WO2008126073A2

WO2008126073A2 - Integrated concentric publishing platform facilitating and supporting preference on location tangible article acquisition

Info

Publication number: WO2008126073A2
Application number: PCT/IL2008/000480
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sharon Orr
Original assignee: Energec Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-17
Filing date: 2008-04-09
Publication date: 2008-10-23
Also published as: IL182597A0; WO2008126073A3

Abstract

Tangible article detail publishing services involve a combination of human and computer effort and time. They provide potential customers with article detail data as provided by merchants or derived from merchants' e-commerce sites. The recent development and proliferation of inventory and pricing systems among small and large sellers (e.g., "KSS") coupled with the global spread of wireless devices allows for a new breed of a system. An integrated concentric publishing platform is presented. The platform is intended for such suppliers/ customers for whom e-commerce is not a preferred and or possible means of transaction. The secure sale of service and or produce is done at a physical location. We shall refer to this type of sellers as on location sellers. The platform provides a means for such sellers to publish their items and or services. The data is published with little or no human effort. The platform makes real-time pricing, inventory and location data available to potential customers on a global information system (e.g., Internet). It facilitates and supports on the spot real-time product and or service acquisition decisions based on provided preference parameters. Potential customers may query the system via an array of communication devices such as computers, wireless devices, land line phones, television interactive systems and the like. Customers may input reliable data pertaining to a seller perceived quality of service and or produce. This data can serve both seller and future customers in striving for a better quality of provided service and or product.

Description

Integrated concentric publishing platform facilitating and supporting preference on location tangible article acquisition

Detailed description:

Technical Field

[0001] The invention described relates generally to the field of systems publishing volatile articles information for non e-commerce sellers. Such sellers for various reasons do not have an e-commerce site or subsidiary or other means for mass publishing of their article volatile details. It specifically pertains, but is not limited, to such products and or services which price, availability and or other details cannot be easily determined or ascertained except at the seller or by seller personal enquiry.

Background

[0002] There is a variety of products and or services that the majority of the public prefers to acquire and purchase at the sellers. Perishable organic products are an example. Customers prefer to check, smell and feel such products before purchasing. Some products such as fuel and tires cannot be delivered, to common everyday customers, or delivery is not economical. Many computer repair services require customers to self deliver their computers. Personal fit items like clothes, sun glasses and prescription optical require customer personal attendance. Other items like medicines cannot be delivered due to legal reasons.

[0003] Customers are interested in finding such herns at close by convenient locations. Such as close to home, close to work or on the go, close to customer present or future location. In addition sellers opening hours are of consideration. It is of no use to have a convenient close by location seller which is closed upon customer arrival. As e-commerce is not an option for these sellers and transactions are held on location this data is not readily available for customers. Where such data readily available it would do a service to both customers and sellers. Such data would facilitate with greater ease the coming together of both interested parties and the doing of business.

[0004] Quality is of major consideration when considering most hems and services. Yet quality of service or product is mostly an intangible measure, therefore h is hard to assess. Perishable items for instance though may be standard yet differ from one seller to the next even within the same chain. One never wishes to purchase a pound of fresh meat at a good price only to discover it has been recently defrosted or even worse passed hs due date. Fuels are another example where more than a few gas stations where found to dilute fuel or tamper with gas pump gauges. Such misshapes are not easily detected at time of purchase. Everyone would rather avoid them entirely if possible. Quality is very important when service is provided, such as in gas stations. Price and quality are not always related. Customers mostly rely on word of mouth or market review when looking for quality. However the usefulness of both is limited to an extent Where a business able to provide a readily available and reliable measure of the quality of its service/ products it would be able to attract more customers. Customer could shop for quality with ease and better assurance.

[0005] Consumer markets are subject to fluctuation in demands. The cost for seller is subject to changes in cost of production and delivery. The rising cost of fuel incurs higher cost of delivery. All of these translate to changes in sellers' hem and or service prices. Vegetables and fuel prices are subject to unpredictable price rise and fall due to changing weather and political conditions and demands. Many imported items are subject to fluctuation in currency as inventories are low. Low inventories may imply unpredictable availability. Some hems not quick to sell have limited shelf life. A year old tier is of small value relative to a new one. Customers must visit sellers' location to determine price and availability. Where services are of concern both service times and availability are of volatile nature and cannot be ascertained without a personal enquiry. For frequently purchased items and services, shopping around in this manner is too much of a hassle. It would better do for both sellers and customers to relieve the customers of the hassle of physically having to shop around.

[0006] Twenty first century advertising is a thriving business. There are many channels open to sellers. Each channel has its pluses and minuses, and its costs. Regardless of chosen medium, when prices inventory and the like change frequently manual publishing is a hassle. If the inventory is extensive such as with large retailers and big service firms it is not feasible. It seldom justifies expenses in terms of finance and man power. Television, radio and printed media have limited usefulness due to price fluctuations and dollar value. Placing sales representatives by the phone or feeding inputs onto the internet, or the like, is of high cost. Such a cost is hard to justify in a short hand business, which transactions are held on location. Businesses require a low cost publishing medium which requires little or none human intervention. It would provide them with the benefits of advertising at an affordable cost

[0007] Satisfied customers are the best marketing agents of a business. For a frequently purchased items and services business they are a must Satisfied customers often make their feelings known on location and leave it at that for lack of alternative. Dissatisfied customers often do not complain to a business. Lack of benefit and time are usually the reason. Many take the time and make their feeling known on sales engines business reviews and the like. Where a similar medium available for a non e- commerce on location businesses, some of the business customers would leave their impression there. Both customers and sellers would benefit as a result. Customers would get a better impression of a business quality. Sellers could leverage information to locate their strong and week points. They could correct wrongs and strengthen their competitive advantage.

[0008] Competitive market analysis is a must for almost any type of business. Without a clear understanding of the market and what the competition is doing a business is driving blind. However ascertaining competitors' behavior for such businesses as described above requires driving around playing a customer. It is time consuming and not accurate. Competitor behavior is measured over stretches of time and cannot be discerned by one time visits but require constant monitoring. Such effort is many times not feasible even for large scale sellers. Sellers need a system which could provide such monitoring. A system to monitor competition measures such as price and quality. A system which could be integrated with their sales system. Both sellers and customers would benefit of such a system. Seller sales system could incorporate competition prices into its rule database. Sellers would be able to keep pace with the competition at a lower cost. They would be able to identify and follow market trends more easily. Seller risk of losing a market and cost of research would drop. Customers would benefit of better services at their convenient location. They would not have to travel far for affordable high quality service. Nor settle for lesser service or high price at nearby sellers.

[0009] A system which could provide product and service data at low cost with little or no human intervention would be of tremendous value to both sellers and consumers. They could leverage the system data and conduct their business in a much more efficient manner. Both parties could spend less time acquiring required data Transactions would result with better fulfillment of expectations. Sellers could be better informed of customer needs. Customers would be better informed of seller supplied service and or product.

Summary

[0010] The invention is intended mainly for businesses which choose to conduct their business or businesses transaction on a physical location. That location can be the sellers' place of business, the customer place of business or any other physical location where buyer and seller meet to conduct their business.

[001 1 ] The invention provides a means for sellers to publish data relating to services and or products offered. Publishing the data requires minimal or none human intervention. Publishing is low cost relative to other mediums such as radio, television and newspapers. [0012] The invention, an integrated publishing platform can provide data of price, product/ service availability, quality and the like. The platform can integrate into both seller sales and inventoiy systems. Thus it can leverage and provide data from and to the systems accordingly.

[0013] The invention includes methods for collecting and interpreting sellers' data. It provides for a unified view of various sellers items. Thus several sellers may have items under different names yet have them all accessible as one in terms of comparison, updates and the like.

[0014] In a similar manner potential customers can query the platform for said items. They could search the platform for an item using any of the names given to it by the seller. They can query the platform providing a variety of search criteria such as price, quality, location, time and the like. The platform would provide item data information based on search criteria or an approximation thereof.

[0015] Large scale potential customers can automate the acquisition process of on location seller products and or services. Their procurement and purchasing systems can query the platform and then issue acquisition orders to purchasing agents.

[0016] Customers can update the system with regard to a product/ service quality. Based on personal reliable experience customers could add/ update their own views regarding the quality of an item/ service sold at a seller location. Updates may refer to the kern in general or the hem at a specific seller location. This indication is of significance. Services and or items such as tiers, gas, food and the like though generally the same may defer in quality. This is due to environmental and other aspects of a seller.

Brief description of the drawings

[0017] Figure. 1 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment of the present invention with seller system integration, customer and third party systems.

[0018] Figure.2 is a control flow diagram illustrating seller system item publishing in an embodiment of the invention.

[0019] Figure.3 depict a seller internal publishing module in an embodiment of the invention.

