Patent ID: 8527321

Claim:
An assortment planning system, comprising: a comparison unit executed by a processor to identify products in an initial assortment of products and a performance metric for each product in the initial assortment of products, wherein the performance metric includes at least a sales volume of each product, identify products in a desired assortment of products and the performance metric for each product in the desired assortment of products, and compare the initial assortment of products and the desired assortment of products and determine: kept products, wherein the kept products are at least one product in the initial assortment of products and the desired assortment of products; added products, wherein the added products are at least one product added to the initial assortment of products to create the desired assortment of products; and deleted products, wherein the deleted products are at least one product deleted from the initial assortment of products to create the desired assortment of products; an interaction unit to simulate an interaction of the kept products, the added products, and the deleted products based on the performance metric associated with each of the kept products, the added products and the deleted products, the interaction unit to: determine an all add sales volume, wherein the all add sales volume is sales volume for each product in the initial assortment of products including all of the added products; subtract, for each of the added products, an incremental sales volume gained upon adding the product to the initial assortment of products that has not been cannibalized from other products from the all add sales volume to calculate the sales volume cannibalized from the deleted products and the kept products; and a creation unit to create a representation of the interaction between the kept products, the added products and the deleted products.