Patent ID: 7987105

Claim:
A method of distributing labor based upon determinations of traffic in a retail facility, the method being executed by at least one processor and comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining daily traffic forecast information for each day within a given time period; (b) determining calendar and event information for each day within the given period; (c) selecting baseline days for each day within the given period from historical traffic data and computing via the at least one processor baseline averages and percentages for a predetermined time interval, the historical traffic data includes both the historical traffic data of the retail facility and the historical traffic data of a similar retail facility, wherein: for the each day within the given period, the selected baselines days are a plurality of similar weekdays of a predetermined period prior to the given period, when a holiday or event date falls on the each day within the given period, the corresponding baselines days are a plurality of similar holiday or event dates selected from a predetermined number of prior years, each of the baseline averages is computed as an average value for the predetermined time interval of the baseline days, each of the baseline percentages is computed as a portion of the baseline averages for the predetermined time interval compared to the total number of the baseline averages, and the baseline days comprise days included in certain of the selected data that is preferentially ranked; (d) determining the distribution of traffic for each day within the given period at each time interval using the baseline percentages for each time interval, and multiplying a value for the baseline percentages by a value for the daily traffic forecast information for the predetermined time interval in each day in the given time period; (e) distributing labor data for the given period based on the distribution of traffic for each day within the given period, wherein the labor data distribution comprises: obtaining minimum and maximum coverage data at the predetermined time interval, assigning for the predetermined time interval the minimum employee coverage, and computing remaining available employee hours; and (f) providing labor recommendations for each day within the given period based on the preceding steps.