JP2002329086A - Net sales method, net sales system, net sales program and recording medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To offer customers (users) the possibility of selling prices with a higher discount rate in the sale of goods using the Internet, and to increase the willingness of customers to purchase. A merchandise sales server stochastically presents a discount rate to a customer, and presents the possibility of a higher discount rate. For example, there is a possibility that fixed rate discount, general variable discount with small fluctuation rate of discount rate, high fluctuation rate of fluctuation rate of discount rate may be high, but the probability is high fluctuation discount smaller than general fluctuation discount. The discount method can be selected according to the user's preference.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to merchandise sales on the Internet, that is, a so-called net sales system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional net sales system, a discount rate of a price of a product to be sold is predetermined, and a customer who is a user can generally purchase a product only at the predetermined discount price. .

FIG. 6 shows a display example of a customer terminal (user terminal) in a conventional Internet sales system of this kind. When a customer wishes to purchase a product, the terminal displays a target product page on a homepage of a target net sales server by a known Internet procedure.
An example of the display is shown on a screen (first screen) 600. Screen 6
00 displays information contributing to the purchase decision of the product, for example, a product photograph 601, a product description 602, a price 603 including a fixed price and a discounted selling price, an order button 604, and the like. The customer presses the order button 604 when he / she decides to purchase by looking at the display. Pressing the button here means that the screen 600
After pointing the icon of the order button 604 above with a cursor, it indicates an action such as clicking a predetermined mouse button.

[0004] When the order button 604 on the screen 600 is pressed, the terminal detects it, and the detection result is notified to the net sales server, and the net sales server receives the notification and sends the screen 610 to the terminal. The terminal displays the screen (second screen) 6
10 is displayed. The screen 610 includes a form of order data 611, and the customer inputs a name, an address (destination of a product), a payment method (for example, a card number in the case of a card approval), and the like. After confirming the contents of the order data 610, the customer presses the confirmation button 612. The act of pressing the confirmation button 612 is treated as a contract act, the order data 611 is sent from the terminal to the net sales server, and the order act, that is, the contract is completed.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional Internet sales system, a customer can only purchase a product at a predetermined discount price, and there is a limit to increasing the customer's willingness to purchase. was there.

An object of the present invention is to increase the customer's willingness to purchase by enabling the customer to be presented with the possibility of a higher discount rate in the sale of goods using the Internet.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a net sales system in which a product sales server is constructed on the Internet to sell products. Is presented to the customer, and when the customer purchases the product, the discount rate is calculated based on a predetermined probability distribution to determine the product price.

In the present invention, there is a possibility that a plurality of discount forms (discount methods) such as a fixed rate discount, a general variable discount with a small fluctuation of the discount rate, and a high discount rate with a large fluctuation of the discount rate. , A high-variation discount with a probability smaller than the general fluctuation discount is presented, and the customer can select a discount method according to his / her preference. Furthermore, the parameter value of the discount rate is updated over time.

According to the present invention, the customer can use various discount forms, and in particular, can enjoy a high discount rate in variable discount. As a result, the customer's interest in the homepage can be increased, and the desire to purchase can be enhanced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[System Configuration] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an Internet sales system to which the present invention is applied. 100 is a customer terminal as a user terminal, 110 is the Internet,
Reference numeral 120 denotes an online sales server operated by an online seller. The customer terminal (hereinafter, simply referred to as a terminal) 100 is a so-called fixed terminal such as a home personal computer, a mobile phone,
It is a general term for mobile communication terminals such as PHS and mobile terminals. In general, there are many Internet sales servers 120 on the Internet 110, but only one is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience.

The customer uses the terminal 100 to access the home page of the net sales server 120 via the Internet 110, and purchases the target product by browsing the target product page. In the present invention, in addition to the fixed rate discount as the form of the discount rate of the price of the product, the net sales server 120 presents a probability variation discount form that may have a higher discount rate on the product page, This allows the customer to make a selection according to his / her preference. For example, fixed-rate discounts, general variable discounts with small fluctuations in discount rates, and high discount rates with large fluctuations in discount rates, but with high-variation discounts whose probabilities are smaller than general fluctuation discounts, Allows the user to select any discount mode (discount method) according to his / her preference.

[Operation Sequence] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an operation sequence between the net sales servers 120 of the terminal 100 according to the present invention. When purchasing a product on the Internet, the customer accesses the intended homepage of the net sales server 120 using the terminal 100 (201), and
Sends a home page including a list of products to the terminal 100 (202), and the terminal 100 displays the home page. When the customer finds the target product in the displayed product list and selects the relevant product, the terminal 100 requests the relevant product page screen to the net sales server 120 (203). In response, the net sales server 120 sends the corresponding product page screen to the terminal 100 (204),
The terminal 100 displays a screen.

