Cognitive expansion of user acceptance criteria

• US 10,664,859 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2016
• Issued: 05/26/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bender, Michael, Childress, Edward T., Childress, Rhonda, Shute, Michael P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Vincent M
• Application Number:
  US15/152,968
• Publication Number:
  US 20170330214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,475 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

An unexpressed liking and an unexpressed dislike of a user, which are not specified in the user'"'"'s preference are determined by cognitive analytics. The unexpressed liking and dislike correspond to a first and second characteristic of items, respectively. In a list, a first item having the first characteristic and available in an inventory is included, which is, and a second item having the second characteristic and also available in the inventory is excluded. Items included in the list are arranged according to the user'"'"'s degrees of liking or the items. An item having the first characteristic is determined to be absent from the inventory. Using completed sales information received from a set of retailer systems, an estimated value of a lost sales opportunity produced when the absent item is purchased is computed. The prioritized list and an accommodation offer responsive to the cost of the lost opportunity are presented.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a set of users, a corresponding set of preferences;

determining, by analyzing a shopping pattern of a first user using a cognitive analysis system, an unexpressed liking and an unexpressed dislike of the first user, the first user being associated with a first preference from the set of preferences, wherein the first preference does not specify the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike, and wherein the unexpressed liking corresponds to a first characteristic of items, and wherein the unexpressed dislike corresponds to a second characteristic of items;

forming a list, using a processor and a memory, by including a first item available in an inventory received from a retailer system, the first item having the first characteristic;

excluding from the list, a second item available in the inventory, the second item having the second characteristic;

arranging, to form a prioritized list, a set of items that are included in the list according to a set of corresponding degrees of liking associated with the set of items, wherein an item among the set of items with a greater degree of liking than other items is listed first on the prioritized list with a remaining set of items listed in a decreasing order of liking;

determining, that an item having the first characteristic is absent from the inventory in response to a broadcast of a profile of the first user, the broadcast including a time and location of the first user, the item forming an absent item;

determining, using the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike of the first user, a condition under which the first user accepts a substitution for the absent item, the condition comprising a price difference for the substitution being greater than a threshold price difference;

computing, using the processor and the memory, using a set of completed sales information received from a set of retailer systems, an estimated value of a sales opportunity produced by the absent item when the absent item is purchased the value of the sales opportunity forming a cost of a lost opportunity;

causing the retailer system to present the prioritized list and an accommodation offer, the accommodation offer being responsive to the cost of the lost opportunity and the broadcasted profile; and

modifying, responsive to receiving a response to the accommodation offer, the unexpressed liking, the unexpressed dislike and the condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the value of the sales opportunity includes a value of the absent item and a value of another item purchased with the absent item.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

including in the list a third item, the third item having a third characteristic that is substitutable for the first characteristic.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining the third characteristic from an answer provided by the cognitive analysis system using based on the set of profiles.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining, using the cognitive analysis system, a condition under which the third item is acceptable as a substitute for the first item, the third item satisfying the condition in addition to having the first characteristic, and wherein the condition is a factor of one of (i) a price differential between the first item and the third item, (ii) a distance between a first location of availability of the first item and a second distance of availability of the third item, and (iii) a period between a first time of availability of the first item and a second time of availability of the third item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, for an item included in the list, a degree of liking by analyzing in the cognitive analysis system the set of profiles.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information about the inventory from the retailer system, responsive to transmitting to the retailer system the first preference and the unexpressed liking, wherein the inventory information comprises a subset of all items available for offering in the retailer system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a preference of a user includes a set of expressed liked characteristics and a set of expressed disliked characteristics.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, responsive to presenting the prioritized list, a selection input, the selection input selecting the first item;

increasing, in the cognitive analysis system, a degree of liking associated with the first item for the first user;

determining, from the selection input, that a substitution item offered as a result of the accommodation offer is not selected; and

decreasing, in the cognitive analysis system, a degree of liking associated with the substitution item for the first user.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving from the retailer system, the selection input, wherein the retailer'"'"'s system receives the selection input from the first user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is embodied in a computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage devices and computer-readable program instructions which are stored on the one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices and executed by one or more processors.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is embodied in a computer system comprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable storage devices and program instructions which are stored on the one or more computer-readable storage devices for execution by the one or more processors via the one or more memories and executed by the one or more processors.

