Patent ID: 7197478

Claim:
A method of electronically executing a commercial transaction between a customer and a vendor, the method comprising the steps of: preconfiguring a commercial transaction, wherein a vendor system associates information required for processing the commercial transaction with an Internet-protocol-based transaction identification code which is comprised of a network address associated with the vendor, and an encoded transaction parameter with which a preconfigured commercial transaction is uniquely associated; storing the transaction identifier within a storage system implemented by an electronic device associated with the customer; allowing the customer to append a special code onto the end of the transaction identification code in order to invoke a desired response from the vendor system; automatically initiating contact with a vendor system, accessing the stored transaction identification code, formatting the transaction identification code for transmission, and transmitting the transaction identification code from the customer to the vendor system via a communications link, where the initiating, accessing, formatting, and transmitting is performed automatically upon the customer issuing a single command; decoding the transaction parameter by the vendor system; identifying a preconfigured commercial transaction associated with the transaction identifier by the vendor system; and executing the preconfigured commercial transaction in accordance with the special code appended to the end of said transaction identifier.