy the product from a data processing system of a shopper, wherein the counteroffer is received by an automated haggling system of the vendor, and the counteroffer proposes at least one different sales term for the product; in response to receiving the counteroffer at the automated haggling system, automatically determining whether the counteroffer results in an acceptable set of sales terms for the product; and in response to determining that the counteroffer results in an acceptable set of sales terms, sending a message to the data processing system of the shopper to signify acceptance the counteroffer by the vendor. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A data processing system comprising:
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at least one processor; a tangible machine accessible medium responsive to the processor; and instructions in the machine accessible medium which, when executed, implement an automated haggling system for a vendor, the automated haggling system operable to perform operations comprising; for a product offered for sale by the vendor, associating the product with an original set of one or more sales terms; receiving, from a data processing system of a shopper, a counteroffer that proposes at least different sales term for the product; in response to receiving the counteroffer, automatically determining whether the counteroffer results in an acceptable set of sales terms for the product; and in response to determining that the counteroffer results in an acceptable set of sales terms, sending a message to the data processing system of the shopper to signify acceptance the counteroffer by the vendor. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An automatically haggling system comprising:
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a vendor module to execute at least partially on a data processing system of a vendor that offers a product for sale at an original price; a shopper interface in the vendor module configured to receive a counteroffer concerning the product from a mobile device of a shopper, wherein the counteroffer proposes a different price for sale of the product to the shopper; and an offer consideration module in the vendor module, the offer consideration module configured to automatically determining whether the counteroffer proposes an acceptable price for the product, in response to receipt of the counteroffer; wherein the vendor module is configured to automatically send a message to the mobile device of the shopper to signify acceptance the counteroffer by the vendor, in response to determining that the counteroffer proposes an acceptable price. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a tangible machine accessible medium; and instructions in the machine accessible medium which, when executed by a mobile device of a shopper, enable the mobile device to perform the operations comprising; sending a message from the mobile device of the shopper to an automated haggling system of a vendor, wherein the message notifies the automated haggling system that the shopper is at a store of the vendor; at the mobile device, detecting a query from the shopper about a product offered for sale in the store, wherein the query comprises information to identify the product; in response to detecting the query, automatically presenting information about the product to the shopper, via a user interface of the mobile device, wherein the information about the product comprises an original price for the product set by the vendor; via the user interface of the mobile device, presenting the shopper with an option to propose a reduced price for the product; in response to a determination that the shopper has utilized the option to propose the reduced price for the product, sending a counteroffer to the automated haggling system, wherein the counteroffer specifies the proposed reduced price; and receiving an automated response from the automated haggling system, wherein the automated response indicates whether or not the automated haggling system has accepted the proposed reduced price. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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Specification