Cross-selling optimizer
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method to solve a business issue related to cross-selling opportunities, comprising the steps of:
- retrieving cross-selling relationships that associate purchases of a first set of items with purchases of a second set of items;
said cross-selling relationships being associated with a cross-selling statistic, wherein the cross-selling statistic is indicative of potential for the purchase of the second set of items based upon the purchase of the first set of items; and
determining a cross-selling opportunities metric that solves the business issue, wherein the cross-selling opportunities metric is determined for at least one cross-selling relationship by at least substantially optimizing an objective function with respect to constraints and to the cross-selling statistic, wherein at least one of the constraints is based upon the business issue.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cross-selling optimization method and system for allocating marketing and selling effort in the cross-selling environment. The computer-implemented method and system optimally allocates resources based on results from data warehousing and data mining methodologies. These methodologies form the basis for collecting information for understanding customer relationships and potential market growth. The method and system preferably uses linear programming to determine the optimal way in which to allocate limited cross-selling resources to marketing various products so that the highest possible return on one'"'"'s marketing investment (ROI) is achieved. The optimal allocations are quantified through one or more cross-selling opportunities metrics (e.g., the optimal amounts of cross-selling effort to achieve the highest possible ROI).
75 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method to solve a business issue related to cross-selling opportunities, comprising the steps of:
-
retrieving cross-selling relationships that associate purchases of a first set of items with purchases of a second set of items;
said cross-selling relationships being associated with a cross-selling statistic, wherein the cross-selling statistic is indicative of potential for the purchase of the second set of items based upon the purchase of the first set of items; and
determining a cross-selling opportunities metric that solves the business issue, wherein the cross-selling opportunities metric is determined for at least one cross-selling relationship by at least substantially optimizing an objective function with respect to constraints and to the cross-selling statistic, wherein at least one of the constraints is based upon the business issue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
17. A computer-implemented system for solving a business issue related to resource allocation involved in cross-selling opportunities, comprising:
-
an association rules data store to store cross-selling relationships that associate the purchase of a first set of items with the purchase of a second set of items;
said cross-selling relationships being associated with a cross-selling statistic, wherein the cross-selling statistic is indicative of the potential for purchase of the second set of items based upon the purchase of the first set of items; and
an optimization module connected to the association rules data store and containing at least one constraint related to the business issue, wherein the optimization module determines resource allocation for a business operation related to the purchase of the second set of items, said determining being performed based upon the cross-selling relationships, the cross-selling statistic, and the business issue constraint.
-
-
32. A computer-implemented cross-selling analysis system, comprising:
-
computer data storage means for storing association rules that associate purchases of a first set of items with purchases of a second set of items;
said association rules being associated with a lift cross-selling statistic, said lift cross-selling statistic being indicative of potential for the purchase of the second set of items based upon the purchase of the first set of items;
constraints storage means for storing constraints related to achieving a predetermined business goal; and
optimization means connected to the computer data storage and to the constraints storage means, said optimization means containing an objective function that determines the amount of effort to be used in the selling of the items by substantially maximizing the predetermined business goal subject to the constraints, the association rules, and the lift cross-selling statistic.
-
Specification