System and method for the utilization of pricing models in the aggregation, analysis, presentation and monetization of pricing data for vehicles and other commodities
Embodiments of systems and methods for the aggregation, analysis, display and monetization of pricing data for commodities in general, and which may be particularly useful applied to vehicles are disclosed. In certain embodiments, one or more models may be applied over a set of historical transaction data associated with a vehicle configuration to determine pricing data. Some models may leverage incremental data in various conditions, including cases where fewer than a desired number of historical transactions are present in the bin of a specified vehicle, where fewer than, equal to, or more than a certain number of list prices for the specified vehicle available, and where no historical transaction data for new models is available.
1. A method, comprising:
at a vehicle data system running on one or more server machines, receiving a specified vehicle configuration over a network connection;
determining, by the vehicle data system having a processor, pricing data corresponding to the specified vehicle configuration, wherein determining pricing data comprises applying two or more models to a set of historical transaction data,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of transactions associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration, wherein the number of transactions is less than a first threshold, wherein the two or more models include a general price model and a data scarcity model,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of list prices associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration and wherein when the number of list prices meets a second threshold, further comprising: determining whether the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model; and
generating an interface based on the pricing data.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: using the general price model to generate a first average price for the specified vehicle configuration; using the data scarcity model to generate a second average price for the specified vehicle configuration; combining results from the general price model and the data scarcity model to generate a third average price; and utilizing the third average price to generate a pricing distribution for the specified vehicle configuration.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior model.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_No_Prior model.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, and wherein the data scarcity model is a Low-Volume model.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a No_Info model.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior_No_List model.
8. A non-transitory computer readable media, comprising instructions executable by a processor for:
determining pricing data corresponding to a specified vehicle configuration received by a vehicle data system running on one or more server machines over a network connection, wherein determining pricing data comprises applying two or more models to a set of historical transaction data,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of transactions associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration, wherein the number of transactions is less than a first threshold, wherein the two or more models include a general price model and a data scarcity model,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of list prices associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration and wherein when the number of list prices meets a second threshold, further comprising: determining whether the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model; and
generating an interface based on the pricing data.
9. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , comprising instructions executable by a processor for: using the general price model to generate a first average price for the specified vehicle configuration; using the data scarcity model to generate a second average price for the specified vehicle configuration; combining results from the general price model and the data scarcity model to generate a third average price; and utilizing the third average price to generate a pricing distribution for the specified vehicle configuration.
10. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior model.
11. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_No_Prior model.
12. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, and wherein the data scarcity model is a Low-Volume model.
13. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a No_Info model.
14. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 8 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior_No_List model.
15. A system, comprising:
one or more computing devices; and
a vehicle data system coupled to the one or more computer devices over a network, the vehicle data system comprising:
a processing module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the processing module configured to:
determine pricing data corresponding to a specified vehicle configuration, wherein determining pricing data comprises applying two or more models to a set of historical transaction data,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of transactions associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration, wherein the number of transactions is less than a first threshold, wherein the two or more models include a general price model and a data scarcity model,
wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on a number of list prices associated with vehicles of the specified vehicle configuration and wherein when the number of list prices meets a second threshold, further comprising: determining whether the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model; and
generate an interface based on the pricing data.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processing module is further configured to:
generate a first average price for the specified vehicle configuration using the general price model;
generate a second average price for the specified vehicle configuration using the data scarcity model;
combining results from the general price model and the data scarcity model to generate a third average price; and
utilizing the third average price to generate a pricing distribution for the specified vehicle configuration.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior model.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_No_Prior model.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, and wherein the data scarcity model is a Low-Volume model.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is not associated with a new vehicle model, wherein data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year is not available, and wherein the data scarcity model is a No_Info model.
21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the number of list prices is less than the second threshold, wherein the specified vehicle configuration is associated with a new vehicle model, wherein the set of historical transaction data comprises data on the specified vehicle configuration from a prior year, and wherein the data scarcity model is a New_Trim_Prior_No_List model.