Common-Currency Orchestration Engine for Cross-Lever ROI Planning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Retailers face challenges in optimizing investment allocation across various levers such as pricing, promotions, and personalization due to fragmented and siloed spending decisions, leading to reduced return on investment (ROI) and confusing pricing propositions for consumers.

Innovation Solution

An orchestration engine that utilizes a common currency to standardize the measurement of ROI across different investment levers, employing machine learning to simulate and optimize investment strategies, ensuring holistic and consistent tracking of investments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If retailers make multiple investments across different departments and levers (pricing, promotions, personalization), then the ability to attract and retain consumers is improved, but the investments become fragmented and siloed, reducing ROI

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to attract and retain consumersVSAvoidfragmentation of investments across departments

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges previously siloed investment levers (pricing, promotions, personalization, loyalty, markdowns) into a unified orchestration engine that optimizes all investments simultaneously. This combines multiple departmental functions into a single system that prevents stacked promotions and optimizes ROI across all levers.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The orchestration engine serves as a universal platform that handles multiple investment levers and optimization goals simultaneously. It provides a common currency framework that can measure and optimize the impact of different investment types (price, promotion, personalization) using a standardized metric system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Productivity

If retailers implement stacked promotions and markdowns for the same products, then short-term sales may increase, but consumer confusion increases and ROI decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveshort-term salesVSAvoidconsumer confusion about pricing

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The orchestration engine implements feedback mechanisms that track the impact of each investment lever and provide visibility into how different promotions interact. This feedback loop prevents stacked promotions by showing the cumulative effect of multiple investments on the same products, allowing retailers to adjust before consumer confusion occurs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary optimization before promotions are executed, simulating the impact of different investment combinations and selecting the optimal mix that maximizes ROI without creating stacked promotions. This preliminary action prevents consumer confusion before it occurs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If retailers use traditional siloed departmental structures for investment decisions, then departmental autonomy is maintained, but best practices cannot be shared and ROI assessment is sub-optimal

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedepartmental autonomyVSAvoidinability to share best practices

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The orchestration engine acts as an intermediary layer that connects previously siloed departments. It receives input from various investment levers, processes them through a common optimization framework, and outputs coordinated decisions. This intermediary structure enables information sharing and best practice propagation while maintaining operational flexibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Adaptability or versatility

If retailers lack a common currency for measuring investment impact, then flexibility in measuring different levers is maintained, but consistent tracking and ROI assessment become impossible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility in measuring different leversVSAvoidconsistent tracking of ROI

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a common currency framework that transforms different investment metrics (price impact, promotion lift, personalization response) into a standardized measurable unit. This parameter transformation enables consistent tracking and comparison across all investment levers while maintaining the ability to measure each lever's unique characteristics.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS12462306B2Data structures in an orchestration engine

Publication Date: 2025.11.04 BOSTON CONSULTING GRP INC

AI summary

A computer system comprising of an orchestration engine that allows for optimizing of investment allocation across plural levers, the orchestration engine configured to: receive input data that includes historic data regarding pricing and sales according to plural levers; prepare the received input data by converting the plural levers in the received input data into a common currency; calculate historical return on investment based on the common currency; simulate return on investment using the calculated historical return on investment and a machine learning model of a given campaign based on historical sales, campaign definitions, and investment metrics; optimize the simulated return on investment from the campaign with respect to one or more optimization goals and constraints; and output from the optimizer an optimized, campaign plan.