System and method for product assortment management

Abstract

Approaches are provided that determine and fine-tune product assortments carried by retail stores. In aspects, the number of stores that carry the item, the sales performance of the item, the loyalty of customers to the item, whether substitutes for the item can be found, and other factors are used to determine an actions such as increasing or decreasing the shelf space for an item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system that is configured to adjust the assortment of products in retail stores, the system comprising:
 a plurality of retail stores organized as a cluster, each of the stores in the cluster having a common assortment of products;   product display units in each of the retail stores in the cluster, the product display units configured to display the products for sale to customers;   an automated vehicle, a first sensor and a second sensor disposed in each of the retail stores of the cluster, the first sensor being configured to scan in real-time the shopping carts or baskets of customers and in real-time obtain shopping cart data indicating items in the shopping cart or basket, the second sensor being configured to obtain customer movement data in real-time by scanning the presence of customers viewing a product being displayed at a selected one of the product display units;   a plurality of sales entry devices that collect sales information in real-time, the sales entry devices being disposed at retail stores both within and outside of the cluster;   an electronic communication network that is coupled to the plurality of sales entry devices, each of the automated vehicles, each of the first sensors, and each of the second sensors;   an assortment adjustment apparatus that is coupled to the electronic communication network and disposed at a central processing center, the assortment adjustment apparatus including a transceiver circuit, a database, and a control circuit;   wherein the database is configured to store a retail store count ratio, the retail store count ratio being the percentage of stores in the cluster where a product is carried;   wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 determine performance of the product and customer loyalty to the product for each store in the cluster, the performance of the product being based upon the sales information received from the sales entry devices via the transceiver circuit, the loyalty being a measure of the frequency of customer purchases the product via the transceiver circuit, the loyalty being determined at least in part based upon an analysis of the customer movement data and correlation of the customer movement data with the sales information; 
 determine a substitutability measure for each product, the substitutability measure associated as to whether first predetermined amounts of traditional substitutes for the product exist and whether second predetermined amounts of variety substitutes exist for each of the products, the substitutability measure being determined at least in part by an analysis of the shopping cart data, and a correlation between the shopping cart data, the customer movement data, and the sales information; 
 based upon the retail store count ratio, the performance of the product, the customer loyalty to the product, and the substitutability measure of the product, select an action including one or more of: increasing shelf space for the product, expanding the number of stores carrying the product, obtaining customer feedback, negotiating a deletion of the product, maintaining the product in the stores, decreasing shelf space of the product, or reducing percentage of stores where the product is carried; 
   wherein at least some of the actions are performed by the automated vehicle moving products to, from, or within some of the product display units.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , where the control circuit further forms a list of all products that are to be deleted;
 wherein, when deletion is the selected action, the control circuit is further configured to determine, based upon deletions of products at a national level, whether to remove products on the list from stores in the cluster.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine a no-demand transfer level for a product at the cluster, the no-demand transfer level associated with occurrence of no demand for the product transferring to another product, and when the no-demand transfer level for a product at a cluster level is below a threshold, remove all remaining items on the delete list from retail stores in the cluster, and when the no-demand transfer level is above the threshold, then choose a predetermined number of items on the delete list to keep in stores. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the items on the delete list that are to be kept are selected based upon the product performance of the product. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the product performance is based upon sales values or year-to-year sales growth of the product. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine clusters that do not have an item. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the control circuit determines for a second cluster where the product is not carried, when a median loyalty is above a first threshold for products carried in the cluster and when a median performance of the products carried at cluster is greater than a second threshold to expand the product into the second cluster. 
     
     
         8 . A method for adjusting the assortment of products in retail stores, the method comprising:
 organizing a plurality of retail stores organized as a cluster, each of the stores in the cluster having a common assortment of products;   disposing product display units in each of the retail stores in the cluster, the product display units configured to display the products for sale to customers;   collecting sales information in real-time from a plurality of sales entry devices, the sales entry devices being disposed at retail stores both within and outside of the cluster;   disposing a first sensor, a second sensor, and an automated vehicle in each store of the cluster, wherein the first sensor is configured to scan in real-time the shopping carts or baskets of customer, and obtain in real-time shopping cart data indicating items in the shopping cart or basket, wherein the second sensor is configured to obtain customer movement data in real-time, the customer movement data indicating the presence of customers viewing a product that is displayed at a selected one of the product display units;   storing at a database disposed at a central processing center a retail store count ratio, the retail store count ratio being the percentage of stores in the cluster where a product is carried;   at a control circuit disposed at the central processing center, determining performance of the product and customer loyalty to the product for each store in the cluster, the performance of the product being based upon sales information received from the sales entry devices via a transceiver circuit, the loyalty being a measure the frequency of customer purchases the product via the transceiver circuit, the loyalty being determined at least in part based upon an analysis of the customer movement data and correlation of the customer movement data with the sales information;   at the control circuit, determining a substitutability measure for each product, the substitutability measure associated as to whether first predetermined amounts of traditional substitutes for the product exist and whether second predetermined amounts of variety substitutes exist for each of the products, the substitutability measure being determined at least in part by an analysis of the shopping cart data, and a correlation between the shopping cart data, the customer movement data, and the sales information;   at the control circuit, selecting an action, the selected action based upon the retail store count ratio, the performance of the product, the customer loyalty to the product, and the substitutability measure of the product, the action including one or more of: increasing shelf space for the product, expanding the number of stores carrying the product, obtaining customer feedback, negotiating a deletion of the product, maintaining the product in the stores, decreasing shelf space of the product, or reducing percentage of stores where the product is carried;   performing at least some of the actions by an automated vehicle by moving products to, from, or within some of the product display units.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising, at the control circuit, forming a list of all products that are to be deleted;
 wherein, when deletion is the selected action, the control circuit is further configured to determine, based upon deletions of products at a national level, whether to remove products on the list from stores in the cluster.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising, at the control circuit, determining a no-demand transfer level for a product at the cluster, the no-demand transfer level associated with occurrence of no demand for the product transferring to another product, and when the no-demand transfer level for a product at a cluster level is below a threshold, and removing all remaining items on the delete list from retail stores in the cluster, and when the no-demand transfer level is above the threshold, then choosing a predetermined number of items on the delete list to keep in stores. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the items on the delete list that are to be kept are selected based upon the product performance of the product. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the product performance is based upon sales values or year-to-year sales growth of the product. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising, at the control circuit, determining clusters that do not have an item. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, at the control circuit, determining for a second cluster where the product is not carried, when a median loyalty is above a first threshold for products carried in the cluster and when a median performance of the products carried at cluster is greater than a second threshold to expand the product into the second cluster.