Order placement and receiving system, order placement and receiving method, and order placement and receiving device.

Abstract

To provide an order management system, order management method, and order management device that minimizes the work required to update product information provided by each company without compromising the independence of each company's website. [Solution] An order placement and receiving system 1, method, and apparatus comprising at least an order placement and receiving device 10, a purchasing terminal 12, a retailer terminal 13, and a product information provision device 20, wherein the order placement and receiving device 10 comprises a unit management means for managing units, a unit linking means for managing linkages between units, a product management means for managing product registration information, and a purchasing management means for managing the purchase of products added to the cart, and further comprises a URL creation means for creating an input URL for adding products to the cart, and the product information provision device 20 comprises means for providing a product information page in which the input URL is embedded, and when the input URL is clicked from the purchasing terminal 12, the product is added to the cart.

Description

Technical Field

[0003]

[0001] The present invention relates to an order receiving and issuing system, an order receiving and issuing method, and an order receiving and issuing apparatus. In this specification, the term "product" shall include the provision of services.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the digitization of product catalogs has advanced, and many companies provide electronic catalogs on their own-operated websites. However, in industries that have a distribution route where customers purchase products from manufacturers through distributors, etc., there is a problem that the version of the catalog provided by the manufacturer differs from the version of the catalog provided by the distributor, etc. For example, indirect materials such as motors and bearings are aggregated from manufacturers that manufacture the indirect materials, etc., to specialized trading companies such as machine tools, and are supplied to large, medium-sized, and small manufacturing companies (purchasing companies) via distributors of machine tools, etc., that exist in each region.

[0003] The applicant, etc. proposed an electronic catalog providing apparatus in Patent Document 1, which includes a manufacturer catalog registration unit for registering an electronic catalog listing manufacturer products, a business report posting permission unit for setting permission to post business reports in the registered manufacturer catalog, a manufacturer catalog usage permission unit for setting permission to use the registered manufacturer catalog, a business report registration unit for registering a manufacturer catalog with business reports added to the registered manufacturer catalog as an electronic catalog managed by the trading company, a manufacturer catalog with business reports added usage permission unit for setting permission to use the registered manufacturer catalog with business reports added, and a usage setting unit for setting the selected electronic catalog to be viewable by the customers of the distributor. According to this apparatus, when the manufacturer and the trading company update their respective electronic catalogs, the electronic catalog posted by the distributor is also automatically updated, so it is unnecessary to update the electronic catalogs scattered among each user individually.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6463216 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] In a system where each company in the order placement and receiving route uses the same electronic catalog provisioning device, the problem of different versions of the electronic catalog is resolved. However, each company typically operates its own website, and when they update the product information on their website, they also need to update the product information on the electronic catalog provider. While it is conceivable to synchronize product information between the electronic catalog provider and each company's website, this would compromise the independence of each company's website.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide an order placement and receiving system, an order placement and receiving method, and an order placement and receiving device that can minimize the work required to update product information provided by each company without compromising the independence of each company's website. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is comprised of the following technical means. [1] Ordering and receiving device and 、 An order placement and receiving system comprising at least a product information provision device, wherein the order placement and receiving device is A website provider that provides a webpage for an order placement and receiving site, and buyers and sellers who use the order placement and receiving site. A unit management means for managing units that function as user accounts, The aforementioned buyer and seller Manage inter-unit coordination This enables transactions between units that have established a partnership. A means of unit linking, The aforementioned order placement site A product management system for managing product registration information, The aforementioned order placement site The system includes a purchasing management means for managing the purchase of items placed in a cart, and the order placement device or the product information provision device provides the products The aforementioned order placement siteThe product information providing device includes a URL creation means for creating an entry URL for adding items to a shopping cart, and provides a product information page in which the entry URL is embedded. Provided by the manufacturer's website Equipped with means, The registration information for the aforementioned product includes the URL of the product information page, said purchase The user account of the person linked to the seller's products When you click the URL for input embedded on the aforementioned product information page, The user account of the purchaser in question An order placement and receiving system characterized in that products linked to the aforementioned input URL are added to the shopping cart. [2] The unit management means is the purchasing User account of the person The first unit type used and the sales User account of the person The order placement and receiving system according to [1], characterized in that it has a function to assign a second unit type to be used to the unit, the unit linking means has a function to enable linking only between units of different unit types, and the purchasing management means has a function to enable transactions only between linked units. [3] The unit management means is a wholesale trading company User account The third unit type used and the manufacturer User account The order placement and receiving system according to [2], comprising: a function to assign a fourth unit type used in the above to the unit; a function to enable the first unit type to be linked only with the second unit type; a function to enable the second unit type to be linked only with the first unit type, the third unit type and the fourth unit type; a function to enable the third unit type to be linked only with the second unit type and the fourth unit type; a function to enable the fourth unit type to be linked only with the second unit type and the third unit type; a function to send a linkage request from the retailer unit to the manufacturer unit only when the retailer unit to which the second unit type is assigned has been linked and the wholesale trading company unit to which the third unit type is assigned has been linked with the manufacturer unit to which the fourth unit type is assigned; and a function to establish the linkage between the retailer unit and the manufacturer unit when the manufacturer unit accepts the linkage request. [4] When a first product whose price fluctuates and is sold by a first retailer is placed in the cart, the purchasing management means will determine the first The aforementioned first product sold by the retailer and The aforementioned Second dealer Sold by The order placement and receiving system according to [1], characterized in that it includes a function for obtaining a bulk quote for the first product. [5] The order placement and receiving system according to [1], characterized in that the registration information of the product includes a unique identification code associated with the product, and the input URL includes the identification code in its address.

