METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRICING PRODUCTS IN MULTI-LEVEL PRODUCT AND ORGANIZATIONAL GROUPS
First Claim
1. A method for determining price of a product offered to a purchasing organization, the method comprising the steps of:
- arranging a hierarchy of organizational groups;
arranging a hierarchy of product groups;
identifying at least one organizational group above said purchasing organization in said hierarchy of organizational groups;
identifying at least one product group above said product in said hierarchy of product groups;
retrieving pricing adjustments corresponding to said product, purchasing organization, at least one organizational group, and at least one product group;
determining said price of said product by applying said pricing adjustments.
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Abstract
The invention organizes various pricing tables and price adjustment tables and various products and purchasing organizations based on “who” (i.e. which purchasing organization) is purchasing “what” (i.e. which product). The invention utilizes a denormalized table to relate the “who” to the “what” using denormalized numbers. The invention further organizes various purchasing organizations and products into hierarchical tables. These hierarchical tables are called organizational groups and product groups. Various price adjustments may be specified for each level of the organizational groups and product groups hierarchies. The price adjustments for a particular purchasing organization are determined by retrieving the price adjustments for that particular purchasing organization as well as the price adjustments for organizational groups above the particular purchasing organization in the organizational groups hierarchy. Likewise, the price adjustments for a particular product are determined by retrieving the price adjustments for that particular product as well as the price adjustments for product groups above the particular product in the product groups hierarchy. The invention sorts the various pricing adjustments applicable to a particular product offered to a particular purchasing group based on several criteria. After the sorting is accomplished the pricing adjustments are applied in sequence to arrive at a final price at which a particular product can be sold to a particular purchasing organization.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method for determining price of a product offered to a purchasing organization, the method comprising the steps of:
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arranging a hierarchy of organizational groups;
arranging a hierarchy of product groups;
identifying at least one organizational group above said purchasing organization in said hierarchy of organizational groups;
identifying at least one product group above said product in said hierarchy of product groups;
retrieving pricing adjustments corresponding to said product, purchasing organization, at least one organizational group, and at least one product group;
determining said price of said product by applying said pricing adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for determining price of a product, the method comprising the steps of:
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arranging a hierarchy of organizational groups and a hierarchy of product groups;
identifying a purchasing organization and one or more organizational groups from said hierarchy of organizational groups;
identifying said product and one or more product groups from said hierarchy of product groups;
determining said price of said product based on a pricing adjustment corresponding to said purchasing organization, said one or more organizational groups, said product, and said one or more product groups. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for determining price of a product offered to a purchasing organization, the apparatus comprising:
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means for displaying a hierarchy of organizational groups;
means for identifying at least one organizational group above said purchasing organization in said hierarchy of said organizational groups;
means for displaying a hierarchy of product groups;
means for identifying at least one product group above said product in said hierarchy of product groups;
means for retrieving pricing adjustments corresponding to said product, purchasing organization, at least one organizational group, and at least one product group;
means for determining said price of said product by applying said pricing adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21)
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18. An apparatus for determining price of a product, the apparatus comprising:
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means for displaying a hierarchy of organizational groups and a hierarchy of product groups;
means for identifying a purchasing organization and one or more organizational groups from said hierarchy of organizational groups;
means for identifying said product and one or more product groups from said hierarchy of product groups;
means for determining said price of said product based on a pricing adjustment corresponding to said purchasing organization, said one or more organizational groups, said product, and said one or more product groups.
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22. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for determining price of a product, said computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to display a hierarchy of organizational groups and a hierarchy of product groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify a purchasing organization and one or more organizational groups from said hierarchy of organizational groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify said product and one or more product groups from said hierarchy of product groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to determine said price of said product by applying a pricing adjustment corresponding to said purchasing organization, said one or more organizational groups, said product, and said one or more product groups. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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26. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for determining price of a product offered to a purchasing organization, said computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to display a hierarchy of organizational groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify at least one organizational group above said purchasing organization in said hierarchy of said organizational groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to display a hierarchy of product groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify at least one product group above said product in said hierarchy of product groups;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to retrieve pricing adjustments corresponding to said product, purchasing organization, at least one organizational group, and at least one product group;
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to determine said price of said product by applying said pricing adjustments.
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33. A method for creating a database for a pricing system, said method comprising the steps of:
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arranging a structure of one or more purchasers, said one or more purchasers belonging to one or more organizational groups;
arranging a structure of one or more products, said one or more products belonging to one or more product groups;
creating a price adjustment corresponding to one of said one or more organizational groups and one of said one or more product groups. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method for determining price of a product, the method comprising the steps of:
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identifying a purchaser;
identifying one or more product groups corresponding to said product;
identifying one or more organizational groups corresponding to said purchaser;
determining price of said product based on a price adjustment corresponding to said product, purchaser, one or more product groups, and one or more organizational groups. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification