Patent ID: 8392261

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing a product availability indicator, comprising: receiving, by a computer, point of sale (POS) data, the POS data identifying a product that was sold, a quantity of the product that was sold, a store at which the product was sold, and a first timestamp corresponding to the time at which the product was sold; determining, by the computer, based at least on the quantity of the product that was sold and the first timestamp, a rate of sales (r s ) for the product at the store; receiving, by the computer, an inventory snapshot, wherein the inventory snapshot reflects the inventory (Q) of the product at the store at a first time (T 1 ), and wherein receipt of the inventory snapshot occurs at a second time (T 2 ) subsequent to the first time; determining, by the computer, a probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T 1 and T 2 , wherein the probability is based at least on the rate of sales (r s ), the first time (T 1 ), and the second time (T 2 ), and wherein (x=r s ΔT), (ΔT=T 2 −T 1 ), (N=Q−1), and the probability that fewer than Q products were sold between times T 1 and T 2 is determined according to an equation Pr ⁡ ( N , x ) = ⅇ - x ⁢ ∑ k = 0 N ⁢ x k k ! ; and providing, by the computer, a product availability indicator based at least on the probability, the product availability indicator being an “in stock” indicator when the probability is greater than a first probability threshold, and the product availability indicator being an “out of stock” indicator when the probability is less than a second probability threshold.