Method, system and computer program product for ordering merchandise in a global computer network environment

Abstract

An electronic shopping server formats and sends an electronic page, having an integrated shopping basket with drag and drop functionality, from a virtual catalog to a plurality of clients. The server includes an e-sessions controller that manages and tracks each session with the clients, profile generator that identifies and authorizes each consumer to engage in the sessions, catalog selector responsive to on-demand requests for the contents and supporting data of each catalog page, and order processor that supports purchase requests. The e-sessions controller manages the sessions by causing each client to launch an electronic sessions application. The resident application includes a local sessions controller that brokers all client communications with the server and implements the instructions from the e-sessions controller. The resident application also includes an image generator for displaying an image of each item from the catalog page, descriptive data generator for displaying supporting data for each item, and an order panel generator for displaying a shopping basket that remains on the same page with the image at all times. An order initiator can be included to send a request for the server to create a facsimile of the shopping basket. An item adder and item remover cause items to be added/removed from the client's basket and, if included, server's basket upon executing a web page function. An order executor synchronizes the two shopping baskets and/or sends a request to purchase the items listed in the shopping basket. The shopping basket can be configured to travel with the consumer to receive input from various servers hosting different web sites.