METHOD OF TESTING ITEM AVAILABILITY AND DELIVERY PERFORMANCE OF AN E-COMMERCE SITE
An inventory management, and a shipping/returns management system can be analyzed to determine various performance characteristics of an e-commerce operator, such as whether the latter maintains sufficient items to meet demand, whether distribution is occurring in a timely fashion, etc. The systems are analyzed using one or more anonymous proxy accounts.
1 - 15 . (canceled)
16 . A method of testing item delivery performance of items ordered from an e-commerce site, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) generating a request with a computing system for a first item from a user account to a server supporting the e-commerce site;
(b) receiving a first notification with said computing system that said first item has been shipped to a first location associated with said user account;
(c) determining with said computing system a processing time and delivery time required for the e-commerce site to process said request for the first item, distribute the first item to a first location associated with the user account, process a return of the first item from said first location, and generate a second notification that a second item has been shipped to said first location.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein during step (c), the following times are computed:
a. a first processing time associated with the e-commerce site preparing said first item for shipment;
b. a first transit time associated with deliver of the first item to said first location;
c. a second transit time associated with returning the first item back from said first location;
d. a second processing time associated with the e-commerce site processing a return for said first item and identifying that said second item is available for shipment to said first location.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a plurality of user accounts across a plurality of separate geographical locations are tested.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a report is generated for a plurality of separate items requested by the user account.
20 . The method of claim 16 , further including a step: generating a notification to the e-commerce site when said processing time and delivery time exceed a predetermined threshold.
21 . The method of claim 16 , further including a step:
(d) testing a shipping and returns management system used by the e-commerce site, to determine delays and latencies associated with distributing inventory items, handling returns of old inventory items, and shipping new items as replacements for said old inventory items.
22 . The method of claim 16 , further including a step:
(d) identifying any selection bias introduced by a recommender system at the e-commerce site and generating a report automatically to the e-commerce site and to a publicly viewable site.
23 . The method of claim 16 , further including a step:
adjusting a compensation paid by a third provider of said first item to the e-commerce site based on a performance rating derived from evaluating steps (b) and (c).
24 . The method of claim 16 wherein each of the above steps are performed over a network by a client device without directly accessing a database of transaction records maintained by the server for inventory or sales of such first item.