An apparatus is provided for locally setting and storing customer preferences.
The apparatus includes a personal computer, a computer peripheral device, a reseller
web server, and a device manufacturer web server. The personal computer has a web
browser and a messaging system. The computer peripheral device has a messaging
system communicating with the personal computer. The reseller web server has a
messaging system communicating with the personal computer, and configured to capture
customer preferences from a customer accessing the reseller web server to order
consumables via the computer peripheral device. The device manufacturer web server
has a messaging system, communicating with the reseller web server and the computer
peripheral device and operative to receive the customer preferences from the reseller
web server and forward the customer preferences to the computer peripheral device
using the messaging address for the computer peripheral device. A method is also provided.