E-commerce Coding Problems: Logistics & Optimization

Note: Most e-commerce problems are variations of classic algorithmic problems. Below are the actual
LeetCode/GeeksforGeeks links for the foundational problems.

1. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

Related LeetCode Problems:

1.1 Minimized Maximum of Products Distributed to Any Store

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/minimized-maximum-of-products-distributed-to-any-
store/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Binary search + distribution optimization

E-commerce Context: Distributing products across retail stores optimally

1.2 Capacity To Ship Packages Within D Days

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/capacity-to-ship-packages-within-d-days/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Binary search on capacity

E-commerce Context: Inventory shipping optimization

1.3 Bin Packing Problem

GeeksforGeeks: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/bin-packing-problem-minimize-number-of-used-
bins/

Concept: Minimize containers/warehouses needed

E-commerce Context: Warehouse space optimization

2. LOGISTICS & DELIVERY OPTIMIZATION

2.1 Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) - Foundation for VRP

GeeksforGeeks: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/traveling-salesman-problem-tsp-implementation/

Concept: Visit all cities with minimum cost

E-commerce Context: Single vehicle delivery route optimization

2.2 Bus Routes (Graph BFS)

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/bus-routes/
 Difficulty: Hard
Concept: Multi-modal transportation optimization

E-commerce Context: Finding optimal delivery paths through multiple transport networks

2.3 Network Delay Time

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/network-delay-time/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Shortest path in weighted graph

E-commerce Context: Delivery time optimization across network

2.4 Cheapest Flights Within K Stops

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/cheapest-flights-within-k-stops/

Difficulty: Medium
Concept: Cost optimization with constraints

E-commerce Context: Multi-modal logistics cost optimization

3. SUPPLY CHAIN & DEMAND FORECASTING

3.1 Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock Series

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/best-time-to-buy-and-sell-stock/

Variations: Stock I, II, III, IV, with Cooldown, with Transaction Fee
Concept: Dynamic programming for optimal timing

E-commerce Context: Purchase timing and inventory management

3.2 House Robber (Resource Allocation)

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/house-robber/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Dynamic programming with constraints

E-commerce Context: Resource allocation with constraints

3.3 Coin Change Problem

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/coin-change/ GeeksforGeeks:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/coin-change-dp-7/

Concept: Minimum coins for target amount

E-commerce Context: Optimal inventory mix to meet demand

4. SCHEDULING & TIME OPTIMIZATION

4.1 Meeting Rooms II

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/meeting-rooms-ii/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Interval scheduling, heap/priority queue

E-commerce Context: Delivery time slot scheduling

4.2 Task Scheduler

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/task-scheduler/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Greedy scheduling with constraints

E-commerce Context: Warehouse task scheduling

4.3 Employee Free Time

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/employee-free-time/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: Interval merging and scheduling

E-commerce Context: Driver/worker scheduling optimization

5. RECOMMENDATION & RANKING SYSTEMS

5.1 Top K Frequent Elements

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/top-k-frequent-elements/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Heap/bucket sort for frequency analysis

E-commerce Context: Product recommendation based on popularity

5.2 Search Suggestions System

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/search-suggestions-system/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Trie data structure, prefix matching

E-commerce Context: Product search auto-complete

5.3 Design Search Autocomplete System

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/design-search-autocomplete-system/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: Trie + frequency tracking

E-commerce Context: Search optimization and ranking

6. FRAUD DETECTION & ANOMALY DETECTION

6.1 Find All Anagrams in a String

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/find-all-anagrams-in-a-string/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Sliding window pattern matching

E-commerce Context: Pattern recognition for fraud detection

6.2 Detect Squares

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/detect-squares/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Pattern detection and counting

E-commerce Context: Anomaly detection in transactions

7. RESOURCE ALLOCATION & LOAD BALANCING

7.1 Split Array Largest Sum

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/split-array-largest-sum/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: Binary search + greedy allocation

E-commerce Context: Load balancing across servers/warehouses

7.2 Minimum Number of Taps to Open to Water a Garden

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/minimum-number-of-taps-to-open-to-water-a-garden/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: Greedy interval covering

