WO2000073964A2

WO2000073964A2 - Business-to-business interface with continuously updateable trend and historical databases

Info

Publication number: WO2000073964A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/014938
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Fried; Robert Williams
Original assignee: Whatshotnow.Com, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-06-01
Filing date: 2000-06-01
Publication date: 2000-12-07
Also published as: AU5307200A; WO2000073964A8

Abstract

An electronic shopping system providing to licensors/brandholders, licensees/manufacturers, retailers, and other third parties, a business-to-business ("B-to-B") interface. The B-to-B interface provides a marketplace for business clients to do business directly with each other, bypassing traditional third party business channels. The B-to-B interface utilizes trend monitoring and information gathering tools to provide a direct, rapid, site for business clients. Users of the B-to-B interface have access to a trend watching hot list maintaining up-to-date popularity rankings of brands related to popular culture such as sports, music, movies, television, lifestyle, and gaming. Consumers indicate their like or dislike of a brand on the hot list by placing a vote for the brand. Consumers may also nominate brands that do not appear on the hot list. The system provides website stores dedicated to the brands on the hot list for consumers to conveniently purchases products related to those brands. By monitoring business information, such as the rise and fall of brands through the hot list, viewing the brand and product nominations made by consumers, and reviewing the transactions conducted over the B-to-B interface as well as purchases made in the website stores, business parties can adjust their activities to reflect the current industry trends.

Description

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS IN ERFACE WITH CONTINUOUSLY UPDATEABLE TREND AND HISTORICAL DATABASES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to electronic shopping systems, and more particularly, to a business-to-business interface utilizing a trend watching hot list configured to monitor trends in popular culture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In today's fad driven society, many consumers strive to locate the current "hot" thing, whether it be a television program, a band, or a video game. There are several ways for a consumer to obtain information about what is currently popular. The media, for one, focuses on currently popular things in rendering news reports, featuring stories, and displaying advertisements. Magazines often provide a list of top-ten-must-haves from surveys done of consumers and retailers. Newspapers provide a list of the most popular movies based on how much each movie has grossed in the movie theaters. Articles, advertisements, merchandise, and discussions on the Internet further disclose or promote items which may be deemed as popular.

It is not uncommon for people to want to have items and do those things that are considered to be fashionable. Thus, people often raid the malls and flood the Internet with searches for such fashionable items.

Licensors/brandholders who own, hold, and control the rights to a brand seek for licensees who will purchase rights to their brands for specific product development and production. Conversely, licensees/manufacturers attempt to foresee what the next popular brand will be and take control of the supply of products related to the brand before it becomes over-capitalized. Similarly, retailers want buy products created by the manufacturers that are popular and are therefore capable of increasing their sales.

Licensors/brandholders often have a hard time, however, promoting their brands and making it available for licensees to acquire rights to them, often requiring intermediate parties to promote their brands for them. Licensees/manufactures and retailers, furthermore, cannot learn about a brand unless they are promoted and offered by the licensors/brandholders. Furthermore, it is hard for the licensees/manufacturers and retailers to know in advance what the next popular thing will be. These industry players, therefore, often conduct consumer polls, listen to what consumers are generally talking about, and utilize the resources available to consumers in trying to identify the direction of popular culture. An increasing "buzz" about an item or brand is often used as an indication about a particular item's up-and-coming popularity.

Although current systems and methods afford some degree of information about popular trends, it is generally up to the consumer or businesses to compile the information from the various sources and translate the information into a meaningful measure of an item's popularity. Even if pre-compiled popularity rating listings exist, they are generally limited in subject matter, and may be outdated by the time it is published and viewed by consumers and businesses. Thus, consumers and businesses cannot easily monitor the change in popular culture with the existing systems and methods.

In addition, popular trends may vary from day to day. Existing systems and methods do not provide an efficient way of continuously keeping people abreast ofthe latest changes in popular trend. Current systems and methods further do not provide a single location where the most popular products can be viewed and purchased. Although the Internet allows consumers to locate and purchase products from the convenience of their homes, consumers must still perform searches of desired products and visit different websites in hopes of finding a site selling the products desired. The search of such items on the Internet is often a frustrating and a time-consuming experience.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for system that will provide a direct, rapid, and interactive business-to-business interface to the mayor players ofthe industry including licensors/brandholders, licensees/manu-facturers, and retailers. The system should allow these parties to conduct businesses directly with each other, bypassing traditional intermediary parties. The system should further allow a continuous monitoring of the popularity of brands and provide such information to the above industry players for them to adjust their business activities accordingly.

It is also desirable for retailers to populate website stores with the popular items based on the trend information provided by the system. These products and stores should be accessible to consumers without the need to search the Internet for websites offering the items for sale.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses and alleviates the above-mentioned deficiencies associated with the prior art. More particularly, the present invention comprises a system and method for providing a trend watching hot list that continuously monitors trends relating to popular culture and merchandise. Each brand on the hot list is also associated with a website store selling products related to the brand.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the popularity ranking of a brand is computed via a software applet that searches the Internet for mentions of the brand. The software applet retrieves and initiates connection with a list of search engines, and submits to each search engine a search string related to the brand. The hits resulted from each search engine is used by the software applet to calculate the popularity ranking of the brand. In one particular aspect ofthe invention, a user ofthe system may provide his or her opinion about a brand on the hot list by casting a user affinity vote for the brand. The user affinity vote indicates whether the user loves, hates, is indifferent, or is unaware of the brand. The popularity ranking calculation for a particular brand is then accomplished by weighing the number of hits resulted from the search engine with a total number of user affinity votes for the brand.

In another aspect ofthe invention, each search engine is associated with a particular Internet source type. In doing an Internet search, the search engine searches the Internet source corresponding to its Internet source type. The hits resulted from the search engine are also categorized based on the Internet source type.

In a further aspect ofthe invention, the search engine performs a brandname-plus- keyword search. The keyword is associated with a particular category and helps categorize a hit resulted from the search. A keyword might be categorized as measuring a brand's capitalization or a brand's community affinity.

In another aspect ofthe invention, the system utilizes the information gathering tools of the present invention, including the popularity ranking information, to provide a direct, rapid, interactive business-to-business interface for various parties, including but not limited to licensors/brandholders, licensees/manufacturers, and retailers, to do business directly with each other, therefore bypassing third parties. In addition to providing a direct user interface for business parties, the business-to-business interface operates as an information transfer interface providing critical popularity, trend and historical information to users.

In accordance with the invention, businesses and consumers no longer need to rely on outdated publications or their own abilities to obtain and compile information regarding popular trends. Instead, businesses and consumers may get an up-to-date ranking of brands related to different facets of popular culture through the hot list or the business-to-business interface. Consumers may also purchase products related to the popular brands from the website stores devoted to the brands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic and block diagram representation of an embodiment of the present electronic shopping system with trend watching hot list;

FIG. 2 is a schematic layout diagram of a consumer record maintained for each registered consumer of the system; FIG. 3 is a schematic layout diagram of an organization of website stores maintained by the system;

FIG. 4 a schematic layout diagram of a categorization table comprising search keywords and keyword categorizations;

FIG. 5A-5C are schematic layout diagrams of a search table, a search engines table, and search result records according to one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic layout diagram of a popularity rankings table used for creating a popularity ranking hot list;

FIGS. 7A-7E are a series of interactive screen displays for providing interaction between the system and a consumer;

FIG. 8 is an alternative image of a section ofthe screen display of FIG. 7 A;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for adding an item into the hot list;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary flow diagram of a software applet subroutine for calculating the current popularity of a brand;

FIG. 1 1 is an interactive screen display of the system's business-to-business interface;

FIGS. 12A-12B are exemplary screen displays of a user's showcase provided through the business-to-business interface of FIG. 1 1 ;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary screen display of an Industry News page provided through the business-to-business interface of FIG.l 1 ;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary screen display of a resource library provided through the business-to-business interface of FIG. 11 ;

FIG. 15 is an exemplary screen display of Matchmaker tools provided through the business-to-business interface of FIG. 11 ;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for creating a website store for a retailer; and

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for making purchases via the business-to-business interface of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic and block diagram representation of the present system for monitoring trends in popular culture through a real-time, user-generated trend watching hot list. In one aspect of the invention, the system aids consumers in obtaining through the hot list, up-to-date popularity rankings of brands related to sports, music, movies, television, lifestyle, gaming, and the like. The consumers participate in the trend-setting activity by nominating their favorite brands for inclusion by the system into the hot list, and providing feedback to the system of their like or dislike of brands nominated by other users.

Each brand in the hot list is associated with a website store and a club devoted to the brand. The website stores together form a superstore of brands and products wherein consumers may conveniently visit to make their purchases. The clubs provide a convenient forum where users interested in the brand may come together and chat and share information about the brand.

In a second aspect ofthe invention, the system encourages consumers to interact with the system by offering a game-like environment where consumers earn discount points for interacting with the system. Discount points are offered for registering on the system, voting on brands on the hot list, nominating new brands and products that they think are "hot," seconding nominations made by other users, making purchases from the website stores, and for new member referrals. The accrued discount points are redeemed at the website stores to lower the purchase price of a product.

In a third aspect ofthe invention, the system tunes the display ofthe website stores and products to the consumer's profile and preferences. Website stores and products related to brands that the consumer strongly dislikes are automatically removed from the consumer's display. In contrast, products related to brands for which the consumer has a strong affinity are pushed to the consumer. The metacatagories of brands and products are also customized based on the consumer's preferences.

In another aspect of the invention, the system utilizes the information gathering tools ofthe present invention, including the popularity ranking information, to provide a direct, rapid, interactive business-to-business interface for various parties, including but not limited to licensors, manufacturers, and retailers, to do business directly with each other, bypassing traditional intermediary parties. In addition to providing a direct user interface for business parties, the business-to-business interface operates as an information transfer interface providing critical popularity, trend and historical information to users.

Users ofthe system, including consumers, licensors, manufacturers, and retailers, utilize a personal computer 14 equipped with a keyboard 14a, mouse 14b, display monitor 14c, and modem 14d to transmit and receive information to and from a network server or platform computer (the "server") 10. In this regard, a user enters the information to be transmitted into the personal computer 14 using the keyboard 14a and mouse 14b. The entered data is transmitted by the modem 14d via the Internet 12 using an Internet connection 13. The modem 14d similarly receives information from the Internet 12 and displays it on the display monitor 14c. The Internet connection might comprise conventional telephone lines, ISDN lines, ADSL lines, DSL lines, cable connection, satellite connection, and the like. Alternatively, the user uses a television 16a equipped with a set top box (STB) 16b with Internet capabilities, and remote a control unit 16c, to transmit and receive information via the Internet connection 13. An exemplary STB 16b with Internet capabilities is sold under the trademark WebTV® by Philips-Magnavox and Sony.

Once connected to the Internet 12, the user accesses the server's consumer website to monitor, through the trend watching hot list, the rise and fall ofthe brands of interest. In maintaining an up-to-date popularity ranking of brands in the hot list, the server 10 constantly invokes a software applet 18 which resides in the server. Alternatively, the software applet 18 resides in a separate computer in communication with the system's server 10. The software applet 18 is a software program designed to search the Internet 12 for mentions of the brands on websites, public Usenet Newsgroups, and the like. The data retrieved by the software applet is entered into an algorithm that produces a statistically meaningful measure ofthe brand's popularity.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the software applet 18 is written in the Java™ programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. The software applet 18 may also be written using Active™, a technology from Microsoft, or other known Internet programming technologies.

According to the system configuration of FIG. 1, the server 10 includes a mass storage device 20, such as a hard disk drive or drive array, storing a number of database tables and records useful for implementation of the system. Particular tables and records include a search table 22, search engine table 28, popularity ranking table 23, keyword categorization table 27. search result records 25. website superstore tables 24, and consumer records 26.

According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the system organizes the tables and records into a single general database stored in the mass storage device 20. The database may be structured as a relational database, tabular database, hierarchical database, or object- oriented database. The layout and information contained in the various tables may vary based on the type of database being utilized. The tables may also be stored in separate databases resident in separate mass storage devices or in a single mass storage device 20. For example, a separate licensor database may store licensor information. The licensor information may include, among other things, a list of products available for purchase by customers, and the rights associated with each of the products. Furthermore, a separate manufacture database may store manufacturer information of products manufactured by such manufactures and available for purchase by the consumers. A separate retailer database may further store information of products sold by the retailers in the website stores.

FIGS. 2-7 are schematic layout diagrams of the tables stored in the system's mass storage device 20. FIG. 2 is a schematic layout diagram of a consumer record 26 that the server maintains for each registered consumer of the system. Each consumer record 26 includes the consumer's profile and preference information, as well as a history of consumer interactions with the hot list. Accordingly, each consumer record 26 includes a unique user key 26a for identifying the particular consumer. Following the user key 26a, each consumer record 26 includes the user's profile information including the user's name 26b, gender 26d, e-mail address 26e, password 26f, physical address 26g, and credit card number 26h. The consumer record 26 also includes a hot points field 26i for storing the amount of discount points accrued by the consumer for being redeemed at one ofthe website stores.

Each consumer record 26 also includes a user rating table field 26j with an index to the user's rating table 60. The user's rating table 60 includes a sequential list of brand ratings provided to the server 10 by the consumer. Each brand rating entry includes a brand name 60a of a brand on the hot list. Each brand rating entry further includes a user rating 60b given to the particular brand. The user rating 60b indicates a consumer's rating of the brand as "love," "hate," "ok," or "don't know." Consumers may indicate their love, hate, or indifference for a brand on the hot list by selecting a "love," "hate," "ok," or "?" button adjacent to the brand, as is discussed in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 7A-7E. The server 10 uses the brand rating information to customize the display screens for the consumer. Thus, the system can tune the display of website stores and products within the website stores according to the consumer's preferences. The system further uses the brand rating data to compute the popularity of the brand, as is also described in further detail below with respect to FIG. 10.

In addition to the above, the consumer record 26 includes for each consumer a user nomination table field 26k and a user second table field 261. The user nomination table field 26k includes an index to the user's nomination table 62. The user's nomination table 62 includes a sequential list of brand and product nominations transmitted to the server 10 by the user, as is described in further detail below. Each nomination entry includes a brand or product name 62a that the user would like to see in the hot list or in the website stores, respectively. Each nomination entry further includes the number of other users that have seconded the user's nomination.

The user second table field 261 includes an index to the user's seconding table 64. The user's seconding table 64 includes a sequential list of brand and product seconds transmitted to the server 10 by the user, as is described in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 7A-7E. Each seconding entry includes a brand or product name 64a that other users have nominated. Each seconding entry further includes a "YES" indication if the user has seconded the particular nomination, and a "NO" indication if the user has not seconded the particular nomination.

The consumer record 26 also includes a user vote table field 26m with an index to the user's vote table 66. The user's vote table includes a sequential list of answers to poll questions posted by the server 10 on its website, as is discussed in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 7A-7E. Each poll entry includes a vote question field 66a and a user response field 66b. The vote question field 66a includes the text string ofthe particular poll question posted on the website and voted-on by the user. An exemplary poll question is "Who is your favorite South Park character: Kenny, Stan, Kyle, or Cartman?" The user response field 66b includes the text string of the user's response to the poll question.

The consumer record 26 further includes a user order table field 26n with an index to the user's order table 68. The user's order table 68 includes information about the products ordered by the consumer from the website stores. An SKU field 68a indicates a Stock Keeping Unit code for each product ordered, a category field 68b indicates the name ofthe category in which each product belongs, a brand field indicates the name of the brand associated with each product, a price field 68d indicates the price of each product, a hot points used field 68e indicates the number of discount points used for each purchase, and a discount amount field 68f indicates the dollar amount associated with the discount points discounted from the purchase price.

The consumer record 26 further includes a filtered brands table field 26o and a filtered metacategories table field 26p which respectively indicate indices to a filtered brands table 65 and a filtered metacategories table 67. The filtered brands table 65 includes a list of brands that the consumer has indicated that he or she does not want to see in the website stores, as is further described below in conjunction with FIGS. 7A-7E. The filtered metacategories table 67 includes a list of metacategories that the consumer has indicated that he or she does not want to see in the user screens presented to the consumer, as is also described below in conjunction with FIGS. 7A-7E.

FIG. 3 is a schematic layout diagram of an organization ofthe website superstore tables 24 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The website superstore tables 24 may be arranged in a variety of ways, but is most advantageously organized into a metacategories table 80, one or more brand tables 82-1 through 82-n, one or more store records 84-1 through 84-n. and one or more product records 86-1 through 86-n. The metacategories table 80 comprises a list of broad categories to which brands and stores belong. Exemplary metacategories include sports, music, movies, television, lifestyle, and games. Each metacategory in the metacategories table 80 is further associated with a brands table 82. Each of the brands 1-n in a brands table 82 indicates a name of a brand in the hot list that belongs to the metacategory. For instance, the brand "South Park" belongs to the television metacategory.

Each of the brands 1-n in the brands table 82 is further associated with a store record 84. Each store record includes the name of the store 84a and a list of features 84b set for the store. Exemplary store features include a promotional calendar page and a club page, described in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 7A-7E. Thus, if a store includes a promotional calendar page, the list of features 84b includes an index to such promotional calendar page. Another store feature might indicate whether the store is visible on a consumer's personal computer 14 (FIG. 1). If the store is visible, the list of features 84b includes a Store Visibility boolean which is set to TRUE. If the store is not visible, the Store Visibility boolean is set to FALSE. For instance, the store will not be visible during its setup, as is discussed in further detail below.

In addition to the above, a store record 84 includes one or more store categories 1-n, indicated at 84c, in the form of text strings which indicate a product category categorizing one or more products sold in the website store. For instance, the product categories for the South Park store may include plush dolls, T-shirts, mugs, in store categories 1 , 2, 3.

Each of the store categories 1 -n of 84c is further associated with corresponding product specific records 86-1 through 86-n. Each product record 86 is headed by a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) number 86a identifying a particular product. Following the SKU number 86a is a price field 86b indicating the price ofthe product. The price field 86b may further indicate whether the price is a sale price, and the dates in which the sale begins and ends. One or more attribute fields 86c in each product record 86 indicate one or more attributes of the product, such as a size, color, weight, etc.

Each product record 86 also includes, by way of example, a description field 86d and an image key field 86e. The description field 86d is implemented as a text string providing additional information about the product. For instance, the description field for a South Park T-shirt might state: "South Park T-shirt, 100% cotton." The image key field 86e identifies where in the mass storage device 20 a visual image ofthe product is stored.

FIG. 4 is a schematic and block layout diagram ofthe keyword categorization table 27. According to one embodiment of the invention, the keyword categorization table is configured as sequential entries, each entry specific to a particular keyword. A particular keyword entry includes a keyword field 90 for the text string of the keyword. Each keyword entry further includes a categorization field 92 indicating the category in which the keyword belongs. The keywords in the categorization table are used by the software applet in doing a brandname-plus-keyword search on the Internet, as is discussed in further detail below in conjunction with FIG. 10. As hits are retrieved, the software applet utilizes the categorization attached to each keyword to categorize the hits.

FIG. 5 A is a schematic and block layout diagram of the search table 22 according to one embodiment of the invention. The search table 22 is configured as sequential entries of searches performed by the software applet. Each specific search entry includes a search ID 100a identifying the search performed. Each search entry further includes a search term field 102 indicating the search term used to do the search. The search term might be a brandname alone, or a brandname and one or more keywords. A search engine key field 104a includes an identifier to an entry in the search engines table 28. Each search engine entry includes information about the search engine invoked to do the search. A search result key field 106a includes an identifier to one or more search result records 25. Each search result table includes information about the results of the search(es) performed. A search date field 108a indicates the date when the search was conducted.

FIG. 5B is a schematic and block layout diagram of the search engines table 28 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The search engines table 28 is configured as sequential entries of search engines used by the software applet to conduct an Internet search. In its most generic form, each search engine entry includes a search engine key 104b identifying the particular search engine, and a URL field 1 10 indicating the search engine's universe resource locator. Each search engine entry further includes a domain type field 1 12 listing the type of Internet sources the search engine is to search. According to one embodiment of the invention, certain search engines are designated to search public Usenet new groups while other search engines are designated to search the World Wide Web. Categorizing search engines according to their sources allows the system to also categorize the search results as being from a particular source, as is discussed further below in conjunction with FIG. 10.

FIG. 5C is a schematic and block layout diagram of a search result record 25 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. Each search result record 25 is headed and identified by a search result key 106b. Following the search result key 106b, each search record includes a search ID field 100b identifying the particular search that produced the results. A result count field 1 14 indicates the number of hits the search engine found for a particular search term 102 (FIG. 5). A search date field 108B indicates the date in which the search took place.

FIG. 6 is a schematic and block diagram ofthe popularity rankings table 23 used for creating the hot list. The popularity rankings table 23 includes sequential entries of brands eligible for being placed in the hot list, each brand including a brand name field 70 which indicates the name of the particular brand. Each brand entry further includes one or more search IDs 100c, each search ID identifying an Internet search invoked by the software applet as listed in the search table 22 illustrated in FIG. 5.

Each brand entry in the popularity rankings table 23 also includes a total hits field 72 which indicates the total number of hits retrieved by the software applet in doing a brandname search for the brand. The total number of hits may be computed by adding the numbers in the result count field 1 14 of all the search results records 25 corresponding to each search engine that performed such a brandname search.

