Abstract:
A system allows a product supplier to maintain a distributor organization which provides low transaction costs throughout the sales chain. The system provides each distributor with a subdomain web site available to consumers within a domain controlled by a product supplier server. The distributor website provides a means for providing information to, and taking orders from, consumers wishing to buy the product supplier products. The distributor website is based on a modifiable website template provided by the product supplier and is customizable to a certain extent whereby the distributor may choose options to modify the website. The distributor website is connected to a product supplier computer whereby product supplier business software and hardware maintain distributor information and provide transactional functions for the commercial chain, such as order taking, taxation, collection, and product shipping which can be performed directly by the product supplier. The distributor may track sales and request commission payments through a secure area of the subdomain website.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     Increasingly, what were once niche markets within the sphere of commercial sales have been consolidated into large specialty retailer chains. The large specialty retailer chains are also challenged by the large mass market discount chains. For example, in the field of office supplies, there are specialty retailer chains such as Office Max, Office Depot, and Staples. Large mass market discount chains such as Walmart, Target, and the like may further challenge the office supplies retail niche with large offerings of office supplies at low prices.  
         [0002]     The smaller volume, customer-interaction oriented retailer or distributor thus may have to compete with these large retail chains on price even though the smaller volume distributor may offer superior specialty products and an enhanced level of customer service. In order to stay in business, a product supplier, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or the like, and the distributors for the product supplier, need to minimize transaction costs for each small volume transaction at each level of the supply chain, i.e., between distributor and product supplier, and between distributor and end user or consumer. It would thus be desirable if the transaction costs could be lessened for an entire distributor organization through intelligent use of electronic business methods. However, not all small volume distributors are willing or able to gain the expertise and absorb the costs of maintaining an electronic commerce outlet, such as a web-site, merely to compete on a small scale with the large retail chains.  
         [0003]     Thus, there is a need for product suppliers to encourage specialty distributor participation in electronic commerce such as web sales or the like to gain the efficiencies for all parties in the commercial chain.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     To answer the need for the reduction in transaction costs necessary to compete in a large-retailer dominated market, the present invention provides a system by which the niche or specialty product supplier can maintain a distributor organization with reduced transaction costs. Aspects of the present invention offer viable electronic commerce options for the distributors at low cost. A system of subdomain electronic commerce sites, sometimes referred to herein as “websites” for ease of explanation, with central control by the product supplier are offered free to the distributor while maintaining low cost to the product supplier. While presented for exemplary purposes in the sphere of Internet or world wide web network environments, it will be appreciated that private networks, sub-networks, or the like may be utilized as necessary for all or part of the commercial transaction chain.  
         [0005]     According to certain aspects of the present invention, a product supplier such as an OEM manufacturer or the like, can maintain a distributor network which allows each distributor, also sometimes referred to as a reseller or dealer, to have an electronic commerce site within the product supplier domain. The product supplier domain server provides for subdomain distributor websites based on a modifiable template to provide for transactions between the distributor and his customers, also sometimes called end users or consumers, wishing to buy the product supplier products. The distributor website is modifiable or customizable to a certain extent whereby the distributor may choose, e.g., which products to sell on the web site, which mark-ups are to be added to the offered products, what additional information is to be added into defined spaces of the website, and how to customize the look and feel of the website within parameters set by the product supplier. Many such items may be customized within the parameters defined by the product supplier.  
         [0006]     The distributor subdomain electronic commerce site can be connected to various product supplier business software applications and hardware, to provide for the transactional functions of the commercial chain, e.g., distributor databases for distributor organization management, automation for product order fulfillment functions, such as order taking, taxation, collection, and product shipping to be fulfilled by the product supplier, and commission accounting and tracking. The distributor may then request or automatically receive payment from the product supplier for the transactions conducted through the distributor website. Thus, the distributor is free to concentrate on the human interaction aspects of the distributor&#39;s business. The product supplier, by providing the distributor subdomain electronic commerce sites in template form within the product supplier domain, is able to efficiently provide its distributors with such websites and connect the distributor websites to the business or transactional functionalities provided by the product supplier.  
         [0007]     Functionally, all information at the distributor website may be interconnected through the product supplier domain server to the product supplier business software and hardware to maintain distributor information and to provide for transactional functions of the commercial chain. The domain server and the product supplier computer may reside in the same equipment pieces or be distributed between various equipment pieces as would be understood by those of skill in the art.  
