Retail system for selling products based on a flexible product description

An apparatus for programmatically providing a platform for determining a current price for one or more products or services identified by one or more conditional elements of a received product description, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
• provide, to a display of a user device, a user interface comprising graphical user interface elements including one or more of pull-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or text-entry boxes, providing user-configurable elements and configured to receive user-input identifying one or more conditional elements of a product description;
• receive the conditional elements of the product description from the user device;
• store the conditional elements of the product description in a product element database, the product element database configured to store data related to the user-input identifying the one or more conditional elements of the product description submitted via the user interface, the product element database comprised of a plurality of product element records, each product element record comprised of a plurality product element fields, each product element field configured to store at least one of the conditional elements, each product element record comprising fields that specify at least (i) an offer identifier that uniquely identifies a particular product element record;
• (ii) an identifier that uniquely identifies a user from whom a product description contained in the product element record was received;
• (iii) each of one or more features specified by the received conditional elements;
• access a product database, the product database configured to store a plurality of product records, each product record representing a particular product, each product record comprising a plurality of product related fields, the fields being at least store information identifying (i) a product identifier that uniquely identifies the particular product;
• and (ii) each of one or more product features that identify the particular product;
• determine one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description;
• access a retailer database, the retailor database comprising a plurality of inventory-related records, each record comprised of retailer data, the retailer data comprised of sales data, inventory data, demand data or subsidy data;
• retrieve, via a communication port, from the retailer database, at least one of inventory, demand, sales, or subsidy data;
• generate a current price for the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to dynamically generate the current price based at least in part on the conditional elements of the received product description and of the retrieved inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data,
• wherein generation of the current price comprises:
• determining a number of conditional elements of the received product description, determining a discount for each of the conditional elements by identifying a requirement and a percentage discount, calculating a cumulative discount by summing the determined percentage discounts, and discounting a retail price by the cumulative discount;
• and
• provide, to the display device, a second user interface configured to describe the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description each including the current price.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program for programmatically providing a platform for determining a current price for one or more products or services identified by one or more conditional elements of a received product description, that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to:

• provide, to a display of a user device, a user interface comprising graphical user interface elements including one or more of pull-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or text-entry boxes, providing user-configurable elements and configured to receive user-input identifying one or more conditional elements of a product description;
• receive the conditional elements of the product description from the user device;
• store the conditional elements of the product description in a product element database, the product element database configured to store data related to the user-input identifying the one or more conditional elements of the product description submitted via the user interface, the product element database comprised of a plurality of product element records, each product element record comprised of a plurality product element fields, each product element field configured to store at least one of the conditional elements, each product element record comprising fields that specify at least (i) an offer identifier that uniquely identifies a particular product element record;
• (ii) an identifier that uniquely identifies a user from whom a product description contained in the product element record was received;
• (iii) each of one or more features specified by the received conditional elements;
• access a product database, the product database configured to store a plurality of product records, each product record representing a particular product, each product record comprising a plurality of product related fields, the fields being at least store information identifying (i) a product identifier that uniquely identifies the particular product;
• and (ii) each of one or more product features that identify the particular product;
• determine one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description;
• retrieve, via a communication port, from the retailer database, at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data;
• generate a current price for the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, wherein the execution of the program further causes the apparatus to dynamically generate the current price based at least in part on the conditional elements of the received product description and the retrieved inventory, demand, sales or subsidy data,
• wherein generation of the current price comprises:
• determining a number of conditional elements of the received product description, determining a discount for each of the conditional elements by identifying a requirement and a percentage discount, calculating a cumulative discount by summing the determined percentage discounts, and discounting a retail price by the cumulative discount;
• and
• provide, to the display device, a second user interface configured to describe the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description, the one or more products or services identified by the conditional elements of the received product description each including the current price.