Patent ID: 8571908
Filing Date: 2013-10-29
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method of allocating commodity shelves in a supermarket, the method comprising: obtaining shopping paths of a plurality of customers in the supermarket; classifying the plurality of customers, according to a predetermined standard, into a plurality of customer classes; based on the shopping paths of the plurality of customers, determining, by a processor on a computer, one or more shopping paths adopted by more customers in the plurality of customer classes as frequent shopping paths of a class of customers of the plurality of customer classes; calculating a see-buy rate of a commodity for each of the plurality of customer classes based on shopping lists and the frequent shopping paths of the plurality of customers, wherein the see-buy rate of the commodity for the class of customers refers to a probability to purchase the commodity for the class of customers when the class of customers sees the commodity; calculating a location for a set of commodities for a shelf where each commodity in the set of commodities is located when total expected benefits for the set of commodities are maximized during a certain period of time, wherein the total expected benefits include a sum of an expected benefit for each commodity in the set of commodities based on the see-buy rate and the frequent shopping paths when each commodity in the set of commodities is located in its own shelf, and wherein, when placing an i wherein k denotes the class of customers, R