A method of defining a sales promotion for a plurality of products includes determining a group of sales promotion sites to be included in the sales promotion from a plurality of sites using a computerized system, wherein the plurality of sites have been previously organized according to a predetermined grouping structure, and wherein the group of sales promotion sites is independent of the predetermined grouping structure. The method also includes determining a list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites, and determining the products to be included in the sales promotion from the list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
An important objective in the pricing of products is to limit retail sales promotions to a minimum and apply them to the right products at the best suitable times and places and with maximum flexibility while ensuring that nearly all the merchandise is sold by the end of the season. To this end, merchants need to flexibly and efficiently implement and manage sales promotions at varying levels of detail. Thus, there is need for a system for and method of defining a sales promotion that provides for defining the sales promotion based on a grouping of sites, such as geographic locations of stores or distribution systems, wherein the grouping is either independent of or not limited to a particular predefined grouping structure.
According to an exemplary embodiment, a method of defining a sales promotion for a plurality of products includes determining a group of sales promotion sites to be included in the sales promotion from a plurality of sites using a computerized system, wherein the plurality of sites have been previously organized according to a predetermined grouping structure, and wherein the group of sales promotion sites is independent of the predetermined grouping structure. The method also includes determining a list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites, and determining the products to be included in the sales promotion from the list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a program product for defining a sales promotion for a plurality of products includes machine-readable program code for causing, when executed, one or more machines to perform the following method steps: determining a group of sales promotion sites to be included in the sales promotion from a plurality of sites, wherein the plurality of sites have been previously organized according to a predetermined grouping structure, and wherein the group of sales promotion sites is independent of the predetermined grouping structure, determining a list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites, and determining the products to be included in the sales promotion from the list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a system for defining a sales promotion for a plurality of products includes means for determining a group of sales promotion sites to be included in the sales promotion from a plurality of sites, wherein the plurality of sites have been previously organized according to a predetermined grouping structure, and wherein the group of sales promotion sites is independent of the predetermined grouping structure. The system also includes means for determining a list of products associated with the group of sales promotion sites, and means for determining the products to be included in the sales promotion from the list of products or services associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
According to various exemplary embodiments, a method and system for defining a sales promotion are provided that facilitate consolidating promotion data for a plurality of sales promotions into a single promotion for, for example, data reporting purposes. In this way, the system provides for efficient sales promotion definition and management such that sales promotions may be kept to a minimum and applied to the right products at the best suitable times and places and with maximum flexibility while ensuring that nearly all the merchandise is sold by the end of the season.
Although the names and number of levels in article hierarchy 400 can be customized, one level in article hierarchy 400 must be defined as the “category” level. The category level may be selected to represent the independent presentation spaces in a store that are devoted to merchandise categories presented to consumers in a unified manner. In the department store context, for example, the category level in article hierarchy 400 may be selected to represent differentiated groupings of shops in the department stores such as confectionaries, menswear departments, and ladies wear departments. Alternatively, a lower level in article hierarchy 400 may be selected to represent the different independent presentation spaces for subgroups of merchandise (e.g., long-arm blouses, short-arm blouses, trousers) within each shop in a department store. Other criteria for selecting the category level may also be used.
To further illustrate, FIG. 5 illustrates an article hierarchy 500, which shows in greater detail an exemplary embodiment of the article hierarchy of FIG. 4. In the illustrated embodiment, article hierarchy 500 has been defined to include seven distinct levels, comprising: an enterprise level 502, a consumer field (CF) level 504, a division level 506, a consumer theme (CT) level 508, a theme module (TM) level 510, an assortment module (AM) level 512, and an article level 514. CF level 504 maybe selected to represent different high level groupings of retail products or services (e.g., fashion, sport). CT level 508 may be selected to represent retail product or service categories presented to consumers in a unified manner, such as the individual shops in a department store. TM level 510 may be selected to represent the different independent presentation spaces for subgroups of merchandise (e.g., long-arm blouses, short-arm blouses, trousers) within each shop in a department store. AM level 512 may be selected to group articles according to various criteria such as the time periods during which such articles will be displayed, the stores to which they will be assigned, etc.
According to an exemplary embodiment, each of the more specific sales promotions within a general sales promotion may include differing values for one or more parameters associated with the general sales promotion. Such parameters may include, for example, sales prices (i.e., markdowns) or validity periods for the sales promotion. For example, in one embodiment, a general sales promotion may be defined by selecting the node “Theme Module 1” from hierarchical product list 700, where “Theme Module 1” includes long-arm blouses. A more specific sales promotion may be then be defined by selecting the node “Assortment Module 1,” where “Assortment Module 1” includes red long-arm blouses. The more specific sales promotion may then be defined to include a sales price or markdown for red long-arm blouses which is different from the sales price or markdown for the general sales promotion on long-arm blouses. In another embodiment, a general sales promotion may be defined by selecting the node “Theme Module 1” from hierarchical product list 700, where “Theme Module 1” includes long-arm blouses, and wherein the general sales promotion is defined with a validity period of August 1-14. More specific sales promotions may then be defined by selecting nodes “Assortment Module 1” and “Assortment Module 2.” The more specific sales promotion for node “Assortment Module 1” may be defined with a validity period from, for example, August 1-7, and the more specific sales promotion for “Assortment Module 2” may be defined with a validity period of, for example, August 7-14.
determining the items to be included in the sales promotion from the list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable based on a geographic location of each site.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable in response to user input.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable in response to user input received from a graphical user interface.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites is a hierarchical list of items, and wherein the hierarchical list is structured according to a hierarchical structure which includes a plurality of levels.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the items to be included in the sales promotion are determinable from the hierarchical list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites by selecting at least one level from the hierarchical list.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable based on the predetermined site grouping structure.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of items includes at least one of a service and a retail product.
10. The program product of claim 9, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable based on the geographic location of each site.
11. The program product of claim 9, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable in response to user input.
12. The program product of claim 11, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable in response to user input received from a graphical user interface.
13. The program product of claim 9, wherein the list of items or associated with the group of sales promotion sites is a hierarchical list of items, and wherein the hierarchical list is structured according to a hierarchical structure which includes a plurality of levels.
14. The program product of claim 13, wherein the items to be included in the sales promotion are determinable from the hierarchical list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites by selecting at least one level from the hierarchical list.
15. The program product of claim 9, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable based on the predetermined site grouping structure.
16. The program product of claim 9, wherein the list of items includes at least one of a service and a retail product.
means for determining the items to be included in the sales promotion from the list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determined based on the geographic location of each site.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determined in response to user input.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein the group of sales promotion sites is determinable in response to user input received from a graphical user interface.
21. The system of claim 17, wherein the list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites is a hierarchical list of items, and wherein the hierarchical list is structured according to a hierarchical structure which includes a plurality of levels.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the items to be included in the sales promotion are determinable from the hierarchical list of items associated with the group of sales promotion sites by selecting at least one level from the hierarchical list.
23. The system of claim 17, wherein group of sales promotion sites is determinable based on the predetermined site grouping structure.
24. The system of claim 17, wherein the list of items includes at least one of a service and a retail product.