Patent ID: 7747469
Filing Date: 2010-06-29
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for facilitating quotes/orders involving interchange between a plurality of vendors and a plurality of users through a portal by using an E-commerce Engine for quotes/orders so a vendor connected on the internet or intranet with a web site can present selectable options said method comprising the steps of: uploading, by the plurality of vendors, data including at least one XSD, each XSD corresponding to one product, each product including at least one element, each element including at least one sub-element, each sub-element including at least one variable, each variable including at least one attribute of the product; selecting, by the user, a product category; determining, by the portal, than an XSD is present for the selected product category; retrieving, by the portal, the at least one product attribute by parsing each element and sub-element in the XSD; displaying, by the portal, at least one screen including a plurality of product option questions, each product option question corresponding to at least one product attribute and corresponding a plurality of attribute values, said attribute values displaying drop-down menus and data fields, said data fields having formats including numeric, alpha-numeric and drop-down fields; displaying, by the portal, a primary screen, said primary screen including at least one of an additional information screen and an SVG screen to permit the user to enter data, and updating the primary screen after the user leaves each field; generating, by the portal, a real-time graphic image based on a user drawn SVG image on said SVG screen; adding, by the user, at least one image related to the product, said image selected from a stored graphic image and the real-time user drawn SVG image; answering, by the user, the product option questions; In response to clicking on a more info button, displaying additional information for a selected attribute; reiteratively updating, by the user, said answers and said SVG image; reiteratively validating input, by the portal, wherein said validating includes comparing the answers to data uploaded by said vendors in said XSD; cross-checking, by the portal, each sub-element and checking for errors per predefined rules, said validation including validating an acceptable range wherein said checks include specifying regular expression patterns according to other fields in the XSD; confirming, by the portal, that the selected options are available from the specified vendors, wherein said confirming step is based on review of a plurality of element definitions submitted by the plurality of vendors as XSD; computing, by the portal, based on the XSD for the product, a cost for the product, said cost including product selling price, shipping cost, taxes, discounts; formatting, by the portal, said answers into XML; writing, by the portal, the user answers in XML format into a single table and into portal history storage; displaying, by the portal, the list of vendors with price for a desired combination of elements for the product; selecting, by the user, at least one vendor to place the order to and assigning, by the E-commerce engine, an order number and displaying the request for quotes; transmitting, by the portal, a request for quotes to selected vendors, said request being based on the user answers; receiving by the portal, responses to the request for quotes (RFQ), said responses including quoted/order cost amount; formatting and displaying, by the portal, said responses from the vendors; selecting, by the user, a response; by the portal, liking the user to an e-commerce site of the vendor corresponding to the selected response to complete order payment.