E-Commerce Broker System for Merchant Bidding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic commerce systems are inconvenient for customers as they require establishing multiple accounts with merchants, researching for the best price and merchant reliability, and navigating complex purchasing processes, which deters purchases from smaller or unknown merchants and increases customer effort.
Innovation Solution
An electronic commerce system that includes a purchase request module, pricing module, transaction module, bid management module, and merchant selection module, allowing customers to request purchases with centralized management by a broker that negotiates with merchants, accepts bids, and selects the best merchant based on criteria like price, quality, and reliability, simplifying the purchasing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If customers establish separate accounts with multiple merchants and conduct direct negotiations, then they can access more merchants and potentially better prices, but the complexity of the purchasing process increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a broker as an intermediary entity that mediates between customers and multiple merchants. The broker consolidates product information from various merchants, manages the bidding process, and handles transaction coordination, thereby reducing the complexity faced by customers while maintaining access to multiple merchants through a single interface
2Reliability
If customers research multiple merchants to find the best price and most reliable merchant, then they can make more informed purchasing decisions, but the time required for the purchasing process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The broker performs preliminary actions by pre-collecting and consolidating product information, pricing, and merchant reliability data from multiple merchants before the customer makes a purchasing decision. This pre-processing of information eliminates the need for customers to conduct time-consuming research across multiple merchant websites independently
3Adaptability or versatility
If smaller or unknown merchants want to compete with larger merchants, then market competition increases and customers have more options, but these merchants lack the brand recognition and trust to attract customers
Solution Approach 1:
The broker acts as a trusted intermediary that smaller or unknown merchants can leverage to gain customer trust. By operating through the broker's platform with consolidated billing and transaction management, these merchants benefit from the broker's established reputation and reliability infrastructure, allowing them to compete more effectively with larger merchants
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic commerce system includes a broker that enables customers to purchase an item from a merchant, where one or more merchants provide bids to sell the item to the customer. In one embodiment, the broker can sell the item to the customer for a defined price determined based on pricing criteria, and then accept bids from merchants offering the item for sale to select a merchant to provide the item based on selection criteria. In another embodiment, the bidding is done in real time before the item is sold to the customer. The broker selects a merchant out of the merchants providing bids, and the broker quotes a price to the customer. Once the customer has agreed to pay the price, the broker can sell the item to the customer. The broker manages the completion of the transaction and payment of the merchant.