JP2003288510A - Apparatus and method for supporting selection of subordinate article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To contribute to prevention against an omission of purchase and wrong purchase by facilitating the selection of an article in online shopping. <P>SOLUTION: The selection support apparatus for subordinate articles is provided with a DB in which a plurality of articles are classified by article sections showing main articles and subordinate articles used in subordination to the main articles like a main body and options or consumption articles and further the main articles are classified by a plurality of article categories and stored. Once the article section of a desired article and the article category of a main article are specified, a list of main articles belonging to the specified article category is displayed. When a main article is selected, articles which match the main article and belong to the specified article section are searched for in the DB and presented to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product selection method, and more particularly to a product selection method suitable for use in an online shopping system and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of the Internet, online shopping is rapidly expanding. Ordinary online shopping is performed by visiting a home page selling products, selecting a product on the home page, and inputting payment information.

[0003]

In the conventional online shopping, it is necessary for the user to decide the purchased product by himself, find the purchased product on an unfamiliar home page, and place an order. However, general users do not have enough knowledge about all products and their homepages. For example, when purchasing a certain product, even if it is necessary or desired to simultaneously purchase the options and consumables of the product, the user may not notice and may not order. On the other hand, you may accidentally order something you don't need. In addition, although there are options and consumables among the products, these products must be selected to match the main product, and further,
Be extremely difficult.

In addition, even if the product to be ordered is somehow decided,
It may be difficult to find the product on the website.

[0005] In such a case, the dealer / door-to-door sales can receive advice. But,
As described above, online shopping cannot receive such a service, which makes online shopping inconvenient. Also, the advice at the dealers and door-to-door sales is personal, and it was difficult to receive high-quality, uniform advice.

Further, even a business operator having a normal sales network can organically combine information obtained through a general sales network (sales network, service point network) and information obtained through online shopping. It was not linked and the utilization of information was insufficient.

[0007] Further, the payment method in online shopping is a credit card or a transfer. on the other hand,
Bills, cash, and transfers are the main methods of settlement in ordinary business transactions, and there is a problem in that the accounting process becomes complicated in terms of settlement by the business operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to facilitate selection of products.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a highly convenient online shopping system.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a subordinate commodity selection support device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a subordinate commodity that is used as a main commodity and a subordinate commodity. And further divides the main product into a plurality of product categories and stores the product information in association with each other, a designating unit for designating the product category of the main product, and a product category designated by the designating unit. Main product list display means for displaying a list of main products belonging to, a selection means for selecting any main product from the list of main products, and a subordinate product matching the main product selected by the selection means. And a search means for searching from the product information storage means.

For example, the product information storage means stores a main product and a consumable item used in the main product in association with each other, and the search means matches the main product selected by the selection means. The consumable product to be used is retrieved from the product information storage means and output.

For example, in response to the purchase target product designating means for designating that the purchase target product is a consumable product and the designation by the purchase target product designating means that the purchase target product is a consumable product, A product category list display means for displaying a list of product categories of main products to be used may be further arranged. In this case, for example, the designating unit designates an arbitrary product category from the product category list, and the searching unit finds a consumable item matching the main product selected from the list of main products by the selecting unit. It is retrieved from the product information storage means and output.

The merchandise information storage means classifies and stores a plurality of merchandise into merchandise categories indicating a main merchandise and an optional merchandise used as an option of the main merchandise and / or a consumable item of the main merchandise.

Purchasing target subordinate product category designating means for designating the product category of the subordinate product to be purchased, and a main product using the subordinate product of the designated product category in response to the designation by the purchase target product category designating means. The product category list display means for displaying the list of the product categories may be further arranged. In this case, for example, the purchase target product classification designating unit designates an arbitrary product category from the product category list, and the searching unit selects the main product selected from the main product list by the selecting unit. The subordinate merchandise which is suitable and belongs to the category designated by the purchase subject commodity category designating means is retrieved from the commodity information storage means and outputted.

