Patent ID: 7440908
Filing Date: 2008-10-21
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A processor-assisted method for selecting, for a specific item, a sales channel from among a plurality of sales channels, comprising the steps of: obtaining a request for listing a specific item on one of a plurality of sales channels, the specific item having associated therewith item variables and values for the item variables, the plurality of sales channels each having associated therewith channel variables with corresponding channel values; with a processor, analyzing real-time data and historical sales data for a set of item representing previously listed items and the plurality of sales channels using the values for the item variables of the specific item, including the steps of: performing statistical analysis on the real-time data and the historical sales data to identify statistically significant item variables and channel variables that impact cost and/or benefit for listed items, the step of performing statistical analysis comprising the steps of using the number of occurrences of each of a set of keywords in a textual description of each item to perform a linear regression analysis for determining the impact of each keyword in the textual description of an item on a selling price of the item; and identifying each keyword that has a statistically significant correlation to selling price as corresponding to a significant item variable; deriving optimized values for the statistically significant item variables and channel variables that result in an optimal combination of expected cost and expected benefit for the specific item when listed; and offering the specific item for sale using the statistically significant item variables and channel variables and the corresponding optimized values, the optimized values identifying one of the plurality of sales channels.