Managing stock inventory levels
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item, the acceptable out-of-stock probability indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular retail store;
accessing sales data for the item, wherein the sales data is for a period of time;
determining, using a computing device, a quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time based at least partly on the sales data;
determining a quantity of shoppers per day that purchased the item based at least partly on the sales data;
determining, using the computing device, a maximal sales estimate indicating a volume of sales that will cause an out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales estimate is based on at least the determined quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time, the determined shoppers per day, the acceptable out-of-stock probability, and a reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity of the item is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day; and
determining a reorder point based on the determined maximal sales estimate for the reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular retail store for maintaining the out-of-stock probability of the item at the particular retail store at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of managing a stock replenishment system in a way that explicitly controls the in-stock rate. Also provided by the present invention is a method of managing a collection of stock replenishment systems in a way that the combined in-stock rate of the collection is controlled to a selected value. In addition, the present invention provides a method to set up a collection of stock replenishment systems in replenishment software systems in an identical fashion while controlling the combined in-stock rate. The methods of the present invention use point-of-sale data to determine packages-per-shopper rates, which are used as one of the inputs to statistical models of multiple-day retail sales.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item, the acceptable out-of-stock probability indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular retail store; accessing sales data for the item, wherein the sales data is for a period of time; determining, using a computing device, a quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time based at least partly on the sales data; determining a quantity of shoppers per day that purchased the item based at least partly on the sales data; determining, using the computing device, a maximal sales estimate indicating a volume of sales that will cause an out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales estimate is based on at least the determined quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time, the determined shoppers per day, the acceptable out-of-stock probability, and a reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity of the item is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day; and determining a reorder point based on the determined maximal sales estimate for the reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular retail store for maintaining the out-of-stock probability of the item at the particular retail store at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for managing inventory comprising:
a computing system configured to execute instruction in order to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising; receiving a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item, the acceptable out-of-risk probability indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular retail store; accessing sales data for the item, wherein the sales data is for a period of time; determining a quantity of shoppers per day that purchased the item based at least partly on the sales data; determining a maximal sales estimate indicating a volume of sales that will cause an out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales estimate is determined based on a probability model and at least the quantity of shoppers per day and a reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day; and determining a reorder point based on the determined maximal sales estimate for the reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular retail store for maintaining the out-of-stock probability for the item at the particular retail store at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
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accessing a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular location; and determining a reorder point based at least partly on a maximal sales estimate for a reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular location for maintaining an out-of-stock probability at the particular location at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability; wherein the maximal sales estimate indicates a volume of sales that will cause the out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales is determined based on a probability model and at least a quantity of shoppers per day and the reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method comprising:
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accessing a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item, the acceptable out-of-stock probability indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular retail store; accessing sales data for the item, wherein the sales data is for a period of time; determining, using a computing device, a quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time based at least partly on the sales data; determining, using the computing device, a maximal sales estimate indicating a volume of sales that will cause an out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales estimate is based on at least the determined quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time, the acceptable out-of-stock probability, and a reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity of the item is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day; and determining a reorder point based on the determined maximal sales estimate for the reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular retail store for maintaining the out-of-stock probability of the item at the particular retail store at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification