Method And Apparatus For Pricing Products In Multi-Level Product And Organizational Groups

Abstract

The invention organizes various pricing tables and price adjustment tables and various products and purchasing organizations based on “who” (i.e. which purchasing organization) is purchasing “what” (i.e. which product). The invention utilizes a denormalized table to relate the “who” to the “what” using denormalized numbers. The invention further organizes various purchasing organizations and products into hierarchical tables. These hierarchical tables are called organizational groups and product groups. Various price adjustments may be specified for each level of the organizational groups and product groups hierarchies. The price adjustments for a particular purchasing organization are determined by retrieving the price adjustments for that particular purchasing organization as well as the price adjustments for organizational groups above the particular purchasing organization in the organizational groups hierarchy. Likewise, the price adjustments for a particular product are determined by retrieving the price adjustments for that particular product as well as the price adjustments for product groups above the particular product in the product groups hierarchy. The invention sorts the various pricing adjustments applicable to a particular product offered to a particular purchasing group based on several criteria. After the sorting is accomplished the pricing adjustments are applied in sequence to arrive at a final price at which a particular product can be sold to a particular purchasing organization.

1 - 50 . (canceled) 
     
     
         51 . A method for determining a price of a product offered to a purchasing organization wherein organizational groups are arranged in a hierarchy of organizational groups and product groups are arranged in a hierarchy of product groups, the method comprising:
 performing by a computer system:
 identifying at least one organizational group above the purchasing organization in 
 the hierarchy of organizational groups; identifying at least one product group above the product in the hierarchy of 
 product groups; and 
 determining said the price of the product by applying pricing adjustments from at least one member of the hierarchy of organizational groups and from at least one member of the hierarchy of product groups. 
   
     
     
         52 . The method as in  claim 51  wherein the pricing adjustments are determined from pricing information, the method further comprising:
 retrieving the pricing information from a single table.   
     
     
         53 . The method as in  claim 51  wherein the pricing adjustments are determined from pricing information, the method further comprising:
 obtaining the pricing information from a single database query.   
     
     
         54 . The method as in  claim 51  wherein the single table is a denormalized table. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 51  further comprising:
 determining each pricing adjustment using at least one of pricing type, at least one value associated with the at least one pricing type, and an operation for applying the value to a price.