SALES CHAIN WITH COMPETITIVE AND CHAIN INTELLIGENCE
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 supplier's computing system supporting interaction with a plurality of manufacturer's systems, a first of the plurality of manufacturer's systems being associated with production of a first product offering that is sold on a sales portal system of an online retailer, the supplier's computing system comprising:
a first service that interacts via at least one first software module to exchange source material data with each of the plurality of manufacturer's; and
a second service that interacts via a second application program interface with the sales portal system to invoke functionality of the sales portal system related to the first product offering.
2 . The supplier's computing system of claim 1 , wherein the source material data comprises data regarding at least one component of the first product offering.
3 . The supplier's computing system of claim 1 , wherein the source material data comprises purchase data.
4 . The supplier's computing system of claim 1 , wherein the source material data comprises just in time delivery data.
5 . The supplier's computing system of claim 1 , wherein the second service provides access to real-time product sales information.
6 . The supplier's computing system of claim 5 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes supplier information.
7 . The supplier's computing system of claim 5 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes competitor information.
8 . A manufacturer's computing system supporting interaction with a plurality of competing sales portal systems, the plurality of competing sales portal systems having a corresponding plurality of databases, the manufacturer's computing system comprising:
a product database that stores a plurality of groups of product data, the plurality of groups of product data including scheduling data and inventory related data, a first of the plurality of groups of product data corresponding to a first product offering data;
a first service that interacts via a bridging module to deliver at least a portion of the first of the plurality of groups of product data to each of the plurality of competing sales portal systems; and
a second service that interacts via at least one application program interface with each of the plurality of competing sales portal systems to invoke functionality of each of the plurality of competing sales portal systems related to the first product offering data.
9 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 8 , wherein a group of product data of the plurality of groups of product data comprises data regarding at least one component of a first product offering.
10 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 8 , wherein a group of product data of the plurality of groups of product data comprises purchase data.
11 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 8 , wherein a group of product data of the plurality of groups of product data comprises just in time delivery data.
12 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 8 , wherein the second service provides access to real-time product sales information.
13 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 12 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes supplier information.
14 . The manufacturer's computing system of claim 12 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes competitor information.
15 . A distributor's computing system of a first entity supporting interaction with at least one manufacturer's system of a second entity and a plurality of sales portal systems of third entities, the first entity, second entity and each of the third entities being independent business concerns, the distributor's computing system comprising:
a bridging module supporting data exchange interactions with the at least one manufacturer's system regarding a manufacturer's product offering, the bridging module also supporting data exchange interactions with the plurality of sales portal systems regarding the manufacturer's product offering; and
at least one application program interfacing module that supports activation of sales supporting functionality on both the manufacturer's system and the plurality of sales portal systems.
16 . The distributor's computing system of claim 15 , wherein the data exchange includes data regarding the manufacturer's product offering.
17 . The distributor's computing system of claim 16 , wherein the data regarding the manufacturer's product offering comprises purchase data.
18 . The distributor's computing system of claim 16 , wherein the data regarding the manufacturer's product offering comprises just in time delivery data.
19 . The distributor's computing system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one application program interfacing module provides access to real-time product sales information.
20 . The distributor's computing system of claim 19 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes supplier information.
21 . The distributor's computing system of claim 19 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes competitor information.
22 . A multi-seller sales portal system supporting interaction with a plurality of competing seller's computers of a plurality of competing sellers, the plurality of competing sellers having a corresponding plurality of databases, the multi-seller sales portal system comprising:
a first service that interacts to enable visual presentations on a plurality of buyer computers, the visual presentations including sales offerings from the plurality of competing sellers, the first service interacts with the plurality of competing seller's computers to enable a plurality of sales transactions relating to the visual presentations;
a bridging module supporting the first service interactions by bridging the first service with the plurality of databases; and
an application program interface supporting the interactions between the first service and the plurality of competing seller's computers.
23 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 22 , wherein the first service further supports data exchanges regarding product offerings.
24 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 22 , wherein the first service further supports data exchanges including data regarding product purchases.
25 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 22 , wherein the first service further supports data exchanges including data regarding just in time delivery data.
26 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 22 , wherein the first service further supports data exchanges including data regarding real-time product sales information.
27 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 26 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes supplier information.
28 . The multi-seller sales portal system of claim 26 , wherein the real-time product sales information includes competitor information.