Inventory sales system and method

• US 8,639,586 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2012
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Clear With Computers LLC (f/k/a Orion IP, LLC) (Legacy Patent Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Clear With Computers LLC (f/k/a Orion IP, LLC) (Legacy Patent Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Johnson, Jerome Dale, Lundberg, David Robert, Mehr, Dale Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel, Vanel
• Application Number:
  US13/489,308
• Publication Number:
  US 20120246022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 602 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.5, 705/27, 705/28, 705/22, 705/26.1, 235/383, 701/201, 715/771
• US Class Current: 705/26.5
• 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 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

A computer system and method of facilitating a sale which permits inventory information to be used in connection with a technology enabled selling (TES) system to facilitate a sale. The inventory information may be used during configuration of an item to be sold to a customer in a manner which allows the sales representative to more easily sell items from inventory if desired.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving at a configuration engine of a computer system, a query regarding a product included in an inventory from a user;

determining, by the configuration engine, a plurality of customization options associated with the product;

preparing, by the configuration engine, a list of the plurality of customization options;

providing, by the configuration engine, the list for presentation to the user;

receiving, by the configuration engine, a selection of one or more of the options from the list from the user;

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that closely matches the selected one or more options within the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, by the configuration engine, a summary of the queried product for presentation to the user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, by the configuration engine, a photo of the queried product for presentation to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the configuration engine, a price of the queried product; and

providing, by the configuration engine, the price for presentation to the user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

continually monitoring to determine whether a new option selection has been received from the user.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that closely matches the selected one or more options and the new option within the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

deactivating, by the configuration engine, a customization option of the product determined not to be included in the inventory.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the deactivation comprises differentiating between the active customization options and the deactivated customization option when providing the list to the user.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the deactivation comprises removing the deactivated customization option from the provided list of customization options.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the configuration engine, a new option selection from the user;

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that closely matches the selected one or more options and the new option within the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the configuration engine, which customization options of the product are included in the inventory.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the product that closely matches the selected one or more options within the inventory is based on values assigned to the selected one or more options.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the values pre-exist in the configuration engine.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the values are assigned when the selection of one or more options is received.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the user assigns the values.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, at a configuration engine of a computer system, a query regarding a product from a user;

determining, by the configuration engine, (i) a plurality of customization options associated with the product, and (ii) which customization options of the plurality of customization options are included in the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, a list of customization options to the user, wherein a customization option determined to be included in the inventory is activated and a customization option determined not to be included in the inventory is deactivated.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising;

receiving, by the configuration engine, a selection of one or more of the customization options from the list from the user.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, by the configuration engine, a request to find a product that exactly matches the selected one or more options in the inventory from the user.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that exactly matches the selected one or more options responsively to the request.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, by the configuration engine, a request to find a product that closely matches the selected one or more options in the inventory from the user.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

identifying a product that closely matches the selected one or more options within the inventory responsively to the request.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the identification of a product that closely matches the selected one or more options within the inventory is performed using values assigned to the selected one or more options.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the values are assigned when the selection of one or more options is received.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the user assigns the values.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining, by the configuration engine, a price of the queried product; and

providing, by the configuration engine, the price for presentation to the user.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of altering, by the configuration engine, the list of customization options in response to the newly selected option.

27. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

continually monitoring to determine whether a new option selection has been received from the user.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that closely matches the selected one or more options and the new option within the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

29. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, by the configuration engine, a new option selection from the user;

identifying, by the configuration engine, a product that closely matches the selected one or more options and the new option within the inventory; and

providing, by the configuration engine, information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

30. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing, by the configuration engine, a summary of the queried product to the user.

31. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing, by the configuration engine, a photo of the queried product to the user.

32. The method of claim 16, wherein the deactivation comprises differentiating between the activated and the deactivated customization options when providing the list to the user.

33. The method of claim 16, wherein the deactivation comprises removing the deactivated customization option from the provided list of customization options.

34. A system comprising:

a processing unit configured to execute a set of instructions stored on a memory; and

the memory configured to store the set of instructions and communicate the set of instructions to the processing unit;

wherein execution of the set of instructions causes the processing unit to;

receive a query regarding a product included in an inventory from a user;

determine a plurality of customization options associated with the product;

prepare a list of the plurality of customization options;

provide the list for presentation to the user;

receive a selection of one or more of the options from the list from the user;

identify a product that closely matches the selected one or more options within the inventory; and

provide information regarding the identified product for presentation to the user.

35. A system comprising:

a processing unit configured to execute a set of instructions stored on a memory; and

the memory configured to store the set of instructions and communicate the set of instructions to the processing unit;

wherein execution of the set of instructions causes the processing unit to;

receive a query regarding a product from a user;

determine (i) a plurality of customization options associated with the product, and (ii) which customization options of the plurality of customization options are included in the inventory; and

provide a list of customization options to the user, wherein a customization option determined to be included in the inventory is activated and a customization option determined not to be included in the inventory is deactivated.