Patent ID: 7480628

Claim:
A system for conducting multiple-item search queries in a system for engaging in electronic commerce, comprising: one or more central processing units; storage means communicating with said one or more central processing units containing one or more databases with information regarding suppliers and supplier inventories of products/services available for purchase; one or more servers providing for Internet-based access and use of said system; one or more software applications enabling buyers of products/services seeking to complete a purchase including multiple different types and quantities of products/services via electronic commerce to enter a single search query including each of said types of said multiple products/services sought to be purchased and then run a series of individual product/service searches for each of said multiple products/services in said query on said information regarding suppliers and supplier inventories of products/services available for purchasing, and render as search results a ranked listing of one or more suppliers that have inventory for the greatest number of said types of said multiple products/services sought to be purchased, and the ranked listing of one or more suppliers indicating the types and quantities of said products/services in the inventory of each of said one or more suppliers.