IP Library Patent Application 13931743
Patent Application
App. No. 13/931,743

TRACKING INVENTORY

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
13/931,743
Abstract

The present disclosure extends to maintaining an item inventory status at an inventory cache management system. The inventory cache may be refreshed regularly by a threshold-based triggering mechanism. In embodiments, as item inventory breaches certain thresholds, the inventory cache may be refreshed with increased frequency to mitigate overselling or underselling scenarios and reduce overall network traffic for items having relatively high inventory levels.

Claims (61)

1 . A computer-implemented method of updating an inventory cache management system, comprising:

at an owned inventory management module, receiving a first item inventory level quantity;

storing the first item inventory level quantity at an inventory core database;

at a store inventory database module, receiving and storing a second item inventory level quantity;

at the owned inventory management module, comparing the first item inventory level quantity with a first item high threshold;

if the first item inventory level quantity is less than the first item high threshold, transmitting a first Limited Stock Alert from the owned inventory management module to an owned inventory cache;

at the owned inventory cache, storing a first inventory status corresponding to the first item inventory level quantity;

at the store inventory database module, comparing the second item inventory level quantity with a second item high threshold;

if the second item inventory level quantity is less than the second item high threshold, transmitting a second Limited Stock Alert from the store inventory database module to a store inventory cache;

at the store inventory cache, storing a second inventory status corresponding to the second item inventory level quantity;

from the owned inventory cache, transmitting the first inventory status to an inventory availability orchestration layer; and

from the store inventory cache, transmitting the second inventory status to the inventory availability orchestration layer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

from a mobile front end server, transmitting one of the first inventory status and the second inventory status for display at a user computing device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting the first item inventory level quantity to the owned inventory cache.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting the second item inventory level quantity to the store inventory cache.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

at the owned inventory management module, comparing the first item inventory level quantity with a medium threshold;

if the first item inventory level is less than the medium threshold, transmitting an Out of Stock Alert from the owned inventory management module to the owned inventory cache.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

at the store inventory database module, comparing the second item inventory level quantity with a medium threshold;

if the second item inventory level is less than the medium threshold, transmitting an Out of Stock Alert from the store inventory module to the store inventory cache.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting a request from the inventory item orchestration layer to one of the owned inventory management module and the store inventory database module; and

at the inventory item orchestration layer, receiving one of the first item inventory level quantity and the second item inventory level quantity in response to the request.

8 . A computer-implemented method of maintaining an owned item inventory system comprising:

at an owned inventory management module, setting a high threshold for an owned inventory item;

at the owned inventory management module, receiving a transaction confirmation completion;

at an inventory core database, updating an item inventory level;

at the owned inventory management module, comparing the item inventory level to the high threshold;

if the item inventory is equal to or less than the high threshold, transmitting a first Limited Stock Alert from the owned inventory management module to an owned inventory cache; and

at the owned inventory cache, saving an inventory status.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

from the owned inventory cache, transmitting the inventory status to an inventory availability orchestration layer; and

from the inventory availability orchestration layer, transmitting the inventory status to a front end server.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

from the front end server, transmitting the inventory status for display at a user computing device.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein transmitting a first Limited Stock Alert from the owned inventory management module to the owned inventory cache comprises:

transmitting the item inventory level to the owned inventory cache.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

at the owned inventory management module, comparing the item inventory level quantity with a predetermined medium threshold;

if the item inventory level is less than the medium threshold, transmitting an Out of Stock Alert from the owned inventory management module to the owned inventory cache.

13 . A computer-implemented method of maintaining a store item inventory system comprising:

at a store inventory database module, setting a high threshold for a store inventory item;

at the store inventory database module, receiving a transaction confirmation completion;

at the store inventory database module, updating an item inventory level;

at the store inventory database module, comparing the item inventory level to the high threshold;

if the item inventory is equal to or less than the high threshold, transmitting a first Limited Stock Alert from the store inventory database module to a store inventory cache; and

at the store inventory cache, saving an inventory status.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

from the store inventory cache, transmitting the inventory status to an inventory availability orchestration layer; and

from the inventory availability orchestration layer, transmitting the inventory status to a front end server.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

from the front end server, transmitting the inventory status for display at a remote computing device.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein transmitting a first Limited Stock Alert from the store inventory database module to the store inventory cache comprises:

transmitting the item inventory level to the store inventory cache.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

at the store inventory database module, comparing the item inventory level quantity with a predetermined medium threshold;

if the item inventory level is less than the medium threshold, transmitting an Out of Stock Alert from the store inventory database module to the store inventory cache.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 2, 2018
From: WAL-MART STORES, INC.
To: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
Reel/Frame 045817/0115 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 9, 2013
From: VASANTHAM, MADHAVAN KANDHADAI; SREEDHARARAJ, SREEKANTH; TARE, VIKRANT
To: WAL-MART STORES, INC.
Reel/Frame 030980/0902 →