WO1999026173A1

WO1999026173A1 - A configurable electronic trading system and the method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO1999026173A1
Application number: PCT/CN1997/000128
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fujun Bi; Ran Li; Shaun Bliss; Hong Yan
Original assignee: Fujun Bi; Ran Li; Shaun Bliss; Hong Yan
Priority date: 1997-11-17
Filing date: 1997-11-17
Publication date: 1999-05-27
Also published as: AU5046698A

Abstract

A configurable electronic trading system and the method therefor are disclosed, said system is used by a plurality of users and comprises: a computer system, a database provided in said computer system; means for receiving data including product information, price factors, and a set of price factor options for each price factor specified input from an authorized user and storing said data in said database; means for retrieving said data including product information, price factors and price factor options from said database and processing said data according to a pre-determined mathematical relation to create multiple single offers in said database; and means for receiving another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors and providing a corresponding offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user. This system and method allow a trader to enter offers more rapidly, and allow a customer user to change his selection on the terms and get changed offers with a new price from the vendor instantly, thereby are more efficient to the users.

Description

A configurable electronic trading system and the method therefor

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electronic trading system or E-commerce system, and specifically, relates to an extension of an electronic trading system built on a database allowing a vendor user to create offers which are then searchable by other users, and allowing a customer user to change his selection on the terms and providing variable offers to the customer user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

What the traders are currently dealing with is the world trade market, and traders need to trade with traders in other countries efficiently and reliably, therefore electronic trading systems are used wider and wider in the international trade practice in recent years.

Usually the trading system will allow a trader to create a single offer using an interface whereby each element of the offer is entered individually and a unit price is specified.

The task of the offer entry interface is to capture all the details of the offer and generate a single offer record in the database, which is then searchable by all the traders using the system via a search interface. Fig.1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional electronic trading system. In Fig.1 , a single offer is input via a customer offer entry interface(Web) then searched by other traders, and if a matching result is obtained, the matching result is sent to the trader and the trader is infoimed via a customer notification interface, such as Email or pager.

However, the unit price of a product is not constant, it changes depends on various factors, hi the real world of trading, a trader who specializes in selling product will have a particular product which is sold for different prices depending on a number of terms such as: Shipping Time, Quantity, Payment Term, Shipping Destination etc. All these factors affect the unit price. Therefore, with the conventional trading system, the seller can not provide offers with different prices dependent on changed terms, he has to enter multiple offers, each with different factors and a different unit price; and the buyer can not get a new price offer from the seller instantly after he changes the terms.

Therefore, the conventional electronic trading system is not convenient or time efficient for a user to handle offer entry and output process. When a vendor uses such a system it does not give the required flexibility to enter a large amount of offer options in a short period of time, and when a customer user changes his selection on the terms it can not provide changed offers to the customer user. Therefore, the efficiency of the conventional trading system for transmitting information between the users is limited. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an configurable electronic trading system and the method therefor allowing a trader to enter offers more rapidly, and allowing a customer user to change his selection on the teπns and get changed offers with a new price from the vendor instantly.

To achieve the above objects and advantages, the present invention provides a computer trading system used by a plurality of users, comprising: a computer system; a database provided in said computer system; means for receiving data including product infoimation, price factors, and a set of price factor options for each price factor specified input from an authorized user and storing said data in said database; means for retrieving said data including product information, price factors and price factor options from said database and processing said data according to a pre-determined mathematical relation to create multiple single offers in said database; means for receiving another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors and providing a corresponding offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user.

It is preferred that said trading system further comprises means for providing and displaying a unit price generated in accordance with the mathematical relation based on said another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors to said another user.

Advantageously, said trading system further comprises a search engine for comparing and matching a requirement input by a user with other users' offers stored in the database and returning matching results to said user; and said users interface to said trading system is via the internet.

The present invention further provides a data processing method used in a computer trading system, wherein said trading system includes a computer system and a database provided in the computer system, said method comprising the steps of: receiving data including product information, price factors, and a set of price factor options for each price factor specified input from an authorized user and storing said data in said database; retrieving said data including product information, price factors and price factor options from said database and processing said data according to a pre-determined mathematical relation to create multiple single offers in said database; and receiving another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors and providing a corresponding offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user

It is preferred that said step for receiving another user's selection and providing offer includes a step of providing and displaying a unit price generated in accordance with the mathematical relation based on said another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors to said another user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig.1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional electronic trading system; Fig. 2 shows the basic structure of the configurable computer trading system of the present invention; Fig. 3 illustrates a web-based clients communicating over the internet to an information server according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 illustrates the main data flow diagram of the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows the basic data structures involved in entering loaded-factor product and price information;

Fig. 6a shows the high-level flowcharts of the loaded-factor offer creation process;

Fig. 6b shows a finer-detail flowchart of the "get first factor set" procedure mentioned in the flowchart in Fig. 6a; Fig. 6c shows a finer-detail flowchart of the "get next factor set" procedure mentioned in the flowchart in Fig. 6a;

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of the user interface for the trader who sells products (vendor) according to the present invention;

Fig. 8 illustrates an example of the customer user interface provided by the configurable computer trading system according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 shows the architecture of the configurable computer trading system of the present invention. As described above and shown in Fig. 1, the conventional trading system only allows the creation of single offer and for those to be searched by a searching component. As shown in Fig. 2, the configurable computer trading system according to an embodiment of the -o-

present system comprises a loaded factor pricing file module for inputting the price factors and price options and storing them in the database in the system; a loaded factor pricing adininistration module for modifying the existing price factor already stored in the database. In this trading system, the seller or vendor is allowed to enter a range of products, prices and price factors and these data is converted into a whole range of single offers by the configurable Loaded Factor Offer Creation System. The newly created offers can then be searched using the existing search technologies. The Loaded Factor Quote System is used for receiving from a customer interface(web) buyer's selection to the price factors and price factor options and providing a corresponding offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user, this will be described more below.

Fig. 3 illustrates a web-based clients communicating over the internet to an information server according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. 3, the computer trading system according to the invention includes a object relational database provided in a web server. The vendor enters product and price information into the object-relational using a password protected web interface, i.e., create multiple single offers in the database. The customer can then obtain pricing information through the customer interface which uses data from the object relational database and process it using a custom program written in an interactive language understood by the web browser, where it runs. This custom program allows the customer to select the product and any number of pricing factor and produces an instant visible price quote. Fig. 4 illustrates the main data flow diagram of the present invention. In Fig. 4, the product information and price factors is entered by a process of enter loaded factor price data and stored in the database as loaded factor price data. The loaded factor offer creation process is executed for retrieving the loaded factor price data from the database, processing them according to a predetermined mathematical relation, which will be described in detail below, to generate a unit price for each single offer, and creating multiple single offers in the database. As an example, a typical product and set of price factors would consist of a product with 4 price factors each with 4 price factor options. This would generate 4X4X4X4 = 256 offers, but this is only exemplary, not for limiting purpose.

The offers thus created in the database can be searched or matched by a search process or search engine when another user input his search requirement or search criteria into the system, and the single offers matching the requirement is returned to the user as search results.

Fig. 5 shows the data structures created within the object relational database by the vendor administration interface of the Loaded-Factor Offer Creation System. An offer grid includes a product with a base price and a number of price factors which affect the overall price of the order in some way. These factors could be quantity, shipping date, sliipping destination for example. The number of factors is configurable by the vendor in the vendor administration screen. Each price factor includes a description, a price variation(PFV) and a number of factor options. Each factor option includes a description and a price factor option variation(FOV) assigned to the factor option. How the base price, factor price, factor option price affect the overall price is determined by the Price Determination Equation which shows the mathematical relation linking the various price factors to the actual final price of the order. The price determination equation is used to generate a unit price for each single offer, and the mathematical relation thereof is as follows:

Unit _price = base_price X Σ PFV X FOV ^■ (1)

N here N is the total number of the price factors for a certain product.