[0020] Figure.4 present a customer item/ service query form according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0021] Figure. 5 illustrate a potential customer SMS query according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0022] Figure.6 present a customer quality update form according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0023] Figure. 7 present a third party system using the platform.

[0024] Figure. 8 a large scale customer internal publishing query module according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0025] Figure. 9 illustrate an embodiment of the publishing platform.

An embodiment detailed description

[0026] This section provides a detailed description of an embodiment of this invention. The description is with reference to the included drawings. The invention can be embodied in many other various manners. This is by no means the sole embodiment available. It is only a means to demonstrate, explain and clarify this invention.

[0027] Figure. 1 illustrates an embodiment of this invention. It describes the computing environment and the main entities. The publishing platform is denoted by 101, 112 and 103. The rest of the entities are its environment seller 106, 107, 114, 116, 117 and potential customers 109, 1 10, 118. 118 illustrate a large scale customer system. 1 19 illustrate the computerized purchasing system of 1 18. Third party integrated system 115 is depicted illustrating collaboration with other systems which are not potential customers or sellers.

[0028] The invention provides an integrated publishing system for sellers which do not conduct e- commerce either by preference and or due to the nature of their business. In Figure 1. 112 communicate with 114 acquiring item/ service price and availability data. The system can publish item and or service data supplied by seller sales/ inventory/ scheduling systems and the like. The publishing system can be queried by the seller system 1 16 acquiring competition prices, publicly available array of products and the like. The seller may also query the publishing system manually via a user interface.

[0029] The embodiment illustration of Figure 1 includes only one seller system 106, 114, 107 and one three main types of potential customer devices 109, 107, 118. This is for simplicity only. Those experienced in the art could easily extend this embodiment of the invention to include many such entities.

[0030] Figure 2. Illustrates the seller system subscription 201 and update 205 processes. The update process is an ongoing process. The subscription process ends once the update begins. The illustration is a simple depiction of an integrated seller system update and registration process. This is not the sole embodiment but rather a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustration.

[0031] Seller sales 106 and inventory 107 systems provide the publishing platform with specific data of item and or services provided by said seller. A seller may choose to filter out certain items. Le., the list of published seller items is not the full list of seller sold items. Upon initial connection with seller system the seller system synchronized the publishing platform. Once synchronization is done items may be updated as their price and or availability changes.

[0032] Each seller can be identified via a unique Id. This Id can be its company and state Id or any other unique Id. For simplicity we shall disregard the registration process. Seller registration and authentication process is simple. Those experienced in the art would appreciate the many ways such a process could be implemented. Seller system synchronization starts at 201 hems are traversed one by one. Each item is checked to see if it's filtered 202. If the item is not filtered the system sends its data 203 to the publishing platform. The data includes, but is not limited to, the item seller code, the item common product code (e.g., UPC) if such exists, the item description as appears in the seller systems, expiration date, the item price and its availability. Item availability may include number of items or a certain approximation there of, or a simple true or false. The seller system return to 202 checking the next item on the list thus until no items are left to traverse. The system then proceeds to 205. Upon a change to an item the system checks to see if this item is already published. If not then it proceeds to 209 and send full item disclosure much like 203 and 204. It then returns await the next hem change event. If the item is published then the system proceeds to 207 and 208 to update the published platform. The system then returns to 205 await the next update event.

[0033] Many sellers providing a service employ a scheduling or reservation system. 117 denote such a system. 117 provide the publishing platform 112 data of service and or resource time-date availability. This data can be coupled with sales system data to provide service price and time information similar to an hem price and availability. Seller service synchronization and update process is similar to that of an item as appears in Figure 2. Availability data is included in 203 as part of the service details. As it changes updated are sent in 207. [0034] Figure 3 illustrate an internal seller publish system module 300 facilitating seller system integration.302, 301, 315, 319 denote seller 106, 107, 117, 116 systems respectively.309 compose the filter mechanism of 202 and 211. 310 allow a seller to update filtered list, add and remove items.314 is the module logic. 311 denote the internet or other means of a connecting buffer zone. 312 denote the publishing platform. Thus all elements above 311 are part of seller network 114. Elements below are part of 112 the publishing platform.

