Abstract: Methods and systems for customer-transparent inventory fulfillment costs. A method may include an enterprise detecting a customer's selection of a given one of a number of inventory items, and in response to detecting the selection, the enterprise generating a display and instructing that the display be displayed to the customer. The display may include fulfillment options for the given item, where each of the options includes an indication of a corresponding fulfillment entity within a fulfillment network and an indication of a corresponding price. The price may be determined dependent upon fulfillment costs of completing order fulfillment of the given item for the customer from the corresponding fulfillment entity.

Abstract: A method of conducting a telephone or internet based reverse auction for selling units where the reverse auction is transmitted to users on a medium, the method comprising the steps of providing a number of units for sale and storing a preliminary available quantity in an allocation database initially indicative of the number provided for sale, providing a telephone number or web site to which calls or orders from users can be placed to enter the reverse auction, recording the time at which one or more calls or orders were received on the telephone number or at the website in a record database, placing any callers into a queue and assigning them to a call operator or system in order to sell a unit, conducting a reverse auction in which a person or system reduces the indicated price of a unit over time and in which a producer or system reduces the preliminary available quantity, the reverse auction is concluded at the time of the preliminary available quantity is reduced to a pre-determined number, such as zer

Abstract: Methods, apparatuses and article of manufactures of an electronic auction system that receives at least one bid to purchase an item that is available for auction during a period of time. The period of time comprises a plurality of time increments. The system also uses a computing device to determine that the auction for the item has ended. The act of determining includes determining that at least one of the following events has occurred: (ii) a first quantity of bids received during a first time increment is less than a first pre-determined number; and (iii) a second quantity of bids received during a second time increment is less than a second pre-determined number. Based on pre-determined criteria, the system also determines a winning bid from a plurality of received bids. In addition, the system transmits to a remote device a notification of the winning bid. The remote device and the computing device are in communication via a network. The system also processes a payment of the item.

Abstract: This relates to the products and services for funeral homes (for pets, animals, and humans), general memorabilia, general awards, pet awards, human awards, and general gifts, along with the customization of those items (for humans and pets). The customization can be done with the computer or through an interface with the Internet, such as a dedicated web site. It relates to items such as football theme dog, cat musical globe, graduation awards, hand-made objects, small gifts, urn, music box, jewelry box, personalized item, or prize. It relates to the software and business method that makes the customization on the Internet or any other computer or telecommunication network. It relates to the shape and accessories for urn, engravings, material choices, and urn structure. It relates to the box for ashes for animals or people, with different shelves, trays, doors, caps, hinges, and containers, with various functions, and with various figurines and plates, as described here, as some of the optional features.

Abstract: Under the present invention, an approver will log into a purchase application or the like. Upon logging in, the approver will be presented with a view of all item requests for which he/she must make an approval determination. The approver can also be presented with informational messages for the requested items. In any event, the approver can make an approval determination for the item requests and post comments related thereto. Once the approval determination has been made for a particular item request, an approver list and approval status corresponding thereto is updated. It should be understood that as used herein, the term “item” is intended to refer to goods or services.

Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for a viewspace provider. The method comprises providing a viewspace at a location; and engaging in a transaction with an entity for a monetary amount associated with the provision of the viewspace.

Abstract: Systems and methods for recommending third party products and services. The method includes the steps of ranking the third party products and services based on one or more factors, and generating a user profile based on one or more user-related factors. Next, the method determined appropriate third party products and services based on the user's geographical location and filters the third party products and services based on the user profile and the user's geographical location. These filtered results are dynamically ranked based on the user profile, and personalization of the third party products and services. Finally, the method provides the ranked results pertinent to the end user's preferences, and the geographical location.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing catalog management useful to create or update published catalogs based on product master data changes or external supplier catalogs. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service interface operations, each being implemented for a respective process component.

Abstract: Provided are a method and a system for applying site activity indexes by a site activity index applying system connected to a plurality of user terminals through the Internet. In one embodiment, the method includes checking whether a user who is connected to a web site through the Internet desires to buy a game item, checking whether to use the user's site activity indexes so as to buy the game item, checking whether the user possesses site activity indexes, and exchanging the site activity indexes with game items when the user possesses the site activity indexes. With the method and system for applying site activity indexes user loyalty and game participation may be increased.

Abstract: An embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for computer network-based sale of vehicles. An access group data structure is created. The access group data structure includes structure that defines association of web sites, users and vehicles associated with an access group. Whether vehicles are visible on respective web sites is controlled based on the access group, and access by the user is allowed to respective items in the access group based on whether a user is associated with the access group. Another embodiment includes providing an access group object, wherein the access group object includes properties that define association of web sites, users and vehicles associated with an access group. Another embodiment is directed to a computerized system for vehicle sale including a web server.