[0008] [6] Computers Buyers and sellers who use the order placement site Steps to register a unit that functions as a user account, The aforementioned buyer and seller Between units of alignment This enables transactions between units that have established a partnership. The steps to take, The aforementioned order placement site Product registration information This includes product registration information, including the URL of the manufacturer's website provided by the product information provision device. Steps to manage, The aforementioned order placement site Steps to provide a shopping cart for purchasing products, and products The aforementioned order placement site The steps include creating an add-on URL for adding items to the cart, and The aforementioned buyer By user account The aforementioned information is embedded in the product information page of the manufacturer's website, which is linked to the product of the seller with whom the partnership has been established. When the input URL is clicked, Buyer An order placement and receiving method that includes the step of adding the product linked to the aforementioned input URL to the user account's shopping cart. An order placement and receiving device used in any of the order placement and receiving systems described in [7][1] to [5], Buyers and sellers using the aforementioned order placement site A unit management means for managing units that function as user accounts, The aforementioned buyer and seller Manage inter-unit coordination This enables transactions between units that have established a partnership. A means of unit linking, The aforementioned order placement site A product management system for managing product registration information, The aforementioned order placement site cart to A purchasing management system that manages the purchase of the goods that have been put into the market, and the goods The aforementioned URL for adding to cart of A device comprising a means for creating URLs. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an order receiving and placing system, an order receiving and placing method, and an order receiving and placing apparatus that can minimize the update work of product information provided by each company without impairing the independence of the website of each company.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing the order receiving and placing route of product purchase in the machine tool sales industry. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the order receiving and placing system of the embodiment example. [Figure 3] It is a flowchart showing the flow of initial setting and product purchase. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing the unit registration screen on the order receiving and placing site. [Figure 5] It is a diagram explaining the procurement relationship of product information in the embodiment example. [Figure 6] It is a diagram explaining the process in which the sales store and the purchasing company cooperate by the unit cooperation means. [Figure 7] (a) is an example of product information registered in the product database of the order receiving and placing server, and (b) is the product management screen used by the manufacturer of the embodiment example. [Figure 8] (a) A page showing a list of sales stores and manufacturers handling the product searched by the purchasing company, and (b) is the company details page of the manufacturer. [Figure 9] (a) is a page of the product list of the manufacturer, and (b) is a page showing the product information in the cart. [Figure 10] It is a diagram for explaining the URL for cart input embedded in the product introduction page provided on the manufacturer site. [Figure 11] It is a page for displaying a list of products put into the cart.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following will explain an example of an order placement and receiving system for products in the machinery and tool sales industry, conducted online.

[0012] <Structure> Figure 1 shows the order and delivery route for purchasing goods in a machine tool sales business as an example of an embodiment. Purchasing companies A, B, etc. are businesses that purchase parts from manufacturers α1, α2, etc. Purchasing companies are businesses (including sole proprietors) that have dealings with multiple distributors and assemble equipment by combining goods (indirect materials) such as motors, bearings, and cylinders purchased from multiple manufacturers. When purchasing companies can purchase a particular product from multiple distributors, they have a need to select the distributor with the best terms and conditions and conduct business with them.

[0013] Retailers A and B purchase goods from manufacturers through wholesalers α and β. Each wholesaler handles different manufacturers. Some manufacturers may do business with multiple wholesalers. The selling price of the goods is subject to dynamic pricing, which fluctuates depending on the purchasing company's purchase volume, purchase timing, etc. Once a partnership involving wholesalers is established, retailers can sell the manufacturer's goods to purchasing companies through the wholesalers.

[0014] Products manufactured by manufacturers α1, α2, etc. include some products with a single product type and a single product number, but there are also a considerable number of series products (hereinafter referred to as "series products") that have different product numbers depending on the accessories and specifications within the same series. When purchasing series products, it is not enough to specify only the product number; it is also necessary to specify the accessories and specifications when placing an order. Examples of product accessories include mounting brackets, mounting hardware, connectors, and high-capacity batteries. Examples of product specifications include the product's overall length, diameter, weight, material, load capacity, rotation speed, and pressure capacity. The selling price of a series of products varies depending on the accessories and specifications, as well as the quantity sold. Manufacturers produce printed catalogs to encourage purchases of their products, but they also publish electronic catalogs on their websites.

[0015] Figure 2 shows an example of an order placement and receiving system 1. As shown in Figure 2, the order placement and receiving system 1 according to this embodiment consists of an order placement and receiving server 10, an administrator terminal 11 used by the administrator of the order placement and receiving server 10, purchasing terminals 12A... used by purchasing companies, retailer terminals 13A... used by retailers, wholesale company terminals 14A... used by wholesalers, manufacturer terminals 15A... used by manufacturers, and a manufacturer server 20A.... Hereafter, the notation "A..." may be omitted and referred to as purchasing terminal 12, retailer terminal 13, etc. In the example shown in Figure 2, there is one order / receiving server 10 and one administrator terminal 11, but the configuration is not limited to this, and it is possible to have two or more of each.

[0016] The order placement server 10 is, for example, a PC server and is an order placement device having a processing unit, a storage unit that stores the order placement program and product database, and a communication unit that enables communication via the Internet 2. The order placement server 10 is equipped with a website provisioning means that provides a web page of the order placement site 30 that can be accessed via the Internet 2. The order placement program includes a unit management means 31, a unit linking means 32, a product management means 33, a purchasing management means 34, and a URL creation means 35. Further details will be described later.

[0017] The administrator terminal 11 is an information terminal used by the administrator of the order placement and receiving server 10. Purchasing terminals 12A... are information terminals used by purchasing company personnel to place orders for goods at the order placement site 30. Retailer terminals 13A... are information terminals used by retailers to place and receive orders for goods at the order placement site 30. Wholesaler terminals 14A... are information terminals used by wholesalers to place and receive orders for goods at the order placement site 30. Manufacturer terminals 15A... are information terminals used by manufacturers to access the order placement site 30 and the manufacturer site 40A....

[0018] Figure 2 discloses an example in which the administrator terminal 11, purchasing terminal 12A, retailer terminal 13A, wholesaler terminal 14A, and manufacturer terminal 15A are configured using personal computers (hereinafter referred to as "PCs"), but is not limited to this, and can be configured using any information terminal that can run a web browser, such as a smartphone or tablet.

[0019] The manufacturer server 20A... is, for example, a PC server and is a product information providing device having a processing unit, a storage unit that stores a product management program, and a communication unit that enables communication via the Internet 2. The manufacturer server 20A... is equipped with a website providing means that provides product information web pages (including electronic catalogs) via the Internet 2. The product management program includes a product management means 41 and a URL embedding means 42. Further details will be described later.

[0020] <How to use> Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the initial setup and product purchase process. In the following, users of the purchasing terminal 12, retailer terminal 13, wholesaler terminal 14, and manufacturer terminal 15 may be referred to as "users."

[0021] [STEP 101] The system administrator executes the unit management means 31 from the administrator terminal 11 to create user accounts for using the order placement site 30. In this embodiment, an account called a unit is assigned to each person who applies to use the order placement site 30. An administrator and staff members can be assigned to each unit. Initially, when a unit is assigned, there is only one administrator in the unit, but the administrator can register one or more staff members. The additional staff members can use the order placement server 10 within the scope of their assigned permissions. Furthermore, when setting up branches, subunits can be set up from units, and in addition to administrators, one or more staff members can be registered in each subunit.

