Method and system for classifying retail products and services using characteristic-based grouping structures

A system for classifying retail products and services, the system comprising:

• means for determining a plurality of groupings of characteristic values relating to a plurality of characteristics of a product in a computerized system, wherein each grouping of characteristic values includes a subset of a plurality of predetermined values for a particular one of the plurality of characteristics;
• means for grouping hierarchically the plurality of groupings of characteristic values for each characteristic;
• means for determining a plurality of characteristic profiles, each of the plurality of characteristic profiles being associated with at least one characteristic and a set of one or more groupings of characteristic values relating to the at least one characteristic, wherein the plurality of characteristic profiles include a first characteristic profile that is associated with a first characteristic and a second characteristic, wherein the first characteristic profile is further associated with a first set of groupings of characteristic values relating to the first characteristic and a second set of groupings of characteristic values relating to the second characteristic, wherein each of the first set and the second set of groupings of characteristic values comprises one or more of the determined plurality of groupings of characteristic values;
• means for determining a merchandise hierarchy, the merchandise hierarchy including an enterprise level, one or more merchandise hierarchy levels, and one or more merchandise categories;
• means for assigning one or more products to each merchandise category in the merchandise hierarchy;
• means for assigning one or more characteristic profiles to a plurality of products;
• means for permitting the assignment of different characteristic profiles to multiple products associated with the same merchandise category;
• means for assigning, for each product having an assigned characteristic profile, characteristic values to the product based on the characteristic values of the assigned characteristic profile;
• means for providing a user interface configured to enable a user to select a characteristic profile;
• means for receiving a selection of a characteristic profile from the user;
• means for receiving a modification of one or more characteristic values of the characteristic profile from the user;
• and
• means for modifying one or more corresponding characteristic values of the products associated with the selected characteristic profile based on the modification to the one or more characteristic values of the characteristic profile received from the user.

A program product for classifying retail products and services, the program product comprising one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media having machine-readable program code stored thereon for causing, when executed, one or more machines to perform the following method steps:

• determining a plurality of groupings of characteristic values relating to a plurality of characteristics of a product in a computerized system, wherein each grouping of characteristic values includes a subset of a plurality of predetermined values for a particular one of the plurality of characteristics;
• grouping hierarchically the plurality of groupings of characteristic values for each characteristic;
• determining a plurality of characteristic profiles, each of the plurality of characteristic profiles being associated with at least one characteristic and a set of one or more groupings of characteristic values relating to the at least one characteristic, wherein the plurality of characteristic profiles include a first characteristic profile that is associated with a first characteristic and a second characteristic, wherein the first characteristic profile is further associated with a first set of groupings of characteristic values relating to the first characteristic and a second set of groupings of characteristic values relating to the second characteristic, wherein each of the first set and the second set of groupings of characteristic values comprises one or more of the determined plurality of groupings of characteristic values;
• determining a merchandise hierarchy, the merchandise hierarchy including an enterprise level, one or more merchandise hierarchy levels, and one or more merchandise categories;
• assigning one or more products to each merchandise category in the merchandise hierarchy;
• assigning one or more characteristic profiles to a plurality of products;
• permitting the assignment of different characteristic profiles to multiple products associated with the same merchandise category;
• for each product having an assigned characteristic profile, assigning characteristic values to the product based on the characteristic values of the assigned characteristic profile;
• providing a user interface configured to enable a user to select a characteristic profile;
• receiving a selection of a characteristic profile from the user;
• receiving a modification of one or more characteristic values of the characteristic profile from the user;
• and
• modifying one or more corresponding characteristic values of the products associated with the selected characteristic profile based on the modification to the one or more characteristic values of the characteristic profile received from the user.