13. A computer usable program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the stored program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive, from a set of users, a corresponding set of preferences;

program instructions to determine, by analyzing a shopping pattern of a first user using a cognitive analysis system, an unexpressed liking and an unexpressed dislike of the first user, the first user being associated with a first preference from the set of preferences, wherein the first preference does not specify the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike, and wherein the unexpressed liking corresponds to a first characteristic of items, and wherein the unexpressed dislike corresponds to a second characteristic of items;

program instructions to form a list, using a processor and a memory, by including a first item available in an inventory received from a retailer system, the first item having the first characteristic;

program instructions to exclude from the list, a second item available in the inventory, the second item having the second characteristic;

program instructions to arrange, to form a prioritized list, a set of items that are included in the list according to a set of corresponding degrees of liking associated with the set of items, wherein an item among the set of items with a greater degree of liking than other items is listed first on the prioritized list with a remaining set of items listed in a decreasing order of liking;

program instructions to determine, that an item having the first characteristic is absent from the inventory in response to a broadcast of a profile of the first user, the broadcast including a time and location of the first user, the item forming an absent item;

program instructions to determine, using the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike of the first user, a condition under which the first user accepts a substitution for the absent item, the condition comprising a price difference for the substitution being greater than a threshold price difference;

program instructions to compute, using the processor and the memory, using a set of completed sales information received from a set of retailer systems, an estimated value of a sales opportunity produced by the absent item when the absent item is purchased, the value of the sales opportunity forming a cost of a lost opportunity;

program instructions to cause the retailer system to present the prioritized list and an accommodation offer, the accommodation offer being responsive to the cost of the lost opportunity and the broadcasted profile; and

program instructions to modify, responsive to receiving a response to the accommodation offer, the unexpressed liking, the unexpressed dislike and the condition.

14. The computer usable program product of claim 13, wherein the value of the sales opportunity includes a value of the absent item and a value of another item purchased with the absent item.

15. The computer usable program product of claim 13, further comprising:

program instructions to include in the list a third item, the third item having a third characteristic that is substitutable for the first characteristic.

16. The computer usable program product of claim 15, further comprising:

program instructions to determine the third characteristic from an answer provided by the cognitive analysis system using based on the set of profiles.

17. The computer usable program product of claim 13, further comprising:

program instructions to determine, for an item included in the list, a degree of liking by analyzing in the cognitive analysis system the set of profiles.

18. The computer usable program product of claim 13, further comprising:

program instructions to receive information about the inventory from the retailer system, responsive to transmitting to the retailer system the first preference and the unexpressed liking, wherein the inventory information comprises a subset of all items available for offering in the retailer system.

19. The computer usable program product of claim 13, wherein a preference of a user includes a set of expressed liked characteristics and a set of expressed disliked characteristics.

20. A computer system comprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, the stored program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive, from a set of users, a corresponding set of preferences;

program instructions to determine, by analyzing a shopping pattern of a first user using a cognitive analysis system, an unexpressed liking and an unexpressed dislike of the first user, the first user being associated with a first preference from the set of preferences, wherein the first preference does not specify the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike, and wherein the unexpressed liking corresponds to a first characteristic of items, and wherein the unexpressed dislike corresponds to a second characteristic of items;

program instructions to form a list, using a processor and a memory, by including a first item available in an inventory received from a retailer system, the first item having the first characteristic;

program instructions to exclude from the list, a second item available in the inventory, the second item having the second characteristic;

program instructions to arrange, to form a prioritized list, a set of items that are included in the list according to a set of corresponding degrees of liking associated with the set of items,

wherein an item among the set of items with a greater degree of liking than other items is listed first on the prioritized list with a remaining set of items listed in a decreasing order of liking;

program instructions to determine, that an item having the first characteristic is absent from the inventory in response to a broadcast of a profile of the first user, the broadcast including a time and location of the first user, the item forming an absent item;

program instructions to determine, using the unexpressed liking and the unexpressed dislike of the first user, a condition under which the first user accepts a substitution for the absent item, the condition comprising a price difference for the substitution being greater than a threshold price difference;

program instructions to compute, using the processor and the memory, using a set of completed sales information received from a set of retailer systems, an estimated value of a sales opportunity produced by the absent item when the absent item is purchased, the value of the sales opportunity forming a cost of a lost opportunity;

program instructions to cause the retailer system to present the prioritized list and an accommodation offer, the accommodation offer being responsive to the cost of the lost opportunity and the broadcasted profile; and

program instructions to modify, responsive to receiving a response to the accommodation offer, the unexpressed liking, the unexpressed dislike and the condition.