System for combining on-line commerce with retail stores

Claim 2

1 . A method for providing on-line purchasing of products that are retrieved by a consumer from a conventional store, the method comprising the steps of: (1) integrating inventory of a plurality of conventional stores with an on-line site where purchases can be made by the consumer; (2) enabling the consumer to select at least one product from the on-line site; (3) identifying a geographic location near which the consumer desires to pick up the at least one product; (4) providing a list of the plurality of conventional stores that are within a selectable distance of the geographic location; (5) enabling the consumer to select one of the plurality of conventional stores from the list where the at least one product will be held for the consumer; (6) enabling the consumer to complete a purchase of the at least one product at the on-line site; and (7) modifying the inventory of the selected one of the plurality of conventional stores to reflect the purchase made by the consumer.

Claim 3

2 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) providing a Messaging Infrastructure for controlling operation of the inventory integration, wherein the Messaging Infrastructure is operated at a first site; (2) providing a web site on the world wide web as the on-line site where the consumer makes a purchase, wherein the web site is operated at a second site; and (3) synchronizing order purchase and master index search services between the Messaging Infrastructure and the web site.

Claim 4

3 . The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) providing an order database that receives order information from the web site; (2) transmitting an order from the order database to an order monitor, wherein the order monitor can provide a status update to the order database; and (3) transmitting the order from the order monitor to the messaging infrastructure to enable processing of the orders.

Claim 5

4 . The method as defined in claim 3 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) queueing the order received from the order monitor at the messaging infrastructure, wherein the queues include Order to Central, Order to Store, Status to Central, Status to Monitor, Audit to Master, and Inventory to Master; and (2) transmitting the order from the messaging infrastructure to a Store Order Processor, wherein the Store Order Processor can poll for orders, or receive orders sent by the messaging infrastructure.

Claim 6

5 . The method as defined in claim 4 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a plurality of Store Order Processors, one for each of the plurality of conventional stores.

Claim 7

6 . The method as defined in claim 5 wherein the method further comprises the step of generating a status of the order by the Store Order Processor, wherein the status includes a) order has been submitted, b) order has been received, c) order has been filled, and d) order has been canceled.

Claim 8

7 . The method as defined in claim 6 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) transmitting the order from the Store Order Processor to a File System; (2) transmitting the order from the File System to a Point of Sale system (POS); and (3) wherein the File System is short term memory for holding an order while the order is being filled, and wherein the POS can request the order, or the File System can send the order to the POS without the order being requested.

Claim 9

8 . The method as defined in claim 7 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) transmitting status information from the web site to the consumer; (2) transmitting status information from the Messaging Infrastructure to the web site; (3) transmitting status information from the Store Order Processor to the Messaging Infrastructure; (4) transmitting status information from the File System to the Store Order Processor; and (5) transmitting status information from the POS to the File System, wherein transmission of status information enables the consumer to be apprized of progress of the order.

Claim 10

9 . The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) providing a Master Index Database in order to keep track of the inventory located at the plurality of conventional stores; and (2) providing a Host Database at each of the plurality of conventional stores, wherein the Host Database updates the Master Index Database at specified intervals, wherein the Host Database is updated by the POS.

Claim 11

10 . The method as defined in claim 9 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) providing a Master Order Processor for communicating information regarding orders between the Messaging Infrastructure and the Master Index Database, wherein the Master Order Processor performs the function of synchronizing information in the Master Index Database with temporary being stored by the Messaging Infrastructure; (2) providing a Master Index Search Processor for communicating information regarding product searches between the Messaging Infrastructure and the Master Index Database, wherein the Master Index Search Processor enables the Master Index Database to be searched for products; (3) providing a Master Index Administrative Interface to the Master Index Database in order to perform administrative tasks; and (4) providing a Data Feed between the Host Database and the Master Index Database in order to receive inventory updates.

Claim 12

11 . The method as defined in claim 10 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) updating the Master Index Database with inventory information from the Host Database at a selectable interval; (2) transmitting inventory information in the form of changes made to inventory in the Host Database.

Claim 13

12 . The method as defined in claim 10 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) updating the Master Index Database with inventory information from the Host Database at a selectable interval; and (2) transmitting inventory information in the form of a complete copy of the Host Database.

Claim 14

13 . The method as defined in claim 10 wherein the method further comprises the step of selecting a method of updating the Master Index Database by balancing overhead demands on the system versus accuracy of inventory information.

Claim 15

14 . The method as defined in claim 13 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) setting an inventory threshold for each product in inventory that is available for on-line purchase at the web site; (2) monitoring inventory; and (3) removing a product from the web site as available for purchase whenever inventory of the product drops below the inventory threshold for that product.