For example, the designating means includes means for accepting designation of a merchandise category from a customer via a network, and the main merchandise list display means for listing the main merchandise belonging to the merchandise category designated by the designating means. A signal for selecting a main product from the list of the main products displayed by the main product list display means, the device including means for transmitting a signal for displaying a list via a network. Means for accepting

Even if a search product presenting means for presenting a list of subordinate products searched for by the search means, and a purchase application accepting means for accepting a purchase application for the product presented by the search product presenting means are further arranged. Good.

In order to achieve the above object, the second aspect of the present invention
The subordinate product selection support method according to the above aspect transmits the list of the product categories of the main product via the network, and receives the selection of the product category from the list of the transmitted product categories via the network. In response to the selection of the product category, the list of the main products belonging to the selected category is transmitted via the network, and the selection of the main product from the list of the transmitted main products is accepted via the network. In response to the selection, the list of subordinate products that match the selected product and are used subordinate to the main product is transmitted via the network. An application for purchasing a product selected from the list of transmitted dependent products may be accepted via the network.

A computer program according to a third aspect of the present invention transmits a list of product categories of main products to a computer or a group of computers via a network, and selects a product from the list of transmitted product categories. The selection of the category is accepted via the network, and in response to the accepted selection of the product category, the list of the main products belonging to the selected category is transmitted via the network, and the main product is selected from the list of the transmitted main products. A selection of a product is accepted via the network, and in response to the selection of the product, a list of subordinate products that match the selected product and are used subordinate to the main product is transmitted via the network. Let the process run.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A selling system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Hereinafter, referring to the drawings,
A system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This system is a system that can promote the network shopping service while maintaining and developing the existing dealer network.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a network system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 1, this system is a corporate network system 1 owned by a business entity such as a company / organization, the Internet 2 open to the public, and a client terminal (customer's terminal) 31 (terminal of a customer) connected to the Internet 2. 31 ₁ ~
31 _n ).

The in-company network system 1 is composed of an intranet or the like, and the in-company network (LA
N, WAN) 3 and a plurality of store terminals 11 (11 _{1 to} 11 _m ) connected to each other and a store DB 21 (21 _1).
-21 _m ), a management server 13, a management DB 23, a shopping server 15, and a shopping DB 25.

The store terminal 11 is a terminal installed in a store, a service store, or the like owned or contracted by the business entity, for processing the business of each store. Each store DB (database) 21 is a DB for each store to process the business of its own store. The store terminal 11 and the store DB (database) 21 have the configurations shown in FIG. Store terminal 11
As shown in FIG. 2, the communication control unit 111, the processing control unit 112, the data storage unit 113, and the input processing unit 114.
And a display processing unit 115.

The communication control section 111 is for transmitting and receiving various kinds of information via the corporate network 3 under the control of the processing control section 112.

The processing control unit 112 communicates via the communication control unit 111 according to the instruction input from the input processing unit 114, and also processes various kinds of information related to the business in the store. Further, the processing control unit 111 creates image information,
It is supplied to the display processing unit 115.

The data storage unit 113 is composed of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk recording device, etc., and records various information and programs.

The input processing unit 114 is composed of a keyboard, a pointing device, etc., and is for inputting instructions and data. The display processing unit 115 includes a display device, a video memory, and the like, and the processing control unit 1
The image according to the image information supplied from 12 is displayed,
Present (output) information etc.

On the other hand, the store DB 21 is the customer DB 211.
And a sales DB 212 and a billing DB 213.

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the customer DB 211 stores the basic information D about the customer of the own store.
B, and stores information such as customer ID, name, address, corporate / individual, customer classification, sales person, recommended product, and message in charge. Here, the customer ID is customer identification information, and unique information is set for each customer. The customer classification indicates the degree of excellence of the customer. Depending on the customer category, the discount rate or coupon for the product price for that customer is determined. The customer category is set by, for example, a salesperson. The recommended product is set by the person in charge who wants to recommend the product to the customer. As the sales staff message, a short message from the sales staff member of each customer is set.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the sales DB 212 stores the product code, quantity, unit price, purchaser code, sales staff code, etc. of the sold product in units of one commercial transaction. Since the sales information is recorded in the unit of one commercial transaction, it is possible to determine the products (product group) purchased at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the billing DB 213 is a DB for accumulating billing information for one month and issuing a bill. For each customer, the sale date, the sale item, the quantity,
Information such as unit price (provided price), person in charge (in case of corporation), etc. is set. It should be noted that in this system, even when a corporation purchases a product by online shopping using the Internet, a bill is issued collectively at the store in charge. Therefore, the same information is set for sales through online shopping, and a flag (net? Y) indicating that the sales is through online shopping.
ES, NO) is set.