The following tables show examples of the data structures. Table 1

Product Table

Product id User id

Product Fixed Specification

Base Price

Table 2

Price Factor Table

Factor id Productjad Description Price variation Table 3

Factor Option Table

Option id Factor d Product id Description Price variation

Fig. 6a shows the detail flowcharts of the loaded-factor offer creation process in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 6a, in the procedure, for each product, getting in the product first, then getting in all price factors and price factor options; using the input data, the single offers with unit prices for each possible combination of price factor options are generated according to the above described equation (1).

The two procedures of getting all price factors and price factor options and getting single offers for each possible combination of price factor options is illustrated in more detail in the procedure A at the right of Fig. 6a. First, getting the factor set; then calculating all offer fields for new offer based on current factor set ; creating a new offer in the database; and get next factor set; thereafter, judging if all possible combinations are exhausted, if yes, end the procedure; if not, go back to the step of "calculate all offer fields for new offer based on current factor set".

Fig. 6b shows a finer-detail flowchart of the "get first factor set" procedure B mentioned in the flowchart in Fig. 6a. At the beginning of procedure B, initializing factor count x to 1, then getting factor x where x=l; then initializing factor option count y=l, getting factor option y of factor x, i.e., factor option (x,y); setting value of factor x to factor option (x,y), and setting factor option index(x, i)=current factor option y; thereafter, judging if there are any more factors, if yes, go back to the step of get factor x where x=l; otherwise end procedure B.

Fig. 6c shows a finer-detail flowchart of the "get next factor set" procedure C mentioned in the flowchart in Fig. 6a. At the beginning of procedure C, initializing factor count x to 1, then getting next factor x; setting initial factor option count y=factor option index(x,i); incrementing factor option count y by 1 ; at the next step, judging if the factor option count y is greater than number of factor option in factor x, if yes, go to procedure b; if not, go to procedure a.

In the procedure a, first getting factor option y of factor x, i.e., factor option(x,y); setting value of factor x to factor option (x,y); then setting factor option index (x,i)=cuπent factor option y; and return the latest set of factors to the main program, then end procedure C.

In the procedure b, resetting the factor option count y to 1; setting factor option index (x,i)=current factor option count y; and setting value of factor x to factor option (x,y); then judging if there are any more factors; if yes, go back to the step of getting next factor x in procedure C; otherwise setting no more factor sets available flag, then end procedure C.

Fig. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example of the vendor user interface provided by the configurable computer trading system according to the present invention. With the functions in this vendor user interface, the vendor user can create/edit products; create/edit price factors; and create/edit mathematical relation, so as to setup the data structures in the object relational structure, as described above. The data structures created by vendor interface are ultimately used by the customer user interface, which will be described in detail below.

Fig. 8 illustrates a diagram of an example of the customer user interface provided by the configurable computer trading system according to the present invention. With this customer user interface, the customer is presented with a list of products to choose from, and various price factors wliich affect the overall price of the order. The number of price factors is dependent on the data input by the vendor in the vendor user interface. The customer user interface uses technology inside the browser in order to perform an instant price quote when the customer selects the product and the factor options required by the order. After the customer selects the product and the options of the respective the price factors, a derived price or an instant price quote is provided based on the factors and their pre-determined mathematical relation.

Below is an example when a user of the trading system according to the present invention wants to enter the following infoπnation through the interface provided by the system.

The User's company produces Orange Juice and delivers to customers. There are different factors that affect the price. The table below shows how user reflects the price based on the factors.

Table 5

The user inputs these data into this system with the vendor user interface, and the system stores this information in the database as bellow.

Product

Product id 0001 User_id Orange Juice

Product Fixed Specification

Base Price 100 Price Factor

Factor id 001 002 003 004 005

Product id 0001 0001 0001 0001 0001

Description Container Type Size Destination Quantity

Price variation 1 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1

Factor Option

Option id 001 002

Factor_id 001 001

Product id 0001 0001

Description Can Bottle

Price variation 1 1.05

Option id 001 002

Factor id 002 002

Product id 0001 0001

Description Regular Diet

Price variation 1 1.05

Option id 001 002

Factor id 003 003

Product id 0001 0001

Description Medium Large

Price variation 1 1.2

Option id 001 002 002

Factor id 004 004 004

Product_id 0001 0001 0001

Description Main Port Regional Port Address Delivery

Price variation 1 1.1 1.2 Option id 001 002 002

Factor id 005 005 005

Product id 0001 0001 0001

Description 100 Units 300 Units 600 Units

Price variation 1 0.9 0.85

The trading system according to the invention automatically creates in the data base all the combinations available based on specified factors and each of the records will be with the price resulted from value tied to each factor. The following is the record set produced: Table 6

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABLITY

As apparent from the above description, the configurable electronic trading system of the present invention allows a trader to enter offers more rapidly, and allowing a customer user to change his selection on the terms and get changed offers with a new price from the vendor instantly, in other words, advantageously, the present invention adds a level of sophistication to the conventional trading system and allows the users to handle the offer data more efficiently. Therefore, the efficiency of the trading system according to the present invention is increased, and it is more convenient and time-saving for the users including sellers and buyers to use this system. Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in the preferred embodiments thereof, it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in aπangement and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All these modifications and variations should fall in the scope defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A computer trading system used by a plurality of users, comprising: a computer system; a database provided in said computer system; means for receiving data including product information, price factors, and a set of price factor options for each price factor specified input from an authorized user and storing said data in said database; means for retrieving said data including product information, price factors and price factor options from said database and processing said data according to a pre-determined mathematical relation to create multiple single offers in said database; and means for receiving another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors and providing a coπespondrng offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user.

2. The computer trading system according to claim 1, wherein said product information includes a description and a base price.

3. The computer trading system according to claim 2, wherein each of said price factors includes a price factor variant PFV and a set of factor options.

4. The computer trading system according to claim 3, wherein each of said factor options includes a description and a factor option variant FOV.

5. The computer trading system according to claim 4, wherein said mathematical relation is input into the system by said user as following equation to generate a unit price for each single offer:

Unit_price = base_price X Σ PF V X FO V ( 1 ) N here N is the total number of the price factors for a certain product.

6. The computer trading system according to claim 5, wherein said system further comprises means for providing and displaying said unit price generated in accordance with the equation (1) based on said another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors to said another user.

7. The computer trading system according to claim 1, wherein said system further comprises a search engine for comparing and matching a requirement input by a user with other users' offers stored in the database and returning matching results to said user.

8. The computer trading system according to claim 1, wherein said users interface to said trading system is via the internet.

9. A data processing method used in a computer trading system, wherein said trading system includes a computer system and a database provided in the computer system, said method comprising the steps of: i) receiving data including product information, price factors, and a set of price factor options for each price factor specified input from an authorized user and storing said data in said database; ii) retrieving said data including product infoimation, price factors and price factor options from said database and processing said data according to a predetermined mathematical relation to create multiple single offers in said database; and iii) receiving another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors and providing a corresponding offer from the multiple single offers in said database to said another user.

10. The data processing method according to Claim 9, wherein said step i) includes the sub-steps of: receiving a description and a base price for each product; receiving a price factor variant PFV and a set of factor options for each of the price factors; and receiving a description and a factor option variant FO V for each of the factor options.

11. The data processing method according to Claim 10, wherein said step ii) further includes a step of: performing calculation according to a mathematical relation input by said user as follows to generate a unit price for each single offer:

Unit _price = base_price X Σ PFV X FOV (1 )

N here N is the total number of the price factors for a certain product.

12. The data processing method according to Claim 11 , wherein said step iii) includes a step of: providing and displaying said unit price generated in accordance with the equation (1) based on said another user's selection to the price factor options of the respective price factors to said another user.