Methods and apparatus for electronically determining item pricing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021224835-A1
Application number	US-202016749246-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 22, 2020
Priority date	Jan 22, 2020
Publication date	Jul 22, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

This application relates to apparatus and methods for automatically determining and providing prices for items for sale in stores or online such as to clear inventor of the items. In some examples, a computing device employs artificial intelligence, such as machine learning models, to determine the pricing of the items. For example, the computing device may employ a forecasting model that determines a forecasted demand for an item based on store inventory and experimental sales of the item. The computing device may also employ an item pricing optimization model that determines a clearance price for the item based at least on the forecasted demand as well as historical data indicating previous price adjustments and sales of the item. In some examples, the item pricing optimization model determines a time period to apply the clearance price to the item. The item may then be placed on sale for the clearance price.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a computing device configured to:
receive a request for a price for an item for a sales channel;
obtain experimental sales data for the first item from a database;
determine a demand for the item at the sales channel based on the experimental sales data;
determine a current inventory level of the item at the sales channel;
determine a price for the item at the sales channel based on the demand for the item and the current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and
transmit the price for the item.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the request for the price for the item identifies a discount depth, and wherein the computing device is further configured to determine the demand for the item based on the discount depth.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the experimental sales data comprises historical experimental sales of the item at a plurality of test stores at a plurality of prices.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the request for the price for the item identifies a modular date, and wherein the computing device is configured to determine the price for the item based on the modular date.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to:
obtain historical price reduction data for the item from the database, wherein the historical price reduction data identifies one or more previous price markdowns for the item; and determine the price for the item based on the historical price reduction data.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein determining the demand for the item at the sales channel comprises executing a discrete time stochastic control process.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein determining the demand for the item at the sales channel comprises executing a trained machine learning algorithm, wherein the trained machine learning algorithm is trained with historical experimental sales data.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises executing a discrete time stochastic control process.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises executing a trained machine learning algorithm, wherein the trained machine learning algorithm is trained with historical transaction data identifying historical sales of a plurality of items at a plurality of stores.

10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the sales channel is a first store of a plurality of stores of a retailer.

11 . The system of claim 1 wherein the sales channel is a website of an online marketplace for a retailer.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises determining a corresponding confidence value, and wherein transmitting the price for the item comprises determining that the corresponding confidence value is beyond a threshold.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises determining a corresponding confidence value, and wherein transmitting the price for the item comprises:
determining that the confidence value is not beyond a threshold; and transmitting the price for the item to a plurality of test stores.

14 . The system of claim 13 wherein the computing device is configured to:
obtain sales transaction data identifying sales transactions for the item at the plurality of test stores;
determine a second demand for the item based on the sales transaction data;
determine a second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel;
determine a second price for the item at the sales channel based on the second demand for the item and the second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and
transmit the second price for the item.

15 . A method comprising:
receiving a request for a price for an item for a sales channel; obtaining experimental sales data for the first item from a database; determining a demand for the item at the sales channel based on the experimental sales data; determining a current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; determining a price for the item at the sales channel based on the demand for the item and the current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and transmitting the price for the item.

16 . The method of claim 15 wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises determining a corresponding confidence value, and wherein transmitting the price for the item comprises determining that the corresponding confidence value is beyond a threshold.

17 . The method of claim 16 comprising:
determining that the confidence value is not beyond a threshold;
transmitting the price for the item to a plurality of test stores obtaining sales transaction data identifying sales transactions for the item at the plurality of test stores;
determining a second demand for the item based on the sales transaction data;
determining a second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel;
determining a second price for the item at the sales channel based on the second demand for the item and the second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and
transmitting the second price for the item.

18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause a device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for a price for an item for a sales channel; obtaining experimental sales data for the first item from a database; determining a demand for the item at the sales channel based on the experimental sales data; determining a current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; determining a price for the item at the sales channel based on the demand for the item and the current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and transmitting the price for the item.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein determining the price for the item at the sales channel comprises determining a corresponding confidence value, and wherein transmitting the price for the item comprises determining that the corresponding confidence value is beyond a threshold.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 having additional instructions stored thereon, wherein the additional instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform additional operations comprising:
determining that the confidence value is not beyond a threshold;
transmitting the price for the item to a plurality of test stores obtaining sales transaction data identifying sales transactions for the item at the plurality of test stores;
determining a second demand for the item based on the sales transaction data;
determining a second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel;
determining a second price for the item at the sales channel based on the second demand for the item and the second current inventory level of the item at the sales channel; and
transmitting the second price for the item.

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Mehrotra Prakhar
• Chen Yixian

Classifications

• G06Q30/0641

  utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping · CPC title

• G06Q30/0223

  based on inventory · CPC title

• G06Q30/0201

  Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data · CPC title

• G06Q30/0206 Primary

  Price or cost determination based on market factors · CPC title