Computer facilitated product selling system

• US 6,594,641 B1
• Filed: 04/16/1999
• Issued: 07/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Reshare Commerce LLC
• Original Assignee: Reshare Corporation
• Inventors: Southam, Adam G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Myhre, James W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DURAN, ARTHUR D
• Application Number:
  US09/293,423
• Time in Patent Office: 1,551 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/26.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

An apparatus and system for allowing customers to purchase boutique or specialty items directly from a supplier or wholesaler. The items for purchase are those conventionally available only through retailers such as local boutiques or specialty shops. An example would be salon quality hair care products. The system allows a customer to visit a website on a computer network, such as the Internet, and place an order for the product by providing information on which products are desired for purchase, the mailing address to which the products are to be sent, payment type, and optionally selecting a local retailer the customer enjoys frequenting to which the profits are to be directed. The supplier then processes the order and sends the customer the desired products, charging the customer normal retail prices. The supplier protects its business relationships with the local retailer by crediting the retailer for some or all of the profit the retailer normally would have received had it made the sale of the product. The recipient retailer is either chosen by using the retailer selected by the customer during the ordering process or, if a retailer was not chosen, by determining that product-carrying boutique which is geographically closest to the mailing address given by the customer.

Claims

1. A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising:

a central processing unit;

at least one remote device for sending and receiving data to and from the central processing unit;

a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote device;

a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that determines the identity of the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer, and credits an account owned by the selected third party retailer, wherein said third party retailer has no participation in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications link comprises:

the Internet.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications link comprises:

a telephone line.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications link comprises:

a coaxial cable.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications link comprises:

a fiber optic cable.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote device comprises:

a personal computer.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote device comprises:

a telephone.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote device comprises:

a facsimile machine.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage device comprises:

a hard disk drive.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an order entry site accessible by telephone or facsimile for communicating with said consumer and entering information into said remote device.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

at least one remote output device in electronic communication with the central processing unit for transmitting data associated with the sale and results of compensation calculations made by the central processing unit to the third party retailer.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected third party retailer is the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, determined by the central processing unit.

13. The system of claim 1 and further comprising:

a data base of supply source addresses to allow the central processing unit to select the supply source geographically closest to the consumer'"'"'s address for shipment of the ordered products to the consumer.

14. A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising:

a central processing unit;

at least one remote input device for transferring data between the central processing unit and the consumer;

a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device;

at least one remote output device for transferring information between the central processing unit and the supplier;

a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote output device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote output device;

a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer and credits an account of the selected third party retailer and wherein said third party retailer is an entirely passive participant in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

15. The system of claim 14 and further comprising:

a data base of supply source addresses to allow the central processing unit to select the supply source geographically closest to the consumer'"'"'s address for shipment of the ordered products to the consumer.

16. A method of using a computer to effect the sale of products between a supplier and an end product user comprising the steps of:

inputting the addresses of a plurality of authorized retailers of said products into a central processing unit for storage in a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit;

receiving electronic order information from the user via a remote input device, the information containing at least identity of products desired for purchase and desired delivery address;

comparing the desired delivery address to the plurality of addresses of authorized retailers stored in the data storage device;

generating a list of all retailers within a predetermined geographic range of the delivery address;

transmitting the list to the user and giving the user an option to choose a retailer from the list, or to allow the central processing unit to select a retailer;

receiving the user'"'"'s choice at the central processing unit;

designating the retailer chosen by the user as the retailer to be compensated or, if the user did not choose a retailer, determining the geographically closest retailer to the delivery address and designating that retailer as a retailer to be compensated;

sending the order information to the supplier such that the supplier may ship to the user the products desired for purchase; and

,

crediting the designated retailer for the transaction, the designated retailer having had no input into the transaction.

17. The method of claim 16 and further including:

generating summaries of communications with the user.

18. The method of claim 16 and further including:

storing in the data storage device the addresses of a plurality of shipping locations of the supplier and determining the shipping location geographically closest to the delivery address.

19. The method of claim 18 and further including:

shipping the desired products from the geographically closest shipping location determined.

20. A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost opportunity costs associated with said sale comprising:

a central processing unit;

at least one remote input device for receiving and transmitting communications in a form suitable to be received by the central processing unit, and for receiving communications from the central processing unit and displaying communications in a form understandable by the consumer;

a communications path between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device allowing communications to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device;

a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and containing address data pertaining to the geographical locations of at least one remote supplier and a plurality of remote sites;

the central processing unit having the ability to access the data stored in the data storage device and determine the geographically closest remote supplier and geographically closest remote site to a given consumer address;

the central processing unit further having the ability to create a class of remote sites which are located within a predetermined geographic proximity to a given consumer address; and

,

whereby said central processing unit includes a computer program that makes calculations to determine appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a third party retailer in the class of remote sites located within the predetermined geographic proximity and credits the third party retailer at the calculated compensation level, said third party retailer having no input into the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the remote input device further comprises:

a personal computer.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the communications path further comprises:

a network.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the network further comprises:

the Internet.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the storage device further comprises:

a hard disk drive.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the storage device further comprises:

Random Access Memory.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the storage device further comprises:

magnetic media storage.

27. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one remote output device further comprises:

a printer.

28. The system of claim 20 further comprising:

at least one remote output device operatively connected to the central processing unit for generating summaries of communications with said at least one remote input device.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein at least one remote output device further comprises:

a personal computer.

30. The system of claim 28 wherein the at least one remote output device further comprises:

a printer.

31. The system of claim 28 wherein the at least one remote output device further comprises:

a facsimile machine.

32. The system of claim 20 and further comprising:

at least one remote communications device, operatively connected to the central processing unit for providing electronic communication between the central processing unit and the at least one remote supplier.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the remote communications device comprises:

a personal computer.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein the remote communications device comprises:

a facsimile machine.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein the remote communications device comprises:

a printer.

36. The system of claim 32 wherein the remote communications device comprises:

a telephone.

37. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one remote supplier further comprises:

factories.

38. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one remote supplier further comprises:

warehouses.

39. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one remote supplier further comprises:

wholesalers.

40. The system of claim 20 wherein the remote sites further comprise:

retail shops.

41. The system of claim 20 wherein the remote sites further comprise:

salons.

42. The system of claim 20 wherein the communications further comprise:

orders.