Online system of ordering and specifying consumer product having specific configurations

• US 7,627,503 B1
• Filed: 04/05/2000
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Bartkowiak, Don G., Champagne, Daryl L.
• Primary Examiner(s): FADOK, MARK A
• Application Number:
  US09/543,686
• Time in Patent Office: 3,527 Days
• Field of Search: 705/22, 705/25, 705/26, 705/27, 705/28, 705/37, 705/7, 364/401
• US Class Current: 705/26.5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

An online method of ordering and purchasing customized products is provided. The method includes receiving a custom order message incorporating order data and product configuration data submitted by an online user, and storing the order data and product configuration into a buyer database. The method includes entering the custom order and order data and product configuration into an order bank to be scheduled for manufacturing, and generating an order confirmation message and sending the order confirmation message to the user.

Claims

1. An online custom product ordering and purchasing system, comprising:

an online user interface operable to provide product configuration and to receive an online order for a product having a specific product configuration;

a web server operable to receive the online order from the online user interface;

an order processor operable to;

receive the online order from the web server and process the order; and

generate an order confirmation message and send the order confirmation message to a user; and

an order bank operable to;

store online order and schedule a product having the product configuration specified in the online order for manufacturing; and

cancel the custom order after processing of the custom order is initiated and before the custom order is scheduled for manufacturing if a cancel request is received from the user.

2. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a workflow manager operable to receive the online order from the web server, store order data associated with the online order in a buyer database, and route the online order to the order processor.

3. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a common membership database operable to store customer data associated with the online user.

4. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an order number generator operable to generate a unique order number for each order.

5. The system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the online order is for customer ordering a vehicle, the specific product configuration comprises make, model, year, color, engine data, and transmission data of the vehicle.

6. The system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit a custom order, including product configuration data;

generate the custom order message incorporating the product configuration data and sending the custom order message to a web server; and

route the custom order message to a workflow manager.

7. The system, as set forth in claim 6, wherein the workflow manager is operable to:

send the custom data to a dealer selected by the user; and

route the custom order message to a B2B server, which sends it to an order processor.

8. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an order number generator to generate a unique order number for the custom order.

9. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a common membership database operable to:

receive customer data related to the user from the user; and

store the customer data.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a payment processor operable to:

receive online payment data from the user for the custom order;

process the online payment data of the product; and

confirm the online payment processing completion.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

display a list of product substantially matching product configuration data entered by the online user;

receive a user-tagging of a particular product from the list and a tag order message incorporating tag order data and product configuration data submitted by the user;

store the tag order data and product configuration into a buyer database;

modify inventory data in an inventory database associated with the tagged product to indicate unavailability; and

generate a tag order confirmation message and send the tag order confirmation message to the user.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the workflow manager is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit a tag order, including product configuration data;

generate the tag order message incorporating the product configuration data and sending the tag order message to a web server; and

route the tag order message.

13. The system, as set forth in claim 12, wherein the workflow manager is further operable to:

send the tag order data to a dealer selected by the user; and

route the tag order message to a B2B server, which sends it to an order processor.

14. The system, as set forth in claim 11, further comprising an order number generator operable to generate a unique order number for the tag order.

15. The system, as set forth in claim 11, further comprising a common membership database operable to:

receive customer data related to the user from the user; and

store the customer data.

16. The system, as set forth in claim 11, further comprising a payment processor operable to:

receive online payment data from the user;

process the online payment data of the product; and

confirm the online payment processing completion.

17. The system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive a lead request message incorporating lead data and product configuration data submitted by the user, the lead data identifying the online user as a potential customer;

store the lead data and product configuration into a buyer database;

generate a lead confirmation message and send the lead confirmation message to the user.

18. The system, as set forth in claim 17, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit a lead request, including product configuration data;

generate the lead request message incorporating the product configuration data and sending the lead request message to a web server; and

route the lead request message to a workflow manager.

19. The system, as set forth in claim 18, wherein the workflow manager is operable to:

send the lead request data to a dealer selected by the user; and

request lead status updates from the dealer.

20. The system, as set forth in claim 19, wherein the workflow manager is further operable to:

receive a lead status update from the dealer; and

store the lead status update in a buyer database.

21. The system, as set forth in claim 17, further comprising a lead number generator operable to generate a unique lead number for the lead request.

22. The system, as set forth in claim 17, further comprising a common membership database operable to:

receive customer data related to the user from the user; and

store the customer data.

23. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a private online communication interface operable to:

receive a cancel custom order request from the user;

delete a custom order associated with the cancel customer order request from an order bank; and

update a buyer database to reflect the updated status of the user.

24. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

receive a cancel tag order request from the user;

modify data associated with a cancelled tag order in the order bank;

modify data of a product associated with the cancelled tag order in an enterprise product availability database; and

update a buyer database to reflect the updated status of the user.

25. The system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit the custom order, including order data, user data, product configuration data;

generate the custom order message incorporating the product configuration data and send the custom order message to a web server; and

route the custom order message to a web server.

26. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

receive a user-selection of a dealer;

send the order data, user data, and vehicle configuration data to the selected dealer; and

route the custom order message to a B2B server, which sends it to an order processor.

27. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a common membership database operable to:

receive user data from the user, including name, address, and contact information; and

store the user data.

28. The system, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

display a list of vehicles substantially matching vehicle configuration data entered by the online user;

receive a user-tagging of a particular vehicle from the list and a tag order message incorporating tag order data and the vehicle configuration data;

store the tag order data and vehicle configuration into a buyer database;

modify inventory data in an inventory database associated with the tagged vehicle to indicate unavailability; and

generate a tag order confirmation message and sending the tag order confirmation message to the user.

29. The method, as set forth in claim 28, wherein the workflow manager is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit a tag order, including product configuration data;

generate the tag order message incorporating the vehicle configuration data and send the tag order message to the web server; and

route the tag order message.

30. The system, as set forth in claim 28, wherein the workflow manager is further operable to:

send the tag order data to a dealer selected by the user; and

route the tag order message to a B2B server, which sends it to an order processor.

31. The system, as set forth in claim 28, further comprising an order number generator operable to generate a unique order number for the tag order.

32. The system, as set forth in claim 28, further comprising a common membership database operable to:

receive customer data related to the user from the user; and

store the customer data.

33. The system, as set forth in claim 28, further comprising a payment processor operable to:

receive online payment data from the user;

process the online payment data of the vehicle; and

confirm the online payment processing completion.

34. The system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive a lead request message incorporating lead data and vehicle configuration data submitted by the user, the lead data identifying the online user as a potential customer;

store the lead data and vehicle configuration into a buyer database; and

generate a lead confirmation message and send the lead confirmation message to the user.

35. The system, as set forth in claim 34, wherein the online user interface is further operable to:

receive input entered on a web page by the user to submit a lead request, including vehicle configuration data;

generate the lead request message incorporating the vehicle configuration data and send the lead request message to a web server; and

route the lead request message to a workflow manager.

36. The system, as set forth in claim 34, further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

send the lead request data to a dealer selected by the user; and

request lead status updated from the dealer.

37. The system, as set forth in claim 34, further comprising a workflow manager operable to:

receive a lead status update for the dealer; and

store the lead status update in a buyer database.

38. The system, as set forth in claim 34, further comprising a lead number generator operable to generate a unique lead number for the lead request.

39. An online custom product ordering and purchasing system, comprising:

an online user interface operable to provide product configuration and to receive an online order for a product having a specific product configuration;

a web server operable to receive the online order from the online user interface;

an order processor operable to;

receive the online order from the web server and process the order; and

generate an order confirmation message and send the order confirmation message to a user; and

an order bank operable to;

store online order and schedule a product having the product configuration specified in the online order for manufacturing; and

cancel the custom order after processing of the custom order is initiated and before the custom order is scheduled for manufacturing if a cancel request is received from the user; and

a workflow manager operable to;

receive the online order from the web server;

store order data associated with the online order in a buyer database; and

route the online order to the order processor.

40. The system, as set forth in claim 39, further comprising an order number generator operable to generate a unique order number for each order.

41. The system, as set forth in claim 39, wherein the online order is for customer ordering a vehicle, the specific product configuration comprises make, model, year, color, engine data, and transmission data of the vehicle.

42. An online custom product ordering and purchasing system, comprising:

an online user interface operable to provide product configuration and to receive an online order for a product having a specific product configuration;

a web server operable to receive the online order from the online user interface;

an order processor operable to;

receive the online order from the web server and process the order; and

generate an order confirmation message and send the order confirmation message to a user;

an order bank operable to;

store online order and schedule a product having the product configuration specified in the online order for manufacturing; and

cancel the custom order after processing of the custom order is initiated and before the custom order is scheduled for manufacturing if a cancel request is received from the user; and

a common membership database operable to store customer data associated with the online user.

43. The system, as set forth in claim 42, further comprising an order number generator operable to generate a unique order number for each order.

44. The system, as set forth in claim 42, wherein the online order is for customer ordering a vehicle, the specific product configuration comprises make, model, year, color, engine data, and transmission data of the vehicle.