STOCK MANAGEMENT FOR ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS

• US 20150186835A1
• Filed: 12/30/2013
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wayfair LLC (Wayfair Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wood Bradley, Lisa Marie, Li, Nan, Wiese, Charles Edmond, Wood, Marissa Ann
• Granted Patent: US 10,083,417 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders

Abstract

Stock management for electronic transactions includes receiving an indication that an item of stock has been selected to be purchased by a purchaser. Stock management for electronic transactions also includes obtaining information relating to the purchaser, and determining whether to remove the item from stock based on the obtained information.

Claims

1. A computer program product for stock management for electronic transactions, the computer program product comprising:

a tangible computer readable storage medium comprising computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising computer usable program code, when executed by a processor, to;

receive an indication that an item of stock has been selected to be purchased by a purchaser;

obtain purchase history information relating to the purchaser; and

determine whether to remove the item from stock based on the purchase history information.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor, remove the item from stock before the item is purchased based on the purchase history information.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a group membership of the purchaser.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a correlation between use of an electronic holding container and completed purchases.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, in which the correlation is a ratio of the number of times an item was selected for purchase to the number of times an item was purchased.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, further comprising computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor, compare the ratio to a threshold value.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, further comprising computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor:

remove the item from stock when the ratio is greater than the threshold value; and

maintain the item in stock when the ratio is not greater than the threshold value.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the item is a low availability item.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the item is one of a number of selected items of stock.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a frequency of past purchases.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a quantity of past purchases.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a value of a number of past purchases.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, in which the purchase history information indicates a type of a number of past purchases.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, in which a type of a number of past purchases indicates a furniture purchase, appliance purchase, media purchase, electronic goods purchase, literature purchase, household items purchase, consumable items purchase, consumer goods purchase, services, or combinations thereof.

15. A system for stock management for electronic transactions, comprising:

a supply engine to supply an electronic holding container to indicate items of stock selected to be purchased by a purchaser;

a receive engine to receive an indication that an item of stock has been selected to be purchased by a purchaser,

an obtain engine to obtain information relating to the purchaser;

a remove engine to remove the item from stock before a purchase when the information indicates a high probability that the item will be purchased; and

a maintain engine to maintain the item in stock when the information does not indicate a high probability that the item will be purchased.

16. The system of claim 15, in which the obtained information includes purchase history information.

17. The system of claim 15, in which the obtained information includes demographic information of the purchaser.

18. The system of claim 15, in which the obtained information includes purchase frequency information, purchase quantity information, purchase value information, purchase type information, purchaser group membership information, or combinations thereof.

19. A system for stock management for electronic transactions, comprising:

a receive engine to receive an indication via an electronic holding container that an item of stock has been selected to be purchased by a purchaser;

an obtain engine to obtain purchase history information for the purchaser to indicate buying habits of the purchaser, in which the purchase history information includes;

purchase frequency information;

purchase value information;

purchase quantity information;

purchase type information; and

a correlation between electronic holding container use and completed purchases for the purchaser;

a compare engine to compare, against a threshold value, a ratio of a number of times an item was selected for purchase by the purchaser to a number of times an item was actually purchased by the purchaser;

a remove engine to remove the item from stock when the item is added to the electronic holding container when the correlation indicates a high probability that the item will be purchased and when the ratio is greater than the threshold value; and

a maintain engine to maintain the item in stock when the correlation does not indicate a high probability that the item will be purchased and when the ratio is not greater than the threshold value.

20. The system of claim 19, in which the correlation indicates a likelihood that the item will be purchased.

21-40. -40. (canceled)