Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus and system for allowing customers to purchase boutique or specialty items directly from a supplier or wholesaler. The items for purchase are those conventionally available only through retailers such as local boutiques or specialty shops. An example would be salon quality hair care products. The system allows a customer to visit a website on a computer network, such as the Internet, and place an order for the product by providing information on which products are desired for purchase, the mailing address to which the products are to be sent, payment type, and optionally selecting a local retailer the customer enjoys frequenting to which the profits are to be directed. The supplier then processes the order and sends the customer the desired products, charging the customer normal retail prices. The supplier protects its business relationships with the local retailer by crediting the retailer for some or all of the profit the retailer normally would have received had it made the sale of the product. The recipient retailer is either chosen by using the retailer selected by the customer during the ordering process or, if a retailer was not chosen, by determining that product-carrying boutique which is geographically closest to the mailing address given by the customer.

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First Claim