[0022] Figure 4 shows the unit registration screen on the order placement / receiving site 30. In this embodiment, the "unit type" can be selected as "unidentified," "manufacturer," "trading company," and "distributor," but other unit types may also be provided. When registering each unit, the unit type is specified by the administrator terminal 11, which determines the business type attribute of the unit and the transaction relationship. Each registered unit is assigned a unique unit code. The unit code is assigned automatically. The unit code can be changed by the user as long as it does not duplicate.

[0023] [STEP 102] Registered users can conduct transactions by linking with other users. Users can only link with other users belonging to a specific unit type different from their own. However, it is also possible to restrict transactions even after linking and set it to only allow information exchange. Note that user linking may be performed after STEP 105 (product search).

[0024] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the order placement and receiving route in an example embodiment. The direction of the arrows indicates the direction of notification of the linkage request. For users whose unit type is set to "Manufacturer," transactions can be conducted with either a wholesale trading company with which linkage (1) has been established or a retailer with which linkage (2) has been established. For users whose unit type is set to "Wholesale Trading Company," transactions can be conducted with either a manufacturer with which linkage (1) has been established or a retailer with which linkage (3) has been established. For users whose unit type is set to "Retailer," transactions can be conducted with either a wholesale trading company with which linkage (3) has been established or a purchasing company with which linkage (4) has been established. For users whose unit type is set to "Unidentified," transactions can be conducted with all users with whom linkage has been established.

[0025] Figure 6 illustrates the process by which retailers and purchasing companies collaborate using the unit linkage means 32. If a purchasing company does not have a unit (account) in the order management system 1, an account is created by inviting the purchasing company from a distributor. Specifically, as shown in Figure 6(a), a distributor registered in the order management system 1 sends an invitation notification from the distributor terminal 13 to the purchasing company's email address. When the purchasing company that receives the email enters the necessary information for account creation into the application form, a unit for the purchasing company linked to the distributor that sent the invitation notification is created.

[0026] If a purchasing company has a unit (account) in the order management system 1, the purchasing company requests integration from the distributor. Specifically, as shown in Figure 6(b), when a purchasing company registered in the order management system 1 selects the distributor it wishes to integrate with from the purchasing terminal 12 and sends an integration request, an integration request notification is displayed on the screen of the distributor terminal 13 logged into the order management system 1. Once the distributor confirms the contents and approves the integration request, integration with the purchasing company's unit is established. Alternatively, the purchasing company may send an email containing the integration request to the distributor.

[0027] Once inter-unit collaboration between a purchasing company and a retailer is established using either method shown in Figures 6(a) and (b), the purchasing company can purchase products from manufacturers handled by the collaborating retailer. The purchasing company can collaborate with multiple retailers that handle the same product, enabling bulk quotation by the purchasing management system 34. Collaboration between purchasing companies and retailers can be established by linking them to the retailer's representatives registered by the administrator. For example, retailer representative A1 can be linked to purchasing company B1, and retailer representatives A2 and A3 can be linked to purchasing company B2. It is also possible to link and collaborate between subunits or representatives of a purchasing company and dealerships. For example, subunit X1 of the purchasing company can be linked to dealership A, and representative X2 of the purchasing company can be linked to dealerships B and C.

[0028] Figure 6 illustrates the collaboration method between purchasing companies and retailers, but the same process can be used for collaboration between retailers and wholesalers, and between wholesalers and manufacturers. Retailers can request collaboration from wholesalers, and upon approval by the wholesalers, the collaboration shown in (3) in Figure 5 can be established. Here, it is also possible to restrict transactions and limit the collaboration to information provision only. Wholesalers can request collaboration from manufacturers, and upon approval by the manufacturers, the collaboration shown in (1) in Figure 5 can be established. Here, it is also possible to restrict transactions and limit the collaboration to information provision only.

[0029] A retailer can request the collaboration described in (2) from a manufacturer whose collaboration as shown in (1) and (3) in Figure 5 has been established. In other words, a retailer cannot request the collaboration described in (2) if the collaboration as shown in (1) or (3) in Figure 5 has not been established. The collaboration described in (2) between the retailer and the manufacturer is established when the manufacturer approves the collaboration request. Once the collaboration described in (2) in Figure 5 is established, the shopping cart URL described later will become functional.

