Oracle International Corporation

Profitlogic, Inc.

Jonathan W Woo

Peter Gaidarev

Steven M Leven

Mahesh Kumar

Dawn M Rose

Michael Levy

John Bible

Based on a metric that represents a value of a game of chance, a payout distribution is optimized with respect to the metric.

Payout distributions for games of chance

A set of data is received containing values associated with respective data points, the values associated with each of the data points being characterized by a distribution. The values for each of the data points are expressed in a form that includes information about a distribution of the values for each of the data points. The distribution information is used in clustering the set of data with at least one other set of data containing values associated with data points.

Methods for estimating the seasonality of groups of similar items of commerce data sets based on historical sales date values and associated error information

Historical information is stored about demand behavior associated with different sizes of styles of items of commerce. A size assortment recommendation is generated based on the stored historical information and on objectives with respect to purchase or allocation decisions about assortments of the different sizes.

Assortment decisions

Price elasticity of sales of an item of commerce is estimated. Based on the price elasticity, a maximum gross margin for the item is determined. The maximum possible gross margin is then used in connection with setting or evaluating markdown scenarios for the item.

Markdown management

From data that includes prices and unit sales of an item of commerce for a succession of time periods during which the item was sold, a relationship is derived that represents variation of unit sales of the item as a function of price and time of sale. A maximum profit is predicted by optimizing the price or inventory or both over time in accordance with the relationship. The optimized price or inventory or both over time are used in connection with making price decisions or inventory decisions or both with respect to marketing the item of commerce. A group of the data is aggregated, the group being chosen so that the aggregated data for the group will have an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio with respect to information about sales trends. The aggregated data for the group is analyzed for use in making price decisions with respect to marketing the items of commerce. A series of charts illustrating variations in sales over time are generated automatically, different charts being for different selected sets of the data.

Inventory and price decision support

Methods for estimating the seasonality of groups of similar items of commerce data sets based on historical sales data values and associated error information

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Brookline, MA, United States of America

Jonathan W Woo