Automatic virtual negotiations

Abstract

A method for conducting “one to one” commercial negotiations through an electronic medium such as the Internet. The negotiation process consists of sending persuasive texts to the user by the system, including discounts given by the system and responses to the price offers of the user. The system offers the product for a specific price, a price that may be optionally decreased as negotiation continues. The system frequently asks how much the user is willing to pay for the product. Based on the user's input, the system may accept the offer or, after one or more unacceptably low inputs from the user, may alternatively end the process of negotiation. Preferably, the system negotiates on many more parameters than simply the price itself. For example, the system may offer the user several presents or benefits in order to secure the sale. Commercial considerations are preferably included during this process. For example, the human merchant (vendor) receives a greater benefit by giving a small discount on the shipping cost than a large discount on the price of the product. The vendor preferably decides how to allocate control to the system. More preferably, the system features natural language capabilities which enable the user to interact as if with a human being, with a natural human language communication style. In addition, preferably the system stores information about users and the negotiation processes, so if the user interacts with the system again, then preferably the system can adjust the negotiation process more specifically for that user.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.