Abstract: A secure inventory management system includes a product information data store that holds inventory information for products that are associated with one or more channels, as well as a consumer profile data store holding consumer-product purchase event information for each channel. The system also includes a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive a consumer identifier from a channel manager user for a first channel, identify products that are in an inventory of the first channel, and use the consumer profile data to generate recommendations for products in the inventory. At least some of the consumers, and at least some of the products, will be associated with multiple channels. The system maintains security and privacy of information so that only aggregate supplier information is shared across channels, and no personally identifiable consumer information is shared with anyone who is not authorized to access the information.

Abstract: A secure inventory management system includes a product information data store that holds inventory information for products that are associated with one or more channels, as well as a consumer profile data store holding consumer-product purchase event information for each channel. The system also includes a channel manager user interface via which the system will receive a consumer identifier from a channel manager user for a first channel, identify products that are in an inventory of the first channel, and use the consumer profile data to generate recommendations for products in the inventory. At least some of the consumers, and at least some of the products, will be associated with multiple channels. The system maintains security and privacy of information so that only aggregate supplier information is shared across channels, and no personally identifiable consumer information is shared with anyone who is not authorized to access the information.

Abstract: A personal taste assessment system recommends and predicts a person's preference for a consumable or other item. The system accesses a user profile for a person. The user profile includes a preference model representing associations between the person's ratings of items and a set of item characteristics. The system also accesses a database of characteristic values for a group of items, uses the identifying information to identify a candidate item having characteristic values whose properties match characteristics associated with the rated items that the person found to be appealing, and processes the characteristic values of the candidate item with the user profile to generate a predicted rating as a prediction of how the person would rate the identified candidate item. The system then causes an electronic device to output an identification of the candidate item and the predicted rating.

Abstract: This document describes a method and system for recommending items, such as beverages, that members of a group are likely to find appealing. When group members are identified, the system may identify one or more preference models for each member. Each preference model represents a pattern of dependency between characteristics of items that the member has rated and the member's ratings for those items. The system may develop a group preference profile by merging the patterns of dependency for each of the members into a group preference model. Then, when it receives a request for a recommendation for an item, the system uses the group preference profile to select, from a database, a candidate item having characteristics which are likely to appeal to many or all members of the group.