IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,499,477
Granted Patent B2
US 12,499,477 · App. 16/989,138 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Systems and methods for pregenerating states for items

Inventors: Vinay Muniganti (San Jose, CA); Sandeep Singh (Sunnyvale, CA); Ravi Rastogi (Santa Clara, CA)
Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
G06Q30/0623G06Q30/0235G06Q30/0641
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,499,477
App. No.
16/989,138
Granted
Dec 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to providing item information to customers. In some embodiments, a system for providing item information to customers in an online retail environment comprises a data store configured to store states of items, a user device, and a control circuit configured to receive, from backend systems, nonevent item information for a first item including pricing associated with a nonevent for the first item, receive from the backend systems, event item information for the first item including pricing information associated with an event for the first item and temporal information associated with the event, pregenerate, based on the nonevent item information, a nonevent state of the first item, pregenerate, based on the event item information, an event state of the first time, and transmit, for storage in the data store, the nonevent and event states of the first item.

Claims (39)

1 . A system for providing item information to customers in an online retail environment, the system comprising:

a data store including a database and a cache, wherein the data store in configured to store states of items, wherein the items are offered for sale online; and

a control circuit, wherein the control circuit is communicatively coupled to the data store, and wherein the control circuit is configured to:

receive, from a backend system, nonevent item information for a first item, wherein the nonevent item information includes pricing associated with a nonevent for the first item;

receive, from the backend system, event item information for the first item, wherein the event item information includes pricing associated with an event for the first item, trigger condition associated with the event, and temporal information associated with the event;

pregenerate, based on the nonevent item information, a nonevent state of the first item including the pricing associated with the nonevent for the first item;

pregenerate, based on the event item information, an event state of the first item including the pricing associated with the event for the first item, wherein the event state of the first item becomes valid at a time corresponding to the temporal information associated with the event and based on the trigger condition being met;

transmit, for storage in the cache of the data store, the pregenerated nonevent state of the first item and the pregenerated event state of the first item, wherein the pregenerated nonevent state of the first item and the pregenerated event state of the first item are stored in the cache and both the nonevent state of the first item and the event state of the first item are simultaneously present in the cache before the event begins;

push, based on online traffic being low, the states of the items to a user device for local storage on the user device;

determine whether the user device has sufficient storage space to store the states of the items; and

based on determining that the user device does not have sufficient storage space to store the states of the items, retrieve one of the nonevent state and the event state of the first item from the cache upon a selection of the first item.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein an indication of time associated with a selection of the first item is outside of a window for the event, and wherein the control circuit retrieves the nonevent state of the first item.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein an indication of time associated with a selection of the first item is within a window for the event, and wherein the control circuit retrieves the event state of the first item.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the database includes a real time database.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit includes an ingestion layer, and wherein the ingestion layer pregenerates the states of the items.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit includes a push layer, and wherein the push layer pushes the states of the items to a mobile device.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein, in response to an initial selection of the first item, the control circuit is configured to retrieve one of the nonevent state of the first item and the event state of the first item from the cache without making any calls to the backend system.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

receive, from the user device via an online shopping interface, an initial selection of the first item and an indication of a time associated with the initial selection of the first item.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine, based on the indication of the time associated with selection of the first item and the temporal information associated with the event, one of the nonevent state of the first item and the event state of the first item.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition indicates which of the event state and the nonevent state should be utilized to provide the item information, and wherein the trigger condition comprises a user associated with the user device being randomly selected for the event based on a lottery.

11 . A method for providing item information to customers in an online retail environment, the method comprising:

storing, in a data store including a database and a cache, states of items, wherein the items are offered for sale online;

receiving, by a control circuit from a backend system, nonevent item information for a first item, wherein the nonevent item information includes pricing associated with a nonevent for the first item;

receiving, by the control circuit from the backend system, event item information for the first item, wherein the event item information includes pricing associated with an event for the first item, trigger condition associated with the event, and temporal information associated with the event;

pregenerating, by the control circuit based on the nonevent item information, a nonevent state of the first item including the pricing associated with the nonevent for the first item;

pregenerate, by the control circuit based on the event item information, an event state of the first item including the pricing associated with the event for the first item, wherein the event state of the first item becomes valid at a time corresponding to the temporal information associated with the event and based on the trigger condition being met;

transmitting, by the control circuit for storage in the cache of the data store, the pregenerated nonevent state of the first item and the pregenerated event state of the first item;

storing, in the cache before the event begins, the pregenerated nonevent state of the first item and the pregenerated event state of the first item, wherein both the nonevent state of the first item and the event state of the first item are simultaneously present in the cache before the event begins;

pushing, by the control circuit based on online traffic being low, the states of the items to a user device for local storage on the user device;

determining whether the user device has sufficient storage space to store the states of the items; and

based on determining that the user device does not have sufficient storage space to store the states of the items, retrieving one of the nonevent state and the event state of the first item from the cache upon a selection of the first item.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein an indication of time associated with a selection of the first item is outside of a window for the event, and wherein the control circuit retrieves the nonevent state of the first item.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein an indication of time associated with a selection of the first item is within a window for the event, and wherein the control circuit retrieves the event state of the first item.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the database includes a real time database.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the control circuit includes an ingestion layer, and wherein the ingestion layer pregenerates the states of the items.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the control circuit includes a push layer, and wherein the push layer pushes the states of the items to a mobile device.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the trigger condition indicates which of the event state and the nonevent state should be utilized to provide the item information, and wherein the trigger condition comprises a user associated with the user device being randomly selected for the event based on a lottery.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 11, 2020
From: MUNIGANTI, VINAY; SINGH, SANDEEP; RASTOGI, RAVI
To: WALMART APOLLO, LLC
Reel/Frame 053458/0017 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 62889405 · Aug 20, 2019
Provisional Application 62885738 · Aug 12, 2019
Related Publication 20210049662A1 · Feb 18, 2021
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