Claim 16

15 . The method as defined in claim 14 wherein the method further comprises the step of enabling each of the plurality of conventional stores to set a unique inventory threshold for each of the products available for on-line purchase, to thereby minimize inventory while maximizing profitability.

Claim 17

16 . The method as defined in claim 15 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) determining which of the plurality of conventional stores is selected by the consumer where the consumer will go to pick up the purchased product; and (2) utilizing an Order Persist File or a Persistence Database to record this information.

Claim 18

17 . The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing options to the consumer regarding how to select which of the plurality of conventional stores to visit to pick up the purchased product.

Claim 19

18 . The method as defined in claim 17 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that carry a desired product, regardless of availability of the desired product.

Claim 20

19 . The method as defined in claim 18 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that carry the desired product and currently have the product in inventory.

Claim 21

20 . The method as defined in claim 19 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that are located within a specific geographical region as defined by zip code, city, state, or radius around a specific zip code.

Claim 22

21 . The method as defined in claim 20 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) notifying a sales person at a selected conventional store utilizing the POS that a product has been selected for purchase and pickup by the consumer; (2) picking the product from inventory; and (3) sending a status message to the Messaging Infrastructure that the product has been picked.

Claim 23

22 . The method as defined in claim 21 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) generating a message to the consumer that the product is ready for pick up at the selected conventional store; and (2) transmitting the message to the consumer via e-mail or an update to a web page that is accessible by the consumer.

Claim 24

23 . The method as defined in claim 22 wherein the method further comprises the step of allocating a sale to a specific conventional store when an on-line purchase is performed and a product is picked up from the specific conventional store, to thereby more accurately determine sales for each of the plurality of conventional stores.

Claim 25

24 . A method for providing on-line purchasing of products that are delivered to a consumer from a conventional store, the method comprising the steps of: (1) integrating inventory of a plurality of conventional stores with an on-line site where purchases can be made by the consumer; (2) enabling the consumer to select at least one product from the on-line site; (3) identifying a geographic location near which the consumer desires the at least one product be delivered from; (4) providing a list of the plurality of conventional stores that are within a selectable distance of the geographic location; (5) enabling the consumer to select one of the plurality of conventional stores from the list from which the at least one product will be delivered to the consumer; (6) enabling the consumer to complete a purchase of the at least one product at the on-line site; and (7) modifying the inventory of the selected one of the plurality of conventional stores to reflect the purchase made by and delivered to the consumer.

Claim 26

24 . A method for providing on-line purchasing of products that are delivered to a consumer from a conventional store, the method comprising the steps of: (1) integrating inventory of a plurality of conventional stores with an on-line site where purchases can be made by the consumer; (2) enabling the consumer to select at least one product from the on-line site; (3) identifying a geographic location near which the consumer desires the at least one product be delivered from; (4) providing a list of the plurality of conventional stores that are within a selectable distance of the geographic location; (5) enabling the consumer to select one of the plurality of conventional stores from the list from which the at least one product will be delivered to the consumer; (6) enabling the consumer to complete a purchase of the at least one product at the on-line site; and (7) modifying the inventory of the selected one of the plurality of conventional stores to reflect the purchase made by and delivered to the consumer.

Claim 27

25 . A method for coordinating sales from an on-line purchase with inventory at a conventional store, the method comprising the steps of: (1) providing on-line purchasing of a product at a web site; and (2) enabling a consumer to pick up the product purchased on-line at a conventional store selected by the consumer.

Claim 28

25 . A method for coordinating sales from an on-line purchase with inventory at a conventional store, the method comprising the steps of: (1) providing on-line purchasing of a product at a web site; and (2) enabling a consumer to pick up the product purchased on-line at a conventional store selected by the consumer.

Claim 29

26 . The method as defined in claim 25 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) providing a Master Index Database that includes inventory from a plurality of conventional stores; and (2) enabling the consumer to purchase products that are listed in the inventory.

Claim 30

27 . The method as defined in claim 26 wherein the method further comprises the steps of: (1) receiving updated inventory lists from the plurality of conventional stores at the Master Index Database, to thereby provide an accurate inventory to the on-line consumer; and (2) updating the Master Index Database at a selectable rate in order to balance the interests of overhead versus accuracy of the Master Index Database.

Claim 31

28 . The method as defined in claim 27 wherein the method further comprises the steps of providing options to the consumer regarding how to select which of the plurality of conventional stores to visit to pick up the purchased product.

Claim 32

29 . The method as defined in claim 28 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that carry a desired product, regardless of availability of the desired product.

Claim 33

30 . The method as defined in claim 28 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that carry the desired product and currently have the product in inventory.

Claim 34

31 . The method as defined in claim 28 wherein the method further comprises the step of providing a list of conventional stores that are located within a specific geographical region as defined by zip code, city, state, or radius around a specific zip code.