Abstract: A system includes at least one sensor device configured to transmit a first detection signal over a first spatial region and a second detection signal over a second spatial region. The second region has a first sub-region in common with the first region. The system further includes a processing device configured to assign a first occupancy value to a first cell in an evidence grid. The first cell represents the first sub-region, and the first occupancy value characterizes whether an object has been detected by the first detection signal as being present in the first sub-region. The processing device is further configured to calculate, based on the first and second detection signals, the probability that the first occupancy value accurately characterizes the presence of the object in the first sub-region, and generate a data representation of the first sub-region based on the probability calculation.

Abstract: A portable device is used to capture, in real time, data sufficient to identify a product or service promoted, or a music track played, on a broadcast medium such as radio or television. The capture device can be a standalone implementation, or an application program executable on a personal communication device such as a cell phone or Blackberry. The capture device communicates the captured data to a remote server via a selected wired or wireless channel, or the internet, and the server provides services to support the user in responding to the radio or television broadcast item that corresponds to the captured data.

Abstract: A system, method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium are provided for completing e-commerce transactions over a P2P communications channel. According to one method, a secure P2P communications channel is established between a buyer node and a seller node. A request to perform an e-commerce transaction is transmitted from the buyer node to the seller node. In response to the request, a third-party clearinghouse is added to the P2P communications channel. Once the clearinghouse has been added to the P2P communications channel, a request is transmitted to the clearinghouse over the P2P communications channel to charge an account associated with the buyer node. The clearinghouse charges an account associated with the buyer node for the purchase. The clearinghouse also transmits a confirmation over the P2P communications channel indicating that the charge has been completed.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing multiple level text cloud navigation are described, where various categories are displayed in a first text cloud and, when a category is selected, a second text cloud is displayed having child nodes of the selected category and selected lower level nodes. The categories, child nodes, and selected other nodes are displayed using an importance identifier indicative of the number of results in that category or node, a relative importance thereof, a similarities metric, a recommendations metric, or the like.

Abstract: A computer-implemented system and method for generating and display a listing of offers of items to be sold on a third party marketplace. The system includes a processing unit and a storage device coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit has stored information for configuring the processing unit to receive a plurality of offers wherein each offer is associated with an item to be offered for sale, item information, and a seller identification. The processing unit is further configured to receive a search criterion, sort the plurality of offers based on the seller identification to generate one or more seller-specific offer listings, sort each of the seller-specific offer listings based on the search criterion, and generate a listing of offers by iteratively selecting an offer from each of the seller-specific search listings.

Abstract: Methods of the present invention allow for validating eCommerce transactions. An exemplary method for validating an eCommerce transaction may comprise the steps of validating a Hosting Provider, validating a Merchant using the Hosting Provider to host an eCommerce website, and validating a Customer who may purchase goods or services from the Merchant via the eCommerce website. If the Hosting Provider, Merchant, and Customer are validated, an eCommerce transaction may be approved.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for communicating a recommended item to a user of a network-based transaction facility are described. The method comprises determining that the user has been unsuccessful in concluding a transaction pertaining to an item offered for sale via the network-based transaction facility, and, in response to this determination, communicating information concerning a recommended item to the user over a network. The recommended item is available for purchase via the network-based transaction facility.

Abstract: In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A server system receives a request to purchase a product from a first computing device. The first computing device is one of multiple computing devices assigned to a user account. The server system requests to charge an account associated with a user of the first computing device for a price. The server system receives an indication that the account has been charged. The server system sends for receipt by each of the computing devices a notification that a purchasing event has occurred. The server system receives, as sent by each of at least a subset of the multiple computing devices, a request for details. The server system sends, for receipt by each of the at least subset of the multiple computing devices, an indication that the product has been purchased.

Abstract: Disclosed is a delivery management system and method using a smart communicator. The delivery management system includes a selling server for selling articles online; a delivery server for managing delivery of articles sold by the selling server; a mailbox which reads information from an information storage attached to an arrived article at a destination under the control of the delivery server; and a home network server which stores ordered article information, determines whether the arrived article is correctly delivered on the basis of a comparison between the ordered article information and the arrived article information read from the information storage, transmits the result of the comparison to a smart communicator, controls follow-up management of the delivery according to a remote control of the smart communicator. Accordingly, it is possible to check the arrival of an article and control follow-up management on the articles delivered correctly or incorrectly using the smart communicator.

Abstract: A method and system for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers is provided. The transaction is related to a project specified by the buyer. A set of sellers is identified. A flow control process operates over a number of successive processing cycles. In each processing cycle, sellers are selected from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type (“Invited Sellers”). The Invited Sellers increase incrementally over the number of successive processing cycles. The system automatically enables at least one action carried out by the Invited Sellers in each processing cycle. The duration of the processing cycles can vary. The number of Invited Sellers selected in each processing cycle can vary. In one embodiment, the number of Invited Sellers selected in each processing cycle depends upon a number of offers that are submitted by Invited Sellers and received by the buyer.