         [0008]     Discussion of hardware and software modules or applications will thus be given herein with respect to specific functional tasks or task groupings that are in some cases arbitrarily assigned to the specific modules or applications for explanatory purposes. It will be appreciated by the person having ordinary skill in the art that aspects of the present invention may be arranged in a variety of ways, or that functional tasks may be grouped according to other nomenclature or architecture than is used herein without doing violence to the spirit of the present invention.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  shows aspects of the present invention in diagram form.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating various aspects of the distributor organization operation.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  shows aspects of the present invention in diagram form.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating further aspects of the distributor organization operation. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a simplified block diagram of basic components for a distributor organization  21  includes an outer ring  22  representing the product supplier domain server  23  which controls and contains the distributor or dealer subdomain sites, collectively  25 . An inner circle  26  represents the product supplier computer  27  containing the business software applications necessary for the transactional aspects of the commercial chain. The business software applications within the product supplier computer  27  are subdivided in  FIG. 1 , by way of example, into three categories including dealer transactions  29 , consumer transactions  31 , and order fulfillment  33 , as further explained below. The product supplier computer  27  and the product supplier domain server  23  may comprise the same computer unit or any type or amount of hardware, e.g. CPUs, databases, communications lines, memory units, etc., necessary to complete the desired functionality of the system to which the present invention is put. Physical arrangement of such components and their interactive operability is considered to be within the ordinary skill in the art. The product supplier computer  27  and the product supplier domain server  23  will be referred to herein as “under the control of” of the product supplier, meaning that the product supplier does not necessarily need to literally own or possess the physical systems but merely needs to be able to direct their functioning in the desired manner.  
         [0014]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a flow chart of the distributor organization operation starts with initial set up  35  of the distributor function. As indicated, the distributor  37  will submit a request as at  39  for a subdomain name and attendant electronic commerce site, also sometimes referred to as a “web site” for simplicity, to the product supplier, which controls the upper level domain  23  containing the subdomain web sites  25  ( FIG. 1 ). The distributor will submit all identification details necessary for, or desired by, the product supplier to establish the distributor&#39;s business qualifications and to track and conduct business between the distributor and the product supplier. At or about this time the distributor and product supplier may further execute a contract as at  41  governing the terms of their relationship. The distributor  37  will also supply all necessary identifying information as at  43  to the product supplier  47  by any necessary or desired means  45  whether electronic or hard copy. In the exemplary flow chart, three different units of the product supplier will then verify as at  49  the distributor information for accuracy and completeness, namely an account representative  51  interfacing with the distributor who may enter the distributor information into a distributor database for informational purposes, the central accounting function  53  of the product supplier which may enter the distributor information into all business software applications necessary to administer all transactional matters with the distributor, and the website designer or administrator  55  who may enter the distributor information into the domain server  23  ( FIG. 1 ) as necessary to initially create the distributor&#39;s subdomain website  25 . Notice may then be sent as at  57 , preferably electronically such as by email, to the distributor, that a subdomain website is available for the distributor. Any additional information or material as necessary or desired may then be sent as at  59  from the product supplier  47  to the distributor  37  by the appropriate method. For example, sales brochures, business cards, product samples or the like may be shipped to the distributor.  
         [0015]     Referring to the second column, or phase, of the flow chart of  FIG. 2 , the distributor will then be able to access a secure area of his modifiable personal subdomain website via a password  61  supplied by the product supplier. The distributor&#39;s personal subdomain website will be in the form of a modifiable template and will be set up as at  63  to contain basic indicia identifying the distributor, such as logos, name, business address, contact information, etc., as input to the subdomain website  25  during initial set up by the product supplier. The distributor  37 , when in the secure area, can then verify the information as at  65  on the modifiable website; and further modify the website template, e.g., by selecting or deselecting which of the product supplier products will be offered for sale through the distributor website as at  67 , by adding individualized promotional copy and art work as at  69 , and by modifying the product markup percentage as at  71  on the product supplier products offered to determine listed selling prices on the website. The website is then ready to be made publicly available to the end users or customers of the distributor as at  73 .  