Management server 13 and management DB 23 shown in FIG.
Is a computer system for processing the business of the entire enterprise. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the management server 13 includes a communication control unit 131, a processing control unit 132, a data storage unit 133, an input processing unit 134, and a display processing unit 13.
5 and. Communication control unit 131 and processing control unit 1
32, a data storage unit 133, an input processing unit 134,
The configuration and functions of the display processing unit 135 are basically the same as those of the communication control unit 111 of the store terminal 11, the processing control unit 112,
The data storage unit 113, the input processing unit 114, and the display processing unit 115 have the same configurations and functions. However, the function of the processing control unit 132 is specialized for processing the management business of the entire business entity.

On the other hand, the management DB 23 is for totalizing and managing various data of the whole enterprise, and FIG.
As shown in, the product master DB 231 and the customer master D
B232, related goods master DB233, and sales master DB234 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the product master DB 231 stores product codes, product names, product description contents, reference unit prices, product categories, link information, etc. of all products handled by this business entity. ing.

Here, the product category is information indicating whether the product belongs to "main body", "option" or "consumable item". "Body" usually means the primary commodity used alone. "Option" usually means
It means a product that is not used alone but is attached and connected to the main body. By "consumable item" is meant something that is not normally used alone, but which is attached to the main body or option and whose amount decreases with use. For example, taking a copying machine as an example, the copying machine itself is a main body, a feeder mounted on the copying machine, a sorter, a communication device, and a power supply device are optional, and toner and PPC paper are consumable items. Taking a digital camera as an example, the camera itself is a main body, a cable connecting the camera and a personal computer and communication software are optional, and a flash memory card for storing images and a battery are consumable items.

The link information is the other merchandise category, and information usable for the merchandise is registered. For example, in the case of "main body", product codes of options and consumables suitable for the main body are registered. Similarly, in the case of "option", the product code of the main body to which the option conforms and the product code of consumables conforming to the option are registered. If it is a “consumable item”, the product code of the main body or the option to which the consumable item is compatible is registered. In the example of FIG. 5A, C203 is given as a consumable item that can be used for the product having the product code A123 as the main body. Therefore, in the link information of the product code C203, A123 is listed as a compatible main body.

Based on the product category and the link information, each product is classified into one of the product categories, and the products having the matching relationship are linked to each other. With this, for example, if you specify the model of the main body, you can select the product in a format that specifies the options or consumables that match the main body.
It is also possible to specify. Also, specify the product category,
It is also possible to select and specify a product that matches a certain product within the product category.

The customer master DB 232 records customer information regarding all customers of this company. The contents are shown in Figure 5.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the customer DB 211 shown in FIG.
Is similar to. However, it also records information on the products (devices) owned by each customer.

The related product master DB 233 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), a product or the like that is highly likely to be purchased at the same time or is desirable to be purchased at the same time is recorded.

For example, it is considered that a certain product is related to the options and consumables of the product. Further, for example, when a digital camera is purchased, it is desirable to purchase software for editing / processing a captured image or a printer for printing the processed image. Therefore, these products are related products. in this way,
When the relationship is clear in advance, the person in charge sets the related information about the related product in the area 233A of the related product master DB 233 by the input processing unit 134.

On the other hand, even if the person in charge of this system does not notice the relation, when many people purchase the product, it is often desirable to purchase the product at the same time. Therefore, the processing control unit 132 checks the past sales history, and if the ratio of products sold at the same time exceeds a predetermined value, for example, 5%, the relationship between both products is displayed in the area 233B of the related product master DB 233. Register the related information shown.

In the sales master DB 234, information on the sales of the entire business is set, and the sales data of all stores are accumulated. Its structure is basically as shown in FIG.
The structure is the same as that of the sales DB 212 of each store shown in (b), and sales information in units of one commercial transaction is registered.
Therefore, from the contents of the sales master DB 234, the products sold at the same time can be discriminated.

