A server acts as the hub of a collaborative commerce system. Suppliers of
goods or services self publish information to the hub. Buyers are able to
query the hub for product and service availability, price etc. Buyers are
able to integrate real time multi product and multi service orders from
multiple suppliers, carriers and field serve providers and thus secure
available goods as well as the delivery and installation of those goods
from the records available on the hub. Once an order is complete to the
buyer's satisfaction, the order is transmitted to the hub. The hub then
transmits the appropriate information to the relevant suppliers, carriers
and installers as required. The system also provides for a system of
virtual partitioning of a supplier's inventory.