[0030] [STEP 103] The retailer registers product information by executing the product management means 33 from the retailer terminal 13. Figure 7(a) is an example of product information to be registered in the product database of the order server 10. The "System Code" field is where a unique identification code assigned to the order server 10 to identify the product is entered. The system code is automatically generated when product information is registered in the product database of the order server 10. The "Manufacturer Name" field is where the name of the manufacturer of the product is entered, either abbreviated or full name. The "Product Name" field is where the product name is entered, either abbreviated or full name. The "Model Number" field is where the model number corresponding to each product is entered. The "Product Code" field is where the code assigned internally by each manufacturer is entered. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the product code and the system code, and this is used to create a shopping cart URL to be embedded on each manufacturer's website. The "Price" field is where the "Retail Price" of each product is entered or left blank. If the "Price" field is left blank, "Inquire" will be displayed when adding to the cart.

[0031] In the "Manufacturer's Website" field, enter the URL of the manufacturer's website that introduces the product with the specified product name. The order placement system 1 does not have a page introducing product details on the order placement site 30. Instead, it links to a page on the manufacturer's website 40 that introduces product details, thus minimizing the amount of product information that needs to be registered. It is also possible to register information other than the example information in the product database.

[0032] Figure 7(b) shows the product management screen used by the manufacturer in the embodiment example. The product management screen displays a list of product information registered in the order management system 1. The "Secondary Use Permission" shown in the "Status" column indicates that the product information registered by the manufacturer can also be used by retailers. Clicking on the product name displayed in the "Product Name" column displays the product information page shown in Figure 7(c). The "Product No." column displays the system code that was automatically assigned when the product information was registered.

[0033] [STEP 104] When product information is registered, the URL creation means 35 automatically generates a cart addition URL for adding the product to the cart. An example of a cart addition URL is shown in the "Web Catalog URL" field on the page shown in Figure 7(c). The generated cart addition URL is embedded in the product description page on the manufacturer's site 40 by the URL embedding means 42 of the manufacturer's server 20. The embedding of the cart addition URL by the URL embedding means 42 may be performed automatically, or it may be performed by the administrator of the manufacturer's site 40 executing the URL embedding means 42. In this embodiment, when the URL creation means 35 generates a cart addition URL, the manufacturer's terminal 15A logged into the order placement site 30 is notified that a new cart addition URL has been generated, or an email is sent to the email address associated with the manufacturer's terminal 15A.

[0034] [STEP 105] The purchasing company accesses the order placement site 30 from the purchasing terminal 12 and searches for the products to be purchased. When the user enters information such as the manufacturer name, product name, and model number into the search field, the purchasing management means 34 displays the corresponding products in the search results display field. In this embodiment, two methods are provided: "search by company" and "search for products".

[0035] Figure 8(a) shows the search results page displayed when a purchasing company selects the "Find a Company" box and enters "Pliers" as the product name. Companies displayed as "Unapproved" in the "Purchase Partnership" column are potential retailers or other entities for new partnerships. Companies that have already partnered will display "Approved" in the "Purchase Partnership" column. Note that the button for requesting a partnership is only displayed on the retailer's company details page, not on the manufacturer's company details page.

[0036] When a purchasing company clicks on "m-manufacturer Co., Ltd.", the manufacturer's company details page shown in Figure 8(b) is displayed. Clicking on "Impact Wrench" located in the lower left corner of the same page displays the product introduction page shown in Figure 9(a) on the manufacturer's website 40A. In this embodiment, the page shown in Figure 8(b) is maintained while the page shown in Figure 9(a) is displayed in a separate tab. On the page shown in Figure 9(a), the model information has a URL for adding to the cart, which will be described later. Clicking on the model information transitions to the page showing the product information in the cart, as shown in Figure 9(b).

[0037] [STEP 106] Add the item to your cart using one of the following methods. (1) If a purchasing company can select products to purchase from the product information posted on the order placement site 30, it will add the products to its cart by clicking the "Add to Cart" button displayed on the order placement site 30 page. This is a typical e-commerce site method, and retailers can also set special prices for purchasing companies. (2) Purchasing companies can also add items to their cart on the order placement site 30 by clicking the cart addition URL embedded on the product page of the manufacturer's site 40. There is no need to return from the manufacturer's site 40 to the order placement site 30 to add items to the cart. On the page shown in Figure 9(a), the product can be added to the cart of the order placement system 1 by clicking the model information "SP-8141J" (see Figure 9(b)).