E-commerce Context: Optimal resource coverage

7.3 Course Schedule II

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/course-schedule-ii/
 Difficulty: Medium
Concept: Topological sorting

E-commerce Context: Dependency management in supply chain

8. GRAPH & NETWORK PROBLEMS

8.1 Minimum Spanning Tree

GeeksforGeeks: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/kruskals-minimum-spanning-tree-algorithm-
greedy-algo-2/

Algorithms: Kruskal's, Prim's

E-commerce Context: Optimal network design for distribution centers

8.2 Max Flow Min Cut

GeeksforGeeks: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/max-flow-problem-introduction/

Concept: Network flow optimization

E-commerce Context: Capacity planning in supply chain networks

8.3 Shortest Path in Binary Matrix

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/shortest-path-in-binary-matrix/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: BFS for optimal pathfinding

E-commerce Context: Warehouse navigation and robot pathfinding

9. ADVANCED OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS

9.1 Russian Doll Envelopes

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/russian-doll-envelopes/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 2D Longest Increasing Subsequence

E-commerce Context: Package nesting optimization

9.2 Minimum Cost to Cut a Stick

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/minimum-cost-to-cut-a-stick/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: Dynamic programming on intervals

E-commerce Context: Optimal cutting/partitioning for manufacturing

9.3 Cherry Pickup
LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/cherry-pickup/

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 3D DP, path optimization

E-commerce Context: Multi-agent pathfinding and resource collection

10. SYSTEM DESIGN RELATED PROBLEMS

10.1 LRU Cache

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/lru-cache/

Difficulty: Medium
Concept: Cache implementation

E-commerce Context: Product caching and inventory management

10.2 Design Twitter

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/design-twitter/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Feed generation and ranking

E-commerce Context: Product feed and recommendation systems

10.3 Design Hit Counter

LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/design-hit-counter/

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: Time-based data structure

E-commerce Context: Real-time analytics and rate limiting

KEY PROBLEM CATEGORIES BY DIFFICULTY

EASY TO MEDIUM (Start Here)

1. Minimized Maximum of Products - Distribution optimization

2. Capacity To Ship Packages - Binary search + optimization

3. Best Time to Buy/Sell Stock - DP fundamentals

4. Meeting Rooms II - Scheduling basics

5. Top K Frequent Elements - Recommendation systems
MEDIUM TO HARD (Advanced)

1. Bus Routes - Multi-modal optimization

2. Task Scheduler - Complex scheduling

3. Split Array Largest Sum - Load balancing

4. Search Suggestions System - Search optimization

5. Network Delay Time - Graph optimization

EXPERT LEVEL (Competition Ready)

1. Cherry Pickup - Multi-agent optimization
2. Russian Doll Envelopes - 2D optimization

3. Employee Free Time - Complex scheduling

4. Design Search Autocomplete - System design + algorithms

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Google OR-Tools (For VRP and Advanced Problems)

Vehicle Routing: https://developers.google.com/optimization/routing/vrp
Bin Packing: https://developers.google.com/optimization/pack/bin_packing

Assignment Problems: https://developers.google.com/optimization/assignment

LeetCode Discuss Threads

Inventory Management: https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/1631269/inventory-
management-system

E-commerce Design: https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/124651/e-Commerce-

Design-and-Implementation

Bin Packing: https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/485057/bin-packing-problem

GeeksforGeeks Special Topics

Dynamic Programming: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dynamic-programming/
Greedy Algorithms: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/greedy-algorithms/

Graph Algorithms: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/graph-data-structure-and-algorithms/

PREPARATION TIPS
1. Understand Business Context: Always consider real-world constraints

2. Multi-objective Optimization: Balance multiple competing factors

3. Scalability: Consider solutions that work for large datasets

 4. Real-time Constraints: Many e-commerce problems require fast solutions
5. Trade-offs: Understand when to compromise optimality for speed

6. Data Quality: Handle missing or inconsistent data gracefully

SAMPLE COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

Small Scale (N < 1000): Exact algorithms acceptable Medium Scale (1000 < N < 100,000): Efficient
algorithms required Large Scale (N > 100,000): Approximation algorithms, heuristics, or distributed
solutions needed