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Agent assisted price negotiation for electronic commerce

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Agent assisted price negotiation for electronic commerce

Desharnais, Patrick (2000) Agent assisted price negotiation for electronic commerce. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

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Abstract

Current electronic retail stores do not offer one-to-one price negotiation capabilities. From a consumer's perspective, price negotiation provides an opportunity to debate the price. From a vendor's perspective, the ability to negotiate allows for flexibility in pricing that a rigidly fixed price policy cannot offer. Hence, we feel that one-to-one price negotiation would be beneficial in online stores and e-commerce in general. Given the high cost of providing human sales agents online, we research if it is possible to design a practicable automated system that is able to autonomously negotiate on behalf of a retail vendor in a commercial one-to-one business environment. Specifically, this thesis explores the use of "agent assisted price negotiation" applicable between a consumer and a retail vendor. It describes the inherent difficulties involved in automating negotiation, provides a critical analysis of the current approaches to automated negotiation with regards to different business models, and then proposes an "information driven" methodology for the calculation of a "just-in-time personalized price". The thesis also provides the requirements and specifications for a simple and intuitive one-to-one negotiation protocol. As a proof of concept, a Java prototype of a software Sales Agent in a Multi-Agent System architecture is implemented and presented. Overall, by automating negotiation for e-commerce retailing, we hope to increase both the retailer and consumer satisfaction

Divisions:Concordia University > Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science > Computer Science and Software Engineering
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Desharnais, Patrick
Pagination:ix, 95 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M. Comp. Sc.
Program:Computer Science and Software Engineering
Date:2000
Thesis Supervisor(s):Radhakrishnan, Thiruvengadam
Identification Number:HF 5548.32 D47 2000
ID Code:1175
Deposited By: Concordia University Library
Deposited On:27 Aug 2009 17:17
Last Modified:13 Jul 2020 19:48
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