SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING AN ELECTRONIC ORDER
First Claim
1. A method for processing an electronic order, the method carried out at a remotely accessible server and comprising the steps of:
- through a first interface with an ordering entity, receiving an order for an item placed by a consumer with the ordering entity, the order including an identification of the item ordered, delivery details, a price for the item, and a vendor from whom the item is desired;
through a second interface with a number of vendors, transmitting the order to the vendor identified in the order;
receiving a notification from the vendor indicating that the order has been accepted and subsequently receiving a notification from the vendor that the order is ready for fulfillment;
upon receiving a notification that the order is ready for fulfillment, through a third interface with a number of delivery providers, transmitting a delivery instruction to a delivery provider able to fulfil the delivery;
receiving a notification from the delivery provider that the delivery has been fulfilled;
computing a delivery fee due to the delivery provider for delivery of the item based on a pre-set delivery fee formula;
updating a ledger account of the delivery provider with the delivery fee;
updating a ledger account of the vendor with the price for the item minus the delivery fee; and
at regular intervals, determining the amount owed between the vendor and the delivery provider and optionally instructing a payment gateway to facilitate settlement thereof.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system (100) and method for processing an electronic order is provided. The system comprises a remotely accessible server (102) having a first interface (108) with an ordering entity (106), a second interface (112) with a number of vendors (110), and a third interface (116) with a number of delivery providers (114). The server (102) is configured to receive an order placed by a consumer (104) with the ordering entity (106) through the first interface (108), transmit the order to a vendor (110) by means of the second interface (112) and once the order is ready for fulfillment, transmit a delivery instruction to a delivery provider (114) through the third interface (116). The server (102) is further configured to compute fees due to the vendor (110) and delivery provider (114), update a ledger account with the applicable amounts and, at regular intervals, transmit an instruction to a payment gateway (120) for settlement of the amounts due to each party.
21 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A method for processing an electronic order, the method carried out at a remotely accessible server and comprising the steps of:
-
through a first interface with an ordering entity, receiving an order for an item placed by a consumer with the ordering entity, the order including an identification of the item ordered, delivery details, a price for the item, and a vendor from whom the item is desired; through a second interface with a number of vendors, transmitting the order to the vendor identified in the order; receiving a notification from the vendor indicating that the order has been accepted and subsequently receiving a notification from the vendor that the order is ready for fulfillment; upon receiving a notification that the order is ready for fulfillment, through a third interface with a number of delivery providers, transmitting a delivery instruction to a delivery provider able to fulfil the delivery; receiving a notification from the delivery provider that the delivery has been fulfilled; computing a delivery fee due to the delivery provider for delivery of the item based on a pre-set delivery fee formula; updating a ledger account of the delivery provider with the delivery fee; updating a ledger account of the vendor with the price for the item minus the delivery fee; and at regular intervals, determining the amount owed between the vendor and the delivery provider and optionally instructing a payment gateway to facilitate settlement thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for processing an electronic order, the system comprising a remotely accessible server having:
-
a first interface with an ordering entity, by means of which the server is configured to receive an order for an item placed by a consumer with the ordering entity, the order including an identification of an item ordered, delivery details, a price for the item, and a vendor from whom the item is desired; a second interface with a number of vendors, by means of which the server is configured to transmit the order to the vendor identified in the order, receive a notification from the vendor indicating that the order has been accepted, and subsequently receive a notification from the vendor that the order is ready for fulfillment; a third interface with a number of delivery providers, by means of which the server is configured to transmit a delivery instruction to a delivery provider able to fulfil the delivery, and receive a notification from the delivery provider that the delivery has been fulfilled; wherein the server is configured to; compute a delivery fee due to the delivery provider for delivery of the item based on a pre-set delivery fee formula; update a ledger account of the delivery provider with the delivery fee; update a ledger account of the vendor with the price for the item minus the delivery fee; and wherein the server is configured, at regular intervals, to determine the amount owed between the vendor and the delivery provider and optionally instruct a payment gateway to facilitate settlement thereof. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of facilitating the integration of a number of different entities in an electronic commerce environment in which orders are processed, comprising, at a remotely accessible server:
-
integrating an entity with the server so that the entity and the server can communicate with each other through a first interface; through the first interface, receiving a request from the entity to connect to one or more other entities which are also integrated with the server; and by means of the server, connecting the entity to the one or more other entities without requiring any modification of the first interface; so that an order involving multiple entities can be seamlessly processed by the server communicating with the connected entities. - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
Specification