Travel price optimization (TPO)
View Patent ↗TPO is an industry-neutral price optimization solution that recommends optimal prices by performing a simultaneous evaluation of all network-wide demand and supply considerations. TPO produces an optimal time-phased price profile designed to achieve the greatest return on inventory. An optimizer technique takes the baseline demand forecasts, competitive intelligence, inventory data, and other related parameters and data representing real-world objects, and determines the optimal prices at which the user will achieve the greatest return on inventory. The optimizer technique can be directed to maximize revenues, profits, or market share. TPO produces a recommended price profile, that can be manipulated in an interactive graphical user interface, and illustrates what price must be charged now, and what prices must be charged later in the booking cycle. Using price sensitive forecasting to estimate how price impacts demand, TPO helps users to maximize revenues, profits, or market share. TPO recommends prices by dated-resources or dated DFUs.
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving bookings data, inventory data, capacity data, forecast data, current prices, and competitor rate data in market reference prices over a communications network from one or more reservation systems;
receiving one or more model parameters and one or more penalties that control a proximity of a price recommendation over the communications network from the one or more reservation systems, the one or more model parameters including one or more of a baseline demand forecast, competitive intelligence, relative weighting, inventory data, data representing real-world objects, and model configuration parameters;
receiving one or more business objectives over the communications network from the one or more reservation systems, the one or more business objectives including one or more of a return on inventory, revenue, profits, and market share;
determining industry-agnostic optimized price recommendations for a specific configurable time period at a resource level or a package of resources level based on the one or more model parameters, the one or more penalties, the one or more business objectives, and the market reference prices;
selecting one or more of the optimized price recommendations for the specific configurable time period;
determining a price profile based on the selected one or more optimized price recommendations for the specific configurable time period;
automatically uploading recommended rates based on the price profile over the communications network to the one or more reservation systems;
invoking a constrained forecast evaluator subsequent to the determining optimized price recommendations and automatically uploading recommended rates, wherein the constrained forecast evaluator takes the bookings data and the forecast data and simulates accepting the bookings data at the current prices and the selected one or more optimized price recommendations based on available capacity;
comparing, through the constrained forecast evaluator, expected bookings and the one or more business objectives at the current prices with the price profile based on the selected one or more optimized price recommendations for the configurable time period;
overriding the optimized price recommendations subsequent to review of the constrained forecast evaluator simulation, wherein the overriding is based on criteria comprising specific knowledge, business requirements, the one or more business objectives, and predicted activities; and
uploading the overridden optimized price recommendations to the one or more reservation systems.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising invoking the constrained forecast evaluator and simulating an implementation of the selected one or more optimized price recommendations to arrive at a projection for revenues and total bookings.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising simulating future bookings and inventory positions.
4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the optimized price recommendations are for one or more of hospitality, car rental, passenger transport, air cargo, cargo, and a perishable asset industry.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising manipulating the price profile of the selected one or more optimized price recommendations and displaying on a graphical user interface what price should be charged at a current time and what prices should be charged at a later time, wherein the later time is before a consumption start date.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating how price impacts demand, the profits, or the market share and maximizes the revenue, using price sensitive forecasting.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a rate menu comprising a list of all rates to be booked, along with a specification of a relationship between the rates and rules on how the rates should be established.
8. A system, comprising:
one or more reservation systems coupled with a computer system over a communications network comprising a processor and a memory, the computer system configured to:
receive bookings data, inventory data, capacity data, forecast data, current prices, and competitor rate data in market reference prices over the communications network from the one or more reservation systems;
receive one or more model parameters and one or more penalties that control a proximity of a price recommendation over the communications network from the one or more reservation systems, the one or more model parameters including one or more of a baseline demand forecast, competitive intelligence, relative weighting, inventory data parameters, data representing real-world objects, and model configuration parameters;
receive one or more business objectives over the communications network from the one or more reservation systems, the one or more business objectives including one or more of a return on inventory, revenue, profits, and market share;
determine industry-agnostic optimized price recommendations for a specific configurable time period at a resource level or a package of resources level based on the one or more model parameters, the one or more penalties, the one or more business objectives, and the market reference prices;
select one or more of the optimized price recommendations for the specific configurable time period;
determine a price profile based on the selected one or more optimized price recommendations for the specific configurable time period;
automatically upload recommended rates based on the price profile over the communications network to the one or more reservation systems;
invoke a constrained forecast evaluator subsequent to the determination of the optimized price recommendations and automatic upload of recommended rates, wherein the constrained forecast evaluator takes the bookings data and the forecast data and simulates accepting the bookings data at the current prices and the selected one or more optimized price recommendations based on available capacity;
compare, through the constrained forecast evaluator, expected bookings and the one or more business objectives at the current prices with the price profile based on the selected one or more optimized price recommendations for the configurable time period;
override the optimized price recommendations subsequent to review of the constrained forecast evaluator simulation, wherein the override is based on criteria comprising specific knowledge, business requirements; the one or more business objectives, and predicted activities; and
upload the overridden optimized price recommendations to the one or more reservation systems.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is further configured to invoke the constrained forecast evaluator and simulate an implementation of the selected one or more optimized price recommendations to arrive at a projection for revenues and total bookings.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is further configured to manipulate the price profile of the selected one or more optimized price recommendations and display on a graphical user interface what price should be charged at a current time and what prices should be charged at a later time, wherein the later time is before a consumption date.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is further configured to estimate how price impacts demand, the profits, or the market share and maximizes the revenue, using price sensitive forecasting.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is further configured to receive user input to accept, reject or change the optimized price recommendations.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is further configured to provide a rate menu comprising a list of rates to be booked, along with a specification of a relationship between the rates and rules on how the rates should be established.