ON-LINE SALES CHAIN MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORTING PRODUCT INVENTORY TRACKING
A sales system supports sales between a plurality of buyers and a plurality of sellers in a communication network. A sales server has a seller interface used by both a first seller and a second seller respectively via a first seller's computer and a second seller's computer to register availability for sale of a first product and a second product. The sales server, based upon received buyer input from an identified buyer via a buyer computer that includes buyer orders for the first product and the second product dispenses a first sales order to the first seller's computer for the first product and a second sales order to the second seller's computer for the second product. The sales server provides instructions to the first seller's computer for fulfillment of the first sales order and to the second sales computer for the fulfillment of the second sales order.
1 . A chain management infrastructure that via an Internet supports a plurality of buyer computers, a plurality of product source systems and a plurality of sales portals, each of the plurality of product source systems and each of the plurality of sales portals having databases that store product inventory information, the chain management infrastructure comprising:
a competitive advertising service, coupled with each of the plurality of product source systems and each of the plurality of sales portals via the Internet, that receives a plurality of competing sales related offers;
a buyer interfacing service that delivers first offers selected from the plurality of competing sales related offers to support visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers; and
an inventory management service that interacts with each of the plurality of sales portals and each of the plurality of product source systems to facilitate inventory control, the inventory control supporting the selection of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
2 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the first offers selected from the plurality of competing sales related offers are selected based on the product inventory information.
3 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 2 , wherein the product inventory information comprises inventory levels.
4 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 2 , wherein the inventory management service queries an inventory of each of the plurality of product source systems and/or each of the plurality of sales portals to obtain the product inventory information.
5 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 4 , wherein the inventory management service utilizes product inventory information obtained in response to a query to determine a delivery date for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
6 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 4 , wherein the inventory management service utilizes product inventory information obtained in response to a query to determine a shipping cost for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
7 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the inventory management service utilizes product inventory information to determine a delivery date for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
8 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the inventory management service utilizes product inventory information to determine a shipping cost for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
9 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the inventory management service enables sharing of product inventory information between one or more of the product source systems and one or more of the plurality of sales portals.
10 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the inventory control supports offering a promotion related to one or more of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
11 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 10 , wherein the inventory control supports adjustment of a promotion related to one or more of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
12 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 11 , wherein the adjustment of a promotion related to one or more of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers is performed dynamically based on product inventory information.
13 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 11 , wherein a promotion is dynamically adjusted based on one or more of sales volume, inventory level and shelf life.
14 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 11 , wherein a promotion is dynamically adjusted to meet a sales target.
15 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the inventory control supports adjustment of a price for a product related to one or more of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers.
16 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 15 , wherein the adjustment of a price for a product related to one or more of the first offers of the plurality of competing sales related offers is performed dynamically based on product inventory information.
17 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 15 , wherein a price is dynamically adjusted based on one or more of sales volume, inventory level and shelf life.
18 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 15 , wherein a price is dynamically adjusted to meet a sales target.
19 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product comparisons for the first offers selected from the plurality of competing sales related offers.
20 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise price comparisons for the first offers selected from the plurality of competing sales related offers.
21 . The chain management infrastructure of claim 1 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product and price comparisons for the first offers selected from the plurality of competing sales related offers.
22 . An online sales portal that via an Internet interacts with a plurality of buyer computers and a competitive sales support portal, the online sales portal comprising:
a sales offering database that stores a plurality of sales offering data, each of the sales offering data including inventory data;
a buyer interfacing service that, after a vectoring of the plurality of buyer computers from the competitive sales support portal, completes sales transactions and adjusts the inventory data stored within the sales offering database; and
an inventory management service that interacts with the competitive sales support portal, the interaction relating to the inventory data and assisting the competitive sales support portal in selections from a plurality of sales offering data, the selections forming a basis for visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers.
23 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the selections from the plurality of sales offering data are based on the inventory data.
24 . The online sales portal of claim 23 , wherein the product inventory data comprises inventory levels.
25 . The online sales portal of claim 23 , wherein the interaction includes receiving queries from the competitive sales support portal.
26 . The online sales portal of claim 25 , wherein the inventory data is used to determine a delivery date for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
27 . The online sales portal of claim 25 , wherein the inventory data is used to determine a shipping cost for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
28 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the inventory data is used to determine a delivery date for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
29 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the inventory data is used to determine a shipping cost for a particular product corresponding to at least one of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
30 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the interaction supports the offering of a promotion related to one or more of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
31 . The online sales portal of claim 30 , wherein the inventory management service supports adjustment of a promotion related to one or more of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
32 . The online sales portal of claim 31 , wherein the adjustment of a promotion related to one or more of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data is performed dynamically based on inventory data.
33 . The online sales portal of claim 31 , wherein a promotion is dynamically adjusted based on one or more of sales volume, inventory level and shelf life.
34 . The online sales portal of claim 31 , wherein a promotion is dynamically adjusted to meet a sales target.
35 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the inventory management service supports adjustment of a price related to one or more of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
36 . The online sales portal of claim 35 , wherein the adjustment of a price related to one or more of the selections from the plurality of sales offering data is performed dynamically based on inventory data.
37 . The online sales portal of claim 35 , wherein a price is dynamically adjusted based on one or more of sales volume, inventory level and shelf life.
38 . The online sales portal of claim 35 , wherein a price is dynamically adjusted to meet a sales target.
39 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product comparisons for the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
40 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise price comparisons for the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.
41 . The online sales portal of claim 22 , wherein the visual presentations on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product and price comparisons for the selections from the plurality of sales offering data.