US 5,491,629 A · System and method for determining the impact of weather and other factors on managerial planning applications

Abstract

A computer-based Executive Information System (EIS) system for determining the impact of weather and other external and internal factors on the retail industry. Utilizing a multiple regression correlation technique in a predictive model, a correlation of weather variables with store information for specific locations and times is performed to quantify a weather impact model in terms of unit or dollar sales volume change, or any other commercially useful benchmark. The EIS system determines these relationships with location and time specificity. Using the relationship between historical weather and historical sales, the EIS system "deweatherizes" the historical weather to create a normalized historical sales relative to weather based upon normal weather (the 30 year average). This deweatherized data may be used in conjunction with a user-provided managerial plan to produce a revised managerial plan. Alternatively, the revised plan can be "weatherized" by the EIS system by applying forecasted weather to the weather impact model to generate a weather-modified managerial plan.

Claims36

Dependent claims

A computer-based system for generating a weather-modified managerial plan that represents the future impact of weather and other factors on retail sales, comprising:

first means for providing store information;
second means for providing weather data, said weather data including,
historical weather data,
normal weather data, and
forecasted weather data;
third means for providing information external to retailer store environment;
database initializer means for performing one or more transformations of said store information, said weather data, and said external information to produce databases;
correlation processor means for generating a weather impact model, said weather impact model expressing a correlation between said store information and said external information contained within said databases with said historical weather data, and for substituting said normal weather data for said historical weather data in said weather impact model to generate deweatherized data;
and
forecasting processor means for substituting said forecasted weather data for said normal weather data in said weather impact model to produce a weather-modified managerial plan.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method for determining the impact of weather and other factors on managerial planning applications

Life of this patent

System and method for determining the impact of weather and other factors on managerial planning applications

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims36