Patent ID: 8413883

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a selection of an acceptable out-of-stock probability for an item, the acceptable out-of-stock probability indicating an acceptable risk of the item going out-of-stock at a particular retail store; accessing sales data for the item, wherein the sales data is for a period of time; determining, using a computing device, a quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time based at least partly on the sales data; determining a quantity of shoppers per day that purchased the item based at least partly on the sales data; determining, using the computing device, a maximal sales estimate indicating a volume of sales that will cause an out-of-stock probability for the item to exceed the acceptable out-of-stock probability, wherein the maximal sales estimate is based on at least the determined quantity of packages of the item sold during the period of time, the determined shoppers per day, the acceptable out-of-stock probability, and a reorder time for receiving an additional quantity of the item after an order for the additional quantity of the item is placed, wherein the reorder time includes a lead time plus one day to account for sales occurring during a reorder day; and determining a reorder point based on the determined maximal sales estimate for the reorder time, wherein the reorder point indicates a minimum quantity of packages at the particular retail store for maintaining the out-of-stock probability of the item at the particular retail store at or below the acceptable out-of-stock probability.