System and method for an independent retailer business-to-business market exchange

Abstract

A method of facilitating operations of a plurality of Independent Retailers (“IR's”), said method comprising: communicating over a network from a service bureau or a plurality of headquarters of a chain of retail stores to their respective IR's; displaying to said IR's a plurality of services for said IR's, for said IR's to select at least one service, wherein said services comprise procurement; receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to its respective headquarters or a service bureau showing said at least one selected service from said at least one store; and serving up to said IR's said at least one selected service.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of facilitating operations of a plurality of Independent Retailers (“IR's”), said method comprising: 
 (a) communicating over a network from a service bureau or a plurality of headquarters of a chain of retail stores to their respective IR's;  
 (b) displaying to said IR's a plurality of services for said IR's, for said IR's to select at least one service, wherein said services comprise procurement;  
 (c) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to its respective headquarters or a service bureau showing said at least one selected service from said at least one store; and  
 (d) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected service.  
 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of services for said IR's further comprises transaction services, communities services, brand deployment services, education support services, business operating systems services, and customer support services.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising steps for entering real-time communications between any of said IR's and a customer service representative of said service or a service bureau, and wherein said steps for communication can be entered into during any step of said method.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said transaction services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of transaction services comprising automatic replenishment, order history, and pricing, for said IR's to select at least one transaction service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected transaction service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected transaction service.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said communities services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of communities services comprising newsgroups, chat rooms, clubs, and message boards, for said IR's to select at least one communities service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters or service bureau showing said at least one selected communities service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected communities service.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said brand deployment services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of brand deployment services comprising supplying database access to corporate guidelines and procedures, for said IR's to select at least one brand deployment service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected brand deployment service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected brand deployment service.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said education support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of education support services comprising supplying training materials, for said IR's to select at least one education support service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected education support service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected education support service.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said operations support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of operations support services comprising uniform ordering services, for said IR's to select at least one operations support service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected operations support service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected operations support service.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said customer support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of customer support services comprising help desk services, transaction history services, trouble-shooting services, and system training services, for said IR's to select at least one customer support service;    (b) receiving a message showing said at least one selected customer support service from said IR's; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected customer support service.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         12 . A method of managing brand promotion deployment for a plurality of chains of IR's, said method comprising: 
 (a) entering into volume discount promotion agreements between merchandise suppliers and each headquarters for a chain of IR's;    (b) communicating said volume discounts agreements over a network from each of said headquarters to it corresponding IR's, wherein said IR's may make purchases under said volume discounts agreements;    (c) selecting and ordering merchandise by at least one of said IR's pursuant to at least one of said volume discounts agreements; and    (d) communicating over said network said selected purchases of said IR's to the corresponding merchandise supplier or its respective headquarters, for fulfillment of said purchase.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         14 . A method for a plurality of retail chains to manage brand promotions defined each chain's respective headquarters, comprising: 
 (a) under control of a client system each of the store's: 
 (1) displaying information identifying an item in a brand promotion; and  
 (2) wherein said information is served up from a server system of the corresponding headquarters' of said store;  
   (b) sending a request to order said item to a server system of a supplier of the item;    (c) under control of said server system of a supplier: 
 (1) receiving the request;  
 (2) generating an order to purchase the requested item; and  
 (3) fulfilling the generated order to complete purchase of the item.  
   
     
     
         15 . A system for managing brand promotion deployment for a plurality of chains of IR's, said system comprising: 
 (a) a server component for serving over a network a plurality of brand promotions from a plurality of headquarters of chains of IR's to their respective IR's;    (b) a client component for receiving from said server component said plurality of brand promotions and for displaying said brand promotions, and for recognizing a user's selection of specific brand promotions, and for communicating over said network to a corresponding supplier the selected brand promotions and the identity of the selecting store; and    (c) wherein said system is configured to permit any of said IR's to view and select a plurality of brand promotions on a recurring or irregular basis, that selection is communicated to a supplier which fulfills said brand promotion.    
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising means for entering real-time communications between any of said IR's and a customer service representative of said headquarters, and wherein said means for communication is configured to be enabled during use of the system.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         18 . A system for managing a plurality of chains of IR's, said system comprising: 
 (a) communication means for communicating over a network from a plurality of headquarters of a chain of IR's to a plurality of said IR's;    (b) displaying means for displaying to said IR's a plurality of services for said IR's, and configured to allow said IR's to select at least one service, wherein said services comprise promotion ordering;    (c) receiving means for receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to each respective headquarters showing said at least one selected service from said at least one store; and    (d) server means for serving up to said IR's said at least one selected service.    
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein said plurality of services for said IR's further comprises transaction services, communities services, brand deployment services, education support services, operations support services, and customer support services.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said transaction services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of transaction services comprising automatic replenishment, order history, and pricing, for said IR's to select at least one transaction service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected transaction service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected transaction service.    
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said communities services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of communities services comprising newsgroups, chat rooms, clubs, and message boards, for said IR's to select at least one communities service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected communities service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected communities service.    
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said brand deployment services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of brand deployment services comprising supplying database access to corporate guidelines and procedures, for said IR's to select at least one brand deployment service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected brand deployment service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected brand deployment service.    
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said education support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of education support services comprising supplying training materials, for said IR's to select at least one education support service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected education support service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected education support service.    
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said operations support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of operations support services comprising uniform ordering services, for said IR's to select at least one operations support service;    (b) receiving over said network a message from at least one of said IR's to said headquarters showing said at least one selected operations support service from said at least one store; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected operations support service.    
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein said customer support services comprises: 
 (a) displaying a plurality of customer support services comprising help desk services, transaction history services, trouble-shooting services, and system training services, for said IR's to select at least one customer support service;    (b) receiving a message showing said at least one selected customer support service from said IR's; and    (c) serving up to said IR's said at least one selected customer support service.    
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         27 . A system of managing brand promotion deployment for a plurality of chains of IR's, said system comprising: 
 (a) volume discount promotion agreements between merchandise suppliers and each headquarters for a chain of IR's;    (b) communication means for communicating said volume discounts agreements over a network from each of said headquarters to a plurality of IR's, wherein said IR's may make purchases under said volume discounts agreements;    (c) selection means for selecting and ordering merchandise by at least one of said IR's pursuant to at least one of said volume discounts agreements; and    (d) communication means for communicating over said network said selected purchases of said IR's to the corresponding merchandise supplier, for fulfillment of said purchase.    
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein said network comprises a client-server environment comprising the Internet, an extranet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         29 . A system for a plurality of retail chain store to manage brand promotions defined by the store's headquarters, comprising: 
 (a) a server system of a plurality of headquarters' of a plurality of retail chain stores configured for serving up information identifying an item in a brand promotion;    (b) a client system of each of said retail chain store's configured: 
 (1) for receiving, parsing, and rendering said information identifying an item in a brand promotion from said server system of the headquarters'; and  
 (2) for selecting at least one of said items and sending a request to order said items to a server system of a supplier of the item;  
   (c) a server system of a plurality of suppliers configured: 
 (1) for receiving the request;  
 (2) for generating an order to purchase the requested item; and  
 (3) for fulfilling the generated order to complete purchase of the item.