The total number of hits in the total hits field 72 is further categorized based on the source ofthe hits. According to one embodiment of the invention, the server 10 categorizes each hit as resulting from a web page or a public Usenet news group. In making such a categorization, the server examines the domain type field 1 12 (FIG. 5B) of each search engine that created a hit, and determines the search domain ofthe search engine as being either the web or Usenet news groups. Based on the domain type of each search engine, the server 10 can also categorize the hits accordingly.

The server 10 stores the total number of hits from Usenet news groups in a total Usenet hits field 73, and the total number of hits from websites in a total website hits field 74.

The popularity rankings table 23 further includes a brand capitalization field 75 and a brand community affinity field 76. As described in further detail below, the software applet performs brandname searches with particular keywords retrieved from the keyword categorization table 27 (FIG. 4) to measure a brand's capitalization and community affinity. The total number of hits from searches conducted with keywords categorized for measuring a brand's capitalization are stored in the brand capitalization field 75. The total number of hits from searches conducted with keywords categorized for measuring a brand's community affinity are stored in the brand community affinity field 76.

In addition to the above, the popularity rankings table 23 includes a total votes field 77a and a net votes field 77b. The total votes field 77a indicates the total number of user affinity votes received by the server 10 for the particular brand. As described in further detail below, a user may transmit to the server 10 his or her love, hate, indifference, or lack of knowledge about the brand. The net votes field 77b indicates a net number of affinity votes for the brand calculated by the number of love votes minus the number of hate votes.

A current ranking field 78 indicates the current ranking of a brand as calculated by the software applet. As described in further detail below, the software applet calculates the current ranking of a brand in a formula that considers the total hits in the total hits field 73, total votes from the total votes field 77a, and net votes from the net votes field 77b. The calculation is preferably conducted at least once a day.

A previous ranking field 29 of the popularity ranking table indicates the ranking received by a particular brand in a prior popularity calculation.

FIG. 7A is an interactive screen display for providing interaction between the system and a consumer. The screen display is formatted as a webpage according to one embodiment of the invention. The webpage is displayed on the user's display monitor 14c or television 16b (FIG. 1) upon user access of the system's consumer website via the Internet connection 13. The webpage includes a display 150 ofthe top ten rated brands 160 on the hot list for the day. In this regard, the server 10 analyzes the ranking of each brand on the hot list as stored in the current ranking field 78 ofthe popularity ranking table (FIG. 5), and retrieves the brands with the ten highest rankings.

Selection of one of the brands causes the server 10 to retrieve a store record 84 (FIG. 3) associated with the brand, and display a website store page according to the list of features 84b indicated in the retrieved store record 84. FIG. 7B is an interactive screen display of a website store page. Each website store includes a top-ten list 200 of best selling items in the store. Associated with each item on the top-ten list is an image ofthe item which is displayed on a product image display area 202. The product image display area 202 changes dynamically based on the server's detection as to the last item on the top-ten list 200 pointed to by the user's PC mouse 14b. The user uses his or her mouse 14b to select an item on the top-ten list 200 and initiate a conventional electronic purchase transaction software stored in the server 10 to purchase the item selected.

The server 10 further provides a product catalog 204 of items in the website store. The product catalog 204 includes a list of product categories 206 available for the store as retrieved by the server from the website store's store record 84 (FIG. 3). According to one embodiment of the invention, the products listed in each product category 206 changes dynamically based on the popularity ofthe products in the website store. The products that are not able to maintain a predetermined threshold level of popularity are automatically dropped from the product catalog 204 while the products that achieve the predetermined threshold level of popularity are added to the product catalogue.

If the server detects, by analyzing the store's product records 86-1 through 86-n, that an item is on sale, it is displayed in the store's featured hot products area 208 as one of the featured products 208a, 208b, or 208c.

The server 10 further provides a list of website links 210 available for the store as indicated in the store^'s record 84. One such link is a link to the brand's club page 210a.

In addition, the server 10 provides a "Suggest" button 212 which a user activates to nominate a product that is not available in the website store. Users may further second product nominations made by others by activating the "Suggest" button 212.

Upon activation of the "Suggest" button, the server 10 displays a user interface screen illustrated in FIG. 7C, allowing users to nominate and second products. In nominating a product, a user enters a name 214 and a brief description 216 ofthe product desired. The nomination is submitted to the server 10 via the Internet connection 13 upon user activation of a "Record My Suggestion" button 218.

The server 10 further provides a list of all nominated products 220 that the user may second by selecting a desired product 1-n from the list 220, and activating a "Record My Votes" button 222. Users earn hot points by nominating and seconding a product.

In an alternative embodiment, the display 150 in FIG. 7A is replaced with a display 150a illustrated in FIG. 8. Display 150a includes a user selected brands section 160. a top gainers section 162, and a top losers section 164. The user selected brands section 160 includes a list of brands 160a that the user has indicated that he or she would like to track. The user selected brands section 160 includes the popularity rankings 160b of each brand in the list of brands 160a.

In creating the user selected brands section 160, the system's server 10 presents a user customization page upon user selection of a customize radio button 153 via the user's keyboard 14a, mouse 14b, or remote control unit 16c. FIG. 7D is an image of an exemplary customization page 166. The customization page 166 includes a list of all brands 166a in the hot list, with each brand listing capable of being selected with any ofthe above-indicated input devices. The user selects the desired brand from the list of brands 166a, and further selects a SUBMIT button 166b to transmit the selections to the system's server 10. Upon receipt of the user selected brands, the server 10 creates a separate user brand table (not shown) identified by a user key which includes the names ofthe selected brands. The server monitors the popularity of these brands by invoking the system's software applet 18, as is described in further detail in conjunction with FIG. 10.

The top gainers section 162 includes a top gainers list 162a including the names of brands in the hot list that have increased the most in their popularity rankings. The top gainers section 162 also includes the respective popularity rankings 162b of each brand in the top gainers list 162.

Conversely, the top losers section 164 includes a top losers list 164a including the names of brands in the hot list that have decreased the most in their popularity rankings. The top losers section 164 also includes the respective popularity rankings 164b of each brand in the top losers list 162.

In creating the top losers and top gainers lists 162, 164, the server 10 analyzes the current ranking field 78 and the previous ranking field 79 of each brand in the popularity ranking table 23 (FIG. 6) and selects the top brands that have gone down in popularity as well as the top brands that have gone up in popularity.

Referring back to FIG. 7A, if the user is interested in seeing the top ten brands in a particular category (e.g. the ten hottest music stores), the user selects a metacategory tab 152 listing the particular metacategory. Upon such selection, the server presents to the user only the ratings of brands belonging to the selected metacategory. Each brand is also associated with a website store dedicated to the brand.

The system also allows users to customize the metacategory tabs 152. Accordingly, a user selects the customize button 153 to invoke the customization page illustrated in FIG. 7D. The server 10 lists on this page a list of available metacategories 166c that the user may select to filter-out from the user's display. Upon user selection of one or more such metacategories from the list 166c. and upon activation of the Submit button 166b, the server 10 enters the selected metacategories in the user's filtered metacategories table 67 (FIG. 2). The system further deletes the corresponding metacategory tabs 152 and refrains from displaying products associated with the selected metacategories in a featured products area 154 ofthe display.

In yet another embodiment ofthe invention, the server 10 automatically selects the default metacategory tabs 152 to be displayed based on the profile information stored in the user's record 26 (FIG. 2). For instance, the system may automatically replace a sports metacategory with an Entertainment metacategory if the user profile indicates that the user is a woman.

Referring back to FIG. 7A, if a user desires to see the rankings of all the brands on the hot list and cast a vote with respect to particular brands to reflect the user^'s affinity to the brand, the user selects a hot list button 151. FIG. 7E is an image of a user interface screen displayed by the server 10 upon actuation ofthe hot list button 151. The screen displays the names 170 of all the brands in the hot list along with their current rankings 172 and their previous rankings 174.

The server 10 further displays the total number of votes 184 and the net votes 186 cast for each brand, and the total number of web mentions 188 retrieved for each brand. A brand's rating field 190 indicates the brand's popularity rating as calculated by the software applet from the Web mentions, total votes, and net votes.

From the screen, the user may vote on a listed brand as loving, hating, being indifferent, or being unaware of it. Accordingly, the user selects a love 176, hate 178, ok 180, or question 181 option for the brands that he or she wants to rate, and further actuates a "submit" button 182 to transmit the affinity votes to the server 10. The server 10 then stores the submitted votes in the user's rating table 60 (FIG. 2).

If a favorite brand does not appear on the hot list, the user nominates the brand by entering it in a nominate box 183, and selecting a submit button 185. The server maintains all nominations made by the user in the user's nomination table 62 (FIG. 2).

The server 10 further provides a list of all nominated brands upon activation of a see all nominations button 187. A user may second a brand nominated by another user by selecting it from the list (not shown) and activating a submit button (not shown). The server maintains all nominations seconded by the user in the user's second table. 64. Users earn hot points redeemable at the website stores by nominating and seconding brands.

Referring again to FIG. 7A, the server 10 further displays a featured products area 154 with a predetermined number of featured products 154a, 154b, and 154c, from the website stores. In determining the featured products 154a, 154b, and 154c, to be displayed for a particular user, the server 10 interrogates the user's queue which stores the featured items selected for the particular user. The server 10 rotates through the items in the queue, selecting three items at a time for display in the featured products area 154, as is discussed in further detail below.

The system also allows a consumer to search for specific items or browse through a particular category of items in the website stores through a "Search or Browse" area 156 of the webpage. A user invokes the system's search functionality by entering a "Search" command in a command input area 156a, specifying in a search scope area 156b where the server 10 should conduct the search, entering a keyword in a keyword area 156c, and submitting the request by actuating a submit button 156d. Upon receipt of the user's search request, the system searches each metacategory in the metacategories table 80 (FIG. 3), all the brands in the brand tables 82-1 through 82-n, and all the product descriptions in the product records 86-1 through 86-n, until a match to the keyword is found. Thus, if the user entered "South Park" as a keyword, the server would first locate a match on the brands table 82 if a store dedicated to the South Park exists. Upon such a match, the server 10 retrieves all the product records 86-1 through 86-n associated with the South Park brand.

If a user wants to browse certain product categories, the user enters a "Browse" command in the command input area 156a, the locations to browse in the search scope area 156b, and actuates the submit button 156d. Upon receipt of a browse request, the server 10 displays a list of categories and/or stores that the user may select to browse. The server does not display the list of stores if the user has already specified a particular store to browse in the search scope area 156b.

