Patent ID: 7398226

Claim:
A method for facilitating a purchase transaction, the method comprising, receiving from a consumer a retailer item identifier, wherein said retailer item identifier is captured by a terminal of said consumer at a retailer location; receiving from said consumer a search criteria related to said retailer item identifier, wherein said search criteria is at least one of: an item price, an item quantity, a second retailer, a second retailer location, a consumer rating, lowest price, and a delivery time; associating said retailer item identifier with a first manufacturer item identifier directly corresponding to said retail item identifier; conducting a first search for said first manufacturer item identifier across a plurality of retailers, wherein said first search is based on said search criteria; associating said retail item identifier with a second manufacturer item identifier indirectly corresponding to said retail item identifier when said first search does not return any of said plurality of retailers directly corresponding to said first manufacturer item identifier; conducting a second search for said second manufacturer item identifier across said plurality of retailers when said first search does not return any of said plurality of retailers directly corresponding to said manufacturer item identifier, wherein said second search is based on said search criteria; and, facilitating a purchase transaction between said consumer and one of said plurality of retailers.