[0038] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating the cart addition URL embedded in a product description page on the manufacturer's website 40A. The product description page has a cart addition URL embedded to add the product to the cart on the order processing server 10. The cart addition URL is automatically generated by the URL creation means 35. In the example in Figure 10, the system code corresponding to the product is entered in the "xxxx" part of "pi=xxxx" in the URL address. When a purchasing company accesses the manufacturer's website 40A and clicks on the string or image with the cart addition URL embedded displayed on the product description page, the impact wrench (model: SP-8141J) is added to the cart on the order processing server 10. In Figure 9, the cart addition URL is embedded in "SP-8141J" displayed in the model field, but for example, a cart image with the cart addition URL embedded could be displayed on the product description page.

[0039] [STEP107] If you need a quote for the items you've added to your cart, proceed to STEP108 (Quote); otherwise, proceed to STEP109 (Order). [STEP 108] If a purchasing company needs to inquire about the price of an item in their cart, they can check the price of that item by clicking the "Request a Quote" button. Here, if multiple retailers carry the same model of product saved in the cart, it is possible to request quotes from all of those retailers at once.

[0040] Figure 11 shows a page displaying a list of items added to the shopping cart. In Figure 11, of the four items in the cart, items 1 and 2 in the "No." column are the same model but have a price listed as "Inquiry," and are sold by different vendors. In this state, clicking the "Request Quote" button will request quotes from both H Sales Co., Ltd. and Y Sales Co., Ltd. at once. Alternatively, clicking the "Place Order" button will allow you to place an order for all items in the cart at once. As shown in Figure 11, when purchasing the same product from different vendors, a prompt will appear asking the purchasing company to confirm ordering the same product.

[0041] [STEP 109] If all items have fixed prices, or if price confirmation is not required for items that require price inquiry, the purchasing company can place an order for all items in the cart by clicking the "Place Order" button. It is also possible to place an order after requesting a quote and determining the prices of the items, by removing some items from the order.

[0042] According to the order placement and receiving system 1 of the embodiment described above, since detailed product information is not registered on the order placement and receiving site 30, the problem of discrepancies between the version of the electronic catalog provided by the manufacturer and the version of the product information that can be referenced on the order placement and receiving site 30 can be resolved. Furthermore, since the manufacturer's website 40 has an embedded URL for adding items to the cart on the order placement site 30, when viewing the manufacturer's website 40, simply clicking the cart addition URL will allow users to add the desired items to their cart without having to return to the order placement site 30 page and perform the cart addition operation.

[0043] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments, and such modified or improved versions are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0044] For example, in the embodiment, the URL creation means 35 is provided on the order placement site 30 side, but the URL creation means may also be provided on the manufacturer site 40 side. In this case, the URL creation means 35 on the order placement site 30 side functions as a means (for example, a means for providing a CSV file) that receives inquiries from the manufacturer site 40 and passes on a system code corresponding to the product code.

[0045] <Modified URL for adding to cart> In this embodiment, only the system code was added as associated information to the URL for adding items to the cart, but product information other than the system code may also be passed. For example, the URL for adding items to the cart may include information such as "mk=manufacturer name", "pr=product name", "mo=model name", and "mi=manufacturer code" as an identification code. Here, price information should not be included in the identification code due to the risk of tampering, and it is desirable to handle the price field as "inquiry" and request a quote.

[0046] In this configuration, products can be moved to the cart in Order Management System 1 using a cart URL created based on product information listed in the manufacturer's website product catalog. Furthermore, since there is no need to link system codes with product information, it is no longer mandatory for manufacturers to register product information in Order Management System 1, and it becomes possible to operate by having manufacturers register and update product information only on their website.