         [0016]     Referring also to  FIG. 3  and to the third column, or phase, of the flow chart of  FIG. 2 , the end users or customers, collectively  75 , will then be able to access the dealer or distributor subdomain website  25  via the subdomain network identifier, or address, which may, e.g., be a URL with the upper domain  23  of the product supplier in the address, over the world wide web. The customer  75  may then select products  77  offered over the dealer sites  25 . The customer  75  will then supply billing and shipping information  79  such as credit card information and the address to which the product is to be shipped. The business software applications of the product supplier provided to enable order fulfillment  33  may then confirm customer payment such as by verifying the customer credit information is valid, i.e., confirming that the consumer&#39;s credit is suitable for completing the transaction as at  81 , and initiate check out procedures as at  82  including notifying the end user  75  that his credit card has been charged as at  83  such as by an email as at  85 . An email will also be sent as at  87  to the distributor  37 , e.g., to the secure area of his subdomain, as notification that sales activity has taken place through his subdomain  25 . Further, the order information will be sent as at  89  to the order processing department of the product supplier  47  and will further be sent to the product supplier accounting function as at  91  to enable recordation and eventual payment to the dealer  37  of his commission on the sale.  
         [0017]     Referring to the flow chart of  FIG. 4 , the order information will arrive at the order processing department of the product supplier  47 , be verified as at  92 , and a “pick slip” will be generated as at  93  to enable the shipping department  94  to select the products ordered by the end user  75 . That is, the order will be picked as at  95 , then packed as at  97 , by the product supplier shipping department, verified as at  98 , appropriately addressed as at  99 , and delivery responsibility will be assumed by a shipping company as at  101 . The person having ordinary skill in the art will realize that various steps prior to physical shipping may be fully automated in certain business environments. Typically, a third party shipper will have package tracking software as at  100  and the end user&#39;s shipment will be assigned a tracking number which can be recorded as at  102  into the product supplier business software applications for forwarding to the end user via email  103 . Concurrently, the product supplier business software applications may post the relevant end user order information to the secure area of the distributor&#39;s subdomain website  25  ( FIG. 1 ) if this has not been previously done.  
         [0018]     Referring to the third column, or phase, of the flow chart of  FIG. 4 , the distributor  37  may enter as at  105  the secure area of his subdomain website through use of his password  61 . Contained in the secure area is a page with an account of the distributor&#39;s commissions  107 . The distributor may then request payment as at  109  of his commissions through a form accessed through the commissions page. The product supplier may limit the amount or frequency of the payment requests if desired. Once the payment request has been verified and confirmed as at  111  by the distributor, a responsive email as at  113  will inform the distributor that his request has been received and notification of the request will be sent as at  115  to the product supplier accounting function for processing. Various manual or automatic procedures, including redundancy checks and safeguards as at  116 , distributor database management as at  118  and the like may be performed by the product supplier at this stage to process the check request as at  117 , cut the check to the distributor as at  119  and have it mailed as at  121 .  
         [0019]     Referring again to  FIG. 3 , it will thus be seen that the product supplier domain server  23  and the parent computer  27  can enable and control the operation of the distributor subdomain websites  25  through which electronic commerce may be conducted with the distributor&#39;s customers, collectively  75 . As shown, Dealer Site  2 , i.e., the subdomain site for a distributor identified as “ 2 ”, will accept requests for Distributor  2 &#39;s customers, C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 . Dealer Site  5 , i.e., the subdomain site for a distributor identified as “5”, will accept requests for Distributor  5 &#39;s customers, C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 . The dealers or potential dealers  123  may request dealer status and a subdomain website from the product supplier through a product supplier web site  125  which may be made available only to qualified persons. The product supplier computer  27  may be equipped with hardware and software functionality to perform all dealer communication and tracking functions, as at  127 , through any of various commercially available business or enterprise software packages suitable for the product supplier business functionalities. For example, such business applications software may be available from PeopleSoft of Pleasanton, Calif.; J. D. Edwards of Denver, Colo., Cognos of Ottawa, ON; or Datex, Corporation of Clearwater, Fla. Dealer site set up and maintenance functionality,  129 , will control the management of the templated subdomains which are modifiable at dealer request. The dealer website functionalities and the business software functionalities will be linked as necessary for the efficient management of the virtual dealer network. Further major functional groupings of the business software package may include order fulfillment functionalities  131  for efficient processing of customer orders received through the dealer websites and the dealer notification and payment functionalities  133  necessary for communication with, and payment to, the dealers.  
         [0020]     While certain exemplary embodiments have been put forth to illustrate the present invention, these embodiments are not to be taken as limiting to the spirit or scope of the present invention which is defined by the appended claims.