E-mail launched web transaction
OwnerJeffrey Douglas Greenberginventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a method and apparatus for conducting electronic commerce, an email is sent to a prospective customer. The email includes an offer for sale, a field in which customer information may be entered by the customer, and a button which may be activated by the customer to accept the offer. Upon activation of the button, a secure communications channel is established between the customer's computer and a transaction server. The secure channel is preferably established by spawning a browser window and using support for secure channels built into the browser. The acceptance of the offer is sent via the secure channel and a confirmation of the offer is then sent to the customer, preferably to the browser window. The order may be forwarded to a merchant for processing.
Claims27
A method for initiating an electronic transaction comprising the steps of:
- receiving, at a customer' computer, a first email to a customer, the first email including a description of an offer and a button for indicating acceptance of the offer;
- spawning, at the customer's computer, a browser window;
- transmitting an indication of acceptance of the offer to a transaction server upon activation of the button by the customer;
- and
- receiving, at the customer's computer, a confirmation of receipt of the indication.
A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
- sending an email to a recipient, the email including an offer for sale, a button by which the recipient can indicate a desire to accept the offer, and a field in which the recipient can enter customer information, the email being configured to spawn a browser window and cause the browser window to establish a secure communications channel between the browser window and a transaction server;
- and
- receiving the customer information at the transaction server via the secure communications channel.
A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
- sending an email to a customer, the email including an offer for sale, a field for entering customer information, and a button which the customer may activate to accept the offer;
- activating the button;
- spawning a browser window;
- establishing a secure channel between the browser window and a transaction server;
- transmitting an indication of the customer's acceptance of the offer via the secure channel;
- transmitting a confirmation of the customer's acceptance to the browser window;
- and
- transmitting a message from the transaction server to a merchant server indicating that the customer wishes to accept the offer in the email.
A method for conducting electronic commerce comprising the steps of:
- sending an email to a customer, the email including an offer for sale, a field for entering customer information;
- and a button which the customer may activate to indicate acceptance of the offer;
- receiving at a transaction server a message from the customer over a secure channel, the message indicating acceptance of the offer and including customer information entered by the customer in the field;
- transmitting a confirmation message to the customer;
- and
- forwarding the message to a merchant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.