[0047] Furthermore, the model name for products with series part numbers is determined on the manufacturer's server based on the product parameters (series part number, etc.) selected by the purchasing company. The manufacturer's server can systematically generate the shopping cart URL by inserting the model name created based on the parameters selected by the purchasing company into "mo=model name" in the shopping cart URL. The information to be included in the shopping cart URL, "mk=manufacturer name", "pr=product name", "mo=model name", and "mi=manufacturer code", can be set in advance by the manufacturer. As described above, the manufacturer can independently perform the necessary system modifications to integrate with the order placement and receiving system 1, thereby significantly reducing the burden of system integration. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 1…Order placement and receiving system 2…Internet 10…Order processing server (order processing device) 11…Administrator terminal 12…Purchasing terminals 13…Retail terminal 14…Wholesale trading company terminals 15…Manufacturer's terminal 20…Manufacturer server (product information provision device) 30… Order placement and receiving site 40... Manufacturer's website

Claims

1. An order placement and receiving system comprising at least an order placement and receiving device and a product information provision device, The order placement and receiving device, A means of providing a website that provides web pages for order placement and receiving sites, A unit management means for managing units that function as user accounts for buyers and sellers using the aforementioned order placement and receiving site, A unit linking means for managing the linking between the aforementioned buyer and seller units and enabling transactions between linked units, A product management means for managing the registration information of products on the aforementioned order placement site, The system includes a purchasing management means for managing the purchase of products added to the shopping cart of the aforementioned order placement site, The order placement / receiving device or the product information provision device, The system includes a URL creation means for creating an input URL for adding products to the shopping cart of the aforementioned order placement site, The product information providing device includes a manufacturer site providing means that provides a product information page in which the input URL is embedded, The registration information for the aforementioned product includes the URL of the page where the product information is posted. An order placement and receiving system characterized in that when the buyer clicks the input URL embedded in the product information page linked to the seller's product with which the buyer's user account has been linked, the product linked to the input URL is added to the shopping cart of the buyer's user account.

2. The unit management means has a function of assigning a first unit type used by the buyer's user account and a second unit type used by the seller's user account to the unit. The aforementioned unit linking means has a function that enables linking only between units of different unit types. The order placement and receiving system according to claim 1, characterized in that the purchasing management means has a function that enables transactions only between linked units.

3. The unit management means has a function to assign a third unit type used by the wholesaler's user account and a fourth unit type used by the manufacturer's user account to the unit. A function that allows the first unit type to be linked only with the second unit type, A function that allows the second unit type to be linked only with the first unit type, the third unit type, and the fourth unit type, A function that allows the third unit type to be linked only with the second unit type and the fourth unit type, A function that allows the fourth unit type to be linked only with the second unit type and the third unit type, A function to send a linkage request from the retailer unit to the manufacturer unit only when the retailer unit to which the second unit type is assigned is linked, and the wholesale trading company unit to which the third unit type is assigned is already linked with the manufacturer unit to which the fourth unit type is assigned. When the aforementioned manufacturer unit accepts the aforementioned cooperation request, a function is provided to establish cooperation between the aforementioned dealer unit and the aforementioned manufacturer unit, The order placement and receiving system according to claim 2, characterized by comprising the following features.

4. The ordering and receiving system according to claim 1, characterized in that the purchasing management means includes a function to provide a bulk quote for the first product sold by the first retailer and the first product sold by the second retailer when the first product sold by the first retailer is added to the cart along with the first product sold by the first retailer.

5. The registration information for the aforementioned product includes a unique identification code associated with the product. The order placement and receiving system according to claim 1, characterized in that the input URL includes the identification code within the address.

6. Computers Steps include registering units that function as user accounts for buyers and sellers using the order placement site, The steps include coordinating the purchaser and seller units and enabling transactions between the units that have established the coordination, The steps include managing product registration information for the aforementioned order placement site, which includes the URL of the manufacturer's website provided by the product information provision device, The steps include providing a shopping cart for purchasing products from the aforementioned order placement site, The steps include creating an input URL for adding products to the shopping cart of the aforementioned order placement site, When the aforementioned buyer's user account clicks the aforementioned input URL embedded in the product information page of the manufacturer's website, which is linked to the seller's product with which the linkage has been established, the product linked to the aforementioned input URL is added to the shopping cart of the buyer's user account. A method for placing and receiving orders.

7. An order placement and receiving device used in the order placement and receiving system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, A unit management means for managing units that function as user accounts for buyers and sellers using the aforementioned order placement and receiving site, A unit linking means for managing the linking between the aforementioned buyer and seller units and enabling transactions between linked units, A product management means for managing the registration information of products on the aforementioned order placement site, A purchasing management means for managing the purchase of products added to the shopping cart of the aforementioned order placement site, A device comprising: a URL creation means for creating an input URL for adding products to the cart.

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