A display example of the product page screen is shown on a first screen 300 in FIG. On the screen 300, information contributing to the purchase decision of the product, for example, a product photograph 301, a product description 302, a basic price 303, a discount description 304, a discount method selection button 30
5 is displayed. The discount selection button 305 includes a plurality of buttons, in this example, 305-1 to 305-3. For example, 305-1 is a fixed rate discount (discount method 1),
305-2 is general fluctuation discount (discount method 2), 305-3
Is a high fluctuation discount (discount method 3). The fixed rate discount is a general discount method in which the price is discounted at a fixed rate from the fixed price. It is also possible to show the price after discount instead of the discount rate. The general variable discount is an average discount rate set and a probability distribution of the discount rate. The discount rate may be higher or lower. The high-variation discount is a variation of the average value of general fluctuation discount and the form of the probability distribution. Specifically, by expanding the range of the distribution, it is possible to generate a high discount rate with a low probability of occurrence. . The discount description 304 describes the meaning of each discount method.

The customer looks at the screen 300 of the product page,
When purchasing a product, the user selects a discount method using the discount method selection button 305. Discount buttons 305-1 to 305-
When any one of 3 is pressed, the terminal 100 detects it and notifies the net sales server of the discount method (discount pattern) (205). In response to the notification, the net sales server 120 sends a product order screen to the terminal 100 (20).
6), the terminal 100 displays this.

The display example of the commodity ordering screen is shown on the second screen 3 in FIG.
It is shown in FIG. The screen 310 includes a form of order data 311, in which the customer inputs a name, an address (a destination of the product), a payment method (for example, a card number in the case of a card approval), and the like. Also, the price 310 is displayed on the screen 310.
2 and the display contents differ depending on the selected discount method (discount pattern). This will be described later.

The customer confirms the contents of the order data 311 and the price 312 on the commodity order screen 310 and checks the confirmation button 3.
Press 13. The terminal 100 detects this, sends out the order data to the net sales server 120 (207), and the ordering action, that is, the contract is established. After the contract is concluded, the net sales server 120 notifies the terminal 100 of a contracted message including the product and the discounted price (208), and the terminal 100 displays this.

Hereinafter, a case where each of the discount buttons 305-1 to 305-3 of the discount method selection button 305 is pressed will be described with reference to FIG. First, the fixed rate discount button 305
The case where -1 is pressed will be described. In the case of the fixed rate discount, the net sales server 120 displays a predetermined discount rate or a discounted price on the price 312 of the product order screen 310. Customer has order data 311 and price 31
After confirming the contents of No. 2, the confirmation button 313 is pressed. The act of pressing the confirmation button 313 is treated as a contract act, and the order data 311 is transmitted from the terminal 100 to the net sales server 120.
And the ordering action, that is, the contract is completed.

Next, the variable discount will be described. This is common to both general and high price discounts. That is, a variable discount button, in this example, button 305-2 or 305-3.
Corresponds to the case where is pressed. In this case, the expected value of the discount rate, for example, the average discount rate, the maximum discount rate, or a substitute price is displayed on the price of the commodity order screen 310. After confirming the contents of the order data 311 and the price 312, the customer presses the confirmation button 313. The act of pressing the confirmation button 313 is treated as a contract act, the order data 311 is sent from the terminal 100 to the net sales server 120, and the order act, that is, the contract is completed. Internet sales server 120
Derives a discount rate based on a predetermined probability condition in parallel with the contract completion processing, and sends the contracted message to the terminal 100 together with the derivation result or the discounted price in place of the derivation result and displays the message. The customer pays the amount based on the display in accordance with the settlement method contracted with the order data. The difference between the general fluctuation discount and the high fluctuation discount is a difference in expected value, probability condition and the like.

By the above-described operation sequence, the Internet dealer can show various discount conditions to the customer, and can increase the customer's willingness to purchase.

It should be noted that the discount rate is not limited to the exemplified values, and the discount rate and the probability condition can be changed by a payment method such as cash and card, collective payment and installment payment, etc. It is also possible to change the probability condition periodically or randomly with time. Further, the second screen 310 can be changed according to the discount format, that is, can be changed according to the discount format. In addition, a plurality of confirmation buttons in the variable discount are provided to set the discount probability for each of them, and to display the display. It is also possible to realize a game-like element by simultaneously performing the confirmation action and the derivation of the discount rate based on the probability condition in the form of a roulette or a slot machine.

