# US 2018/0025365 A1 · Vector-based characterizations of products and individuals with respect to selecting items for store locations > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0025365 A1 - Document ID: US20180025365A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/655,339 - Filed: 2017-07-20 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2016-07-21 - Applicants: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. - Inventors: Bruce W. Wilkinson; Todd D. Mattingly - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180025365A1 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0201: Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data - G06Q 10/08: Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management - G06Q 20/203: {Inventory monitoring} - G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising - G06Q 30/06: Buying, selling or leasing transactions - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for selecting items to stock. A customer profile database storing customer partiality vectors, comprising customer value vectors, associated with a plurality of customers, a product database storing vectorized product characterizations associated with a plurality of products, a distribution system; and a control circuit. The control circuit being configured to: select a plurality of customer profiles associated with a store location, aggregate a plurality of customer value vectors associated with the plurality of customer profiles to determine aggregated store customer value vectors, determine alignments between the aggregated store customer value vectors and vectorized product characterizations associated with the plurality of products, select one or more products to stock at the store location based on the alignments, and instruct the distribution system to transport the one or more products the store location according to the one or more products selected for the store location. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for store management, comprising: a customer profile database storing customer partiality vectors, comprising customer value vectors, associated with a plurality of customers; a product database storing vectorized product characterizations associated with a plurality of products; a distribution system; and a control circuit coupled to the customer profile database, the product database, and the distribution system, the control circuit being configured to: select a plurality of customer profiles associated with a store location from the customer profile database; aggregate a plurality of customer value vectors associated with the plurality of customer profiles to determine aggregated store customer value vectors; determine alignments between the aggregated store customer value vectors and vectorized product characterizations associated with the plurality of products stored in the product database; select one or more products to stock at the store location based on the alignments; and instruct the distribution system to transport the one or more products the store location according to the one or more products selected for the store location. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the customer partiality vectors each represents at least one of a person's values, preferences, affinities, and aspirations. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the customer value vectors each comprises a magnitude that corresponds to the customer's belief in good that comes from an order associated with that value. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of customer profiles are selected based on customer locations associated with each of the plurality of customer profiles. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to update the aggregated store customer value vectors and the one or more products to stock based on customer locations changes associated with one or more customers profiles stored in the customer profile database. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to associate a set of default partiality vectors with a new customer of the customer profile database, the set of default partiality vectors being selected based on the new customer's demographics information. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of customer value vectors are aggregated by combining magnitudes associated with each value vector. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of customer value vectors are aggregated by clustering similar value vectors associated with at least some of the plurality of customers. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine stock quantities for the one or more products based on the aggregated store customer value vectors. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine stock quantities for products of a product type based on magnitude distributions of one or more partiality vectors associated with at least some of the plurality of customer. ### Claim 11 A method for store management, comprising: selecting, with a control circuit, a plurality of customer profiles associated with a store location from a customer profile database, the customer profile database storing customer partiality vectors, comprising customer value vectors, associated with a plurality of customers; aggregating, with the control circuit, a plurality of customer value vectors associated with the plurality of customer profiles to determine aggregated store customer value vectors; determining, with the control circuit, alignments between the aggregated store customer value vectors and vectorized product characterizations associated with a plurality of products stored in a product database; selecting, with the control circuit, one or more products to stock at the store location based on the alignments; and instructing a distribution system to transfer the one or more products to the store location according to the one or more products selected for the store location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the customer partiality vectors each represents at least one of a person's values, preferences, affinities, and aspirations. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the customer value vectors each comprises a magnitude that corresponds to the customer's belief in good that comes from an order associated with that value. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of customer profiles are selected based on customer locations associated with each of the plurality of customer profiles. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: updating the aggregated store customer value vectors and the one or more products to stock based on customer location changes associated with one or more customers profiles stored in the customer profile database. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: associating a set of default partiality vectors with a new customer of the customer profile database, the set of default partiality vectors being selected based on the new customer's demographics information. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of customer value vectors are aggregated by combining magnitudes associated with each value vector. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of customer value vectors are aggregated by clustering similar value vectors associated with at least some of the plurality of customers. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining stock quantities for the one or more products based on the aggregated store customer value vectors. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining stock quantities for products of a product type based on magnitude distributions of one or more partiality vectors associated with at least some of the plurality of customer. ### Claim 21 An apparatus for store management comprising: a non-transitory storage medium storing a set of computer readable instructions; and a control circuit configured to execute the set of computer readable instructions which causes to the control circuit to: select, with the control circuit, a plurality of customer profiles associated with a store location from a customer profile database, the customer profile database storing customer partiality vectors, comprising customer value vectors, associated with a plurality of customers; aggregate, with the control circuit, a plurality of customer value vectors associated with the plurality of customer profiles to determine aggregated store customer value vectors; determine, with the control circuit, alignments between the aggregated store customer value vectors and vectorized product characterizations associated with a plurality of products stored in a product database; select, with the control circuit, one or more products to stock at the store location based on the alignments; and instruct a distribution system to transport the one or more products to the store location according to the one or more products selected for the store location.