Patent ID: 7249033

Claim:
An apparatus for determining optimum prices of products for sale, comprising: a scenario/results processor, configured to enable a user to prescribe an optimization scenario, and configured to present the optimum prices to said user, wherein the optimum prices are determined by execution of said optimization scenario by an optimization engine coupled to said scenario/results processor, and wherein said optimum prices are determined based upon product demand estimated by said optimization engine and calculated activity based costs, and wherein said optimum prices are determined for a subset of the products for sale, said scenario/results processor comprising: an input/output processor, configured to acquire data corresponding to said optimization scenario from said user, and configured to distribute optimization results to said user; and a scenario controller, coupled to said input/output processor, configured to control acquisition of said data and distribution of said optimization results in accordance with a price optimization procedure, wherein said price optimization procedure enables said user to selectively prescribe said subset of the products for sale, and wherein said scenario controller enables said user to prescribe and prioritize rules for said optimization scenario, and wherein lower priority rules that contribute to a conflict are progressively relaxed up to a limit in order to render execution of said optimization scenario feasible.