the inventors provide a system and a method for combination of eprocurement and virtual communities in order to allow each to take advantage of capabilities of the other . in particular , it is desirable for merchants to be able to augment well - understood and widely adopted capabilities of modern eprocurement networks with ability to directly sell their products and services into virtual communities . and it is desirable for virtual community operators and members to facilitate targeted marketing of products and services appropriate for the members of the virtual community , as a means to monetize ability of the virtual community to aggregate large numbers of users and to enable those users to self - select into subnetworks based on common relationships , interests , geographical locations or other factors . it being one of the clear advantages of virtual communities that this self - assembly takes place naturally , it is attractive to marketers to leverage these ready - made market segments , many of which would never be identified by traditional market segmentation strategies . fig1 illustrates one embodiment of the invention . a business - to - business (“ b2b ”) eprocurement network 100 is coupled to a virtual community 150 via an integrated eprocurement - to - virtual community ( e2vc ) system 120 . the e2vc system comprises a master b2b console 101 , which is a single point of configuration and control for merchants ( 102 a through 102 n ) who are members of the b2b eprocurement network . using the master b2b console , merchant members can conduct all the types of activities normally associated with b2b eprocurement networks , including but not limited to buying and selling products , services and commodities , b2b requests for quotations ( rfq ), reverse auctions , b2b trading , etc . merchants 102 access the master b2b console via the internet or other data network connections 103 . the master b2b console also comprises a universal shopping cart 151 , which acts in an analogous role for virtual network 150 as the master b2b console 101 does for the b2b procurement network 100 . specifically , members ( 152 a through 152 n ) of the virtual community are provided the ability to buy products placed in the universal shopping cart 151 by the plurality of merchants 102 , and to do so from within the familiar user interfaces of the virtual community 150 . interactions with the universal shopping cart are via data network connections 153 , which can be the internet but are not required to be so ; any wide - area networking technology known in the art can fulfill the function of data network connections 153 . information concerning products to be marketed through the virtual community is provided to universal shopping cart 151 from the master b2b console via data connection 110 , and transactional data from the universal shopping cart 151 is passed back to master b2b console 101 via data connection 111 . it should be noted that data connections can be combined , or subdivided into special - purpose data connections such as for reporting , without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention ; two data connections are shown for clarity and as an exemplary embodiment . fig2 provides a more detailed view of the interactions that take place between master b2b console 101 and universal shopping cart 151 in an embodiment of the invention . as mentioned before , traditional b2b functions are carried out by merchants 102 via specific modules of the master b2b console 101 , including but not limited to buying 202 , selling 203 , rfq support 204 , reverse auctions 205 and b2b trading 206 . additional “ business to virtual community ” of “ b2vc ” modules of the invention include modules for product promotions 207 , user surveys 208 , catalog information concerning products available to sell 209 , and transaction modules for executing and fulfilling sales order 210 . generally , b2vc modules in master b2b console 101 have counterparts in the universal shopping cart 151 , to which they connect via data connections 230 ( another example of the data connectivity illustrated by connections 110 and 111 in fig1 ). exemplary counterpart modules include a module for advertisement and promotional campaign management 224 , one for user survey management 225 , another for the shopping cart &# 39 ; s product catalog 226 , and the shopping cart &# 39 ; s checkout module 227 . merchant users of the e2vc system are able to manage all of their activities both for traditional b2b transactional purposes and for marketing to targeted virtual communities in one unitary user interface , providing a capability that has not existed before . in the art today , business users must conduct their eprocurement transactions using a dedicated eprocurement site ( there are many ) and then use a totally different site and set of processes to perform their business - to - consumer transactions . e2vc allows business a unique ability of using one master console for all of their eprocurement needs while simultaneously allowing them to sell products to and through virtual communities , which represent extremely valuable new markets insofar as the participants in virtual communities tend to self - organize into identifiable market segments with common needs and desires . one challenge which the instant invention addresses is that there is currently no way to effectively and proactively market to those dynamic , self - organizing market segments other than using tag - driven ad campaigns . because of the variety of services which can be provided via the master b2b console , businesses are able to manage automated advertising campaigns , promotions , and member surveys with virtual communities that are e2vc - enabled . it should also be noted that the pairings shown in fig2 between master b2b console 101 and universal shopping cart 151 are not necessarily or even primarily exclusive ; a merchant may choose to participate in more than one b2b eprocurement network , and he may choose to market to more than one social network from any given b2b eprocurement network . users 152 of the virtual community also interact with several distinct modules within the universal shopping cart of the invention , including receiving served ads while viewing content from within the virtual community from ad serving module 224 , responding to surveys provided by survey content module 225 , viewing product information and options provided via the product offers module 223 , and checking out to complete purchases made using the universal shopping cart using checkout module 227 . it should be understood that these are exemplary functions , and there may be more or less functions provided by the universal shopping cart , or by equivalent virtual community - hosted software applications , in embodiments of the invention . some important elements are the existence of integration via links 230 to the master b2b console and of at least the checkout module 227 for executing transactions within the virtual community . furthermore , merchants may promote products through virtual communities from the master b2b console using applications other than the universal shopping cart , for example by placing context - sensitive ads within content hosted by the virtual community using promotion module 207 and a software application other than a universal shopping cart that provides ad management module 224 . fig3 provides an overview of an exemplary method , according to an embodiment of the invention , that a merchant would go through to market products for sale through one or more virtual communities . first , the merchant selects products to sell into the virtual community in step 301 . typically product selection would be done with a view toward leveraging unique demographics or preference patterns of a given virtual community . for very large , horizontal virtual community , this function may be performed within the virtual community itself , either by its users or by marketing specialists who analyze the demographics and self - organizing groups of the social network . merchants may , according to an embodiment of the invention , pass on parameters such as target demographics , content keyword tags that should be targeted , media types or content types that should be targeted , and possibly collaborative filtering type information ( for example , market this product to users of your community who have shown a strong interest in foreign cars ). once product selection has been done ( and this may well be an ongoing process , or a batch process , depending on the merchant ), the product data is uploaded at step 302 via master b2b console 111 to universal shopping cart 151 . the merchant may further specify details ( step 303 ) about advertisement placements , quantities , and targeting to be executed in virtual community 150 by universal shopping cart 151 ; this function is also performed via master b2b console 111 . additionally , the merchant may specify what fee she is willing to pay to the virtual community for selling the product or products in question . the fees may vary from merchant to merchant and product to product . furthermore , the merchant may specify user survey policies in optional step 304 . the merchant may conduct any desired surveys in connection with the product offers , again through the devices of universal shopping cart 151 or equivalent virtual community software application . finally , the merchant receives and processes orders 305 directly from master b2b console 111 , which in turn receives order information from universal shopping cart 151 . fig4 illustrates a method of an embodiment of the present invention which focuses on a chain of events controlled by members of virtual community 150 . when a member of the virtual community views content ( step 401 ) within the virtual community &# 39 ; s site , the user may be shown one or more advertisements or other product placements within the content of the virtual community . if , in response to these ads or placements , the user decides to purchase one or more items , the user may select item or items 402 and continue interacting normally with the virtual community . when the user is ready to execute a purchase , the user chooses to go to universal shopping cart checkout 303 . by storing a catalog of available products from a plurality of merchants and making those products , and optionally advertising about those products or their vendors , available as part of the overall virtual community content experience , the universal shopping cart acts not only as a shopping cart but also as a “ virtual store ” that is seamlessly woven into the content fabric of the virtual community . it is not seen by the user until it is needed to execute a purchase using the checkout module 227 . when the universal shopping cart conducts the checkout for the user , carrying out the normal steps of allowing the user to specify form of payment ( and verifying payment validity ), selecting from a plurality of shipping options , and the like , the universal shopping cart sends the finished order directly to the master b2b console in step 404 . the master b2b console then parses the transaction and sends the relevant product orders to each affected merchant ( step 405 ). additionally , in step 406 , the master b2b console consults configuration information concerning the fees to be paid for each sale transaction , and these fees are credited to the virtual community