The user selects the desired categories and/or stores using any of the above-mentioned input devices. For instance, the user may select to browse a Women's T-shirt category in all the stores. Such a request causes the server 10 to search the store category fields 84c (FIG. 3) in all the store records 84-1 through 84-n, for stores having a women's t-shirt category. Once such a category is found in the store, the server 10 identifies and retrieves the product records 86-1 through 86-n associated with the product category.

Referring back to FIG. 7A, the server 10 also displays a Hot points area 158 for indicating the hot points earned by a registered user ofthe system. In doing so, the server 10 retrieves the user's record 26 (FIG. 2) and displays a number stored in the hot points field 26i. Hot points are discount points that a user earns for registering on the system, voting on brands on the hot list, nominating new brands and products that they think are "hot," seconding nominations made by other users, making purchases from the website stores, and for new member referrals. Hot points are also earned when a nominated brand or product makes it onto the hot list. The user may redeem the discount points at the website stores to lower the purchase price of a product. Thus, the system provides through the hot points feature a gamelike environment that helps motivate users to interact with the system and provide information that the system needs to customize its website and maintain the hot list. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the system tunes the display ofthe website according to the preferences of a registered user ofthe system. In tuning the website to an individual's preferences, the server 10 retrieves the user's filtered brands table 65 (FIG. 2) and filtered metacategories table 67 and refrains from displaying stores and products related to such brands and metacategories.

Other stores and brands that have not been filtered out by the system are also tuned according to the user's preferences. According to one embodiment of the invention, the products displayed in the featured hot products area 154 (FIG. 7A) are selected based on the user's affinity rating of the products. The user's affinity rating for a product is a measure of the user's preference for the product, and thus, a measure of the user's likeness to purchase the product.

In calculating a user's affinity rating for a product, the server 10 analyzes the user's past purchases, affinity votes of brands on the hot list, responses to poll questions, filtered brands and metacategories, and the like. For instance, in analyzing the user's past purchases, the server 10 considers elements such as product categories in which the user has made purchases, brands that the user has purchased, price ranges of the purchases, and whether the purchase was a gift for someone else. A person skilled in the art may recognize other elements for gaging a user's affinity rating. Thus, the provided list of elements are exemplary and not intended to be limiting in any sense.

In calculating the user's affinity rating for a particular product, the server 10 retrieves the user's record 26 (FIG. 2) and associated tables such as the user's order table 68, filtered brands table 65, filtered metacategories table 67, and vote table 64. The server 10 considers each affinity rating element in the retrieved consumer record 26 and associated tables, and adds to the product^'s total rating if the element indicates that there is user affinity for the product. For instance, the system inquires if the product belongs to a product category in which the user has made a purchase. If the answer is in the affirmative, the product's rating is increased by a point. If the answer is in the negative, the rating is left intact.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the server 10 calculates the user affinity rating of each available product, and selects fifty products with the highest affinity ratings. The selected fifty products are maintained in the user's a featured products list in the user^'s queue, and rotated-through in the featured hot products area 154.

If one of the products in the user's queue is one ofthe top ten rated brands 160 (FIG. 7 A), the server 10 drops it from the user's queue and does not display it in the featured hot products area 154 to avoid duplicate listings of the same product.

After a product on the user's queue has been rotated-through a predetermined number of times (e.g. three), the server 10 again drops it from the user's queue. The server 10 then replenishes the empty spots on the queue associated with the dropped items each night by selecting the next highest rated products that were not included in queue.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process undertaken by a software program stored in the server 10 for adding an item into the hot list. In step 30, the program inquires whether a nominated brand exists. According to one embodiment of the invention, a nominated brand becomes eligible for being placed in the hot list after a predetermined number of other users (e.g. twenty) second the nomination. Thus, in step 32, the program inquires whether the nomination has been seconded by a sufficient number of other users. If enough other users have seconded a nomination, the program, in step 34, adds the brand to the popularity rankings table 23 (FIG. 6) and invokes the software applet subroutine for determining the current popularity ofthe nominated brand. In an alternative embodiment, program invokes the software applet as soon as a nomination is made, rather than waiting for a sufficient number of other users to second the nomination.

Once a brand becomes eligible for being placed on the hot list, the program further proceeds to create, in step 36, a website store page and a club page dedicated to the brand. When a store is initially created, the store may contain no products. Products are added from nominations made by users. Alternatively, the system invokes the software applet to automatically search for the most popular products related to the brand, and submit electronic purchase orders of such products to websites selling the product.

The club page includes chat rooms and discussion groups where users can exchange information and opinions about the brand. The club page also includes a calendar of events related to the brand. For instance, for the brand Pokemon, the release of a new Pokemon movie may be indicated in the calendar of events. In addition, the club page may contain

10 links to other websites associated with the brand.

After a store is created, users have the option to nominate products that they would like to see in the store. Thus, the program checks in step 38 whether products have been nominated for the particular store. If a product has been nominated, the program adds the product nomination in the nominating user's nomination table 60 (FIG. 2), and further

15 inquires in step 40 whether the product has received a sufficient number of seconding votes.

If enough users have seconded the product, the program transmits an e-mail to the owner/manager of the store indicating the demand for the product. The store owners/ managers ma> then determine whether or not to include the product in the store, and, if the product is to be included, the sale price ofthe product.

20 In an alternative embodiment, the program automatically adds a product to the store as soon as a sufficient number of users have seconded the product's nomination. In this scenario, the software applet searches the Internet for a vendor of the product, and automatically places a purchase order to the vendor, as is described in further detail below.

Products added to stores are automatically dropped from the stores if they fail to

? ^ maintain a predetermined popularity level. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, a product's popularity is measured in terms of its sales along with the brand's popularity. The server 10 monitors the amount of sales of each product in the website store. The server 10 then weighs the amount ofthe product's sales along with the brand's popularity in determining the product's popularity ranking. If the product's popularity ranking is below a

30 predetermined number (e.g. 50), the product is deleted from the store.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary flow diagram ofthe software applet subroutine 34 of FIG. 9, for calculating the current popularity of a brand. In step 50, the software applet retrieves a list of search engines from the search engines table 28 (FIG. 5B). In step 52, the software applet initiates connections with the search engines listed in the search engines table 28. In step 54,

35 the software applet submits to each search engine search strings to be used to search the Internet. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the software applet submits at least one search string comprising only the brandname. Thus, a search for the brandname "South Park" helps retrieve all website mentions ofthe South Park name. The search is recorded in the search table 22 (FIG. 5A).

In addition to the brandname search, the software applet preferably submits additional search strings comprising the brandname and one or more keywords. The keywords are used to categorize the web mentions and help measure things such as the brand's capitalization or the brand's community affinity.

In doing a brandname-plus-keyword search, the software applet retrieves one or more keywords from the keyword categorization table 27 (FIG. 4). As discussed above, keywords in the categorization table 29 (FIG. 4) are attached to different categorizations. Keywords for measuring a brand's capitalization are attached to the capitalization category. Such keywords include "store," "product," and "merchandise." Thus, a brand-plus-keyword search of "South Park merchandise" helps retrieve sites which provide South Park merchandise. The number of such retrievals are used to measure the degree of the brand's commercialization.

Keywords for measuring a brand's community affinity are attached to the community affinity category. Such keywords include "chat," "discussion," "club," and "fan." Thus, a brand-plus-keyword search of "South Park chat" helps retrieve sites reflecting discussions on the South Park brand. The number of such retrievals are used to measure the brand's community affinity.

After a search has been performed, each search engine produces a results page that the software applet analyzes in step 56. The analysis comprises extracting the number of total hits produced by the search engines, as well as categorizing each hit as being from a web page or a public Usenet news group. In making such a categorization, the software applet examines the search engines table 28 for the search engines category.

The software applet makes additional qualifications of the types of hits retrieved when analyzing the results page of a brandname-plus-keyword search. According to one embodiment of the invention, the software applet categorizes the hits as measuring the brand's capitalization or the brand's community affinity, and calculates a ratio between the two. Such categorization allows the system to determine whether a product is under or over capitalized. For instance, if the ratio between brand's capitalization and community affinity is 1 :50, the brand might be under-capitalized given that there is fifty times more "buzz" about the product (community affinity) than the available merchandise (capitalization). This information can then be transmitted to manufacturers who may decide to direct their manufacturing efforts towards a "hot" under-capitalized product.

The server 10 stores the total number of hits, total Usenet hits, total website hits, brand capitalization information, and brand community affinity information, of all the search engines, in the popularity ranking table 23 (FIG. 6).

In step 58, the software applet uses the search results for a particular brand in a formula which weighs the web mentions with other relevant factors to provide a measure of the brand's popularity. This formula, according to one embodiment ofthe invention, is as follows:

Web Mentions + Net Votes + Total Votes

Web mentions, net votes, and total votes are retrieved from the from the total hits field, net votes, and total votes fields, respectively, of the popularity ranking table 23. Once the server 10 calculates the current popularity of the brand, this is stored into the current ranking field 78 of the popularity ranking table 23.

In calculating a brand's popularity rating, the system designates different weights to the various elements ofthe formula. In one embodiment of the invention, Web mentions and Net votes are each given a weight of 40%. Total votes are given a weight of 20%. A person skilled in the art should recognize, however, that the weights can be apportioned differently.

In an alternative embodiment ofthe invention, the Web mentions are further categorized based on the source of the web mentions (web pages vs. Usenet news groups) and the type of web mentions (commercial vs. non-commercial). Each category is then afforded a different weight.

In yet another embodiment ofthe invention, the formula is replaced with a neural network, with each neuron reflecting an element used to gage a brand's popularity. The weight assigned to each neuron is readjusted based on the accuracy ofthe gaging of a brand's popularity. In readjusting the weight, the system might utilize a back-propagation algorithm which modifies the weights on the basis of a least-mean-square error.

Besides calculating the current popularity of a brand, the software applet is also configured to perform additional tasks. One such task is automatically identifying a possibly popular brand that has not yet been placed in the hot list. Thus, according to one embodiment of the invention, the server 10 invokes the software applet to find lists of commonly searched items. This is accomplished by accessing a third party's existing website that maintains a list of items people are searching for. A brand frequently searched for as indicated in such a website can be used as an indication that the brand is "hot."

Another task performed by the software applet is to find merchandise and order merchandise on the Internet. This task is useful in populating website stores. For instance, if a user nominates a product for inclusion into a website store, and enough other users second the nomination, the server 10 invokes the software applet to place an automatic order for the item. Alternatively, the software applet takes the ten most popular brands on the hot list, and automatically searches the Internet for products that may be included and ordered for their website stores. A located product is added to the website store if the product has achieved a predetermined threshold level of popularity. The automatic reordering task is also invoked if an existing item in the website store needs to be reordered.

