# US 8,788,372 B2 · Method and system for classifying retail products and services using characteristic-based grouping structures > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,788,372 B2 - Document ID: US8788372B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 10/935,470 - Filed: 2004-09-07 - Published: 2005-09-08 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2004-03-08 - Assignees: Sap SE - Applicants: Björn Kettner; Cornelia Behrendt-Schinke; Jörg Haupenthal - Inventors: Björn Kettner; Cornelia Behrendt-Schinke; Jörg Haupenthal - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8788372B2 ## CPC - G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders - G06Q 10/08: Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management - G06Q 20/203: {Inventory monitoring} - G06Q 30/0203: Market surveys; Market polls - 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 A method of and system for classifying retail products and services is disclosed. The method includes determining a grouping of characteristic values in a computerized system, wherein the grouping of characteristic values includes a subset of a plurality of predetermined values for a characteristic. The method also includes associating the grouping of characteristic values with a grouping of at least one of retail products and services. The system includes means for determining a grouping of characteristic values, wherein the grouping of characteristic values includes a subset of a plurality of predetermined values for a characteristic. The system also includes means for associating the grouping of characteristic values with a grouping of at least one of retail products and services. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Non-transitory machine-readable storage media for classifying retail products and services using an automated process, the machine-readable storage media comprising program code stored therein executable by one or more machines to perform the automated process, the automated process comprising: 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, 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 the 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. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a color associated with a retail product. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is based on a seasonal grouping of colors associated with a merchandise category. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groupings of characteristic values is determined in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is configured to be associated with multiple merchandise categories. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein at least two of the groupings of characteristic values include at least one common value for the characteristic. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 6, wherein the at least two of the groupings of characteristic values are configured to be assigned to the same merchandise category. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein each grouping of characteristic values is associated with the merchandise category in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 9 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. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a color associated with a retail product. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is based on a seasonal grouping of colors associated with a merchandise category. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the means for determining the plurality of groupings of characteristic values is configured to determine the plurality of groupings of characteristic values in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is configured to be associated with multiple merchandise categories. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein at least two of the groupings of characteristic values include at least one common value for the characteristic. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14, wherein the at least two of the groupings of characteristic values are configured to be assigned to the same merchandise category. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the means for associating each grouping of characteristic values with the merchandise category is configured to associate each grouping of characteristic values with the merchandise category in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 17 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. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a color associated with a retail product. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is based on a grouping of seasonal colors associated with a merchandise category. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein the plurality of groupings of characteristic values is determined in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 21 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein at least one of the groupings of characteristic values is configured to be associated with multiple merchandise categories. ### Claim 22 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein at least two of the groupings of characteristic values include at least one common value for the characteristic. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The program product of claim 22, wherein the at least two of the groupings of characteristic values are configured to be assigned to the same merchandise category. ### Claim 24 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein each grouping of characteristic values is associated with the merchandise category in response to user input from a graphical user interface. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a size associated with a retail product. ### Claim 26 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a size associated with a retail product. ### Claim 27 (depends on 17) The program product of claim 17, wherein at least one of the characteristics is a size associated with a retail product.