Virtual Showroom Product Information Control System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Businesses face challenges in controlling product information displayed through electronic media, leading to loss of sales due to price shopping and difficulty in highlighting product features over price, as well as inability to account for local market conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for controlling product information, allowing resellers to input price controls and account level selections, enabling the display of product information without prices or with customized pricing, and accommodating different market conditions through a hierarchical control system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If product information including price is displayed on a website, then potential purchasers can obtain complete product information, but purchasers can price shop and lose sales to other businesses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different users to see different price information. The system determines user status (e.g., whether a user is a reseller or end customer) and selectively displays price information accordingly. This resolves the contradiction by providing complete information to authorized users while hiding price information from users who would enable price shopping, thus maintaining sales retention without losing information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the displayed product information changeable based on user interactions and status. The system dynamically adjusts what information is visible - showing full details including price to authenticated resellers while filtering out price information from end customers or unauthenticated users. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain both information completeness for authorized users and sales protection from price shopping.
2Ease of operation
If a business does not control the display of price information, then the business cannot encourage purchasers to focus on product features, but displaying price information enables price shopping
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by selectively displaying price information based on user status. For reseller users, complete product information including prices is displayed, enabling them to focus on product features and provide accurate pricing to their own customers. For end customer users, price information is hidden, encouraging them to focus on product features rather than comparing prices across different businesses. This resolves the contradiction by providing feature-focused shopping experience to end customers while maintaining operational ease for resellers.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a business does not control the display of product information, then the business cannot display different prices in different locations, but controlling information display requires system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling reseller users to independently control and customize the product information they display to their own customers. The system provides resellers with tools to set their own pricing, select which products to display, and configure local market conditions without requiring complex centralized management. This resolves the contradiction by providing versatile localized pricing capability through simple, user-friendly interfaces that resellers can operate independently, avoiding the need for complex overall system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, computer readable media, and systems including program instructions are provided for use with virtual product showrooms. A method embodiment includes providing a website with product information for a number of products offered by a distributor to a reseller. The embodiment also includes receiving a price control input, for a particular product from among the number of products, from the reseller, through the website. The embodiment further includes displaying product information, for the particular product, on the website, to a potential purchaser, based on the price control input.