Products and processes for managing the prices of vending machine inventory
View Patent ↗According to one embodiment of the disclosed invention, an apparatus determines a current price of a product for sale by the vending machine. It then determines, for the product, a price increment, a predetermined price, and a demand threshold, that are defined by data stored in at least one data table. A rate of units of the product that are sold are determined. The rate is compared with the demand threshold. Based on the comparison of the rate with the demand data, it is determined whether the new price should be greater than or less than the current price. The new price is set to the predetermined price if the new price should be greater than the current price. If the new price should be less than the current price, a price increment amount is subtracted from the current price to yield the new price. The determined new price is displayed.
1. A method comprising:
determining, by a controller of a vending machine, a current price of a product for sale by the vending machine;
determining, by the vending machine controller and for the product,
a price increment,
a predetermined price, and
a demand threshold
that are defined by data stored in at least one data table;
determining, by the vending machine controller, a rate of units of the product that are sold by calculating a number of units sold during a predetermined period of time;
comparing, by the vending machine controller, the rate with the demand threshold;
determining, by the vending machine controller and based on the comparison of the rate with the demand data, whether a new price should be greater than or less than the current price;
setting, by the vending machine controller, the new price to the predetermined price if the new price should be greater than the current price;
subtracting, by the vending machine controller, a price increment amount from the current price to yield the new price if the new price should be less than the current price; and
displaying, by the vending machine, the determined new price.
2. The method of claim 1 , in which the demand threshold defines a range of demand.
3. The method of claim 2 , in which the demand threshold defines an upper demand threshold and a lower demand threshold.
4. The method of claim 3 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is greater than the upper demand threshold.
5. The method of claim 3 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is less than the lower demand threshold.
6. A vending machine, comprising:
a processor; and
a storage device in communication with the processor and storing instructions that when executed by the processor result in:
determining a current price of a product for sale by the vending machine;
determining, for the product,
a price increment,
a predetermined price, and
a demand threshold
that are defined by data stored in at least one data table;
determining a rate of units of the product that are sold by calculating a number of units sold during a predetermined period of time;
comparing the rate with the demand threshold;
determining, based on the comparison of the rate with the demand data, whether a new price should be greater than or less than the current price;
setting the new price to the predetermined price if the new price should be greater than the current price;
subtracting a price increment amount from the current price to yield the new price if the new price should be less than the current price; and
causing a displaying of the determined new price.
7. The vending machine of claim 6 , in which the demand threshold defines a range of demand.
8. The vending machine of claim 7 , in which the demand threshold defines an upper demand threshold and a lower demand threshold.
9. The vending machine of claim 8 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is greater than the upper demand threshold.
10. The vending machine of claim 8 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is less than the lower demand threshold.
11. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program adapted to be executed by a processor to:
determine a current price of a product for sale by a vending machine;
determine, for the product,
a price increment,
a predetermined price, and
a demand threshold
that are defined by data stored in at least one data table;
determine a rate of units of the product that are sold by calculating a number of units sold during a predetermined period of time;
compare the rate with the demand threshold;
determine, based on the comparison of the rate with the demand data, whether the new price should be greater than or less than the current price;
set the new price to the predetermined price if the new price should be greater than the current price;
subtract a price increment amount from the current price to yield the new price if the new price should be less than the current price; and
cause a displaying of the determined new price.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 , in which the demand threshold defines a range of demand.
13. The computer program product of claim 12 , in which the demand threshold defines an upper demand threshold and a lower demand threshold.
14. The computer program product of claim 13 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is greater than the upper demand threshold.
15. The computer program product of claim 13 , in which comparing the rate with the demand threshold comprises:
determining whether the rate is less than the lower demand threshold.