Retail product pricing markdown system

A computer implemented method for determining a pricing markdown schedule for an item at a store, the pricing markdown determination comprising:

• receiving demand parameters of the item at the store and one or more constraints;
• expressing a price curve and inventory curve as linear combinations of price and inventory coefficients for orthogonal polynomials;
• determining a revenue in terms of values of the price and inventory coefficients;
• determining an initial guess of the price and inventory coefficients;
• determining a gradient of the revenue;
• maximizing the revenue based on the revenue, the initial guesses, the gradient, and the constraints, wherein the constraints are in terms of the price and inventory coefficients;
• and
• based on the maximized revenue, generating the price markdown schedule.

A retail product pricing markdown system comprising:

• a coefficient module that receives demand parameters of a retail item at a store and one or more constraints, and expresses a price curve and inventory curve as linear combinations of price and inventory coefficients for orthogonal polynomials;
• a determination module that determines a revenue in terms of values of the price and inventory coefficients, determines an initial guess of the price and inventory coefficients, and determines a gradient of the revenue;
• a maximize module that maximizes the revenue based on the revenue, the initial guesses, the gradient, and the constraints, wherein the constraints are in terms of the price and inventory coefficients;
• and
• a generator module that, based on the maximized revenue, generates the price markdown schedule.