[0035] Module 300 provides for simple seller systems integration. Each system is integrated via a unique communication interface. Scheduling system 315 communications is facilitated via its specific interface 317.301 with 305 and so on. Communication is two way. Thus 300 both query and event reporting are enabled. 300 is able to query for changes in scheduling times, item prices, inventory and the like. Those fluent in the art can implement with ease such a mechanism. System of the like of 315, 301, 302 (e.g., KSS) and 319 support a variety of access protocol which can be used to implement query and event reporting. The seller systems on the other hand can report update events and initiate queries of their own.

[0036] The scheduling system 315 provides real-time data of services availability. As such it is mostly relevant to sellers which are service providers. Such sellers can be doctors, lawyers, lecturers, consultants, mechanics and the like. The system enables such sellers to integrate their scheduling system (e.g., wallChart) without much difficulty and have their schedule published for all to see. Human seller services are highly volatile. A doctor can treat only one patient at a time, a lawyer can handle only one client at a time and so on. Online publishing is the one of the best options to advertise the real-time availability of such services. 300 enable the seller to use its scheduling system not only to arrange the day but to provide additional benefit and attract customers. All sellers schedule can be found, searched and compared in one place.317 provide a two way interlace with 315. This facilitates the ability of online booking and or reservation via 300 should seller wish it so.

[0037] The seller analysis system 319 can request 300 for competition prices per item in a specific region. It can query past prices and request their available inventory. A seller which notices there is no available inventory of an item on demand could up his prices as a result. This can all be done without human intervention based on analysis rule base and sales system capabilities. The availability of realtime market prices, inventory scheduling and the like avails new seller analysis system response and shorten the time for others. [0038] The embodiment seller system, as described in Figure 2, employs a push mechanism. Each Item update is sent to the publishing system. Other embodiments may employ a different mechanism. For instance, the publishing system module 300 could periodically pull updates from the seller system and send them to the publishing platform 312. It could cache updates in 307 and send them on request and so on.

[0039] Seller chains (where 117, 106, 107 may govern a host of seller sales locations) have been neglected so far for reason of simplicity. However incorporating those is not difficult For instance, a location field can be added to seller items.

[0040] Seller systems may provide general data which refers to all hems/ services such as address, contact details, opening hours, available payment methods, approximate transaction time and the like. Such data is passed via 300 to 312 and can refer to seller description (or location description for chains).

[0041] The present embodiment seller system 114 integration can be provided via message passing with the publishing platform 112. Different embodiments of the invention can employ an internal or standalone module to facilitate the integration retaining seller system old form and integrity. Data transfer between 114 and 112 can occur over the internet, intranet, GPRS, CDMA I Λ, UMTS, VPN or the like. Also though 300 is referred to as a separate model there is no reason why it and all other seller systems reside on one computer as processes. 300 can be implemented as software hardware or any combination of the two.

[0042] Some seller systems may be difficult to integrate. Some sellers might choose not integrate due to certain limitations or preferences. In such cases a secondary reporting system may exist Obviously it does not provide the same guarantees as that of an integrated seller system. However its guarantees are still of use. Such is a system which relies on reliable customer reporting. Wireless devices 110 have ever powerful cameras and other imaging devices. A customer can capture an image of its receipt and send it by MMS (or the like) to the publishing platform along with his contact details. Thus customers provide an optional fast reliable and on the field reporting agent.

[0043] Potential customers can query the platform based on various hem, service and or seller search criteria. They may query the platform directly or indirectly. Direct query is enabled via a user interface 400. Indirect query is enabled via 115 third party system integration. [0044] Figure 4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a potential customer user interface 400. It provides for searching an item and or service. UPC field 401 denotes Universal Product Code. Description 402 denotes item description by various sellers or an approximation thereof.

[0045] Potential customers fill in the fields in the user interface. Either 401 or 402 are mandatory fields. Customers may fill in a range of desired producf/ service quality. They may denote the time and date of time of purchase or service availability. The geographic area in which to search for the hem.405 Include non seller item reports (reports sent by customers). Replies are sent back providing requested data. The platform returns a list of Sellers according to the search criteria. The list may contain location, contact details price, quality information and time of service.

[0046] Figure 5. Illustrates a wireless device 500 SMS interface. 501 indicate a search query command line. 502 the publishing system number on the carrier network.

[0047] Wireless device users denoted by 109 may include two implicit parameters in their queries time and location. Many times wireless users require instant answers tailored for their location and time of query. These parameters are available either by the device 110 or the wireless carrier 105. Thus should the user choose so the query would include both parameters. The preferred embodiment wireless SMS command line interface includes an implicit time parameter, location is optional as user chooses.