[Net Sales Server] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the net sales server 120. The net sales server 120 communicates with the terminal 1 via the Internet 110.
Communication interface unit 51 for transmitting and receiving information
0, a main control unit (CPU) 520 that performs various controls and processes for online sales, a product database 530, a product photo database 540, a product description database 550,
Discount explanation database 560 and customer database 57
0 or the like. The main control unit 520 includes a discount rate calculation program 522, which will be described later.

The merchandise database 530 stores merchandise data of each merchandise handled by the Internet sales server 120. The product data is, as shown in 535, the product I
D, product name, basic price, attribute information, etc., as a part of the attribute information, for each discount method, fixed rate discount (discount method 1), its discount rate, general variable discount (discount method 2) And the high fluctuation discount (discount method 3) include parameter values of an average discount rate, a minimum discount rate, and a maximum discount rate. The parameter values of the general fluctuation discount and the high fluctuation discount are basically different from each other. These parameter values can be updated periodically, for example. The product photo database 540 stores the photo data for each product, and a product description database 550.
Stores a product outline for each product, and is linked to the product database 530 by a product ID. The discount explanation database 560 stores information on the meaning and purpose of each discount method. The customer database 570 stores a customer ID, a password, transaction data, and the like for each customer.

The net sales server 120 (main control unit 52)
0), when there is access from the terminal side, a home page including a list of available products at present is transmitted to the terminal side with reference to the product database 530. When a request for a product page screen is received from the terminal side, the product page 530, the product photo database 540, the product description database 550, and the discount description database 560 are displayed to display a product page as shown by 300 in FIG. Edit the screen and send it to the terminal. When the customer decides to purchase by looking at the screen, the customer selects a discount form (discount method) of fixed rate discount, general variable discount, or high variable discount.
Hereinafter, the operation of the online sales server 120 when the discount method is notified from the terminal side will be described.

FIG. 5 is an example of a processing flowchart of the net sales server 120 (main control unit 520) after notification of the discount method. When receiving the discount method from the terminal side, the net sales server 120 (main control unit 520) determines whether the discount method is a fixed rate discount (discount method 1), a general variable discount (discount method 2), or a high variable discount (discount method 3). It is determined which one is (step 500). In the case of the fixed rate discount, the discount rate related to the discount method 1 in the corresponding product data 535 in the product database 530 is read (step 51).
1) A product ordering screen as shown at 310 in FIG. 3 is created and transmitted to the terminal (step 512). Thereafter, when order data is received from the terminal side (step 513),
A discounted price is calculated by the discount rate calculation program 522 based on the basic price already obtained at the time of creating the product page and the discount rate obtained in step 511 (step 51).
4), a contracted message including the product name and the discounted price is created and transmitted to the terminal (step 515). In addition,
In this case, since the discount rate is determined in advance, the discounted price may be calculated in step 511 and reflected on the product ordering screen in step 512.

In the case of the general variable discount, the discount method 2 in the corresponding product database 535 in the product database 530
The discount rate (average discount rate, minimum discount rate, maximum discount rate) is read out (step 521), and a product order screen is created with the average discount rate, maximum discount rate, and the like as expected values and transmitted to the terminal side (step 522). ). Thereafter, when order data is received from the terminal side (step 523), the discount calculation program 522 first executes step 52
Based on the discount rates (the average discount rate, the lowest discount rate, and the highest discount rate) acquired in step 1, the discount rate based on the probability is calculated using, for example, a random function. The discounted price is calculated based on the calculated discount rate (step 524). Then, a contracted message including the product name and the discounted price is created and transmitted to the terminal (step 525).

In the case of the high fluctuation discount, the commodity database 5
Discount rates for discount method 3 in the corresponding product database 535 in 30 (average discount rate, minimum discount rate, maximum discount rate)
Is read (step 531), a product order screen is created with the average discount rate, the maximum discount rate, and the like as expected values, and transmitted to the terminal side (step 532). Subsequent processes are the same as in the case of the general variable discount, and a description thereof will be omitted. For example, the calculation of the high-variation discount rate based on the probability in step 534 may be the same as that in step 524 except for the values of the parameters (minimum discount rate, maximum discount rate, etc.), and the algorithm may be the same.

Next, a calculation algorithm of the variable discount rate based on the probability in the discount calculation program 522 will be described. First, parameters are defined as follows. Average discount rate is ave, minimum discount rate is min, maximum discount rate is max
And Here, min ≦ ave ≦ max, and in general, (ave−min) = (max−ave), and the distance between the minimum and maximum discount rates that can vary from the average discount rate is equal. Naturally, the distances may not be equal.

