Budget planner for softlines

• US 9,189,816 B1
• Filed: 06/14/2011
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Walsh, Paul J., Liden, Lars H., Gardner, Paul J., Donnelley, Samuel Y., Rosser, Graham T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Obaid, Fateh M
• Application Number:
  US13/160,462
• Time in Patent Office: 1,617 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/10 Tax strategies
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Various approaches described herein enable various types of users, such as finance managers, vendors, and vendor managers to access up-to-date information in a retail environment that can assist with obtaining and tracking various items to be offered through that environment. A budget planner can analyze information such as historical performance, projection, and vendor data to establish a budget plan for various providers for a particular period. The budget information is fed to an assortment planner, which can use similar and other types of information to allocate that budget across various types and styles of item for each provider. A commitment tracker enables a user to commit to at least some portion of the allocation for various items, and track how well the orders are filled. Information at each level is fed back into the system to be almost instantly available and to adjust allocations for current or future periods.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions to implement a management system associated with managing a budget for items offered in an electronic marketplace for a plurality of vendors,

obtaining, by the management system from a data store associated with the electronic marketplace, historical performance data for the plurality of vendors offering the items in a plurality of categories, the historical performance data including values for a plurality of performance metrics, wherein the plurality of performance metrics includes one or more fulfillment performance metrics with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments;

determining, by the management system, a weighted combination of the values of the performance metrics for the plurality of vendors, the weighted combination incorporating a plurality of predetermined weights each corresponding to one of the plurality of fulfillment performance metrics;

ranking, by the management system, the plurality of vendors based at least in part on the determined weighted combination of the values;

allocating, by the management system, a target budget amount across at least a portion of the plurality of vendors based at least in part upon the ranking;

providing, by the management system, access to the allocated budget amount to a plurality of authorized users;

enabling, by the management system, each authorized user to request one or more adjustments to the allocated budget amount;

responsive to approval by the management system of a request from an authorized user for adjusting the allocated budget amount, automatically reallocating, by the management system, the target budget amount based at least in part upon the ranking;

receiving, by the management system, change information relating to at least one of an adjustment in an assortment allocation or a vendor commitment affecting one or more vendors of the plurality of vendors;

automatically reallocating, by the management system, the target budget for the one or more vendors based at least in part upon the change information; and

outputting the reallocated target budget from the management system to a procurement system, the outputting causing the procurement system to generate orders for the items from the plurality of vendors based on the reallocated target budget, the orders enabling the plurality of vendors to offer the items via the electronic marketplace.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of vendors are ranked further based at least in part upon at least one of projected fulfillment performance data and vendor planning data, wherein the fulfillment performance data includes data with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the target budget amount based at least in part upon the historical fulfillment performance data for the plurality of vendors, wherein the fulfillment performance data includes data with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying at least one relevant user about the reallocated budget for the one or more vendors.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

sending information for the reallocated budget for the one or more vendors to at least one of an assortment planner or a commitment tracker operable to adjust at least one of an assortment allocation or level of commitment for the one or more vendors.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target budget amount is a total monetary amount to be spent by a retailer across the plurality of vendors for which the retailer has historical fulfillment performance data during a period of time, the plurality of vendors being external to the retailer, wherein the fulfillment performance data includes data with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fulfillment performance metrics includes at least one of selection and popularity of delivered items.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the weighted combination incorporates at least one weight determined based at least in part on an age of at least one corresponding fulfillment performance metric relative to the present.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein determining the at least one weight comprises decaying the at least one weight based at least in part on the age of the at least one corresponding fulfillment performance metric such that more recent data is given greater weight.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the weighted combination incorporates at least one weight determined based at least in part on an annual season.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of metrics upon which the weighted combination utilized to rank the plurality of vendors is based correspond to a plurality of attributes of the items offered by the vendors, the plurality of attributes including at least one of:

item size, item style and item color.

6. A system configured to manage a budget for items offered at an electronic marketplace from a plurality of providers, the system comprising:

a processor; and

at least one memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to, at least;

obtain historical data for a plurality of providers from a data store associated with the electronic marketplace, each provider offering at least one type of item, the historical data including values for a plurality of fulfillment performance metrics, wherein the plurality of performance metrics includes one or more fulfillment performance metrics with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments;

determine a weighted combination of the values of the fulfillment performance metrics for the providers, the weighted combination incorporating a plurality of predetermined weights each corresponding to one of the plurality of fulfillment performance metrics;

rank the plurality of providers based at least in part on the determined weighted combination;

allocate a target budget amount across at least a portion of the plurality of providers based at least in part upon the ranking;

provide access to the allocated budget amount to a plurality of users, the plurality of users enabled to request one or more adjustments to the allocated budget amount;

responsive to approval of a request for one or more adjustments, automatically reallocate the target budget amount based at least in part upon the ranking;

receive change information relating to at least one of an adjustment in an assortment allocation or a provider commitment affecting one or more providers;

automatically reallocate the target budget for one or more providers based at least in part upon the change information; and

output the reallocated target budget to a procurement system, the outputting causing the procurement system to generate orders for the items from the plurality of providers based on the reallocated target budget, the orders enabling the plurality of providers to offer the items at the electronic marketplace.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to:

for at least a portion of the providers having an allocated portion of the target budget amount, further allocate the allocated portion over two or more categories of items offered by that provider.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the ranking is further based at least in part upon at least one of projected fulfillment performance data and vendor planning data, wherein the fulfillment performance data includes data with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the system to further enable each authorized user to request one or more adjustments to the allocated budget amount.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions for managing a budget associated with items offered at an electronic marketplace from a plurality of providers, the system that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to, at least:

obtain historical data for a plurality of providers from a data store associated with the electronic marketplace, each provider offering at least one type of item, the historical data including values for a plurality of fulfillment performance metrics, wherein the plurality of performance metrics includes one or more fulfillment performance metrics with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments;

determine a weighted combination of the values of the fulfillment performance metrics for the providers, the weighted combination incorporating a plurality of predetermined weights each corresponding to one of the plurality of fulfillment performance metrics;

rank the plurality of providers based at least in part on the determined weighted combination of the values;

allocate a target budget amount across at least a portion of the plurality of providers based at least in part upon the ranking;

provide access to the allocated budget amount to a plurality of users, the plurality of users enabled to request one or more adjustments to the allocated budget amount;

upon approval of a request for one or more adjustments, automatically reallocate the target budget amount based at least in part upon the ranking;

receive change information relating to at least one of an adjustment in an assortment allocation or commitment affecting one or more providers;

automatically reallocate the target budget for one or more providers based at least in part upon the change information; and

output the reallocated target budget to a procurement system, the outputting causing the procurement system to generate orders for the items from the plurality of providers based on the reallocated target budget, the orders enabling the plurality of providers to offer the items at the electronic marketplace.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:

further allocate the allocated budget amount over two or more categories of items offered by that provider for at least a portion of the providers having an allocated portion of the target budget amount.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:

for at least a portion of the providers having an allocated portion of the target budget amount, further allocate the allocated portion over two or more categories of items offered by that provider.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the ranking is further based at least in part upon at least one of projected fulfillment performance data and vendor planning data, wherein the fulfillment performance data includes data with respect to fulfillment of vendor commitments.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to enable each authorized user to request one or more adjustments to the allocated budget amount.