[0048] Figure 6 illustrates the embodiment customer user interface 600 for updating seller quality of an item and or service. Field 601 denotes a seller and is mandatory. Field 602 denotes seller location and is mandatory. Field 603 is for inputting the quality rating of the seller and is mandatory. Field 606 provides for customer identification (customer id). Field 604 provides for proof of purchase (in the form of receipt copy, receipt number and the like). Field 605 provides for free text customer impression.

[0049] Customers may update the platform regarding item, service and or seller quality. Customers fill in the fields of form 600. Reliable ratings are used in rating a seller product.

Reliable ratings are those made by customers who provided proof of purchase 604. Proof of purchase is authenticated against seller sales system 302 via 300. The platform can than send an acknowledgment of rating to the customer. In case of data error the platform can ask the customer to resend and or fix the data. The reliable customer rating can than be used in subsequent hem and or service queries where quality is a parameter.

[0050] The user interface of Figure 4 and Figure 6 is an illustration of the preferred embodiment interface. Other embodiments may provide different user interfaces such as a command line interface (e.g. "UPC 1100993034 QUALITY 1") and the like. A command line interface can be employed using short message messages (SMS) in a mobile carrier network. In many places such interactions present a cost benefit for potential customer then a WAP or other wireless interface.

[0051] Potential customers and customers can access the publishing platform using both 110 wireless and 109 wired devices such as, but not limited to, mobile phones, computers, hand held devices and the Hke. Large scale customer access the system via 118 interfaces.

[0052] Figure 7. Illustrates a large scale customer internal publish query module 700. 707 denote customer purchasing system and the like. 701 is the module logic. 703 denote the internet or other means of a connecting buffer zone.704 denote the publishing platform. Thus all elements above 703 are part of customer network 1 18. Elements below are part of 1 12 the publishing platform.

[0053] Large scale customers may employ purchasing or procurement systems 707 for their needs. Such systems require manual assistance when pricing information is required of an on location seller. By integrating their purchasing system 707 with 700 the required assistance is minimized. 707 can query 704 and receive pricing and availability data. Data which could previously be acquired only via a human operator.

[0054] Figure 8. Illustrates third party 800 system integration. 805 denote a client/ user of said system.

803 denote the system logic. 803 compose data from the publishing platform 812 (112) and other data

804 in service of 805.

[0055] Potential customers and other clients 805 request complex data of 800. Data include or derived in part of publishing platform data. 803 request via 801 said data of 812. 812 respond with said data. 803 can compose a reply incorporating said data and additional 804 data. Client 805 receives complex data reply.

[0056] Applications for third party systems are many. They stem from the ability to connect real world sellers with the global cyber world. Global computerized network tools can now take affect and extend their prowess and usefulness onto new boundaries.

[0057] The system can integrate with geographic based systems such as US20060438935. Said system can now compose a complex real-time query incorporating new types of business and parameters such as quality and available schedule. Said system could now find a best fit between drive time to location and service availability. Thus for example we could look up for the fastest route to an available physician in case of emergency. US patent 7127261 proposes useful service integration. The publishing platform in this instance is integrated with a service provider. The service provider can now provide inventory and price data of items identified by common product codes. The customer has now increased bargaining power with the merchant at which location he is at

[0058] Present price comparison engines (e.g, "dealtime") do not provide a look into non e-commerce businesses as acquiring such data is difficult. Integration with a publishing platform can bridge that gap. Thus users could have a real market view of the going price of an item. Many times users over pay for an hem based on a limited result set The set compose onry e-businesses. Many such businesses incur shipping, electronic transaction costs and other expenses which can be avoided by an on location seller. Such sellers can offer cash transaction and the possibility of self pickup and instant delivery. These can be a major factor in an hem price and quality of service.

[0059] Figure 9. Illustrates the preferred embodiment publishing platform 112, 101, 103 main modules. The platform relational data bases 901-905 of server 103. The public user interface 912 and communication APIs 910-911 which are provided in part by the web server 101. The rest of modules depicted are part of the publishing platform network 1 12. They may reside on different servers or may be part of the previously denoted servers (101, 103) as preferences and other limitations dictate.

[0060] The publishing platform 900 has several communication interfaces 910-912. Each serves a different type of entity 913-915 respectively. Each such entity has different requirements and authorizations.913, 914 provide an interface for integration with external systems at the application level.915 provide interfaces for interaction with external systems at the user level. It provides both user and command line interfaces.

[0061 ] Public users compose customer and potential customers. Their interaction can be multiform. They may search for item and or service, they may update its quality and they may serve as an additional data acquisition tool. All interactions are supported by both user and command line interfaces. However data acquisition is from authenticated users. Unknown users may not update data (other embodiments may weaken this requirement).

[0062] Customers can add their impression of a seller, seller item or service. Reliable impression are used in calculating seller/ item/ service quality rating. Reliable ratings are ratings by customers who provided reliable proof of purchase. This is a proof purchase which was authenticated by sellers systems. Le. the said purchase appears on the sellers systems. The purchaser is the reporting customer. Thus adding a reliable rating is a convoluted process. A customer sends a quality form (600)/ quality command line with proof of purchase. The message arrives at 912 and its data passed to 909. 909 request 913 (via 910) to authenticate proof of purchase and customer.913 replies with yes/ no. The reply is passed to 909 which update the quality data base 905 accordingly.

[0063] Seller, Item and service Quality ratings are stored in 916.916 data is derived of 905. The data base may update periodically, with each update event of 905 or any other appropriate method.

[0064] 916 quality ratings are determined heuristicalry.906 of the invention embodiment use a simple weighted average algorithm. A reliable quality rating of 905 loses weight as it grows old. Each day a rating loses a 365^th part of its value (rating at year end is null). Other methods are applicable. 906 may also use an external third party system 917 for deriving a rating from 906. In that process 917 can hold a copy of 905. Thus 906 pass only new customer ratings and receive a new quality rating. This is stored in 916. Other methods may be used for acquiring a rating from external third party systems.

[0065] Potential customers may issue queries via a command line or user interface. They can querythe platform via an array of devices both wired 109 and wireless 110. Query search parameters contain item common code (e.g., UPC) or description, quality, geographic location, time of service and price, etc' (other parameters may be added as required by users and supported by seller systems, customers or third party). The query arrives at 912. The query may include additional parameters supplied by the underlying network, end device and or the originating application used in displaying the user interface (e.g., type of browser Opera, opera mini, Firefox, TE, TEMobile, etc').919 determine the user agent abilities according to message supplied parameters (e.g., opera mini htto header contains details of display size and resolution). The platform than searches the seller, schedule, derived quality and hem or service data bases (i.e., 901 -904, 916) for hems which match all criteria Items not reported by sellers (data acquired via authenticated users) are included in search only if specifically indicated in query 405. If the queried hems are found then the platform returns a matching hem list based on originating device and or application capabilities (For example, mobile devices querying via Opera Mini may receive the first 10 results ordered by price). If no hem or service are found an appropriate message is returned.

[0066] Queries may contain time and location parameters. As 900 processes the query h will return items which service time ranges from the present to at least another hour and distance is up to five kilometers from the given location. Other embodiments may employ a different measures or heuristics for time and location proximity. The method of choice employed here should not be considered limiting h is but a simple illustration. [0067] The general public may also provide a secondary reporting tool (as mentioned previously). When sellers do not publish their hem and or service data, the general public may do so. People on the go can send item and or service report via a variety of connectionless mediums such as email, SMS, MMS and the like. There is no need for direct connection with the publishing platform. The data is sent and will be delivered via third party agents such as mail servers, SMS Service Center (SMSC), MMSC, etc'.

[0068] People can capture an image of a receipt or simply scan it. The receipt image can then be sent by MMS (or the like) to the publishing platform email address arriving at 912. The platform would extract the image from the email along with the client device number or email address.909 would men send the image to 908 for decoding. An image decoding module could be composed of a combination of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and a text parser. The module could extract seller details, phone number, address, hem and or service purchased common code, description,, price and date-time of purchase, etc'. Should the decoding be successful an acknowledgment can be sent to the reporting agent. Otherwise, an error notification and request for a clearer image will be sent.

[0069] People may report item or service details via text messages. They can send the messages via SMS or other mode of transfer to a designated number of the publishing platform. The message would ftfrive at 912. Since the message is in text there is no need for decoding. The system text parser will extract the seller and item details from the message.

[0070] While the hem is decoded and or parsed the email address or device number is authenticated, I.e. a registered listed device number and or listed email address. If it is listed the report is considered of reliability and added to the appropriate databases with a remark denoting reporting agent not seller. Authentication is preformed against a 918 third party system (e.g_ reverserecords.org, yellowpages.com, etc').