In the random function, if a value equal to or more than min and equal to or less than max is given evenly, and if the value is X, this X is a discount rate that can be obtained by the customer. The fluctuation rate is, for example, a = (ave−min) = (max−av)
e). In the case of a fixed discount, a = 0, that is, ave = min = max. The high fluctuation means that a is larger than the general fluctuation. For example, assuming that the average discount rate is 0.3, the general variable discount sets the minimum discount rate to 0.
2. The maximum discount rate can be 0.4, the minimum discount rate can be 0, the maximum discount rate can be 0.6, etc. for high-variation discounts.

Next, how to give X using a random function will be described. For example, rando, a function of the C language
In m (), a value from 0 to a maximum value (for example, 65535) can be given with a uniform probability. At this time, rando
A value obtained by dividing m () by the maximum value rand = random () / maximum is a number from 0 to 1. Here, as a way of giving X, it is possible to obtain rand several times, and to satisfy the condition of not less than min and not more than max at first.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the program for causing the computer of the merchandise sales server to execute the net sales method according to the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium (FD, CD-ROM,
MO, etc.). By installing the program recorded on the recording medium on the computer of the server, the intended function of the product sales server as described in the embodiment is achieved. It should be noted that this type of program may be pre-installed on the computer of the product sales server. In addition, goods are not limited to goods, and include intangible goods such as services.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The customer can select a desired form from a variety of discount forms, and in particular, a high discount rate can be expected in the case of a variable discount, thereby increasing the interest of the customer. As a result, the customer's willingness to purchase is increased, and the online retailer has a great advantage of increasing sales. Further, by changing the discount rate-related conditions depending on the time, it is possible to wake up the psychology of the customer who wants to purchase at low cost and increase the number of visits to the homepage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a net sales system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an example of an operation sequence between a terminal and a product sales server according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a display example of a customer terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a product sales server according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a processing flowchart after a discount method is received by a product sales server.

FIG. 6 is a display example of a customer terminal in a conventional Internet sales system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Customer terminal 110 Internet 120 Product sales server 300 First screen (product page screen) 301 Product picture 302 Product description 303 Base price 304 Discount description 305 Discount method selection button 310 Second screen (product order screen) 311 Order data 312 Price 313 Confirm button

Claims (9)

[Claims] In a net sales method for selling a product by constructing a product sales server on the Internet, the product sales server presents to the customer a stochastic variable discount form of the discount rate of the price of the product to be sold. A purchase price is determined by calculating a discount rate based on a predetermined probability distribution when the purchase of the product is confirmed. 2. The net sales method according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise sales server presents the customer with a plurality of variable discount forms having different fluctuation ranges, and when the customer selects the discount form and confirms the purchase of the goods, A net sales method comprising calculating a discount rate based on a probability distribution corresponding to the selected discount form and determining a commodity price. 3. The net sales method according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise sales server presents to the customer a fixed-rate start mode in addition to the stochastic variable discount mode of the discount rate of the target product price, An internet sales method characterized by determining a commodity price at a predetermined discount rate when a customer selects a fixed rate start mode. 4. The net sales method according to claim 1, wherein a parameter value of the probability distribution is changed as time passes. 5. A net sales system in which a merchandise sales server is constructed on the Internet and merchandise is sold by receiving access from a customer terminal, wherein the merchandise sales server has a probabilistic variable discount form of a discount rate of a target merchandise price To the customer terminal, and a means for calculating the discount rate based on a predetermined probability distribution, determining the commodity price, and sending it to the customer terminal when confirming the purchase of the product from the customer terminal. And Internet sales system. 6. The net sales system according to claim 5, wherein the merchandise sales server sends a plurality of variable discount forms having different fluctuation ranges to the customer terminal, and selects the discount form from the customer terminal, When the purchase is confirmed, there is provided a means for calculating a discount rate based on a probability distribution corresponding to the selected discount form and determining a commodity price. 7. The net sales system according to claim 5, wherein the merchandise sales server sends a fixed-rate discount form to the customer terminal in addition to the stochastic variable discount form of the discount rate of the sale target commodity price. And a product price is determined at a predetermined discount rate when a fixed rate discount mode is selected from the customer terminal. 8. A program for causing a computer of a merchandise sales server to execute the net sales method according to claim 1. 9. A recording medium on which a program for causing a computer of a merchandise sales server to execute the net sales method according to claim 1 is recorded.