Merchant-affiliated direct wholesale marketing and fulfillment system

• US 7,797,195 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2002
• Issued: 09/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Michael Jay Langhammer
• Original Assignee: Michael Jay Langhammer
• Inventors: Langhammer, Michael Jay
• Primary Examiner(s): Pond; Robert M.
• Application Number:
  US10/097,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20020099622A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,106 Days
• Field of Search: 705 26- 27
• US Class Current: 705/26.44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A merchant-affiliated direct wholesale marketing and fulfillment system. A computer server receives information from a consumer and from this information assigns the consumer to one of a plurality of independent retail merchants. The server then provides the consumer'"'"'s remote computer with identifying information for the assigned retail merchant, to be displayed along with information regarding products for sale. Consumers may then purchase products directly from the organization operating the server, with a partial profit from the transaction delivered to the assigned retail merchant. Consumers may also purchase products at merchants'"'"' retail locations, in which case a transaction is consummated between the organization operating the server and the merchant, permitting the merchant to resell the purchased item to the consumer. The system may also be used for fulfillment by merchants.

Claims

1. A merchant-affiliated direct marketing and fulfillment system, comprising:

a computer server connected to a remote computer system under control of a consumer, wherein the server

delivers to the remote computer system, information regarding products offered for retail sale to said consumer by a business entity operating the server;

receives consumer identifying information from the remote computer and determines that the consumer has been assigned to one of a plurality of independent retail merchants registered with the server, wherein the server prevents reassignment of the consumer using said remote computer to another independent retail merchant registered with the server; and

delivers to the remote computer the assigned retail merchant'"'"'s information regarding products for sale and the merchant'"'"'s identifying information, to be displayed by the remote computer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein

said server delivers to the consumer a retail merchant'"'"'s retail price for a product for retail sale, the retail price being set by the merchant and being computed by reference to a wholesale price for the product.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein

the server stores markup information provided by a merchant, and

after a merchant has been assigned to a consumer, the server retrieves the merchant'"'"'s markup information, and computes from it a retail price to provide to the consumer along with the identifying information for the retail merchant.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said identifying information for an assigned retail merchant comprises one or more of a name, a logo and other graphic information.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said server consummates a retail transaction to purchase a product, with a consumer, in affiliation with a merchant, said server collecting payment and address information from the consumer and arranging for shipment of the purchased item to the consumer.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the retail transaction consummated by the server is between the consumer and a business entity operating the server, and does not involve the affiliated retail merchant.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said server identifies a payment amount representing a partial profit margin for a sale consummated with a consumer in affiliation with a merchant, said payment amount to be delivered to the merchant affiliated with the sale.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein pricing information for products for sale are not delivered to the remote computer or displayed to the consumer, until after the consumer has been assigned to an affiliated retail merchant.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein, after a consumer is assigned to an affiliated retail merchant, identifying information for the assigned retail merchant is supplied by the server for storage in a connected remote computer.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said server prevents reassignment of a consumer using a remote computer to another retail merchant by detecting identifying information stored in said remote computer.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein as part of preventing reassignment of a consumer using a remote computer to another merchant, said server prevents a consumer using said remote computer from viewing pricing of a retail merchant other than the retail merchant that was previously assigned.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein said identifying information is stored temporarily by the remote computer.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein said identifying information is stored permanently by the remote computer.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein said server prevents a consumer from consummating a transaction to purchase a product, until after the consumer has been assigned a permanent login identification.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said server associates a permanent user login identification assigned to a consumer, with a particular retail merchant, and said server responds to a login identification provided by a consumer by delivering identifying information related to the merchant that has been associated with the login identification provided by the consumer.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein said server receives a consumer zip code from a consumer, and selects a retail merchant for assignment to the consumer by locating an affiliate merchant having a nearest to a matching zip code.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said server selects a merchant for assignment to the consumer at random, from among multiple merchants having zip codes equally similar to a zip code provided by the consumer.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the identification of an affiliated merchant that is supplied to the remote computer, comprises a logo or other graphical information, and an identifier useable by the server for identifying the merchant.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the identification of an affiliated merchant that is supplied to the remote computer is returned to the server during interaction of the remote computer and server.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein said server is responsive to information regarding orders that have been taken by a retail merchant, by fulfilling these orders by direct shipment to customers.

21. A method of merchant-affiliated direct marketing and fulfillment, comprising:

connecting a server to a remote computer system under control of a consumer;

delivering to the remote computer system by the server, information regarding products offered for retail sale to said consumer by a business entity operating the server;

receiving by the server consumer identifying information from the remote computer and determining by the server the consumer has been assigned to one of a plurality of independent retail merchants registered with the server, wherein the server prevents reassignment of the consumer using said remote computer to another independent retail merchant registered with the server; and

delivering to the remote computer the assigned retail merchant'"'"'s information regarding products for sale and the merchant'"'"'s identifying information to be displayed by the remote computer.

22. A merchant-affiliated direct marketing and fulfillment system, comprising:

a computer server connected to a remote computer system under control of a consumer, wherein the server

maintains an identification of those products that are authorized for online sale by each of a plurality of independent retail merchants that are affiliated with the entity operating the server;

receives computer identifying information from the remote computer and determines that the consumer has been assigned to one of a plurality of independent retail merchants registered with the server, wherein the server prevents reassignment of the consumer using said remote computer to another independent retail merchant registered with the server; and

delivers to the remote computer system, the assigned retail merchant'"'"'s identifying information and information regarding products offered for retail sale to said consumer to be displayed by the remote computer, but does not provide product information for products that are not authorized for sale by the merchant assigned to the consumer.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein said server generates an identification of products that are authorized for on line sale is provided by a manufacturer, through an indication as to whether a particular merchant is permitted or is not permitted to perform online sales of one or more particular products.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein

said computer server stores for a plurality of products, an identification of a manufacturer and a manufacturers authorization level,

said server stores for a plurality of retail merchants, one or more authorization levels for each of a plurality of manufacturers, and

said server determines whether there is a match between the authorization level of a retail merchant for a particular manufacturer and the required authorization level for a particular product, before providing product information to a consumer that has been assigned to that retail merchant.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein said server is responsive to information regarding orders that have been taken by a retail merchant, by fulfilling these orders by direct shipment to customers.

26. A method of merchant-affiliated direct marketing and fulfillment, comprising:

connecting a server to a remote computer system under control of a consumer;

maintaining an identification of those products that are authorized for online sale by each of a plurality of independent retail merchants;

receiving by the server consumer information from the remote computer and determining by the server the consumer has been assigned to one of a plurality of independent retail merchants registered with the server, wherein the server prevents reassignment of the consumer using said remote computer to another merchant registered with the server; and

delivering to the remote computer system, the assigned retail merchant'"'"'s identifying information and information regarding products offered for retail sale to said consumer to be displayed by the remote computer, but not providing product information for products that are not authorized for sale by the merchant assigned to the consumer.