by the master b2b console , effectively by conducting a payment transaction back to the particular virtual community . finally , the master b2b console prepares aggregated reports on transactions conducted in step 407 . these reports are made available , as appropriate , to merchants ( for their own transactions only ), virtual community operators ( again , only for transactions conducted within their communities ) and the e2vc operator ( which could be a b2b eprocurement network offering value - added services to its merchant customers , or a virtual community operator using the current invention to monetize its user base by encouraging selling into the community by one or more b2b eprocurement networks and their members , or even an independent third party who operates the e2vc of the current invention as a service to both b2b eprocurement network operators and virtual community operators . e2vc networks can operate with virtual communities other than the familiar online examples such as online social networks . for example , using internet protocol television ( iptv ), virtual communities can be formed in a manner analogous to , but different than , what happens on the internet . viewers of highly targeted programming can establish “ virtual channels ” that may consist of , for example , a mix of user - generated and professionally - generated content , and may include a high degree of interactivity . mobile phone users may form “ friends and family ” and similar types of social networks . members of an organization may agree to establish an “ always on ” conference bridge using conventional telephony , and members may join and leave the conference at will . multilevel marketing companies , or network marketing companies , often use networks of associates who conduct home parties centered on particular products or services . in each of these non - traditional cases , a virtual community is established whose membership is self - organized and dynamic , and in each case the virtual community constitutes a highly desirable , if sometimes ephemeral , target market segment for appropriate product and service vendors . the e2vc concept is applicable in all of these cases . what is needed is a data communications channel from the universal shopping cart to at least one of the members of the virtual community ( for example , the person leading a home party ) for the passing of product and promotion data from the shopping cart to the group and for executing orders in the shopping cart . fig5 is an illustration of how the e2vc system and method of the present invention can be used with an offline virtual community such as those just discussed . universal shopping cart 151 is , as before , connected directly to b2b eprocurement network 101 to enable the e2vc invention . but unlike previous examples , only some of the members ( 152 a and 152 b ) of the perhaps spontaneous social network consisting of a plurality of human users ( 152 a , 152 b , 152 c and 152 d in this example ) are connected via a communications endpoint ( 501 a and 501 b , respectively ) to the universal shopping cart 151 via communications links 153 a and 153 b . communications endpoints 501 could be telephones , mobile phones , wirelessly connected laptops , pdas with satellite connections , etc .— any device which can establish a communications link to the universal shopping cart 151 . the humans in the virtual community of fig5 communicate with each other over some other communications means 502 , which could be one of plain old telephone calls , face to face interactions as at a home party , or even hand signals on a crowded trading floor . in a virtual community such as that shown in fig5 , the humans interact freely , and one or more ( there must be at least one ) of the members of the group / virtual community interacts with universal shopping cart 151 via his or her communications endpoint . it is not even necessary for communications links 153 to be “ data links ”; a plain old phone call could work if universal shopping cart 151 is enabled with a voice application platform , which is well known in the art . in these cases , which might be used in the conferencing example above , some members speak to universal shopping cart 151 , their speech is recognized by any of a number of well - known speech recognition systems , and responses back to them are converted into speech using any of a number of well - known text - to - speech systems . one of the points of fig5 is that tight linkage of eprocurement and virtual communities , or e2vc as it is termed herein , is an important aspect of this invention . it will be appreciated that the examples provided in this specification are exemplary in nature and should not limit the invention beyond what is claimed . fig6 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention referred to by the inventors as a “ brand bazaar ”. in a particular embodiment the brand bazaar services are provided through a website at a url brandbazaar . com 600 . brandbazaar . com uses the e2vc model for site services and extends the e2vc process by allowing one or more external sites 610 to participate through a set of interfaces 660 . these interfaces are open to third parties and can be application programming interfaces ( apis ), web services , or the like . it will be understood by one practiced in the art that there are multiple common ways of interfacing two ecommerce servers using the internet 601 ( not shown specifically in fig6 ) or dedicated networks . external sites can be for example virtual or online catalogs 611 a - b , b2b marketplaces 612 a - c , or any similar site or service from which one or more merchants submit products for possible promotion by end users to the master