SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A DISPLAY OF MERCHANDISE AS SPECIFIED BY RETAIL AND WHOLESALE MERCHANDISE PROVIDERS

摘要

A system for displaying merchandise to a potential shopper via a communication network is disclosed. A plurality of shoppers can access the system to view information provided by a plurality of retailers acting in concert with a plurality of manufacturers. Each shopper, retailer, and manufacturer has a personal computer equipped with communication software (22, 23, 24) and communicates via a communication link (21) with servers (18, 19, 20). The information that is accessible to a shopper is determined jointly by templates (12, 13) and databases (10, 11) for the manufacturer and retailer, respectively, and includes electronic advertising. The templates specify information format while the databases determine information availability and content.