Patent ID: 8473425

Claim:
A method, comprising: performing, by one or more computer systems, maintaining a record of an inventory of an item, wherein the item is offered for sale to customers via a web page; calculating a ratio between a number of views of the web page and a number of units of the item purchased over a first time period when a fast shipping or delivery option is available and over a second time period when the fast shipping or delivery option is not available, wherein the fast shipping or delivery option is not drop shipping fulfillment; identifying the item as a candidate for drop shipping fulfillment in response to the ratio being larger during the first time period than during the second time period; receiving an order for the item; and indicating that the received order be fulfilled with drop shipping, wherein the inventory is sufficient to fulfill the received order, and wherein a cost of fulfillment through drop shipping is higher than a cost of fulfillment from the inventory.