According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the automatic reordering task is carried out by first invoking the software applet to perform a brandname-plus-keyword search of the product, where the keyword might be "store," "product," "merchandise," and the like. Once a website offering the product for sale is retrieved, the software applet searches the website for an e-mail address where orders can be placed. The software applet further invokes the system's e-mail capabilities to compose an e-mail to the located e-mail address, with specification as to the name ofthe product, quantity desired, etc.

Other tasks performed by the software applet include measuring the performance of the system's website on search engines (i.e. determining how many times the system's website is mentioned in a search performed by various search engines, and where in the results list the website appears), and creating associations with other websites. For instance, the task of creating associations may be used to insert a link to a website for a particular brand in the brand^'s club page. Thus, a user of the system visiting the club page may select the link to obtain additional information about the brand from the associated website.

Users may further create a searching task for the software applet by suggesting keywords related to a particular brand. For instance, a user may suggest the word "Kenny," a character in the South Park cartoon series, as a keyword for the brand "South Park." Upon such a suggestion, the server 10 uses the keyword in doing a brand-plus-keyword search for the brand "South Park."

Retailers and manufacturers can further view keyword suggestions made by the users, and use such suggestions to gage product demands. For instance, if all keyword suggestions for the "South Park" brand are "Kenny" and none are "Kyle", this may indicate that Kenny is a more popular South Park character than Kyle. A plush doll manufacturer may thus decide to invest its efforts in manufacturing Kenny plush dolls instead of Kyle plush dolls.

To accomplish the above-described tasks, the software applet spawns multiple threads, each thread configured to perform one of the tasks described above. The software applet further remotes each thread to a separate platform computer or server where the tasks are carried out in parallel. These tasks, including the task of searching the Internet to conduct a popularity rating, preferably occur once a day. However, a task may be invoked several times a day based on the processing capabilities ofthe platform computer or server dedicated to the task.

The present invention also provides for business clients, including but not limited to licensors/brandholders ("licensors"), licensees/manufacturers ("manufacturers"), retailers, and other third parties, a business-to-business ("B-to-B") interface. The B-to-B interface utilizes the monitoring trends and information gathering tools of the present invention, including the hotlist, nominations and other user feedback data shown in FIGS. 1-10 and described above, along with information derived over the B-to-B interface, to provide a direct, rapid, site for business clients. A detailed description ofthe present invention as implemented with licensors, manufacturers, and retailers is discussed in detail below. One skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited to licensors, manufacturers, and retailers, rather any ofthe features discussed herein can be implemented for a third party or a party involved in one or more of the above roles i.e. distributor/retailer.

The B-to-B interface provides a marketplace for business clients to do business directly with each other, bypassing traditional third party business channels. For example, a retailer normally having access to only distributors is now additionally able to interact directly with the licensors and the manufacturers as well. The business circle created by the B-to-B interface provides licensors, manufacturers, retailers, and others within the circle, the ability to communicate, sell, buy, and exchange information with each other.

In addition to providing a forum for the industry players, the B-to-B interface operates as an information transfer forum, providing critical popularity, trend and historical information to these players. The present invention combines the information derived from monitoring trends in popular culture with the information derived from monitoring business transactions over its own interface, and stores such information in user accessible databases. By monitoring critical business information, such as the rise and fall of brands through the hot list, viewing the brand and product nominations made by consumers, and reviewing the transactions conducted over the B-to-B interface, business parties can adjust their activities to reflect the current industry trends.

As explained in detail below, the information gathered by the present invention is displayed and accessed in multiple contexts on the B-to-B interface. In particular, the information is tailored for the particular needs of the business and audience. For example, a licensor seeking to license its rights can analyze trend and historical information regarding past royalty rates for similar types of products in order to establish its own desired royalty rates. The same licensor can display its product on the B-to-B interface, as shown in FIG.

-99- 12B and discussed in detail below.

The present invention is particularly useful to businesses that do not have wide access to critical business data, contacts, or marketplaces, such as individuals, start-ups and small businesses. Such parties can, via the B-to-B interface, stay ahead of ever-changing trends that may affect their way of doing business. For example, retailers can adjust their product mix in accordance with the trend data provided by the B-to-B interface. Moreover, larger and/or established businesses adding electronic delivery channels for their goods can now also rely on information provided by the B-to-B interface. Information, ranging from current, up to the minute popularity rankings to historical data, can be continuously delivered to a user once a user has selected personalized automatic delivery of information. Furthermore, the B-to-B interface may be utilized to market rights and goods to a wide audience of users, thus allowing licensors, manufacturers, and retailers to rapidly build market share and brand recognition.

To implement the above features, the present invention provides searchable databases stored in the system's mass storage device 20. These databases store relevant information associated with each of the parties in the business circle as well as other information useful to them. The information aids each industry player to go to market rapidly, build competitive differentiation, and implement strategies to facilitate business growth. According to one embodiment of the invention, these databases include at least a licensor/brandholder database, licensee 'manufacturer database, and a retailer database, each storing a plurality of user records. The retailer database includes the website superstore tables 24 illustrated in FIG. 3. Additional databases for storing information to be accessed by the industry players to aid in their business growth are also maintained in the mass storage device 20. The information in the databases are compiled and distributed via the B-to-B interface in a form most suitable for the particular party.

To gain access to the B-to-B interface, the users first register with the server 10 and establish their profile and login accounts. Each member profile includes various attributes such as a member name, company name, contact information, player type (i.e. licensor, manufacturer, retailer), language preferred, property details, payment method for purchases, and the like. The member profile and login information is stored in a user record within the licensor database, manufacturer database, or retailer database, depending on the type of industry player. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the labels, tool bars, navigation bards, hyperlinks, buttons, and banners used in the B-to-B interface are dynamically generated based on the user's language.

The prices listed for the products displayed are also converted to the user^'s currency based on a current currency exchange rate. FIG. 11 is an interactive screen display ofthe system's B-to-B interface displayed upon user login onto the site. Upon the user's login, the B-to-B interface displays by default a member-centric work area where the user may view information specific to the user, and navigate to other pages on the site to make use ofthe interface's relationship-building and workflow tools.

A My News section 310 of the user's work area allows the user to see specific news related to his or her areas of interest. The user may submit information about his or her areas of interest upon registration with the B-to-B interface. In addition, the server 10 continuously monitors the user's interaction with the B-to-B interface to learn about the user's interests. With knowledge about the user's interests, the server 10 may invoke the software applet 18 to search for the articles that the user is interested in. Alternatively, the server 10 receives articles daily from different news feeds. The server 10 filters the articles and displays only those articles that match the user's interests.

The My News section 310 also provides information of brands that the user is interested in. For instance, the user selects a particular brand from the hotlist to get the status of product suggestions made for the selected brand. If the user is a retailer, this information is used in determining the product mix ofthe website store. This information is further useful for a manufacturer to assess which items are in demand, and thus, focus its resources in the production of such items.

A Contact List section 316 includes a list of links to other member showcase pages with information about the member's profile, products and brands, as is described in further detail below. In this way, the user may bookmark a page of interest for rapidly accessing the page without further search.

The user's In Box 312 acts as a notification center where the user can read messages generated from interaction with the B-to-B interface. For instance, as is described in further detail below, a user may submit certain Matchmaker criteria to search for other industry players registered with the system. The server 10 stores the criteria in the user^'s record. When a new entry is added to one of the databases that matches the stored criteria, a message to this effect is posted in the user's In Box 312. Other messages in the user's In Box 312 might indicate that the user has been added to another member's contact list, as is also described in further detail below.

The user's work area includes other personal organization tools such as a Scheduler 314, to allow the user to keep track of his or her appointments, and a Notepad 318, to allow the user to maintain personal notes and reminders which are time and title stamped. A Filing Cabinet 320 allows the user to store links to documents and articles of interest from a resource library. A My Postings section 322 maintains a list of all user submissions through the B-to-B interface, such as submission of Matchmaker criteria, press releases, announcements, posting board listings, and the like.

A Search section 324 of the user's work area provides the user with advanced search capacities. The search is designed to capture any content and/or references on the B-to-B interface, including links to related industry sites. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, canned search parameters are provided based on the industry player type. For instance, if the user is a licensee, canned search parameters relating to product categories and subcategories are presented to the user. On the other hand, if the user is a licensor, the canned search parameters relate to property categories. Other canned search parameters allow the user to search by company name, contact name, business type, business type sub- classification, geographical location, expansion interests, and the like.

With searching capabilities, users may easily locate industry players, products, and properties desired for purchase, negotiating, and the like. For instance, a retailer may search for products offered by different manufactures and place an on-line order of such products without rummaging through pages and pages of paper catalogs.

The search results may be formatted as a simple list, summarized list, or in a full detail format. The search results as well as the search criteria submitted by the user are stored in the user's record.

The user's work area further includes a set of user tools to manage the user's showcase, access other showcases, and view industry -related reports. Each member ofthe B- to-B interface has a showcase to provide visibility to the member's company, brand and/or products. The user accesses his or her showcase by selecting a My Showcase option 326. FIGS. 12A-12B are exemplary screen displays of the user's showcase. The showcase includes a Membership Card section and a Portfolio section. The Membership Card section is accessed by selecting a Membership Card button 326a. The user's member's membership card is created upon registration with the B-to-B interface, and includes broad company and contact information. The user may edit his or her membership information by selecting an Edit button 326b.

Access to the user's portfolio is done by selection of a Portfolio button 326d. As illustrated in FIG. 12B, the portfolio is organized as an image catalog where the member can feature images 290 of its products, properties, and the like, along with their product descriptions 292. An Upload button 326e allows the user to upload new images into the catalog. An Edit button 326f allows the user to make changes to the existing catalog. A Price List button 326g allows the user to vary the pricing based on the purchaser type and purchase amounts. For instance, special discount programs may be made available to certain retailers.

If the user is a licensor, the showcase further displays a list of authorized licensees and their authorization terms. This information is categorized based on the product category/sub- category, geographic location, and distribution channels.

If the user is a licensee/manufacturer, the showcase includes the authorized licenses and their terms, a product category list of authorized licenses, their distribution channels, and a list of products by licensed property.

If the user is a retailer, the showcase includes the retailer's geographic location, product assortment, relationships with the licensees/manufacturers, and marketing programs.

Referring back to FIG. 1 1, a user accesses other member's showcases by selecting a Member Showcases option 328. Other member's showcases also include a Membership Card and a Portfolio. The user may include a selected member's showcase into the user's contact list by selecting an Add to Contact button. Upon such a selection, the server 10 updates the user's Contact List section 316 to include a link to the member's showcase. The user may further initiate contact with the showcased member by selecting a Request for Relationship button and submitting a form to request a relationship with the member.

