Patent ID: 8751334

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for effecting, via a computer network, substitution of at least one ordered item of at least one customer order at an online store, the method comprising: receiving, via the computer network, a plurality of customer orders placed by a plurality of customers; analyzing, by executing instructions via at least one computing device, the plurality of customer orders to identify an item in the orders having been oversold, before delivering items in the orders to the plurality of customers; and substituting the oversold item with a substituted item for a customer order based on at least one substitution rule retrieved from a storage device, the storage device being accessible by the at least one computing device, wherein said substituting selects, from a plurality of customer orders that include the oversold item, at least one customer order that asks for the largest quantity of the oversold item so that the number of orders requiring substitution for the oversold item can be reduced.