Computer facilitated product selling system

Claim 1

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote device for sending and receiving data to and from the central processing unit; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that determines the identity of the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer, and credits an account owned by the selected third party retailer, wherein said third party retailer has no participation in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

Claim 2

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote device for sending and receiving data to and from the central processing unit; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that determines the identity of the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer, and credits an account owned by the selected third party retailer, wherein said third party retailer has no participation in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

Claim 15

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote input device for transferring data between the central processing unit and the consumer; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device; at least one remote output device for transferring information between the central processing unit and the supplier; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote output device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote output device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer and credits an account of the selected third party retailer and wherein said third party retailer is an entirely passive participant in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

Claim 16

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of ordered products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost profits associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote input device for transferring data between the central processing unit and the consumer; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device; at least one remote output device for transferring information between the central processing unit and the supplier; a communications link between the central processing unit and the at least one remote output device providing a conduit for electronic data to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote output device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and having addresses for a plurality of third party retailers for allowing the central processing unit to determine the geographically closest third party retailer to the consumer address, said central processing unit having running thereon at least one computer program that calculates the appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a selected third party retailer and credits an account of the selected third party retailer and wherein said third party retailer is an entirely passive participant in the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

Claim 18

A method of using a computer to effect the sale of products between a supplier and an end product user comprising the steps of: inputting the addresses of a plurality of authorized retailers of said products into a central processing unit for storage in a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit; receiving electronic order information from the user via a remote input device, the information containing at least identity of products desired for purchase and desired delivery address; comparing the desired delivery address to the plurality of addresses of authorized retailers stored in the data storage device; generating a list of all retailers within a predetermined geographic range of the delivery address; transmitting the list to the user and giving the user an option to choose a retailer from the list, or to allow the central processing unit to select a retailer; receiving the user's choice at the central processing unit; designating the retailer chosen by the user as the retailer to be compensated or, if the user did not choose a retailer, determining the geographically closest retailer to the delivery address and designating that retailer as a retailer to be compensated; sending the order information to the supplier such that the supplier may ship to the user the products desired for purchase; and, crediting the designated retailer for the transaction, the designated retailer having had no input into the transaction.

Claim 19

A method of using a computer to effect the sale of products between a supplier and an end product user comprising the steps of: inputting the addresses of a plurality of authorized retailers of said products into a central processing unit for storage in a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit; receiving electronic order information from the user via a remote input device, the information containing at least identity of products desired for purchase and desired delivery address; comparing the desired delivery address to the plurality of addresses of authorized retailers stored in the data storage device; generating a list of all retailers within a predetermined geographic range of the delivery address; transmitting the list to the user and giving the user an option to choose a retailer from the list, or to allow the central processing unit to select a retailer; receiving the user's choice at the central processing unit; designating the retailer chosen by the user as the retailer to be compensated or, if the user did not choose a retailer, determining the geographically closest retailer to the delivery address and designating that retailer as a retailer to be compensated; sending the order information to the supplier such that the supplier may ship to the user the products desired for purchase; and, crediting the designated retailer for the transaction, the designated retailer having had no input into the transaction.

Claim 23

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost opportunity costs associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote input device for receiving and transmitting communications in a form suitable to be received by the central processing unit, and for receiving communications from the central processing unit and displaying communications in a form understandable by the consumer; a communications path between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device allowing communications to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and containing address data pertaining to the geographical locations of at least one remote supplier and a plurality of remote sites; the central processing unit having the ability to access the data stored in the data storage device and determine the geographically closest remote supplier and geographically closest remote site to a given consumer address; the central processing unit further having the ability to create a class of remote sites which are located within a predetermined geographic proximity to a given consumer address; and, whereby said central processing unit includes a computer program that makes calculations to determine appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a third party retailer in the class of remote sites located within the predetermined geographic proximity and credits the third party retailer at the calculated compensation level, said third party retailer having no input into the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.

Claim 24

A system for routing electronic data to effect a sale of products from at least one supplier to a consumer having a consumer address and to provide compensation to a third party retailer for lost opportunity costs associated with said sale comprising: a central processing unit; at least one remote input device for receiving and transmitting communications in a form suitable to be received by the central processing unit, and for receiving communications from the central processing unit and displaying communications in a form understandable by the consumer; a communications path between the central processing unit and the at least one remote input device allowing communications to flow between the central processing unit and at least one remote input device; a data storage device operatively connected to the central processing unit and containing address data pertaining to the geographical locations of at least one remote supplier and a plurality of remote sites; the central processing unit having the ability to access the data stored in the data storage device and determine the geographically closest remote supplier and geographically closest remote site to a given consumer address; the central processing unit further having the ability to create a class of remote sites which are located within a predetermined geographic proximity to a given consumer address; and, whereby said central processing unit includes a computer program that makes calculations to determine appropriate compensation to be designated for receipt by a third party retailer in the class of remote sites located within the predetermined geographic proximity and credits the third party retailer at the calculated compensation level, said third party retailer having no input into the transaction between the supplier and the consumer.