Methods for real time discovery, selection, and engagement of most economically feasible printing service vendors among multiple known vendors

A method for routing electronic print orders among a grouping of two or more print vendors over a network for use in a server connected to the network for delivery to one or more customers, the server having access to at least one processor and at least one data repository, the method comprising:

• acquiring print vendor information from the grouping of two or more print vendors for shipping relative to one or more products resulting from fulfillment of the electronic print orders, wherein the print vendor information comprises at least job capacity capability current cost estimates and delivery time estimates;
• acquiring customer information about the one or more customers to identify a customer who has a high probability to purchase additional products in a reasonable future time because of expedient shipping of a current print order;
• utilizing an algorithm having one or more weighing functions to analyze said print vendor information and said customer information to calculate print vendor scores characterizing each print vendor relative to the one or more customers, and comparing the print vendor scores to identify the most preferable print vendor based on the print vendor information and the customer information for a selected customer, wherein the customer information for the selected customer comprises a customer score exceeding a threshold score established based on the selected customer exhibiting a level of activity that surpasses the threshold score;
• and
• dynamically routing one or more of the electronic print orders according to the print vendor scores calculated to expedite shipping to the selected customer.

A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium for use with a system for routing electronic print orders among a grouping of two or more print vendors over a network for delivery to one or more customers, the system comprising a server connected to the network, the server having access to at least one processor and at least one data repository, wherein the storage medium comprises computer-executable program code, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a process comprising the steps of:

• acquiring print vendor information from the grouping of two or more print vendors for shipping relative to one or more products resulting from fulfillment of the electronic print orders, wherein the print vendor information comprises at least job capacity capability current cost estimates and delivery time estimates;
• acquiring customer information about the one or more customers to identify a customer who has a high probability to purchase additional products in a reasonable future time because of expedient shipping of a current print order;
• utilizing an algorithm having one or more weighing functions to analyze said print vendor information and said customer information to calculate print vendor scores characterizing each print vendor relative to the one or more customers, and comparing the print vendor scores to identify the most preferable print vendor based on the print vendor information and the customer information for a selected profitable customer, wherein the customer information for the selected customer comprises a customer score exceeding a threshold score established based on the selected customer exhibiting a level of activity that surpasses the threshold score;
• and
• dynamically routing one or more of the electronic print orders according to the print vendor scores calculated to expedite shipping to the selected customer.