[0071] Third party systems can query and update the publishing platform via 911. Systems such as 918, 917 assist in the process of data reporting and assessment as explained before. However, the interface provides for a host of applications. The API provides support for platform data query similarto that of a user.900 can utilize the interface to acquire corroborative data 1 ike in the case of 918. It can use h as a specialist data analysis tool 917. The interface can also provide for rich complementing data acquisition tool such as to provide seller map location via Google maps. Thus a user 915 (with appropriate display capabilities) querying an item would receive in reply seller data entailing map location where map location is provided from Google maps.

Claims

Claims:

1. An integrated method for seller to publish data pertaining to offered items and or services comprising the steps of: integrating seller systems with a common publishing platform on a central server, cluster of servers or the like. The said sellers are such which transactions are held at physical location either by choice, necessity and or limitation. The said seller customer transactions can be held at seller location, customer location and or any other physical location; the integrated sellers systems automatically sending the publishing platform data pertaining to seller, offered items and or services; the common publishing platform saving said information into its data base; allowing customers to send quality ratings and updates of seller and or seller items and or seller services to the publishing platform; the platform storing said updates and ratings into its data base; users querying the platform of stored items and or services information.

2. The method of claim 1 where seller systems may further be third party systems integrated with seller systems. The publishing platform derives the seller data from the third party system.

3. The method of claim 1 where seller systems keep the publishing platform data base up to date. Said systems can report every change in seller published items and or services data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said seller system sent data can be filtered. The seller can filter sent data. The seller may choose which hem and or services data is sent The seller may further order the publishing platform to fiher current seller hems and or services data. The seller may even choose to filter out complete items and or services data.

5. The method of claim 4 where seller may further update, add or remove articles of the filtered list at runtime and in real-time.

6. The method of claim 4 where filtering criteria may be dynamic rule based. Dynamic rule like: minimum time since last update, hem inventory delimiters and the like.

7. The method of claim 1 where seller systems include sale systems, inventory systems, scheduling systems, market analysis systems and other systems which have or derive data pertaining to seller location, seller items and or services.

8. The method of claim 1 where seller systems can query the publishing platform of sellers, items and or services. Seller systems receive real-time query result data from the publishing platform.

9. The method of claim 8 where queries can include price preferences, seller quality preferences, item or service quality preferences, region preferences, service time-date preferences, data reliability preferences and any other parameter characterizing the platform stored data set

10. A method of a user querying a platform via the platform user agent interface where the query includes implicit time-date parameters. The query includes a preference parameter of the origin (of die query) time and date which where not filled or explicitly required by the user. Said parameter is of relevance to the query. Le., the result of the query with the parameter differs from that of the query without the parameter.

11. The method of claim 10 where said time-date of origin may be obtained (if not provided by the user agent) from third party systems, such as mobile carrier and the like.

12. The method of claim 1 where user and or third party queries can further include implicit preference parameter of geographic location of origin. Said parameter is of relevance to the queried data set. I.e., the result of the query with the parameter differs from that of the query without the parameter.

13. The method of claim 12 where said reference to geographic location of origin may be obtained (if missing) of third party systems, such as mobile carrier and the like.

14. The method of claim 1 where users may query the platform, provide quality ratings, and updates of item/ service/ seller details via SMS, MMS or other text or graphic data communication interface not requiring initial connection and data transfer from the common publishing platform.

15. The method of claim 1 where customers can send quality ratings of seller and or seller items and or seller services to the publishing platform. The said ratings can further include customer proof of purchase. The publishing platform determines the ratings of reliability via authentication of proof of purchase against seller systems. The proof of purchase can be receipt number, order number or any other means of proof of purchase provided to customer by the seller. The customer identity verified and determined reliable via third party identity verification system.

16. The method of claim 15 where proof of purchase maybe provided as an image. A captured image of the customer proof of purchase, a scan of the proof of purchase, or the like.

17. The method of claim 1 where customers may update seller, item and or service details. Said updates are provided by a photo copy or the like of a customer proof of purchase. The said photo copy or the like can also be provided by other users or third party systems.

18. A method where by a user captures an image ofa text document via a camera equipped wireless device such as a mobile phone, smart phone, wireless PDA and the like; the user then send the image to a remote server; the server receives the image and processes it using an OCR program; the server than parses the resulting text document asing a text parser, the server stores the resulting data set into its data base; users query the server of said stored data; the server replies with the resulting data subset.

