Demand spaces and thresholds

A definition is only worth having if it reaches every product

A demand space and a claim threshold are both rules. They are computed per UPC from the underlying values rather than inherited from whatever flag a source happened to write, and recomputed every cycle as the catalog changes.

What a demand space costs when the flags are inherited

One category, one definitionDemand spaces and thresholds

Products left in the space

Define a better-for-you space in yogurt using the flags the sources already carry and 1,951 products become three. The aisle did not shrink. The definition inherited someone else's gaps.

Live catalog counts · yogurt · source-carried flags only

What each condition removesI · III

Condition · products still qualifying

IThe cascade1,951 to 3

Yogurt UPCs in the catalog1,951

Flagged gluten free1,072

And flagged low or no fat375

And flagged sugar free3

Three conditions, each one reasonable on its own, and the space is empty by the third.

IIA third of the category is invisible604

604 of the 1,951 carry no flag at all. They are not excluded by the definition. They were never eligible to be considered by it.

No flag, no chance

IIIThree flags are never set0

Low sugar, no sugar added and low calorie return zero across every one of the 1,951. Not because no yogurt qualifies, but because nothing upstream ever wrote those fields.

Zero means absent

A demand space built on inherited flags is not a definition. It is a summary of what somebody else bothered to record.

Counts taken from the live catalog across 1,951 yogurt UPCs carrying source indicator data. The conditions are cumulative, in the order shown.

What makes a threshold hold

A rule is only useful if it means the same thing on every product and on every run.

You set the cutoff

your definition, not a default

What counts as low sugar in your category is a commercial decision, not a universal one. The cutoff is yours to set and yours to change, and when it changes the whole catalog is re-evaluated against the new one rather than the old flags being left in place.

Applied to every product

including the quiet ones

A rule that only reaches the products carrying the right field is not a rule, it is a filter on record quality. Every product in the category is evaluated, so a product outside the space is outside it on the merits rather than for want of a label.

Recomputed each cycle

the rule outlives the file

Reformulations move products across a cutoff without anyone announcing it. The space is recomputed on a set cadence, so membership reflects the products as they are now rather than as they were when somebody last ran the query by hand.

Every flag in the category, and the three that are never set

The eight source flags across 1,951 yogurt UPCs. A dashed rule means the field is never written, which is not the same as no product qualifying.

Category Yogurt 1,951 UPCs Source-carried flags

FlagUPCsState

Gluten free1,072Carried

Low fat441Carried

Fat free286Carried

Sugar free53Carried

High protein4Carried, barely

Low sugar0Never written

No sugar added0Never written

Low calorie0Never written

What a threshold does

A threshold replaces the flag with a rule: the value you care about, the cutoff you chose, applied to every one of the 1,951 identically and recomputed each cycle. A product qualifies because it meets your definition, not because a source happened to label it.

Flag counts across 1,951 yogurt UPCs holding source indicator data. Three of the eight flags are never set anywhere in the category, which is why they are drawn as an empty rule rather than a bar at zero. A count of zero and a field nobody filled in look identical in a feed, and they are not the same thing.

Harmonya Helps You Make Faster, More Confident Decisions

A threshold is only as good as the value it is computed from. The rule is the easy part; having the number on every product is the work.

Product data enrichment

Where the underlying values come from when no single source carries them.

See how gaps get filled