Local shopping and inventory
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method for providing aproduct availability indicator, comprising:
- receiving, by a computer, point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying a product that was sold, a quantity of the product that was sold, a store at which the product was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold;
determining, by the computer, based at least on the quantity of the product that was sold and the first timestamp, a rate of sales (rs) for the product at the store;
receiving, by the computer, an inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of the product at the store at a first time (T1), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T2) subsequent to the first time;
determining, by the computer, a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2, wherein the probability is based at least on the rate of sales (rs), the first time (T1), and the second time (T2), and wherein (x=rsΔ
T), (Δ
T=T2−
T1), (N=Q−
1), and the probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 is determined according to an equation
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Abstract
Estimating product inventory comprises determining a rate of sales events for a product and an amount of time that has elapsed since a previous product availability estimate from the product. Then, a new product availability estimate for the product is determined based on the rate sales events for the product. The rate of sales events for the product can be determined based on product data feeds from the merchant or other sales data.
74 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for providing a
product availability indicator, comprising: -
receiving, by a computer, point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying a product that was sold, a quantity of the product that was sold, a store at which the product was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold; determining, by the computer, based at least on the quantity of the product that was sold and the first timestamp, a rate of sales (rs) for the product at the store; receiving, by the computer, an inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of the product at the store at a first time (T1), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T2) subsequent to the first time; determining, by the computer, a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2, wherein the probability is based at least on the rate of sales (rs), the first time (T1), and the second time (T2), and wherein (x=rsΔ
T), (Δ
T=T2−
T1), (N=Q−
1), and the probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 is determined according to an equation - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-implemented method for providing a
product availability indicator, comprising: -
receiving, by a computer, point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying a product that was sold, a quantity of the product that was sold, a store at which the product was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold; determining, by the computer, based at least on the quantity of the product that was sold and the first timestamp, a rate of sales (rs) for the product at the store; receiving, by the computer, an inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of the product at the store at a first time (T1), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T2) subsequent to the first time; determining, by the computer, a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 wherein (x=rsΔ
T), (Δ
T=T2−
T1), (N=Q−
1), and the probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 is determined according to an equation - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A product availability estimation system, comprising:
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a storage resource; a network module; a processor communicatively coupled to the storage resource and the network module, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage resource and that cause the product availability estimation system to; receive, via the network module, a periodic inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of a product at a store at a first time (T1), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T2) subsequent to the first time; store, into the storage resource, the inventory (Q) and the value (Δ
T=T2−
T1) in a data object corresponding to the product and the store;receive, via the network module, real-time point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying the product, the store, a quantity of the product that was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold; retrieve, from the storage resource, the data object corresponding to the product and store, wherein the data object comprises a first rate field indicating an average number of units sold in a sales event for the product, a second rate field indicating an average time between sales events for the product, a timestamp field corresponding to the time of the last sale of the product, a quantity field corresponding to the stored inventory (Q), and a Δ
T field corresponding to the stored value (Δ
T=T2−
T1);determine a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 according to an equation - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system having a network interface and a storage resource, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:
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instructions for receiving, via the network interface, real-time point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying a product that was sold, a quantity of the product that was sold, a store at which the product was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold; instructions for determining, based at least on the quantity of the product that was sold and the first timestamp, a rate of sales (rs) for the product at the store; instructions for receiving, via the network interface, an inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of the product at the store at a first time (T1), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T2) subsequent to the first time; instructions for determining a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2, wherein the probability is based at least on the rate of sales (rs), the first time (T1), and the second time (T2), and wherein (x=rsΔ
T), (Δ
T=T2−
T1), (N=Q−
1), and the probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T1 and T2 is determined according to an equation - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36)
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32. A product availability estimation system, comprising:
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a storage resource; a network module; a means for determining a rate of sales (rs) for a product at a store based on received point of sale (POS) data; a means for determining a probability that fewer than a quantity (Q) products were sold between a first time (T1) and a second time (T2), wherein the probability is based at least on the rate of sales (rs), the first time (T1), and the second time (T2), wherein the quantity (Q), the first time (T1), and the second time (T2) correspond to a received periodic inventory snapshot, and wherein (x=rsΔ
T), (Δ
T=T2−
T1), (N=Q−
1 and the probability that fewer than 0 products were sold between times T1 and T2 is determined according to an equation - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 37, 38)
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Specification