System, Method and Computer Program Product for Demand-Weighted Selection of Sales Outlets

Abstract

In embodiments disclosed herein, a computer may operate to determine, for each member in a set and each non-member under consideration for the set, an expected revenue to be passed to an organization. The expected revenue may be determined utilizing a plurality of weighted features. Members in the set may be ranked according to their expected revenues. Top performing members in the set may be protected to ensure their expected revenues. Bottom performing members may be removed from the set and/or replaced with new members outside of geographical protective areas of the top performing members. The optimization process can be repeated until the set of members can satisfy an existing demand and/or revenue for the organization is maximized.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 a) for each of a plurality of non-members under consideration by an organization for a membership set, determining a net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, the plurality of non-members residing outside of geographical protective areas of one or more top performing members already in the membership set, the determining performed by a computer having a processor and a memory; and   b) based at least in part on the net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, determining from the plurality of non-members a candidate member to be included in or excluded from the member set.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting the candidate member on a device communicatively connected to the computer over a network.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until total revenue from the membership set is maximized.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until an existing demand for an item in a geographic unit is satisfied by the membership set, wherein an expected revenue for a member in the membership set is determined based at least in part on the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining a weight for each of a plurality of features utilized in determining the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of features includes a driving distance between a customer and the member and wherein the driving distance is weighted with respect to the geographic unit. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the one or more top performing members based at least in part on an expected revenue that each of the one or more top performing members is to pass to the organization.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions translatable by a computer having a processor and a memory to perform:
 a) for each of a plurality of non-members under consideration by an organization for a membership set, determining a net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, the plurality of non-members residing outside of geographical protective areas of one or more top performing members already in the membership set; and   b) based at least in part on the net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, determining from the plurality of non-members a candidate member to be included in or excluded from the member set.   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the computer to perform:
 presenting the candidate member on a device communicatively connected to the computer over a network.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the computer to perform:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until total revenue from the membership set is maximized.   
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the computer to perform:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until an existing demand for an item in a geographic unit is satisfied by the membership set, wherein an expected revenue for a member in the membership set is determined based at least in part on the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the computer to perform:
 determining a weight for each of a plurality of features utilized in determining the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of features includes a driving distance between a customer and the member and wherein the driving distance is weighted with respect to the geographic unit. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the computer to perform:
 determining the one or more top performing members based at least in part on an expected revenue that each of the one or more top performing members is to pass to the organization.   
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 a) for each of a plurality of non-members under consideration by an organization for a membership set, determining a net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, the plurality of non-members residing outside of geographical protective areas of one or more top performing members already in the membership set; and 
 b) based at least in part on the net impact on revenue expected to pass to the organization, determining from the plurality of non-members a candidate member to be included in or excluded from the member set. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 presenting the candidate member on a device communicatively connected to the system over a network.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until total revenue from the membership set is maximized.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 repeating the a) and b) steps until an existing demand for an item in a geographic unit is satisfied by the membership set, wherein an expected revenue for a member in the membership set is determined based at least in part on the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 determining a weight for each of a plurality of features utilized in determining the demand for the item in the geographic unit.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of features includes a driving distance between a customer and the member and wherein the driving distance is weighted with respect to the geographic unit. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 determining the one or more top performing members based at least in part on an expected revenue that each of the one or more top performing members is to pass to the organization.