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Apparatus for merchandise promotion optimization

  • US 7,130,811 B1
  • Filed: 05/05/2001
  • Issued: 10/31/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2001
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for optimizing a promotion plan for merchandising products, comprising:

  • utilizing a computer-based scenario/results processor within an optimization server to present a sequence of data entry templates to a user, whereby the user specifies an optimization scenario, wherein said utilizing comprises;

    first providing a promotion event configuration template, for prescribing the potential promotion events;

    second providing a supplier offer configuration template, for prescribing the potential supplier offers; and

    third providing a promotion scenario configuration template, for associating the potential promotion events to the products, wherein said third providing comprises;

    specifying a forward buy method;

    enabling/disabling certain ones of the potential supplier offers;

    adding rules and constraints to the optimization scenario; and

    indicating store merchandising capacities;

    within the optimization server, modeling the relationship between potential prices of the products and market demand for the products, wherein the potential prices correspond to potential promotion events and potential supplier offers;

    within the optimization server, estimating demand chain costs for the products according to the modeled market demand, wherein the demand chain costs include fixed and variable costs for the products;

    within the optimization server, employing the market demand and the demand chain costs to determine optimum promotion events and optimum supplier offers, wherein the optimum promotion events and optimum supplier offers maximize a merchandising performance figure of merit according to the optimization scenario; and

    generating a plurality of optimization results templates and providing these templates to the user, wherein the optimum promotion events and optimum supplier offers are presented.

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