Providing market feedback associated with electronic commerce transactions to sellers
View Patent ↗An electronic commerce system ( 10 ) providing market feedback to sellers includes a server ( 40 ) operating on one or more computers. The server ( 40 ) records query information associated with a search query for a buyer ( 20 ) of one or more databases containing product data. The server ( 40 ) also records presentation information associated with presentation of multiple search results to the buyer ( 20 ), each search result including data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results including one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller ( 30 ). The server ( 40 ) also records selection information associated with selection by the buyer ( 20 ) of a particular search result from among the multiple search results. The server ( 40 ) also provides at least some of the recorded query information, presentation information, or selection information to the particular seller ( 30 ) to allow the particular seller ( 30 ) to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers ( 30 ).
1. An electronic commerce system that provides market feedback to sellers, comprising:
one or more memory units storing program instructions for:
recording query information associated with a search query of one or more seller databases containing product data, the search query involving a search by a buyer;
recording presentation information associated with the manner in which a plurality of search results are presented to the buyer, each search result comprising data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results comprising one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller;
recording selection information associated with selection by the buyer of a particular search result from among the plurality of search results, the particular search result comprising data for a particular product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, wherein the particular product is a product of a seller other than the particular seller; and
providing the recorded query information and at least one of the presentation information and the selection information to the particular seller to allow the particular seller to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers; and
one or more processing units that execute the stored program instructions to:
record query information associated with a search query for a buyer of one or more seller databases containing product data;
record presentation information associated with the manner in which a plurality of search results are presented to the buyer, each search result comprising data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results comprising one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller;
record selection information associated with selection by the buyer of a particular search result from among the plurality of search results, the particular search result comprising data for a particular product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query; and
provide the recorded query information and at least one of the presentation information and the selection information to the particular seller to allow the particular seller to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a shared product data repository containing product data for a plurality of products available from a plurality of sellers.
3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a global content directory server operable to provide information to the particular seller by communicating the information to the particular seller substantially immediately following the selection of the particular search result by the buyer.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a global content directory server operable to record contract information reflecting one or more terms of a contract between the buyer and a second seller following the selection of the particular search result by the buyer, the particular search result reflecting product data of the second seller.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the query information reflects one or more product attribute values and one or more seller attribute values specified in the search query.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the presentation information reflects a position of a search result for the particular seller within an ordered display of the search results; and
the selection information reflects a position of the selected search result within the ordered display of the search results.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the presentation information reflects one or more buyer-specified sort criteria used to sort the search results, each sort criterion selected from the group consisting of a product attribute, a product attribute value, a seller attribute, and a seller attribute value.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the selection information reflects at least one of:
the number of search results considered by the buyer; and
whether the buyer considered one or more search results for the particular seller.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the selection information reflects at least one of:
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for one or more search results for the particular seller considered but not selected by the buyer; and
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for the search result selected by the buyer.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the selection information excludes product attribute values and seller attribute values for the search result selected by the buyer that are to be kept in confidence from sellers other than the seller associated with the selected search result.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the selection information reflects at least one of:
a position of the selected search result within the plurality of search results presented to the buyer; and
one or more reasons for the position, relative to the search result selected by the buyer, of a search result for the particular seller.
12. An electronic commerce system that provides market feedback to sellers, comprising:
one or more memory units storing program instructions for:
recording query information associated with a search query of one or more seller databases containing product data, the search query involving a search by a buyer, the query information reflecting one or more product attribute values and one or more seller attribute values specified in the search query;
recording presentation information associated with the manner in which a plurality of search results are presented to the buyer, each search result comprising data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results comprising one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller, the presentation information reflecting a position of a search result for the particular seller within an ordered display of the search results;
recording selection information associated with selection by the buyer of a particular search result from among the plurality of search results, the particular search result comprising data for a particular product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, wherein the particular product is a product of a seller other than the particular seller, the selection information reflecting:
whether the buyer considered one or more search results for the particular seller;
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for one or more search results for the particular seller considered but not selected by the buyer;
a position of a search result for the particular seller within an ordered display of the search results; and
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for the search result selected by the buyer; and
a position of the selected search result within the plurality of search results presented to the buyer; and
providing the recorded query information and at least one of the presentation information and the selection information to the particular seller to allow the particular seller to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers; and
one or more processing units that execute the stored program instructions to:
record query information associated with a search query for a buyer of one or more seller databases containing product data, the query information reflecting one or more product attribute values and one or more seller attribute values specified in the search query;
record presentation information associated with the manner in which a plurality of search results are presented to the buyer, each search result comprising data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results comprising one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller, the presentation information reflecting a position of a search result for the particular seller within an ordered display of the search results;
record selection information associated with selection by the buyer of a particular search result from among the plurality of search results, the particular search result comprising data for a particular product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the selection information reflecting:
whether the buyer considered one or more search results for the particular seller;
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for one or more search results for the particular seller considered but not selected by the buyer;
a position of a search result for the particular seller within an ordered display of the search results; and
one or more product attribute values or seller attribute values for the search result selected by the buyer; and
a position of the selected search result within the plurality of search results presented to the buyer; and
provide at least some of the recorded query information, presentation information, or selection information to the particular seller to allow the particular seller to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers.