Apparatus and method for facilitating the selection of products by buyers and the purchase of the selected products from a supplier
First Claim
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1. A method of managing sales of a plurality of items from a plurality of suppliers to at least one buyer, the buyer determining descriptions of items to be purchased, the method comprising:
- enabling each of the plurality of suppliers to store at least one respective catalogue of its items in a database; and
responding to a search request of the buyer by identifying items in each of the catalogues stored in the database corresponding to items of each of the suppliers with descriptions that match the descriptions of the item determined by the buyer.
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for managing the sale of a plurality of items from a plurality of corresponding suppliers to at least one buyer, wherein the one buyer determines a description of the item to be purchased. The method enables each of the plurality of suppliers to store at least one catalogue of its items in a database and responding to a search request of the one buyer to identify any item in the catalogues stored in the database with a description that matches the item description of the buyer.
45 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A method of managing sales of a plurality of items from a plurality of suppliers to at least one buyer, the buyer determining descriptions of items to be purchased, the method comprising:
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enabling each of the plurality of suppliers to store at least one respective catalogue of its items in a database; and responding to a search request of the buyer by identifying items in each of the catalogues stored in the database corresponding to items of each of the suppliers with descriptions that match the descriptions of the item determined by the buyer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 7)
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5. A method of operating an E-commerce system for marketing of a plurality of items provided variously by a plurality of suppliers to selected ones of a plurality of purchasers, the E-commerce system having a searchable database, a server, a purchaser network, a plurality of purchaser terminals, a supplier network and a plurality of supplier terminals, the server being programmed to transmit data bidirectionally via the supplier network between the database and each of the plurality of supplier terminals, to transmit data bidirectionally via the purchaser network between the database and each of the plurality of purchaser terminals, and to facilitate at least one of a plurality of buyers to purchase items from various ones of the plurality of suppliers, each of the plurality of suppliers having a dictionary of definitions of items, the method comprising:
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constructing orders for selected items by selected ones of the purchasers, each of the orders having a unique ID identifying the respective purchaser; transmitting each of the purchaser'"'"'s orders to a corresponding supplier, who formulates a response to the transmitted order, each supplier response including the unique ID of the respective purchaser and an indication of whether the supplier accepts the purchaser'"'"'s order or provides a counter offer by modifying the terms of the order; receiving the supplier'"'"'s response from the corresponding supplier'"'"'s terminal via the supplier'"'"'s network for storage in the database; forwarding a communication to the purchaser identified by the unique ID in the supplier'"'"'s response; accessing the database for all of the supplier responses stored therein and constructing a list of all of the supplier responses for display by the purchaser'"'"'s terminal; enabling the purchaser to select one of the listed supplier responses for display by the purchaser'"'"'s terminal; enabling the purchaser to forward a purchaser response to the respective supplier corresponding to the selected supplier response; storing each of the purchasers'"'"' responses in the database. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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Specification