19. The method of claim 18 where said users capturing the image can be computer applications.

20. The method of claim 18 where said users querying the server can be computer applications.

21. The method of claim 18 where server reply can be related or derived from the resulting data subset

22. The method of claim 18 wherein when the server stores the resulting data set this may trigger an event Said event can be reported to a third party system.

23. The method of claim 22 where the third party system can be on the same server, on remote computers or any combination of the like. The said system can be applied in hardware and or in software.

24. The method of claim 18 where said text image can be an item and or service receipt, or other seller payment confirmation or the like.

25. The method of claim 1 where the platform can further adjust query replies according to user agent capabilities.

26. The method of claim 1 where the platform can query third party systems to corroborate and or enrich user and seller supplied data as part of processing it

27. The method of claim 26 where the platform can determine user and or customer identity via third party systems.

28. The method of claim 26 where the platform can determine common product code via third party systems based on hem and or service description. Such a system as "upcdatabase" could provide for the required data.

29. The method of claim 1 where the publishing platform while storing data also stores the identity of its supplier and uses said relation in subsequent queries pertaining to the stored data.

30. The method of claim 29 where subsequent queries can be of item and or service characteristic preferences, such as price, region and the like, restricted to sellers provided data sets.

31. The method of claim 29 where subsequent queries can be of item and or service quality rating as provided by reliable customers (defined by the publishing platform).

32. The method of claim 31 where said rating can be determined by third party system.

33. A formula for rating sellers, seller items and or services. The formula comprises a weighted sum of customer ratings, and or professional reviewer ratings, and or any other human or non human ratings. The weight of each rating decreases as time elapse. Each entity sequence of weighted ratings total does not exceed a predefined constant or relative (to the number of rating entities) part of the sum. There is a possible larger set of rating entities for a rated seller, item or service that can provide for a higher rating 1han its smaller peer. The reference time of the provided rating times may be defined as less or equal to the minimum rating time of all provided ratings, or per service ratings or per item ratings, or per seller group ratings, or per service group ratings or per item group ratings. Said groups may be defined arbitrarily based on customer preferences, seller preferences and or any other type of grouping criteria. The sum can be produced as an average on the entity weighted rating average. The sum can also be produced by dividing the entity weighted rating average with the largest set size of rating entities per item, per service, per seller, per group member and Ae like.

34. The method of claim 33 where said formula can be applied for rated criteria such as an item price, a service satisfaction and the like.

35. The method of claim 34 where a weighted sum can be composed of the resulting different rated criteria ratings to produce an overall rating.

36. The method of claim 33 where said rating can be determined via the function below as an average of a weighted sum of rating providers. The weighted of each rating decreases as time elapse. Thus new ratings provide a more substantial rating of the present rating assessment.

Where C^τ denoted the ordered sequence ofa specific seller item/service rating times in the smallest measured time unit, C^R denotes the matching rating sequence, t denote the current time under the same unit measures, (J^Ril) denote the element r of the matching rating sequence for time t and \ff

denote the number of element in the sequence C^R ■

37. The method of claim 36 where said rating can further be determined as the weighted sum of seller item/ service ratings in a more elaborated manner. Each rating weight decreases as time elapse and each rating entity cannot influence the total sum more than its part in the total number of rating entities per

rated subject. f(C^T,S^ID,t, g(C^T , S^ID)) =

Where all signs interpretation is as in claim 35, S^ID denote the ordered set of the seller item/ service rating providers identities, C[^(ld) denote the t element of the matching seller hem/ service rating time sequence for the id'th rating provider, S^ denote the identity of the id'th rating provider of S^ω , g(C?⁽'^d) , S I_J ) denote the rating of the id'th rating provider at the t'th time of the matching rating times sequence, |c^r(Irf)|| denote the number of elements in the sequence Cf °^d) , JS^ID denote the number of elements in the set S^ω •

38. The method of claim 37 where said rating can further be determined as the weighted sum of seller item/ service ratings providers in a more elaborated manner. Each rating weight decreases as time elapse and each rating entity cannot influence the total sum more than its part in the total number of rating entities per rated subject. Each rated subject rating is relative to its peer. Where its ratings a subset of its peer ratings than its total weighted sum would be less then its peer.

f{d,iD,c^T,s^lD,^~t,g{c^T,s^1D))

Where all signs interpretation is as in claim 36, C^τ denotes the ordered sequence of all seller rating times for an item, ID denote the item/ service maximum number of different rating providers for a seller of the item/ service and to denote the first element of C^τ ■