Business, advertising, marketing and brokerage services, namely, online storefront and gateway services which facilitate transactions between food-service industry users and vendors of food products and ingredients, kitchen supplies and equipment, and janitorial supplies by enabling a user to select one or more vendors in a single transaction, by obtaining credit-card and/or check payment pre-authorization for the user, by transmitting the user's order to one or more selected vendors, and by collecting and transmitting payment to one or more selected vendors; dissemination of advertising for others via an online electronic communications network