A method is provided for inventory management which includes an initial step
of
receiving a customer request for an inventory item and then generating a table
or menu of one or more inventory items that most closely correspond to the customer
request using a price forecasting system. Based on negotiations concerning price,
timing and other typical concerns, an item is selected from the table and a price
quotation associated with the selected inventory item is generated using the price
forecasting system, which price quotation has been predetermined by a yield management
system using a pricing strategy. The customer information associated with the customer
request is input into a traffic billing system. Information needed for price recalculation
associated with the customer request is input into the yield management system.
The yield management system recalculates pricing data with in a manner consistent
with a pricing strategy implemented by the yield management system, so that price
changes caused by a reduction in available inventory due to the customer request
are taken into account, and the pricing data accessed by the price forecasting
system when a price quotation is generated is updated prior to repeating the process
for a subsequent customer request. This method provides more accurate pricing than
known systems where order information must be entered manually before a price recalculation
can take place, and the yield management system overestimates the amount of available
inventory. If the customer request comprises a reservation having an associated
probability of later becoming an order, the reservation is taken into account when
recalculating prices based on available inventory. Such a process may be integrated
for an enterprise made up of a number of member stations each having associated
inventory for sale.
