ON-LINE SALES CHAIN MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORTING TRANSACTION BRIDGING
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 method used by a first computing system to service at least a portion of a sales chain that includes a plurality of independent business entities, the plurality of independent business entities including at least one of each of a manufacturer, a distributor and a retailer, the plurality of independent business entities having a corresponding plurality of computing and database storage systems, the manufacturer providing a first product offering, the method comprising:
delivering requests via a query bridge module to cause search functionality to be performed by the plurality of computing and database storage systems, the search functionality relating to the first product offering; and
interacting with the plurality of computing and database storage systems using a transaction bridge module to support at least a portion of each sales transactions of the first product offering.
2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising receiving responses from the plurality of computing and database storage systems comprising search results of the search functionality being performed.
3 . The method of claim 2 , comprising delivering to a plurality of buyer computers visual presentations comprising first product data related to the first product offering, the product data being based on the search results.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first product data comprises product information relating to the first product offering.
5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first product data comprises price information relating to the first product offering.
6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first product data comprises inventory information relating to the first product offering.
7 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first product data comprises product information, price information and inventory information relating to the first product offering.
8 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the visual presentation on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product comparisons for the first product offering, the comparisons being based on the product data.
9 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the visual presentation on the plurality of buyer computers comprise price comparisons for the first product offering, the comparisons being based on the product data.
10 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the visual presentation on the plurality of buyer computers comprise product and price comparisons for the first product offering, the comparisons being based on the product data.
11 . A first computing system of a first entity, the first entity offering a first product inventory that is being sold by a plurality of sales portals of a plurality of competing entities, the first computing system comprising:
a first service that interacts with each of the plurality of sales portals to gather information relating to the first product; and
a second service that produces a visual presentation based on comparisons based on the information gathered from each of the plurality of sales portals.
12 . The first computing system of claim 11 , comprising a third service that supports at least a portion of one or more transactions involving the first product and at least one of the plurality of sales portals of a plurality of competing entities.
13 . The first computing system of claim 12 , wherein the third service collects payment for each of the one or more transactions and, and for each, provides an accounting to a respective one of the at least one of the plurality of sales portals.
14 . The first computing system of claim 12 , wherein the third service vectors a buyer to at least one of the plurality of sales portals for transaction completion, and charges a fee for each vectoring.
15 . The first computing system of claim 11 , wherein the information relating to the first product comprises product information, price information and inventory information.
16 . The first computing system of claim 11 , wherein the visual presentation comprises product comparisons for the first product based on the information gathered from each of the plurality of sales portals.
17 . The first computing system of claim 11 , wherein the visual presentation comprises price comparisons for the first product based on the information gathered from each of the plurality of sales portals.
18 . The first computing system of claim 11 , wherein the visual presentation comprises product and price comparisons for the first product based on the information gathered from each of the plurality of sales portals.
19 . The first computing system of claim 11 , wherein the visual presentation comprises seller rating information.
20 . A source computing system of a first entity that offers a first product, the first product being sold by a sales portal of a second entity, the sales portal also selling a second product of a third entity, the first entity being a competitor of the third entity with respect to the first product and the second product, the source computing system comprising:
a seller's communication interface; and
a first service that interacts via the seller's communication interface with the sales portal to gather competitive information relating to the second product, the competitive information including an indication of sales related activity associated with the second product.
21 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises a quantity sold of the second product.
22 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises margin information related to the second product.
23 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises pricing and product information related to the second product.
24 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises inventory information related to the second product.
25 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises promotional activity information related to the second product.
26 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the first service interacts via the seller's communication interface with the sales portal to gather the competitive information by, at least in part, receiving a query from the sales portal of the second entity relating to the second product.
27 . The source computing system of claim 26 , wherein the query comprises a query defined by the second entity.
28 . The source computing system of claim 26 , wherein the communication interface comprises a query bridge.
29 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises private, non-publicly available information related to the second product.
30 . The source computing system of claim 20 , wherein the competitive information comprises real-time information related to the second product.