System and Method for Processing Product Orders

Abstract

A method of processing a product order is disclosed. The method includes receiving a product order from a consumer and selecting a fulfiller to fulfill the product order. A system for processing a product order is also disclosed.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method performed by a computer system, the method comprising:
 presenting to a customer an offer for the customer to purchase one or more products;   receiving a product order from the customer for the one or more products;   receiving from one or more fulfillers one or more offers to fulfill the received product order, wherein the received one or more offers to fulfill indicate an agreement by the one or more fulfillers to fulfill the received product order; and   selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order based at least in part on the received offers to fulfill.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order is based on one or more criteria specified by a manufacturer of the ordered one or more products. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers comprises identifying a fulfiller from the one or more fulfillers that is located closest to the customer. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the selecting one of the fulfillers comprises comparing costs associated with each fulfiller to fulfill the product order. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising electronically notifying the selected fulfiller that the selected fulfiller has been selected to fulfill the product order. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising, prior to receiving from one or more fulfillers one or more offers to fulfill the received product order:
 assigning a price that the customer will pay for the one or more ordered products; 
 completing the received order including a check-out process; 
 posting the completed product order at a location accessible to the one or more fulfillers; and 
 waiting a predetermined period of time to enable the one or more fulfillers to view the posted product order. 
 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein received offers to fulfill are independent of the assigned price. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21  wherein receiving the one or more offers to fulfill comprises:
 enabling the one or more fulfillers to access a website using a log-in process that includes validating a username and a password for each fulfiller; 
 in response to validating the user name and password, enabling the one or more fulfillers with validated user name and password to view the product order and one or more additional product orders available for fulfilling; and 
 enabling the one or more fulfillers with validated user name and password to offer to fulfill the product order or the one or more additional product orders. 
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order comprises selecting a default fulfiller to fulfill the product order. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising:
 receiving the product order for more than one of the products; 
 selecting more than one of the fulfillers to fulfill the received product order for the more than one product, each selected fulfiller fulfilling at least one product from the product order; 
 identifying additional shipping costs associated with selecting more than one fulfiller to fulfill the received product order; 
 notifying the customer of the identified additional shipping costs; 
 enabling the customer to send a request to cancel the product order in response to receiving the notification; and 
 canceling the product order if the request to cancel the purchase order is received in response to the notification of the additional shipping costs. 
 
     
     
         31 . A method performed by a computer system, the method comprising:
 presenting to a customer an offer for the customer to purchase one or more products of a manufacturer;   receiving a product order from the customer for the one or more products of the manufacturer;   based on one or more criteria specified by the manufacturer, determining whether to (i) select the manufacturer to fulfill the received product order, or (ii) select one or more fulfillers, other than the manufacturer, to fulfill the received product order;   if the one or more fulfillers are determined to be selected, then:
 receiving from the one or more fulfillers one or more offers to fulfill the received product order, wherein the received one or more offers to fulfill indicate an agreement by the one or more fulfillers to fulfill the received product order; and 
 selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order based at least in part on the received offers to fulfill. 
   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order is based on one or more criteria specified by the manufacturer of the ordered one or more products. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers comprises identifying a fulfiller from the one or more fulfillers that is located closest to the customer. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the selecting one of the fulfillers comprises comparing costs associated with each fulfiller to fulfill the product order. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising electronically notifying the selected fulfiller that the selected fulfiller has been selected to fulfill the product order. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising, prior to receiving from one or more fulfillers one or more offers to fulfill the received product order:
 assigning a price that the customer will pay for the one or more ordered products; 
 completing the received order including a check-out process; 
 posting the completed product order at a location accessible to the one or more fulfillers; and 
 waiting a predetermined period of time to enable the one or more fulfillers to view the posted product order. 
 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein received offers to fulfill are independent of the assigned price. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 31  wherein receiving the one or more offers to fulfill comprises:
 enabling the one or more fulfillers to access a website using a log-in process that includes validating a username and a password for each fulfiller; 
 in response to validating the user name and password, enabling the one or more fulfillers with validated user name and password to view the product order and one or more additional product orders available for fulfilling; and 
 enabling the one or more fulfillers with validated user name and password to offer to fulfill the product order or the one or more additional product orders. 
 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 31  wherein selecting one of the fulfillers to fulfill the product order comprises selecting a default fulfiller to fulfill the product order.