Methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and apparatus to monitor the availability of products for purchase

Abstract

Methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and apparatus to monitor the availability of products for purchase are disclosed. An apparatus includes a communications interface to receive market data from data collectors, the market data including stock status data indicative of different stock statuses for a product in different retail establishments. The apparatus further includes a reward profile analyzer reduce error in collection of the stock status data by: generating a reward profile for the market data, the reward profile to define different reward levels for different types of the stock statuses indicated by the stock status data; determining a distribution of rewards among the different data collectors based on the reward profile and different portions of the market data provided by corresponding ones of the different data collectors; and providing the rewards to the different data collectors based on the distribution.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one memory;   machine readable instructions; and   processor circuitry to execute the machine readable instructions to at least:
 receive first market data from a first data collector, the first market data indicative of a stock status of a product associated with a retail establishment; 
 generate stock data by comparing the first market data to second market data stored in a database, the stock data to include the stock status of the product; 
 determine a distribution of reward information to be transmitted to the first data collector based on a reward profile, the reward profile to define reward levels for respective types of the stock status; and 
 when the stock status of the product is a stock status of interest, validate the stock data by:
 identifying (a) one or more retail establishments and (b) one or more data collectors from which to obtain additional market data; 
 updating the reward profile based on a level of importance of the additional market data to be obtained; 
 receiving the additional market data from the one or more data collectors; and 
 confirming the stock data by analyzing the additional market data. 
 
   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the first market data is data indicative of a first amount of the product that identified in a brick-and-mortar store, wherein the second market data is data indicative of a second amount of the product that fit within an allotted space at the brick-and-mortar store for the product, and wherein the processor circuitry is to compare the first amount of the product in the brick-and-mortar store to the second amount of the product that fit within the allotted space at the brick-and-mortar store to determine the stock status of the product. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the first and second amounts of the product correspond to a respective number of units of the product. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the stock status is represented by a percentage of the first amount of the product relative to the second amount of the product. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the first market data is purchase data associated with a consumer, wherein the second market data is historical purchase data associated with the consumer, and wherein the processor circuitry is to compare the purchase data with the historical purchase data to identify a deviation in purchasing behavior of the consumer corresponding to the product, the deviation indicative of the stock status of the product. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the product is a first product, wherein the historical purchase data includes multiple purchases of the first product, the multiple purchases of the first product indicative of a level of brand loyalty of the consumer to the first product, and wherein the first market data includes a second product that is comparable to the first product, the processor circuitry is to identify an out-of-stock status for the first product. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the processor circuitry is to execute the instructions to associate the stock data with a retail establishment. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the stock status includes an out-of-stock status, a partially stocked status, a fully stocked status, or an over-stocked status. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the partially stocked status includes an intermediate stock status level, the level based on a threshold value of a number of units of the product available compared to a number of units of the product that fit within a designated area. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the stock status of interest is based on a provider of the product. 
     
     
         12 . At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause processor circuitry to at least:
 receive first market data from a data collector, the first market data indicative of a stock status of a product associated with a product provider;   generate first stock data by comparing the first market data to second market data stored in a database, the first stock data to include the stock status of the product;   define a distribution of reward information to be transmitted to the data collector based on a reward profile, the reward profile to define reward levels for respective types of the stock status; and   when the stock status of the product is a stock status of interest, generate second stock data to validate the first stock data by:
 identifying (a) at least one retail establishment and (b) at least one data collector from which to obtain third market data; 
 updating the reward profile based on a level of importance of the third market data; 
 receiving the third market data from the at least data collector; and 
 verifying the first stock data by analyzing the third market data. 
   
     
     
         13 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the first market data is data indicative of a number of units of the product in a brick-and-mortar store, wherein the second market data is data indicative of an amount of units of the product that fit within a designated space for the product at the brick-and-mortar store, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor circuitry to compare the number of units of the product in the brick-and-mortar store to the amount of units of the product that fit within the designated space to determine the stock status of the product. 
     
     
         14 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the first market data is purchase data associated with a consumer, wherein the second market data is historical purchase data associated with the consumer, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor circuitry is to compare the purchase data with the historical purchase data to identify a deviation in purchasing behavior of the consumer corresponding to the product, the deviation indicative of the stock status of the product. 
     
     
         15 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the product is a first product, wherein the historical purchase data includes a plurality of purchases of the first product, the purchases of the first product indicative of a level of brand loyalty of the consumer to the first product, and wherein the first market data includes a second product that is similar to the first product, the instructions, when executed, to cause the processor circuitry to identify an out-of-stock status for the first product. 
     
     
         16 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the stock status of interest is based on the product provider. 
     
     
         17 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause processor circuitry to associate the first stock data with the product provider. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by executing machine readable instructions with at least one processor, first market data from data collectors, the first market data indicative of a stock status of a product associated with a retailer;   generating, by executing the machine readable instructions with the at least one processor, stock data by comparing the first market data to second market data stored in a database, the stock data to include the stock status of the product;   determining, by executing the machine readable instructions with the at least one processor, a distribution of reward information to be transmitted to the data collectors based on a reward profile, the reward profile to define reward levels for respective types of the stock status; and   when the stock status of the product is a stock status of interest, validating, by executing the machine readable instructions with the at least one processor, the stock data by:
 identifying (a) one or more retail establishments associated with the retailer and (b) one or more data collectors from which to obtain third market data; 
 updating the reward profile based on a level of importance of the third market data to be obtained; 
 receiving the third market data from the one or more data collectors; and 
 confirming the stock data by analyzing the third market data. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first market data is data indicative of a number of units of the product in a brick-and-mortar store, wherein the second market data is data indicative of an amount of units of the product that fit within an allotted space for the product at the brick-and-mortar store, and further including comparing the number of units of the product in the brick-and-mortar store and the amount of units of the product that fit within the allotted space for the product at the brick-and-mortar store to determine the stock status of the product. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the stock status is represented by a percentage of the number of units of the product in the brick-and-mortar store relative to the amount of units of the product that fit within the allotted space for the product at the brick-and-mortar store. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the stock status of interest is based on the retailer.