Machine Learning Acceptance Model for Online Concierge Size Recommendations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current online shopping concierge systems fail to account for the relative sizes of products and user intent, leading to inefficient recommendations for larger size variants that could better meet customer needs.

Innovation Solution

An online concierge system that receives user orders, identifies candidate larger size variants, estimates their benefit values, and applies a machine learned acceptance model to predict user acceptance, thereby recommending optimal larger size variants for replacement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If current recommendation systems use previous purchase history and prior selections, then they can provide recommendations based on historical data, but they fail to account for user's current intent and cannot efficiently help users choose size variants

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadaptability to user current intentVSAvoidloss of size information
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the recommendation parameters from purely historical purchase patterns to include size variant information and current order context. By incorporating size parameters (e.g., family-size vs. individual-size) and current intent signals into the recommendation model, the system adapts to user needs while preserving size information that would otherwise be lost in traditional historical-only approaches.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If the system recommends larger size variants, then it can meet customer needs for bulk items, but the system complexity increases due to need to evaluate multiple size variants and predict acceptance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveefficiency of fulfilling large ordersVSAvoidcomplexity of recommendation system
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses machine learning models to automatically predict which larger size variants users are most likely to accept, reducing the need for complex manual evaluation processes. The acceptance prediction model self-evaluates candidate variants based on historical data patterns, enabling the system to handle large-order complexity autonomously without requiring excessive manual intervention or overly complex rule-based systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If the system provides detailed replacement recommendations with size variants, then user experience improves, but the time required to process and present recommendations increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of specifying replacement itemsVSAvoidtime to process recommendations
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary processing by pre-calculating and ranking candidate size variants using machine learning acceptance models before the user needs recommendations. By pre-evaluating multiple size options against historical data and current order context in advance, the system can quickly present top recommendations without requiring real-time complex computations when the user is actually specifying replacements, thus reducing perceived response time while maintaining detailed, helpful recommendations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12307498B2Using machine learning to predict acceptance of larger size variants
Publication Date: 2025.05.20 MAPLEBEAR INC
  • US12307498B2 patent drawing
  • US12307498B2 patent drawing
  • US12307498B2 patent drawing

AI summary

An online concierge system recommends a larger size variant for replacement. The system receives one or more items for an order from a user. The one or more items include a first item. The system identifies a set of candidate replacement items for the first item, and the candidate replacement items comprise one or more larger size variants. The system estimates a benefit value for each of the candidate larger size variants to replace the first item and applies a machine learned acceptance model to each candidate larger size variant to predict a likelihood that the user would accept a suggestion to replace the respective candidate larger size variant for the first item. Based on the estimated benefit value and the predicted likelihood, the system determines a larger size variant as a replacement item and sends the replacement item for display in a user interface on a user device.