초록 ▼

A method and apparatus are provided for a computer-implemented on-line price comparison method for performing price comparison and price reduction of goods and/or services sold by a vendor over a computer network, such as the Internet. The price comparison method can be selected by a customer, where

A method and apparatus are provided for a computer-implemented on-line price comparison method for performing price comparison and price reduction of goods and/or services sold by a vendor over a computer network, such as the Internet. The price comparison method can be selected by a customer, whereupon the computer program requests a competitor's price by transmitting a price request over the computer network. When the competitor's price is received, it is displayed to the customer. The computer program compares the competitor's price to the item price for the specified item. If the competitor's price is higher, nothing is done. If the competitor's price is lower, however, the computer program presents to the customer the option of requesting a reduced price. If the customer requests a reduced price, the computer program checks to see if the competitor's price is below a predetermined threshold. If it is, the computer program advises the customer to buy the specified item from the competitor. If the competitor's price is not below the threshold, the vendor's item price is reduced and displayed to the customer, who may now purchase the product at a price lower than that of the competition.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for a computer-implemented on-line price comparison over a computer network of goods and/or services sold by a vendor over said computer network, comprising the steps of:requesting through said computer network from a competitor's database a price for an item sol

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for a computer-implemented on-line price comparison over a computer network of goods and/or services sold by a vendor over said computer network, comprising the steps of:requesting through said computer network from a competitor's database a price for an item sold by the competitor over said computer network;receiving from said database said competitor's price;displaying said competitor's price on a display;decreasing the price of said item sold by the vendor by a predetermined amount to create a new price if said competitor's price is less than said item price; anddisplaying said new price on said display.