b2b console 600 , or to receive notifications of sales made as a result of end user endorsements made possible through the joint operation of the master b2b console 600 and one or more universal shopping carts hosted in virtual communities 620 a - c or other online services 640 a - c . for example , an electronics manufacturer makes certain of its products available for endorsement , promotion or sale by end users in association with their user - generated content or third party content ( possibly from content aggregator 640 b such as youtube ), by uploading relevant product information via interfaces 660 to the master b2b console 600 . users desiring to promote a manufacturer &# 39 ; s products can view them in a universal shopping cart in one or more virtual communities 620 a - c or other online services 640 a - c and can select one or more products to endorse or promote . the user may optionally promote selected products in or associated with their own user - generated content or in or associated with third party content . other users in viewing content containing or associated with product endorsements or promotions may select products to purchase , and make purchases including such normal activities as selecting quantities , shipping methods , insurance options , and the like . in an embodiment of the invention , actual fulfillment of consumer purchase orders made through a universal shopping cart is carried out by a different external site 610 than the one from which the product was originally entered into the e2vc process via the b2b master console 600 . for example , if the product is an electronics product from a manufacturer , and the manufacturer had directly submitted the product to the master b2b console 600 using an interface 660 , a purchase made by a consumer could be routed by the master b2b console 600 , via interfaces 660 , to a third - party fulfillment specialist 612 a - c that actually coordinates payment , funds transfer , shipping and any required follow - up with the purchaser . such arrangements are common in trade , and arrangements between manufacturers and third - party fulfillers could be made offline , through an electronic b2b marketplace 612 a - c , or directly within the e2vc process using a mugzy manager software module 613 or similar software associated with the master b2b console 600 . it is an important attribute of the instant invention that one or a plurality of external ecommerce facilities 610 can separately or jointly upload product information , promotional material , commercial information such as pricing , quantities , contractual requirements , lists of banned consumer endorsers , lists of products or web sites with which a given product is not to be associated , and the like , to the master b2b console . endorsing users can access this information in order to make informed selections of products they wish to endorse ( from the set of products which they are allowed by the master b2b console to see ), from within a virtual community such as myspace 620 b , or another social network 620 c , or a content aggregator 640 b such as youtube , or a gaming community such as a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game 640 c , or indeed any virtual community master 620 a or indeed any website 640 a l to interoperate with the master b 2b console 600 via the internet 601 . user endorsements or promotions of products can be viewed by other users via mugzy components 621 and 641 that are provided by virtual communities 620 a - c or other online services 640 a - c , or they can embedded within a user &# 39 ; s own homepage 630 a , a user &# 39 ; s personal blog 630 b , or any personal web page or other online content controlled by the user 630 c , or indeed via mugzy mobile 650 interfaces on a mobile phone or via ip tv . in an embodiment of the invention , an ip tv provider 660 interacts with a master b2b console 600 to obtain information about products and promotions available for endorsement in user content , and makes this information available in its own brand bazaar 661 , which is in effect a separate master b2b console 600 hosted by the ip tv service provider 660 . in this example , the ip tv service provider 660 may choose to operate a shopping channel that directly sells products made available through an external master b2b console 600 ( this gaining access to a large variety of products made available by sources such as manufacturers with whom the ip tv service provider 660 may have no formal business relationship ), or that allows consumers to sell products by providing content and associated product endorsements ( for example , a funny home videos show with consumer - generated product endorsements could be hosted by the ip tv service provider 660 in which viewers would be able to interactively view detailed information and purchase endorsed products using the ip tv brand bazaar 661 without leaving the show or having to use their computer to go online ). it can be seen that a wide variety of arrangements of product suppliers , content providers , and content hosters are possible under the invention , with a key element being the ability of end users to select content of their own or another &# 39 ; s creation for use as a vehicle within which , or associated with which , to endorse products they believe in , such that other users may view the selected content and the associated endorsements and optionally view more information or purchase endorsed products without leaving the endorsing user &# 39 ; s content . all of the embodiments described in this disclosure are exemplary in nature and should not be construed as limitations of the invention . the invention is limited only by the scope of the claims that follow .