Abstract: A computer implemented on-line system service manages an exchange between consumers and vendors located throughout different geographic locations. The on-line system service is particularly useful for a restaurant delivery and take-out environment. The on-line system service manages the exchange with databases that track menus from a variety of restaurants located in different geographic locations and profiles from a variety of consumers located in different geographic locations as well. Each menu is stored in a restaurant record that denotes the restaurant's city and neighborhood. The system is capable of searching on a plurality of keys in the menu records, to identify a menu record suitable for a particular consumer. The on-line service then facilitates the creation and editing of the new and existing menu records for the restauranteurs that include several categories such as menu item, item description, and price.

Abstract: A system and method for providing an online ordering machine that manages the distribution of home delivered products over a distributed computer system is herein disclosed. The distributed computer system includes a group of customers connected to client computers and at least one server computer system that executes the online ordering machine. The online ordering machine provides the customers with product information from various vendors whose delivery range is within the customer's location or with product information from vendors having take out service within a specified range from the customer's location. The vendor's and customer's location is associated with a geocode representing the latitude and longitude coordinates of the location. The search for the vendors servicing the customer's location is done using the geocodes. The online ordering machine accepts orders from the customer for a particular product from a selected vendor.