Method and system for secure management of inventory and profile information

Abstract

An inventory management system includes a product information data store that holds inventory information for products that are associated with one or more channels. The system also includes a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive data for a new product listing. The system will automatically populate the new product listing with additional data for the new product. The system will save the new product listing in association with a channel and channel-specific information for the channel. Then, when a user views the new product information, the system will ensure that the system only views channel-specific information that is associated with the product if the user is subscribed to that channel.

1 . A method of managing a product inventory, the method comprising:
 by a processor, executing programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to: 
 generate and output, on a display device, a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive, from a channel manager user for a first channel of a plurality of channels, data for a new product listing for a first product; 
 access a product information data store, wherein the product information data store comprises inventory information for a plurality of products, and wherein each product is associated with one or more channels of the plurality of channels; 
 search the product information data store for candidate products having associated data that semantically matches the data for the new product listing; 
 upon identifying a candidate product having associated data that semantically matches the data for the new product listing, automatically populate one or more fields of the new product listing with data for the candidate product; 
 save the new product listing with the data for the candidate product to the product information data store, in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel; and 
 upon presenting the new product listing to a user: 
 if the user is subscribed to the first channel, also presenting the channel- 
 
 specific information for the first channel to the user, 
 otherwise not providing the user with the channel-specific information for the first channel and instead providing the user with channel-specific information for a different channel to which the user subscribes. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein saving the new product listing to the product information data store in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel comprises:
 identifying a supplier ID for the first consumable item, wherein the supplier ID uniquely associates the first product with a first supplier;   assigning a mapping ID that correlates a supplier-specific field of the data for the new product listing with a platform data field, wherein the supplier-specific field contains data that is specific to the first supplier and the platform data field contains information about the first consumable item that is not specific to the first supplier; and   when saving the new product listing, including the mapping ID and the supplier ID in the new product listing.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 using the mapping ID to identify, in the product information data store, a supplier-specific data set of products that are specific to the first supplier; and   providing the first supplier access to data in the supplier-specific data set without giving the supplier access to with any data that is not associated with the mapping ID.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 identifying a channel ID for the first channel;   when saving the new product listing to the product information data store, including the channel ID in the new product listing; and   in response to the user being subscribed to the first channel, also presenting the user with product listing information for other products that are in the first channel.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein assigning the mapping ID comprises using a mapping ID that is already assigned to the first channel for the first supplier. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, before associating the new product listing with the channel-specific information, obtaining the channel-specific information from an external source and not from the product information data store. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the data for the new product listing comprises: 
 receiving an image of the product;   defining a bounding box around a label of the product in the image; and   applying a recognition model to extract product indicia from a section of the image that is within the bounding box.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, before saving the new product listing to the product information data store:
 receiving, from a user of the channel manager user interface, an acceptance or a correction of the one or more fields of the new product listing. 
 
     
     
         9 . A method of managing a product inventory, the method comprising:
 by a processor, executing programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to: 
 generate and output, on a display device, a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive, from a channel manager user for a first channel of a plurality of channels, data for a new product listing for a first consumable item, wherein the data includes product indicia for the first product; 
 access a product information data store, wherein the product information data store comprises inventory information for a plurality of products, and wherein each product is associated with one or more channels of the plurality of channels; 
 use the product indicia and a classifier to search the product information data store to identify an inventoried product with identifying information that is a likely match for the product indicia of the first product; 
 upon identifying an inventoried product having identifying information that is a likely match for the product indicia of the first product, automatically populate one or more fields of the new product listing with data for the inventoried product; 
 save the new product listing with the data for the inventoried product to the product information data store, in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel; and 
 upon presenting the new product listing to a user: 
 if the user is subscribed to the first channel, also presenting the channel-specific information for the first channel to the user, 
 otherwise not providing the user with the channel-specific information for the first channel and instead providing the user with channel-specific information for a different channel to which the user subscribes. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving the data for the new product listing comprises: 
 receiving an image of the product;   defining a bounding box around a label of the product in the image; and   applying a recognition model to extract the product indicia from a section of the image that is within the bounding box.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein saving the new product listing to the product information data store in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel comprises:
 identifying a supplier ID for the first consumable item, wherein the supplier ID uniquely associates the first product with a first supplier;   assigning a mapping ID that correlates a supplier-specific field of the data for the new product listing with a platform data field, wherein the supplier-specific field contains data that is specific to the first supplier and the platform data field contains information about the first consumable item that is not specific to the first supplier; and   when saving the new product listing, including the mapping ID and the supplier ID in the new product listing.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 using the mapping ID to identify, in the product information data store, a supplier-specific data set of products that are specific to the first supplier; and   providing the first supplier access to data in the supplier-specific data set without giving the supplier access to with any data that is not associated with the mapping ID.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying a channel ID for the first channel;   when saving the new product listing to the product information data store, including the channel ID in the new product listing; and   in response to the user being subscribed to the first channel, also presenting the user with product listing information for other products that are in the first channel.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein assigning the mapping ID comprises using a mapping ID that is already assigned to the first channel for the first supplier. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising, before associating the new product listing with the channel-specific information, obtaining the channel-specific information from an external source and not from the product information data store. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising, before saving the new product listing to the product information data store:
 receiving, from a user of the channel manager user interface, an acceptance or a correction of the one or more fields of the new product listing. 
 
     
     
         17 . A memory device containing programming instructions that are configured to cause a processor to:
 generate and output, on a display device, a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive, from a channel manager user for a first channel of a plurality of channels, data for a new product listing for a first product;   access a product information data store, wherein the product information data store comprises inventory information for a plurality of products, and wherein each product is associated with one or more channels of the plurality of channels;   search the product information data store for a candidate product by: 
 searching for inventoried products having associated data that semantically matches the data for the new product listing, or 
 using product indicia for the first product and a classifier to identify, in the product information data store, an inventoried product with identifying information that is a likely match for the product indicia of the first product; 
   upon identifying the candidate product, automatically populate one or more fields of the new product listing with data for the candidate product;   save the new product listing with the data for the candidate product to the product information data store, in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel; and   upon presenting the new product listing to a user: 
 if the user is subscribed to the first channel, also presenting the channel-specific information for the first channel to the user, 
 otherwise not providing the user with the channel-specific information for the first channel and instead providing the user with channel-specific information for a different channel to which the user subscribes. 
   
     
     
         18 . The memory device of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to save the new product listing to the product information data store in which the new product listing is associated with channel-specific information for the first channel comprise instructions to:
 identifying a supplier ID for the first consumable item, wherein the supplier ID uniquely associates the first product with a first supplier; 
assigning a mapping ID that correlates a supplier-specific field of the data for the new product listing with a platform data field, wherein the supplier-specific field contains data that is specific to the first supplier and the platform data field contains information about the first consumable item that is not specific to the first supplier; and 
 when saving the new product listing, including the mapping ID and the supplier ID in the new product listing. 
 
     
     
         19 . The memory device of  claim 18 , further comprising additional instructions to:
 use the mapping ID to identify, in the product information data store, a supplier-specific data set of products that are specific to the first supplier; and   provide the first supplier access to data in the supplier-specific data set without giving the supplier access to with any data that is not associated with the mapping ID.   
     
     
         20 . The memory device of  claim 18 , further comprising additional instructions to:
 identify a channel ID for the first channel;   when saving the new product listing to the product information data store, including the channel ID in the new product listing; and   in response to the user being subscribed to the first channel, also present the user with product listing information for other products that are in the first channel.