System and method for extension of group buying throughout the internet

• US 7,480,627 B1
• Filed: 10/10/2000
• Issued: 01/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fintegraph, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Vulcan Portals Incorporated
• Inventors: Woodford, Dale A., Halbert, Richard V., Van Horn, Tom
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg; Yogesh C
• Application Number:
  US09/686,778
• Time in Patent Office: 3,024 Days
• Field of Search: 705/25, 705 26- 27, 705/14, 705/28, 705/400, 715/205
• US Class Current: 705/26.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0214 Referral reward systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A method and system are provided that enable partner sites to join in the sale of products/services via an on-line group-buying sale business method. A seller registers a list of products/services to be displayed on partner sites. Customers/visitors who access partner sites may link to one or more on-line group-buying sales conducted on an owner'"'"'s main site. Accordingly, the method and system enable a super demand aggregation for products/services offered for sale by the on-line group-buying sale business method. The invention provides a partner menu tree that allows partners to pre-select products/categories for display to customers linking to the on-line group-buying sale from their partner site. Sellers may provide particular products, services, categories, and abstract terms to help partners select which products/services to display for customers from among all the on-line group-buying sale products/services. The invention has applicability to sales paradigms other than the on-line group-buying sale business method.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing information from a seller about an on-line group buying sale to a website for referring potential buyers to the on-line group buying sale, the method comprising:

receiving item data from each of a plurality of sellers that defines a featured item for an on-line group-buying sale, wherein each seller transmits the item data over an electronic network to a computerized facility configured to conduct a plurality of on-line group-buying sales for the featured items defined by the received item data over the electronic network;

receiving sales data from each of the plurality of sellers that provides each seller'"'"'s directions for the on-line group-buying sale of the featured item, wherein each seller transmits the sales data over the electronic network to the computerized facility;

storing the item data and the sales data received from each seller in a data repository, wherein the computerized facility uses received sales data to conduct the plurality of on-line group-buying sales of featured items defined by received item data;

receiving instructions for selecting an on-line group buying sale from the plurality of on-line group buying sales for a website for referring potential buyers to an on-line group buying sale;

receiving from the referring website a request for information comprising a tag associated with the referring website;

receiving exclusivity preferences from the referring website;

responsive to the request for information, the tag, the instructions for selecting an on-line group buying sale, and the exclusivity preferences, using a filter to select for the referring website an on-line group buying sale from the plurality of on-line group buying sales;

generating a display associated with the selected on-line group buying sale;

generating a link to the display; and

providing the link to the referring website, whereby a potential buyer accessing the referring website can access the link, and thereby access the display associated with the selected on-line group buying sale and participate in the selected on-line group buying sale.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for information from the referring website contains a sales criterion, and selecting for the referring website an on-line group buying sale is performed responsive to the sales criterion.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the sales criterion comprises at least one of:

a timing criterion, a price criterion, a keyword criterion, and an item criterion.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected on-line group buying sale is offered exclusively to potential buyers who access the selected on-line group buying sale through the link provided to the referring website.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving instructions for displaying an on-line group buying sale from the referring website, and wherein generating a display is performed responsive to the instructions for displaying.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the instructions for displaying specify displaying the selected on-line group buying sale in one of:

a carousel scheme, a random scheme, and a shuffle scheme.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the display comprises a link back to the referring website.

8. A computer program product for providing an on-line group buying sale to a referring website, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium encoded with computer program code for, causing a computer component to perform the steps of:

receiving item data from each of a plurality of sellers that defines a featured item for an on-line group-buying sale, wherein each seller transmits the item data over an electronic network to a computerized facility configured to conduct a plurality of on-line group-buying sales for the featured items defined by the received item data over the electronic network;

receiving sales data from each of the plurality of sellers that provides the seller'"'"'s directions for the on-line group-buying sale of the featured item, wherein each seller transmits the sales data over the electronic network to the computerized facility;

storing the item data and the sales data received from each seller in a data repository, wherein the computerized facility uses received sales data to conduct the plurality of on-line group-buying sales of featured items defined by received item data;

receiving instructions for selecting an on-line group buying sale from the plurality of on-line group buying sales for a website for referring potential buyers to an on-line group buying sale;

receiving from the referring website a request for information comprising a tag associated with the referring website;

receiving exclusivity preferences from the referring website;

responsive to the request for information, the tag, the instructions for selecting an on-line group buying sale, and the exclusivity preferences, using a filter to select for the referring website an on-line group buying sale from the plurality of on-line group buying sales;

generating a display associated with the selected on-line group buying sale;

generating a link to the display; and

providing the link to the referring website, whereby a potential buyer accessing the referring website can access the link, and thereby access the display associated with the selected on-line group buying sale and participate in the selected on-line group buying sale.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the request for information from the referring website contains a sales criterion, and wherein the code for selecting for the referring website comprises code for selecting responsive to the sales criterion.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the sales criterion comprises a timing criterion.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the selected on-line group buying sale is offered exclusively to potential buyers who access the selected on-line group buying sale through the link provided to the referring website.

12. The computer product of claim 8 further comprising code for receiving instructions for displaying an on-line group buying sale from the referring website, and wherein the code for generating comprises code for generating a display responsive to the instructions for displaying.

13. The computer product of claim 12 wherein the instructions for displaying specify displaying the selected on-line group buying sale in a carousel scheme.

14. The computer product of claim 8 wherein the display comprises a link back to the referring website.

15. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the sales criterion comprises a price criterion.

16. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the sales criterion comprises an item criterion.

17. The computer product of claim 12 wherein the instructions for displaying specify displaying the selected on-line group buying sale in a random scheme.

18. The computer product of claim 12 wherein the instructions for displaying specify displaying the selected on-line group buying sale in a shuffle scheme.