Virtual shelf with single-product choice and automatic multiple-vendor selection

Abstract

A retail front-end experience for the user with a multi-seller back-end. A product is displayed on a webpage, and if the user views it, the software automatically selects at least one best supplier for each item and condition (new, used, etc.) for that user, and then displays the one specific price from only those vendors. The price includes the shipping costs from that vendor's location to the user's location. Thus, the back end is hidden from the user—the user is not forced to choose from a list of vendors. The software selects the best vendor based on a variety of criteria, such as item selection (condition, price and version), the geographic closeness of the vendor (reduced shipping costs and/or reduced shipping speed), the reliability rating of the vendor (responsiveness, product description accuracy, etc.).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for selling products over a network, comprising:
 storing vendor information for a plurality of vendors in a computer database, said vendor information including a vendor address;   storing product information for a plurality of products, each product being associated with one or more of the plurality of vendors, each vendor assigning a product price to each product associated with the vendor;   causing a user interface for searching the product information to be displayed to a consumer;   receiving a user input from the consumer via the user interface;   after receiving the user input, performing a plurality of operations including:
 identifying one of the plurality of products based on the received user input; 
 determining that there is at least a subset of said vendors offering said identified product for sale; 
 selecting, without user input and on behalf of the consumer, from the subset of vendors an ideal vendor that is ideal to the consumer, the ideal vendor being selected based on one or more criteria selected from the group consisting of: a lowest product price, a lowest shipping cost, a shortest shipping time, and a best vendor rating compared to other vendors in the subset; 
 determining a shipping cost for shipping the identified product to the consumer; and 
 determining a total price for the identified product, the total price being a combination of (a) the product price of the identified product assigned by the ideal vendor and (b) the shipping cost; and 
   after performing the plurality of operations and in response to receiving the user input, causing (a) a product representation corresponding to the identified product, (b) the total price for the identified product, and (c) an option to purchase said identified product to be simultaneously displayed to the consumer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, in response to receiving a selection of the option to purchase said identified product, selecting a vendor to provide said identified product to said identified consumer. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 storing information indicative of a condition of one or more of the plurality of products; 
 storing consumer registration information for a plurality of consumers, said consumer information including, for each consumer, a payment mechanism and a consumer shipping address;
 identifying the consumer from the plurality of consumers based on the consumer registration information; and 
 determining the consumer shipping address corresponding to the identified consumer. 
 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying a shipping speed for said identified product prior to receiving said selection of the option to purchase said identified product. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying a general shipping speed for any consumer in a region serviced by a server associated with said database when a consumer is not logged in to permit locating a consumer address. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying a specific shipping speed for said identified consumer when said identified consumer is logged in, by retrieving the consumer address corresponding to said identified consumer. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said ideal vendor is selected to provide said identified product to said identified consumer based at least in part on said vendor rating, said vendor rating including a rating of the past responsiveness of said vendor and the accuracy of product description by said vendor. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein said ideal vendor is further selected based on one of said lowest shipping cost and said shortest shipping time from an address of said vendor. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing a single-page buy display window to said identified consumer, said single-page buy display window including (a) an image of said identified product, (b) a description of said identified product, (c) a cost of said identified product, said cost including said product price assigned to the identified product and said shipping cost, and (d) a buy button. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising storing consumer preferences relating to delivery speed and delivery cost. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising implicitly determining said consumer preferences by observing consumer behavior. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 after causing the transaction to be performed between said identified consumer and said ideal vendor for said identified product, causing a purchase receipt to be displayed while maintaining the simultaneous display of said product representation. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein selecting the ideal vendor includes:
 identifying a plurality of vendors offering said identified product at a lowest product price; 
 determining, from the plurality of vendors offering said identified product at the lowest product price, a number of vendors that are closest to the identified consumer; 
 comparing the ratings of the number of vendors that are closest to the identified consumer with one another; and 
 selecting, based on the comparison, the ideal vendor as the vendor having the best vendor rating that is closest to the identified consumer and offering the identified product at the lowest product price. 
 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:
 storing vendor information for a plurality of vendors in a database, said database comprising at least one storage device that is accessible over the network, and said vendor information including a vendor address;   storing product information for a plurality of products, each product being associated with one or more plurality of vendors, each vendor assigning a product price to each product associated with the vendor;   causing a user interface for searching the product information to be displayed to a consumer;   receiving a user input via the user interface;   after receiving the user input, performing a plurality of operations including:
 identifying one of the plurality of products based on the received user input; 
 determining that there is at least a subset of said vendors offering said identification product for sale; 
 selecting, without user input and on behalf of the identified consumer, from the subset of vendors an ideal vendor that is ideal to the identified consumer, the ideal vendor being selected based on one or more of a lowest product price, a lowest shipping cost, a shortest shipping time, or a best vendor rating compared to other vendors in the subset; 
 determining a shipping cost for shipping the identified product to the consumer, and 
 determining a total price for the identified product, the total price being a combination of (a) the product price of the identified product assigned by the ideal vendor and (b) the shipping cost; and 
   after performing the plurality of operations and in response to receiving the user input, causing (a) a product representation corresponding to the identified product, (b) the total price for the identified product, and (c) an option to purchase said identified product.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14  wherein the operations further comprise:
 displaying a shipping speed for said identified product prior to receiving said selection of the option to purchase said identified product. 
 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14  wherein the operations further comprise:
 displaying a specific shipping speed for said identified consumer when said identified consumer is logged in, by retrieving the consumer address corresponding to said identified consumer. 
 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14  wherein said ideal vendor is selected to provide said identified product to said identified consumer based at least in part on said vendor rating, said vendor rating including a rating of the past responsiveness of said vendor and the accuracy of product description by said vendor. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17  wherein said ideal vendor is further selected based on one of said lowest shipping cost and said shortest shipping time from an address of said vendor. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14  wherein the operations further comprise storing consumer preferences related to delivery speed and delivery cost. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19  wherein the operations further comprise implicitly determining said consumer preferences by observing consumer behavior.