The user may further view another member's portfolio and make purchases or offers for the displayed products and brands. For instance, if the user is a licensee, the user may view the brands being offered by a licensor and make a bid for rights to the brand for particular product categories, geographic location, and/or distribution channels. On the other hand, if the user is a retailer, the user may view a licensee's showcase and directly purchase products from the licensee without going through intermediary distributors, as is described in further detail below.

T he user may further view aggregate showcase pages based on a specific brand with information on all the industry players and products related to that brand. The aggregate showcases are displayed upon selection of a Property Showcases option 330. The aggregate showcase pages may include images/identifiers ofthe property, licensors owning the property, a list of authorized licensees, a list of product categories in which the property is currently developed, and distribution data if available. Selection of a displayed product or property causes a display of individual product or property pages for further review and/or purchasing.

A Reports option 332 of the user's work area allows the user to view member-centric reports. For instance, manufacturers and retailers may view inventory balances and status of products shipped or to be shipped. Retailers may further view product details of purchases- to-date, including SKU numbers, product titles, date purchased, quantity, price, supplier, date received, and the like. The industry players may then use this information to modify their business activities accordingly.

The user's work area further allows the user to navigate to other areas of the B-to-B interface via an Industry News tab 300, a Resources tab 302, a Matchmaker tab 304, and a Player Center tab 306. The user returns to his or her work area after navigating the other areas of the B-to-B interface by selecting a My Desk tab 308.

Selection of the Industry News tab 300 causes a display of an Industry News page 300a with industry related news and information as illustrated in FIG. 13. The Industry News page 300a includes a Hot Board 300b, a News Features area 300c, a Press Room 300d, and an Events Calendar 300e. The Hot Board 300b includes a quick bulletin display of content captured from the hit rates and sales to various purchasers as well as the ranking of brands from the hotlist. In keeping track of the sales and hits from the B-to-B interface as well as from the interface accessible to consumers, the server 10 maintains an advanced log analysis of all actions with the system interfaces. According to one embodiment of the invention, the server 10 maintains a unique click ID for each click event occurred as a user browses through the system's website illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7E, and the B-to-B interface illustrated in FIG. 11. Each click ID includes a container ID and an item ID. The container ID indicates the location in which the click occurred, and the item ID indicates the item selected for purchase in the particular location. According to one embodiment ofthe invention purchasers may purchase items from one of several locations. For instance, consumers may purchase items by selecting a featured product 154a, 154b, or 154c in the featured hot products area 154 (FIG. 7A). Consumers may also purchase products by selecting a product from a store's top- ten list 200 (FIG. 7B), a store's product catalogue 204, or from a search browse results page from a search or browse done from the search or browse area 156. With respect to the B-to-B interface, a retailer may make a purchase from a manufacturer's showcase (FIGS. 12A-12B) or from the aggregate showcase pages upon selection of a Property Showcases option 330.

For instance, if a consumer selects a South Park mug with an item ID of 042 from the featured products area 154, the display page with the featured products area being assigned a container ID of 001, the unique click ID for this event is 001042. However, if a user selects the item from within a store's top-ten list 200 within the South Park store, the South Park store's top-ten list having a container ID of 002, the unique click ID for this event is 002042.

The server 10 also attaches a user ID to each click ID, and writes the consolidated ID into the server's queue. The information in the queue is written to the system's mass storage device 20 at the end of the day, and the system performs statistical analyses based on the accumulated information. One such analysis involves calculating the total number of people who have viewed a product, and the total number of sales that have occurred. For a manufacturer, the system may further perform comparisons of each manufacturer's sales against another particular manufacturer or a generalized group of manufacturers in the same category. This comparison allows manufacturers to access their performance with respect to their competitors. For instance, if one manufacturer's catalogue is always retrieved with another manufacturer's catalogue during a search function, but purchases are only made from the second manufacturer, the first manufacturer may decide to modify its product mix or its product pricing to increase its sales.

The number sales may further be categorized based on the location in which the sale occurred. The system provides this information to retailers and/or manufacturers in the Hot Board area 300b upon their logging onto the system. Alternatively, the information may be presented as part of the user's portfolio. For instance, a retailer viewing his or her portfolio is further presented, below each product, the total number of consumers who have viewed the product and the total number of people who have purchased the product.

The News Features area 300c of the Industry News page 300a includes various industry news with contents received from different news feeds and stored into a news database. Specifically, the News Features area 300c includes headlines of the current news including a short description of the article associated with each headline. Selection of a particular headline causes the server 10 to search the news database for the full text ofthe article and display it in the News Features area 300c or in a separate pop-up window. Outdated articles are stored in a resource database that are accessible to the user via the Resources tab 302 as is described in further detail below.

The Press Room area 300d ofthe Industry News page 300a displays a listing of press releases and announcements related to the members registered with the B-to-B interface. According to one embodiment of the invention, the members themselves submit the press releases to the server 10. The submission may be on-line via e-mail, or via other conventional communication means. The press releases and announcements may relate to new products, new brands, and the like.

The Events Calendar 300e included in the Industry News page 300a displays a current list of industry wide events submitted by the users of the B-to-B interface. Each event entry may be inserted to the user's Schedule 314 by selecting an "add to my schedule" checkbox. Furthermore, selection of a particular event causes a display of additional information about the event, and further allows the user to register for the event.

Referring back to FIG. 1 1, the Resources tab 302 allows the user convenient access to a resource library displaying various industry resources. Information to be displayed on the Resources Page is stored in a resource database. FIG. 14 is an illustration of a screen display of a resource library 302a. The library 302a includes an "Ask an Expert" area 302b where e-mails submitted to particular experts are automatically posted in the area. The e-mail responses from the experts are also automatically recognized and posted in the "Ask and Expert" area 302b. Experts may further initiate discussions for topics in which there is a lot of activity and/or opinion through the system's Player Center, as is described in further detail below.

A Document Library area 302c ofthe library 302a includes sample documents common in the business world for viewing and downloading by the members. Such sample documents include sample contracts, non-disclosure agreements, regulatory standards, industry standards, and the like. A Links List area 302d of the Resources Page provides list of links to companies and/or organizations that are related to the members of the B-to-B interface. The list is organized by service/content categories, and contains short text description fields and hyperlinks to related web sites. The library 302a also includes a Directory Listing 302e of the members ofthe B-to-B interface as well as an Archive area 302f with outdated industry new articles.

The B-to-B interface illustrated in FIG. 1 1 further includes a Matchmaker tab 304 for providing tools for forming relationships between the industry players. One such tool, as illustrated in FIG. 15, is a Matchmaker Wizard 304a which allows users to select certain criteria, including their own profile definition, to find other members who might be able to help them with specific aspects of their business, (e.g. A licensor in Kansas who produces stationary is looking for animated characters that would interest kids ages 7-10 so as to expand his product line, and he is interested in midwest distribution.) The criteria selected by the user is saved in the user's search log for automatically notifying the member when new additions are made to the licensor, manufacturer, or retailer database which match their selected parameters. The user may delete the criteria from the search log or modify it as necessary.

Another tool provided upon selection ofthe Matchmaker tab 304 is a "Looking for/Have to offer" posting board 304b. The posting board acts as a bulletin board where users may announce new brands, employment opportunities, services, and the like.

Selection ofthe Player Center tab 306 from the B-to-B interface allows the members, experts, and mangers of the site, to initiate online conferences that use both chat and document viewing/exchange features. A member may further request for a private chat with another member. The Player Center tab 306 further allows display of a directory of the industry players classified by category and sub-category within their areas.

Each industry player makes use of the B-to-B interface for other purposes specific to each player type as is described in further detail below.

Licensors

In the case of a licensor desiring to market its intellectual property, whether it be in the form of a copyright, trademark, patent or know how, the licensor can upload information related to its property in his or her showcase. The showcase thus allows the property and related information to become visible to other industry players without having to engage a third party agent. The licensor can also utilize the trend watching data from the hotlist and other historical data to determine terms of agreement, including royalty rates and so forth. At the same time, potential licensors can utilize the data to determine whether the royalty rate is fair in view of how popular the goods are, thereby providing an efficient marketplace for both licensee and licensor. The business-to-business interface is thus an efficient medium for businesses to present information about their products, and for various parties to view such product information and place orders of desired items.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers may further focus their resources to making products that are in demand. The B-to-B interface also allows manufacturers to upload a catalog of products that may be conveniently viewed by the retailers to place on-line orders.

According to one embodiment of the invention, manufacturers are organized in the manufacturer's database according to the category of products that they manufacture. Exemplary categories include women's apparel, toys, games, and the like. The Search area 324 available through each user's work area allows retailers to search for products according to such categories. For instance, a retailer interested in populating his or her store with different types of T-shirts might invoke the search function to search for all T-shirt manufacturers enrolled in the system. From the results page retrieved by the search function, the retailer may browse through all the manufacturers' catalogues, and place orders from each as desired. Thus, retailers no longer need to individually request paper catalogues from different manufacturers and rummage through pages and pages of such catalogues to select one or two items from each catalogue.

According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the server 10 also maintains an inventory of items within a store, and automatically places orders to the manufacturer of items that have dropped to a specified threshold level if the item is maintaining a certain degree of popularity. The threshold level is computed based on the projected number of days for a manufacturer to fulfill the request, and the number of items expected to be sold within that projected time. Thus, if it generally takes a manufacturer ten days to fulfill an order, and an average of two items are sold per day. the threshold amount is set to twenty to ensure that the items are received before the item is sold-out. When the product drops to the computed threshold level, the server 10 invokes the software applet to perform the automatic reorder task.

Retailers

In accordance with the present invention, using the B-to-B interface, a retailer may communicate directly with any licensor or manufacturer through the B-to-B interface. According to one embodiment ofthe invention, the B-to-B interface also allows a retailer to create a website store related to a brand on the hotlist. A retailer can in turn use the trend information on the hot list to maintain the website and/or a physical store.

Referring to FIG. 16, a flow diagram of an exemplary software program for creating a website store for a retailer through the B-to-B interface is illustrated. As discussed above, the program creates a website store dedicated to a brand each time a new brand is included into the hot list. In creating a new store, the program, in step 130, creates a store record 84 (FIG. 3) associated with the new brand. In step 132, the program sets a "Store Visible" boolean to FALSE, preventing users from accessing the store prior to its setup. In step 134, the program inquires if there are any assets to be included into the store. If there are, the program uploads the assets into the store. For instance, if the asset is a product to be sold in the store, the system creates a product record 86 (FIG. 2) including the product's SKU number, price, attributes, and description.

The program next inquires in step 138 whether there are any images related to the asset. If there are, the images are also uploaded into the store in step 140, and the image key field of the product record 86 is updated with an index to the image file. If no image ofthe asset exists, an image is created by taking a digital photograph of the asset and storing it into the system's mass storage device 20, as indicated by step 142.

