Methods and apparatus for processing and marketing inventory via multiple channels

• US 9,563,870 B1
• Filed: 03/06/2013
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optoro, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Optoro, Inc.
• Inventors: Szmajda, Joshua, Vitarello, Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Champagne, Luna
• Application Number:
  US13/786,770
• Time in Patent Office: 1,434 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 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors

Abstract

A non-transitory processor-readable medium stores code representing instructions to be executed by a processor. The code stored in the medium includes code to cause the processor to receive a first signal indicating a quantity of an item listed on a website of a first marketplace from a set of marketplaces. The item is listed on a website of each marketplace from the set of marketplaces. The code stored in the medium includes code to cause the processor to change, based on the first signal, an inventory parameter associated with the item from a first value to a second value. The code stored in the medium includes code to cause the processor to send, to a device of each marketplace, a second signal indicating the updated inventory parameter such that the item remains listed on the website of each marketplace until the second value is zero.

Claims

1. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor, the code comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive, at a tracking module implemented at the processor, a first signal indicating an available quantity of an item listed on a website of a first marketplace from a plurality of marketplaces, the first signal received using an application programming interface (API) to access a merchant interface portion of the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces;

receive, at the tracking module, a second signal indicating the available quantity of the item listed on the website of the first marketplace, the second signal received using an inventory scraper to access a customer interface portion of the website of the first marketplace, the item being listed on a website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces;

update an inventory parameter associated with the item from a first value to a second value based on the first signal and the second signal; and

send, to a device of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, a third signal indicating the updated inventory parameter and including instructions to instruct the device to keep the item listed on the website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces until the second value is zero such that the item is simultaneously listed on the website of the first marketplace and a website of a second marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces until the second value is zero.

2. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first signal indicates a pending order associated with the item.

3. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

define, based on at least one of the first signal or the second signal, a reservation record for the item, the reservation record including a quantity parameter associated with a difference between the first value and the second value.

4. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

define, based on at least one of the first signal or the second signal, a reservation record for the item, the reservation record including a pending order quantity associated with a difference between the first value and the second value, the first signal associated with an order for the item, the first signal including an ordered quantity value; and

reconcile the order with the reservation record based at least on the ordered quantity value and the pending order quantity.

5. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a quantity of the item is simultaneously listed on the website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces.

6. A method, comprising:

scraping, by a processing device, a consumer interface of a website of a marketplace to obtain information associated with an available quantity of an item listed on the website of the marketplace;

receiving, at the processing device and from a first source associated with the consumer interface of the website of the marketplace, in response to the scraping, a first signal including the available quantity of the item listed on the website of the marketplace, the marketplace being from a plurality of marketplaces, the item being listed on a website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces;

receiving, at the processing device and from a second source associated with a merchant interface of the website of the marketplace, a second signal associated with the quantity of the item listed on the website of the marketplace, the second source being different from the first source;

determining, at the processing device and based on at least one of the first signal or the second signal, an inventory parameter associated with the item; and

sending, to a device of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, a third signal indicating the inventory parameter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the third signal includes an instruction to remove the item from the website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces when the inventory parameter has a value of zero.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a fourth signal indicating an order for the item placed via the website of the marketplace, the first signal and the second signal being received before the fourth signal.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the second signal is received via an application programming interface (API) access to access the merchant interface of the website of the marketplace.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the scraping of the consumer interface portion includes initiating at least one attempted order associated with the item via the consumer interface portion.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

defining, based on the inventory parameter, a reservation record for the item, the reservation record including a pending order quantity;

receiving a fourth signal indicating a validated order associated with the item placed via the website of the marketplace, the fourth signal including an ordered quantity value; and

reconciling the validated order with the reservation record based at least on the pending order quantity and the ordered quantity value.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the information associated with an available quantity of the item listed on the website of the marketplace is scraped by generating at least one attempted order for the item at the marketplace.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a processing device configured to be operatively coupled, via a plurality of channels, to a device of each marketplace from a plurality of marketplaces, the processing device configured to be operatively coupled to an inventory database including an inventory record of an item being listed on a website of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, the inventory record of the item including a quantity parameter having a first value,

the processing device configured to scrape a consumer interface of a website of a first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces to obtain available quantity information for the item listed on the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces,

the processing device configured to receive, via a first channel from the plurality of channels, a first signal indicating a change in a quantity of the item listed on the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces based on the available quantity information obtained from scraping the consumer interface of the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces,

the processing device configured to receive, via a second channel from the plurality of channels, a second signal indicating the change in the quantity of the item listed on the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, the second channel associated with a merchant interface of the website of the first marketplace and being different from the first channel,

the processing device configured to update, based on at least one of the first signal or the second signal, the inventory record of the item such that the quantity parameter is changed from the first value to a second value,

the processing device configured to send, to the device of each marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, a third signal indicating the quantity parameter having the second value.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing device is configured to access the second channel via an application programming interface (API).

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein

the available quantity information is first available quantity information, and

the processing device is configured to scrape merchant interface of the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces to obtain second available quantity information for the item listed on the website of the first marketplace from the plurality of marketplaces, the second signal including the second available quantity information.