JP2001005863A - Selling price determination system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system capable of determining the selling price of an article corresponding to the lapse of time from the start of selling or selling result. SOLUTION: Concerning a price display/reception server for article selling connected through a network to a user terminal, a storage means is provided for storing an article price on a day corresponding to each article, and in the case of determining the article price on that day on the basis of the number of days from the day of selling start for each article, when there is no selling result of the relevant article on the previous day on the basis of the price of the previous day, a price subtracting a fixed amount from the selling price of the previous day is calculated as the article price on that day.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology effective when applied to a system for determining a selling price of a retail product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a product is sold at a retail store, it is necessary to make an advanced judgment as to how much stock is always kept due to space at the store.

When this product is packaged software for a computer, the software is usually upgraded with the frequent upgrade of the OS (operating system). For example, in the case of a product group in which an old version and a new version coexist as in the above, there are many users who dare seek an inexpensive old version.

[0004] In addition, the hardware of the old version
Old O for users who only have S installed
I have to select a product that corresponds to S. For this reason, retailers had to keep a small variety of products.

Further, in recent years, under the free market economy, an open price system for commodities has been introduced, and in many cases, retailers can freely set prices for commodities, but the selling price at their own store is determined. In order to do so, it was necessary to consider the set prices of other nearby stores and the demand of users, and a delicate decision was required.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is a technical problem to realize a system that can determine the selling price of a product based on the elapsed time from the start of sales, the sales results, and the like. I do.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when determining the price of a product based on the number of days since the start of sales, the sales price of the day is determined based on whether or not there is sales performance on the day before the date.

[0008] More specifically, a price display / reception server for selling goods connected to a user terminal via a network is provided with storage means for storing the prices of goods of the day associated with the goods, When determining the price of the product on the day based on the number of days from the sales start date for each product, based on the price of the previous day, if there is no sales performance of the product, from the sales price of the previous day The price reduced by a certain amount is calculated as the commodity price on the day.

In this calculation, when the product has no sales record on the day before the current day and the data of the product is not browsed from any user terminal, the sales price of the previous product is Is set as the selling price of the product on the day.

[0010] Further, the upper limit price and the lower limit price are stored in advance for each product, and when the calculated price exceeds the upper limit price, the upper limit price is used as the product price on the day, and the calculated price falls below the lower limit price. When the value is reached, the lower limit price is set as the commodity price of the day.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an Internet site that sells package software of an application program for a personal computer as a product is used as a price display / acceptance server.

FIG. 1 is a graph showing a price change of a specific product using the price display / reception server in the present embodiment. That is, in the same figure, since the purchase of a product set at a price of 5000 yen was not accepted at all until the sixth day from the sale, a price obtained by discounting 10% from the price of the previous day for each day is determined as the price of the day. ing.

However, since the purchase of the product was accepted on the seventh day (the purchase was made), the eighth day was the previous day (the seventh day).
Is increased by 30% as the commodity price on the day (the eighth day). It should be noted that the rate of increase in the selling price on the next day when there is a sales record does not necessarily need to be 30%.

[0014] Thereafter, since there is no purchase record of the product until the 11th day, the price is reduced step by step by setting the price obtained by discounting the price of the previous day by 10% by the day price.

Since the page of the product is not browsed on the price display / reception server from the 11th to the 17th, the product price is maintained at a fixed value. However, there was no purchase record from the 17th day to the 21st day, but since the server was browsed, the price continued to decrease by 10%.

Next, since the merchandise was purchased on the 22nd day, the price has increased by 30% on the next day (23rd day).
Further, since then, there has been no purchase record until the 30th day, and the price continues to decrease by 10%. And 30
On the day, the price falls below the lower limit of 1000 yen for the product, and after the 30th day, the lower limit of 1000 yen is set.
Yen is the product price.

The commodity price determined in this manner is stored in the display data storage unit 2 provided in the price display / reception server 1.
1 and this data is stored in a URL (Uniform Resource
Locator) can be browsed from the user terminal 2 via the network 4 based on TCP / IP.

Next, the overall system will be described with reference to FIG. First, product information such as a product name, a product code, and a stock number is notified from the product providing server 3 to the price display / reception server 1 via the network 4 (101).

Based on the merchandise information, the price display / acceptance server 1 calculates a merchandise price as shown in FIG. 1 every day and generates display data. Next, when the user browses the price display reception server 1 through the user terminal 2 and applies for the purchase of a product (102), the price display reception server 1 sends the order information (name and address of the user) of the user to the product. , Name, etc.) to the product providing server 3 (103).

Next, the product providing server 3 notifies the user terminal 2 of the order confirmation information (product name, price, transfer destination, etc.) as an electronic mail based on the order information (104).

The user pays the price to the product provider based on the order information (105). The payment may be made by transferring the electronic money value from the user terminal 2 to the product providing server 3 via the network, or may be made via a payment server (not shown). Further, an existing method such as a bank transfer from the user to the product provider may be used outside the network.

Next, the merchandise provider provides the corresponding merchandise to the user (106). Here, when the product is software, the product providing server 3 sends the user terminal 2
An executable file constituting software may be provided in a mail format or a download format. Further, in the case of package software or other products distributed in the market, the product provider may provide the user to the user using mailing means such as home delivery.

Next, the merchandise provider pays a brokerage fee for the merchandise to the price display / reception server organizer. This may be performed by transferring the electronic money value from the product providing server 3 to the price display / reception server 1 via the network, or may be performed via a payment server (not shown). In addition, outside the network,
An existing method such as bank transfer may be used from the product provider to the price display / reception server organizer.

Next, the configuration of the price display / acceptance server 1 and the price determination procedure will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a hardware configuration of the price display / acceptance server 1. As shown in the figure, a terminal adapter 5 (TA) connected to a network 4 is provided, which is connected to a bus 7 via an interface 6 (I / O). The bus 7 has a main control unit 8 (CPU) and a temporary storage unit 10 (M
EM) and the storage device 11 (HD). The price determination system of the present embodiment sequentially stores programs stored in the storage device 11 (HD) in the temporary storage unit 10 (MEM).
, And the main control unit 8 (CPU) calculates the price while reading it out.

In this server, a keyboard 12 (KEY) is used as an input device, and a display 1 is used as an output device.
3 (CRT) and the printing device 14 (PRT) are connected to the bus 7 and can be configured by a general-purpose computer system.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the price display / acceptance server 1 of this embodiment. These functions are actually realized by cooperation between the execution program stored in the storage device 11 (HD), each recording unit and table, and the main control unit 8 (CPU).

In FIG. 1, a receiving unit 15 has a function of receiving a purchase application notice transmitted from the user terminal 2 through the terminal adapter 5 (TA).
As shown in FIG. 7, the product table 16 stores, for each product, a product name, a code, an initial price (IP), an upper limit price (LUP),
The lower limit price (LLP) and today's price (TP) can be registered. The initial price (IP) records a price set when a product is first sold on the server. Then, the commodity prices after the second day are calculated based on the initial price (IP).

Upper limit price (LUP) and lower limit price (LLP)
Is set in advance before the start of sales, and is a numerical value for restricting the price to be between the upper limit and the lower limit even if the price fluctuates. For example, in the figure, XYZ
The upper limit price (LUP) is the initial price (I
Set at the same 5000 yen as P), the lower limit price (LLP)
Is set at 1,000 yen. In addition, today's price (T
P) is determined by the procedure of FIG. 5 described later.

The date and time management unit 17 is a main control unit 8 (CPU)
And a trigger to recalculate the commodity price every day is provided. The sales record recording unit 22 is for recording whether or not a purchase application has been made from the user terminal 2 for the product, and is specifically set in the storage device 11 (HD).

The browsing result management section 23 manages whether or not a page relating to a product on the server has been browsed by any of the user terminals 2, and is set in the storage device 11 (HD). Specifically, HTML (Hyp
er Text Mark-up Language)
This can be realized by storing the value of an access counter that manages the number of times the URL of the WW site has been accessed.

The price determination processing unit 18 includes a main control unit 8 (CP
U). The price determination procedure of the price determination processing unit 18 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the price determination processing unit 18 determines whether or not the current day is a sales start date based on a notification from the date and time management unit 17. If this is the sales start date of the product (step 501), the initial price (IP) is read from the product table 16 and set as the sales price (TP) of the day (502, 503).

On the other hand, if it is not the sales start date, the price (YP) as of yesterday is read from the product table 16 (504). Next, the sales result recording unit 22 is read out,
It is determined whether a purchase application has been made for the product as of yesterday (505). Here, if there is a purchase application yesterday, a provisional price (DP) is calculated by adding 30% to the yesterday's price (YP) (506).

Next, the provisional price (DP) is changed to the upper limit price (LU).
If the provisional price (DP) is higher than the upper limit price (LUP) as compared with (507), the upper limit price (L
UP) is set as today's price (TP).

On the other hand, the provisional price (DP) is changed to the upper limit price (LU
If the price is lower than (P), the provisional price (DP) is used as it is today's price (TP). In step 505,
If no purchase application was made yesterday, the price processing determination unit 18 accesses the browsing result management unit 23 and determines whether or not the product page has been browsed (511). And if the browsing was not done, yesterday's price (YP)
Is used as it is today's price (TP) (512).

On the other hand, if browsing has been performed, a price obtained by discounting 10% from the yesterday's price (YP) is calculated.
This is set as a provisional price (DP) (513). Next, the price determination processing unit 18 accesses the product table 16, reads the lower limit price (LLP), and determines whether the provisional price (DP) is lower than the lower limit price (LLP) (51).
4). If the provisional price (DP) is lower than the lower limit price (LLP), the lower limit price (LLP) is set as the today's price (TP) (515). On the other hand, if the price is not below, the provisional price (DP) is replaced with the today's price (TP).
(516).

The today's price in the product table 16 is rewritten with the today's price (TP) calculated by the above steps (YP → TP). The display data generation unit 20 generates display data based on the today's price (TP) determined in this way. The display data is, for example, an HTML file that can be browsed by a WWW browser, and this file is stored in the display data storage unit 21 set in the storage device 11 (HD). And this file is UR
L is specified on the Internet.

FIG. 6 shows a price display / acceptance server 1 which can be browsed by the WWW browser program of the user terminal 2.
It is a display image of. As shown in FIG.
When 01 is displayed, the user can search for a product from the user terminal 2. In the figure, a search can be performed by genre such as a word processor or a spreadsheet program, or by a product price range. A screen 602 is a search result screen based on a price range, and a screen 603 is a search result screen for each genre. On each screen, the product name and today's price (T
P) and an order button are displayed. User terminal 2
Above, when the user presses the order button with the coordinate indicating means such as a mouse, the order screen 604 is displayed. The user inputs an address, a name, an e-mail address, and the like on the order screen, and the input information is transmitted to the price display / acceptance server 1 via the network 4 in an e-mail format as shown at 102 in FIG. It is supposed to be. Subsequent processing is as described in 103 to 107 in FIG.

In the above description of the embodiment, the price today (T
In the calculation of P), a case has been described in which the calculation is made in consideration of the sales results and the browsing results of the previous day, but this may be multiplied by the number of stocks as a coefficient. For example, for a product with a large number of stocks, the price reduction ratio (1 in the embodiment)
0%) is set to a larger numerical value (for example, 15%), and a small numerical value (for example, 5
%).

Further, in the embodiment, the price of the current day is determined with reference to the sales performance and the browsing performance of the previous day, but the price of the product may be changed on a weekly basis, on a daily basis, or on a monthly basis. It may be performed.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the selling price of a product can be automatically determined based on the elapsed time from the start of sales, sales results, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing a change in sales price of a product according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a network configuration diagram in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a price display / reception server according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a price display / reception server according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining a selling price on the day according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a price display / reception screen according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of a product table according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 Price display / reception server 2 User terminal 3 Merchandise providing server 4 Network 5 Terminal adapter (TA) 6 Interface (I / O) 7 Bus 8 Central control unit (CPU) 10 Temporary storage unit (MEM) 11 Storage unit (HD) 12 Keyboard (KEY) 13 Display (CRT) 14 Printing Device (PRT) 15 Reception Unit 16 Product Table 17 Date and Time Management Unit 18 Price Decision Processing Unit 20 Display Data Generation Unit 21 Display Data Storage Unit 22 Sales Record Record Unit 23 Browsing Result Management Part 601 Product search screen 602, 603 Search result screen 604 Order screen

Continued on the front page F-term (reference)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A price display / reception server for selling goods connected to a user terminal via a network, comprising: storage means for storing the prices of goods of the day associated with the goods; A price calculating means for determining the product price of the day based on the number of days from the sales start date, a means for displaying the calculated product price of the day, and generating display data for receiving a purchase application from the user terminal; Means for recording at least the sales performance of the product on the previous day, wherein the price calculation means calculates the sales performance of the product on the previous day based on the price stored at least in the storage means on the date before the current day. A price display / acceptance server that calculates a price obtained by subtracting a certain amount from the selling price of the previous day as the commodity price of the day when there is no such price. 2. The price calculation means according to claim 1, wherein said product has no sales record before the previous day and said product data is not browsed from any user terminal. 2. The price display / acceptance server according to claim 1, wherein the price is the selling price of the commodity on the day. 3. A means for storing an upper limit price and a lower limit price for each of the products, wherein the price calculation means sets the upper limit price as a product price on the day when the calculated price exceeds the upper limit price, 2. The price display / acceptance server according to claim 1, wherein when the price falls below the lower limit price, the lower limit price is used as the commodity price of the day.