In step 144, the program further proceeds to enable the store features indicated by the owner/manager ofthe website store. In doing so, the program presents to the owner/manager a list of features that may be enabled for the store. Such features include a calendar of events, chat rooms, links to other sites, and the like. The program then proceeds to include the enabled features into the store.

After the store is set-up, the system, in step 146, sets a "Store Visible" boolean to TRUE. The store will now be available to the consumers to visit and to view and purchase products therein.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of an on-line purchase process performed by the retailers through the B-to-B interface. As discussed above, purchasing may be done by accessing a manufacturer's showcase directly, or through the aggregate showcase pages. In step 340, a retailer browses through the product catalogs and selects a particular product that the retailer is interested. In step 342, the program retrieves from the manufacturer's database, the product page associated with the selected product. In step 344, the program inquires if the user has chosen to purchase the product right away. If the answer is NO, the program saves the selected item in the retailer's shopping cart for 24-hours. If the answer is YES, the program checks the manufacturers database to determine if the product is in stock. If the product is not in stock, the program invokes a "Backordered" status on the order and further provides an anticipated stocking data to the purchaser. If the product is in stock, the program updates the manufacturers database to reflect the purchase, and proceeds to the check-out step where the program confirms the user's profile data and validates the shipping address. In step 352. the program checks for the user^'s payment method. The user has various payment options available, such as a credit card, letter-of- credit, or cash before delivery. If the user is to pay by letter-of-credit, the program checks if the user has such a letter-of-credit, and if so, whether the user is beyond the allotted limit. If the user is beyond the allotted limit, the order is declined.

Thus, the system and method according to one aspect of the invention allows the continuous monitoring of trends relating to popular culture and merchandise. The hot list provides to users an up-to-date popularity ranking of brands related to such popular culture and merchandise which helps users keep abreast of the popular trends. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the system and method according to the present invention represents a significant improvement in the ineffectiveness in the prior art to compile and publish trend information.

The system further caters the display ofthe system's website based on the user profile and preferences. The system provides a self-tuning catalogue of website stores and products which may vary from user to user. Website stores and products related to brands that a particular user dislikes strongly are automatically filtered from the user's display. Products that the user is likely to be interested are pushed to the user in the featured hot products area. The metacategories may also be customized based on the user profile and preferences. Thus, the user's personalized catalogue helps satisfy the user's needs and interests, helping bolster sales of products through the website stores.

The system obtains information about the user profile and preferences through the user's interaction with the system. To encourage such interaction, the system offers discount points that can be redeemed at the website stores. Discount points are offered for registering on the system, voting on brands on the hot list, nominating new brands and products that they think are "hot," seconding nominations made by other users, making purchases from the website stores, and for new member referrals. Information for maintaining the hot list and tuning the display of the

-JZ 9- website may thus be obtained from the users in a game-like environment where users are motivated to and compensate for providing such information.

In addition to the above, the system's business-to-business interface connects the demand side with the supply side ofthe demand-supply chain. User demands, reflected, for example, in the rise and fall of particular brands, are met by retailers and manufacturers who are kept abreast of such user demands. The interface further connects retailers to manufacturers, providing them with a convenient means to order and purchase products to meet consumer demands.

While the invention has been described in certain specific embodiments, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, a website store might be maintained for only the top 100 brands on the hot list. Thus, once a brand is ranked lower than 100, the store's visibility option is set to FALSE. In addition, points may also be afforded to store managers based on sales, profit margins, and the like. Quarterly and/or annual cash bonuses may then be given to the store managers based on accrued points.

It is therefore to be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than is specifically described. Thus, the present embodiments ofthe invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restricted, the scope of the invention to be indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. The invention has been described in its presently contemplated best mode, and it is clear that it is susceptible to various modifications, modes of operation and embodiments, all within the ability and skill of those skilled in the art and without the exercise of further inventive activity.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote customers, a system implemented as a computer program with said host computer and network, said system comprising: a licensor database connected in communication with said host computer for storing licensor information from licensors, said licensor information being descriptive of rights associated with product available for purchase by a customer; a manufacturer database connected in communication with said host computer for storing manufacturer information from manufacturers, said manufacturer information being descriptive of products manufactured for purchase by a customer; a retailer database connected in communication with said host computer for storing retailer information from retailers, said retailer information being descriptive of products available for purchase by a customer; and a database server, associated with said host computer, including logic for electronically storing and organizing selected data from said licensor, manufacturer and retailer databases, generating an interface accessible by said customer and retrieving and transmitting portions of said selected data from any of said databases to said customers for facilitating transaction of business between said customers, licensors, manufacturers and retailers.

2. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein said database server includes logic for automatically updating said databases in response to customer transactions.

3. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein said interface is a web site.

4. The system claimed in claim 1 , wherein said database server further comprises logic for retrieving information about a licensor's rights from said licensor database; categorizing said rights into a rights' category; searching for licensors offering rights in a particular rights category; maintaining a record of said licensors retrieved from said search; maintaining a record of purchase orders placed to said retrieved licensor; and performing a statistical analysis of said purchase orders placed to said retrieved licensor in comparison to the orders placed to the other retrieved licensors.

5. The system claimed in claim 1 , wherein said database server further comprises logic for uploading information about a manufacturer's product from said manufacturer database; categorizing said products into a product category; searching for manufacturers offering products in a particular product category; maintaining a record of said manufacturers retrieved from said search; maintaining a record ofthe purchase order placed to said retrieved manufacturer; performing a statistical analysis of said purchase orders placed to said retrieved manufacturer in comparison to the orders placed to the other retrieved manufacturers.

6. The system claimed in claim 1 , wherein said database server further comprises logic for retrieving information about a retailer's rights from said retailer database; categorizing said products into a products' category; searching for retailers offering rights in a particular rights category; maintaining a record of said retailers retrieved from said search; maintaining a record of purchase orders placed to said retrieved retailer; and performing a statistical analysis of said purchase orders placed to said retrieved retailer in comparison to the orders placed to the other retrieved retailers.

7. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein said database server further comprises logic for: searching for manufacturers offering products in a particular product category; retrieving information about such products from said manufacturer database; and displaying the retrieved information to a retailer connected in communication with the host computer.

8. A system for electronic exchange of information between licensors, manufacturers, and remote users, comprising: a host computer network including a database server that electronically stores and organizes business data and that retrieves and transmits selected portions ofthe data in response to user commands, wherein the data includes information about licensor, manufacturer, and retailer products; a computer system associated said each user including means to send commands to the host computer network and means to receive and display data retrieved and transmitted from said host computer network; a network electronically linking said computer system to said host computer network; and a set of user application modules associated with said computer system and host computer network for allowing a user to electronically place inquiries regarding any of said licensor and manufacturer products.

9. The system claimed in claim 8, wherein said set of use application modules includes a information locator module which allows said user to search the data for one or more specific licensor and manufacturer products and display the search results at said computer system.

10. The system claimed in claim 9, wherein said business data includes historical sales information about previous transactions.

1 1. The system claimed in claim 9, wherein said user application modules includes a reports routine wherein said user can search said business data and display at said computer system historical business data.

12. The system claimed in claim 9, wherein said user application modules includes an electronic auction module wherein users may electronically place bids for licensor, and manufacturer products being sold at an auction.

13. The system claimed in claim 9, wherein said business data includes news and trends information for the said licensor and manufacturer products.

14. The system claimed in claim 8, wherein the business data includes popularity ranking data ranking the popularity of retailer products for display at said computer system.

15. A system for electronic exchange of information between licensors, manufacturers, and retailers, the system comprising: means for calculating a popularity ranking of a brand associated with a retailer product; means for providing the popularity ranking information to the licensors, manufacturers, and retailers; means for receiving product suggestions for the brand; and means for providing the product suggestions to the licensors, manufacturers, and retailers.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising: means for uploading information about a manufacturer's product; means for categorizing the products into a product category; means accessible to a retailer for searching for manufacturers offering products in a particular product category; means for retrieving information about the products in the particular product category; and means for displaying the retrieved information to the retailer.

17. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote users, a system implemented as a computer program for inciting user interaction with said host computer, said system comprising: a database connected in communication with said host computer for storing information regarding individual user interactions; and logic for informing said users of incentive situations available for said individual user interactions, generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer, storing said credit in said database for each user, displaying awards available for exchange with said user credit and adjusting said user credit in response to said exchange.

18. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user registration with said host computer.

19. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user voting on products with said host computer.

20. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user nominating products with said host computer.

21. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user seconding nomination of products with said host computer.

22. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user purchasing products with said host computer.

23. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: logic for generating user credit in response to said user referring other users to said host computer.

24. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said user interaction with said host computer is utilized to generate a popularity ranking of a product.

25. The system claimed in claim 24, wherein said user popularity ranking is related to said level of user interaction received for a product.

26. The system claimed in claim 25, wherein said user interaction comprises a user affinity vote for a product.

27. The system claimed in claim 24, wherein said user popularity ranking is utilized to configure products on a website associated with said host computer.

28. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said database comprises a user record for storing the amount of user credits generated by user interaction with said host computer.

29. The system claimed in claim 17, wherein said logic for displaying awards available for exchange with said user credit further comprises logic for facilitating distribution of awards to said users.

30. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote users, a method for inciting user interaction with said host computer, comprising the steps of: storing information regarding individual user interactions in a database connected in communication with said host computer for; informing said users of incentive games available for said individual user interactions; generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer; storing said credit in said database for each user; displaying awards available for exchange with said user credit; and adjusting said user credit in response to said exchange.

31. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises the step of: generating user credit in response to said user registration with said host computer.

32. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises: generating user credit in response to said user voting on products with said host computer.

33. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises the step of: generating user credit in response to said user nominating products with said host computer.

34. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises the step of: generating user credit in response to said user seconding nomination of products with said host computer.

35. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises the step of: generating user credit in response to said user purchasing products with said host computer.

36. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of generating user credit in response to said individual user interactions with said host computer further comprises the step of: generating user credit in response to said user referring other users to said host computer.

37. The method claimed in claim 29, further comprising the step of generating a popularity ranking of a product in response to said user interaction with said host computer.

38. The method claimed in claim 37, further comprising the step of generating a popularity ranking of a product in response to a level of user interaction with said incentive situations.

39. The method claimed in claim 38, further comprising the step of generating a popularity ranking of a product in response to user affinity votes for a product in said incentive situations.

40. The method claimed in claim 29, further comprising the step of using said popularity ranking to configure products on a website associated with said host computer.

41. The method claimed in claim 29, further comprising storing the amount of user credits generated by user interaction with said host computer in a user record in said database.

42. The method claimed in claim 29, wherein said step of displaying awards available for exchange with said user credit further comprises facilitating distribution of awards to said users.

43. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote user computers, a method for customizing a display of products presented to a user of one ofthe remote user computers, the method comprising: creating a popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; presenting the popularity ranking list to the user ofthe remote user computer; receiving a user affinity vote for a particular brand on the popularity ranking list, the user affinity vote indicative of a user affinity for the brand; searching a retailers database for a product related to the particular brand; and removing the product from a display presented to the user if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

44. The method of claim 43 further comprising the step of removing the website store selling the product from the display if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of presenting further comprises the step of presenting a plurality of categories on the user display, each category including a plurality of brands associated with the category that are ranked according to their popularity, each ranked brand having a website store selling a product related to the brand, the method further comprising the step of removing from the display a selected category and products related to the brands in the selected category.

46. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote user computers, a method for customizing a display of products presented to a user of one of the remote user computers, the method comprising: creating a popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; providing a set of user application modules for allowing the user to place user affinity votes related to the brands on the popularity ranking list, for allowing the user to electronically purchase products from the website stores, and for allowing the user to electronically respond to poll questions presented to the user; calculating a user affinity rating for each product sold in the website stores based on the user interaction with the user application modules, the user affinity rating being indicative of a user affinity for a product; selecting a predetermined number of products with highest user affinity ratings; and displaying a portion of the selected products in a display presented to the user.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the step of calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises the step of analyzing the user's past purchases.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein the step of calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises the step of analyzing the user's votes of brands on the list.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the step of calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises the step of analyzing the user's responses to poll questions.

50. A system for customizing a display of products presented to a user of a remote computer, the system comprising: a popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; a set of user interface modules in communication with the popularity ranking list for displaying the popularity ranking list to the user of the remote user computer and for receiving a user affinity vote for a particular brand on the list, the user affinity vote being indicative of a user affinity for the brand; a retailers database for storing product information on each product sold in the website stores; a customization module in communication with the retailers database for searching the retailers database for a product related to the particular brand and for removing the product from a display presented to the user if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the customization module further removes the website store selling the product from the display if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

52. The system of claim 50 further comprising a plurality of categories, each category including a plurality of brands associated with the category that are ranked according to their popularity, each ranked brand having a website store selling a product related to the brand, wherein the customization module further removes from the display a selected category and products related to the brands in the selected category.

53. A system for customizing a display of products presented to a user of a remote computer, the system comprising: a popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; a set of user application modules for allowing the user to place user affinity votes related to the brands on the popularity ranking list, for allowing the user to electronically purchase products from the website stores, and for allowing the user to electronically respond to poll questions presented to the user; a customization module in communication with the set of user application modules for calculating a user affinity rating for each product sold in the website stores based on the user interaction with the user application modules, the user affinity rating being indicative of a user affinity for a product, and for selecting a predetermined number of products with highest user affinity ratings; and a display for displaying to the user a portion of the selected products with highest user affinity ratings.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the customization module calculates the user affinity rating for each product based on the user's past purchases.

55. The system of claim 53, wherein the customization module calculates the user affinity rating for each product based on the user's votes of brands on the list.

56. The system of claim 53, wherein the customization module calculates the user affinity rating for each product based the user's responses to poll questions.

57. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote user computers, a system for customizing a display of products presented to a user, the system comprising: means for creating a popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; means for presenting the popularity ranking list to the user ofthe remote user computer; means for receiving a user affinity vote for a particular brand on the popularity ranking list, the user affinity vote indicative of a user affinity for the brand; means for searching a retailers database for a product related to the particular brand; and means for removing the product from a display presented to the user if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

58. The system of claim 57 further comprising means for removing the website store selling the product from the display if the user vote indicates a negative affinity for the particular brand.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for presenting further comprises means for presenting a plurality of categories on the user display, each category including a plurality of brands associated with the category that are ranked according to their popularity, each ranked brand having a website store selling a product related to the brand, the system further comprising means for removing from the display a selected category and products related to the brands in the selected category.

60. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote user computers, a system for customizing a display of products presented to a user, the system comprising: means for creating popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity, each brand on the list being associated with a website store selling a product related to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list; means for allowing the user to place user affinity votes related to the brands on the popularity ranking list; means for allowing the user to electronically purchase products from the website stores; means for allowing the user to electronically respond to poll questions presented to the user; means for calculating a user affinity rating for each product sold in the website stores, the user affinity rating being indicative of a user affinity for a product; means for selecting a predetermined number of products with highest user affinity ratings; and means for displaying a portion ofthe selected products in a display presented to the user.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the means for calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises means for analyzing the user's past purchases.

62. The system of claim 60, wherein the means for calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises means for analyzing the user's votes of brands on the list.

63. The system of claim 60, wherein the means for calculating a user affinity rating for each product comprises means for analyzing the user's responses to poll questions.

64. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of search engines and remote user computers, a method for providing a popularity ranking of a brand to a user of one ofthe remote user computers, the method comprising: retrieving a list of search engines from a search engine table, the search engine table storing search engine information about each ofthe plurality of search engines; initiating connection with the retrieved search engines; submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string for being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source; extracting from each search engine a number of hits resulted from the search; calculating the popularity ranking of the brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine; and transmitting the calculated popularity ranking to the user in a popularity ranking list.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the search engine information includes an Internet source type associated with the search engine and the Internet source searched by the search engine corresponds to the Internet source type.

66. The method of claim 65 further comprising the step of categorizing the hits resulted from each search engine based on the Internet source type.

67. The method of claim 64, wherein the search string comprises a brandname and a keyword, the brandname including a name of the brand and the keyword being associated with a particular category for categorizing a hit resulted from the search string.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the category is product capitalization and the hit is categorized as measuring capitalization ofthe brand.

69. The method of claim 67 wherein the category is community affinity and the hit is categorized as measuring community affinity ofthe brand.

70 The method of claim 64 further comprising the step of receiving a user affinity vote for the brand, the user affinity vote being indicative of a user affinity for the brand.

71 The method of claim 70 wherein the step of calculating the popularity ranking comprises the step of weighing the number of hits resulted from each search engine with a total number of user affinity votes received for the brand.

72 In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of remote user computers, a method for providing a dynamic collection of website stores and a plurality of products sold within the website stores to a user of one ofthe remote user computers, the method comprising: adding a brand to a popularity ranking list, the popularity ranking list ranking a plurality of brands according to their popularity; creating a website store dedicated to the brand, the website store being accessible from the popularity ranking list through the remote user computer; adding a product associated to the brand in the website store for viewing and purchase through the remote user computer; monitoring a popularity ofthe product; and automatically deleting the product from the website store upon failure to maintain a predetermined level of popularity.

73. The method of claim 72 wherein the step of monitoring the popularity of the product comprises: retrieving a list of search engines from a search engine table, the search engine table storing search engine information about each ofthe plurality of search engines; initiating connection with the retrieved search engines; submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string for being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source; extracting from each search engine a number of hits resulted from the search; and calculating the popularity ranking of the brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine.

74. The method of claim 73 further comprising the step of calculating an amount of sales of the product resulted from the website store.

75. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of search engines and remote user computers, a system for providing a popularity ranking of a brand to a user of one of the remote user computers, the system comprising: a search engine table for storing search engine information about each of the plurality of search engines; a software applet in communication with the search engine table for calculating the popularity ranking ofthe brand, the software applet initiating connection with the plurality of search engines in the search engine table and submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source, the software applet further extracting from the search engine a number of hits resulted from the search and calculating the popularity ranking ofthe brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine; and an Internet connection for transmitting the calculated popularity ranking ofthe brand to the user of one ofthe remote user computers in a popularity ranking list.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein the search engine information includes an Internet source type associated with the search engine and the Internet source searched by the search engine corresponds to the Internet source type.

77. The system of claim 76 wherein the applet categorizes the hits resulted from each search engine based on the Internet source type.

78. The system of claim 75, wherein the search string comprises a brandname and a keyword, the brandname including a name ofthe brand and the keyword being associated with a particular category for categorizing a hit resulted from the search string.

79. The system of claim 78, wherein the category is product capitalization and the hit is categorized as measuring capitalization of the brand.

80. The system of claim 78, wherein the category is community affinity and the hit is categorized as measuring community affinity ofthe brand.

81. The system of claim 75 further including an interface accessible through the remote user computer for viewing the popularity ranking ofthe brand and transmitting a user affinity vote for the brand.

82. The system of claim 75, wherein the applet calculates the popularity ranking of the brand by weighing the number of hits resulted from the search engine with a total number of user affinity votes received for the brand.

83. In a computer network enabling communication between a host computer and a plurality of search engines and remote user computers, a system for providing a popularity ranking of a brand to a user of one ofthe remote user computers, the system comprising: means for retrieving a list of search engines from a search engine table, the search engine table storing search engine information about each of the plurality of search engines; means for initiating connection with the retrieved search engines; means for submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string for being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source; means for extracting from each search engine a number of hits resulted from the search; means for calculating the popularity ranking ofthe brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine; and means for transmitting the calculated popularity ranking to the remote user computers in a popularity ranking list.

84. A computer-readable medium comprising: a program code embodied in the computer readable medium for causing computation of a popularity ranking of a brand, the computer-readable program comprising instructions for: retrieving a list of search engines from a search engine table, the search engine table storing search engine information about a plurality of search engines; initiating connection with the retrieved search engines; submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string for being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source; extracting from each search engine a number of hits resulted from the search; and calculating the popularity ranking of the brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine.

85. The computer-readable medium of claim 84, wherein the search engine information includes an Internet source type associated with the search engine and the Internet source searched by the search engine corresponds to the Internet source type.

86. The computer-readable medium of claim 84 further comprising the step of categorizing the hits resulted from each search engine based on the Internet source type.

87. The computer-readable medium of claim 84, wherein the search string comprises a brandname and a keyword, the brandname including a name of the brand and the keyword being associated with a particular category for categorizing a hit resulted from the search string.

88. The computer-readable medium of claim 87, wherein the category is product capitalization and the hit is categorized as measuring capitalization ofthe brand.

89. The computer-readable medium of claim 87, wherein the category is community affinity and the hit is categorized as measuring community affinity of the brand.

90. The computer-readable medium of claim 84, wherein the step of calculating the popularity ranking comprises the step of weighing the number of hits resulted from each search engine with a total number of user affinity votes received for the brand.

91. A computer program product comprising: a program code for causing computation of a popularity ranking of a brand, the computer program comprising instructions for: retrieving a list of search engines from a search engine table, the search engine table storing search engine information about a plurality of search engines; initiating connection with the retrieved search engines; submitting to each search engine a search string related to the brand, the search string for being used by the search engine for searching an Internet source; extracting from each search engine a number of hits resulted from the search; and calculating the popularity ranking of the brand based on the number of hits resulted from each search engine.