The shopping server 15 and the shopping DB 25 shown in FIG. 1 are systems for processing network shopping (online shopping) via the Internet and have the configuration shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shopping server 15 includes a communication control section 151, a processing control section 152, a data storage section 153, an input processing section 154, and a display processing section 1.
55 and.

Communication control section 151 and processing control section 152
The configuration and functions of the data storage unit 153, the input processing unit 154, and the display processing unit 155 are basically the same as those of the communication control unit 111, the process control unit 112, and the data storage unit 113 of the store terminal 11. The input processing unit 114 and the display processing unit 1
It is the same as the configuration and function with 15. However, the function of the processing control unit 152 is specialized in functions such as operation of a website for online shopping and sales processing.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shopping DB 25 is an internet member DB 251, a material DB 252, a homepage DB 253, a product DB 254, and a sales DB 25.
5, a billing DB 256, and a related product DB 257.

The online member DB 251 is a database that records information about online shopping members (Internet members). As shown in FIG. 7, the ID, name, and
The name, address, corporate / individual, email address, password, and owned device are set. Further, in the case of a corporation, customer categories, sales staff (store + person in charge), recommended products, messages from sales, etc. are set. The ID is identification information of the member. In the case of a corporation, the same ID is used as the ID used at the dealer / service store. The name and address are the name, address, and location of the member. The mail address is an e-mail address (E-mail address) of the member. The password is,
This is a password for the member to log in to the online shopping service.

For corporate members, the mail address and password of each person in charge of the company (for example, a person in the general affairs department or purchasing department) is registered. The owned device is information on a device (main body) owned by the member. In the case of a member who only makes online shopping and does not carry out transactions at the store, the products that were previously sold by online shopping are set. On the other hand, for a corporate member who also uses transactions in a store, information on the owned device is set based on the history of both the sale in the store and the sale in online shopping. The number of persons in charge may be plural, and as many sets of email addresses and passwords as the number of persons in charge are set. In addition, the message from the customer classification, sales staff, recommended products, and sales that are set in the case of a corporation are the store DB2.
The same information as that set in one customer DB 211 is set.

The material DB 252 stores images of various materials for creating a home page. For example, the face image of each sales representative, the image of the product, the catchphrase, various forms, etc. are stored.

The homepage DB 253 stores various homepages necessary for providing the online shopping service. The product DB 254 is a database of products handled in this online shopping, and has the same configuration as the product master DB 231. The sales DB 255 is the sales DB 212 of each store (Fig. 3 (b)).
The sales information is registered for each transaction. The billing DB 256 stores billing data relating to online shopping sales. In this system,
The billing to the corporate member is made by the bill from the sales office in charge, even if the sales are made through online shopping. Therefore, only the billing information of individual members is registered in the billing DB 256.

Of the related product information registered in the related product master DB 233 of the management DB 23, only the information on the products handled by the online shopping service is copied to the related product DB 257.

(Operation) Next, daily business activities using the system having the above configuration will be described. (Operation at the store) The sales staff at each store
Contact customers, sell products and develop new customers.

When a new sales (order) is generated, the person in charge of the store registers the sales (order) contents in the sales DB 212 in the store DB 21 from the store terminal 11. At this time, 1
One transaction number is set for a plurality of products traded in one commercial transaction. In addition, when a new customer is cultivated by a salesperson, information about that customer is stored in the customer DB.
Register to 211.

The sales staff appropriately sets the customer classification (customer excellence) of the corporation, the recommended products suitable for the characteristics of the customer, the message to the customer, etc. for the corporation in charge of himself / herself.

The management server 13, for example, at midnight,
Access the store DB 21 and shopping DB 25 of each store, read the updated information (difference data),
The management DB 23 is updated.

For example, the sales master DB 23 for the sales of the day
Register in 4. Further, when the number of main devices owned by each customer (products whose product category corresponds to the main product) increases due to this sales, “owned product” in the customer master DB 232.
Add to the column. Further, when the customer information is changed or a new customer is generated, the customer master DB 232
To update.

Further, the management server 13 determines that the customer D of each store
The customer classification of the corporate customer, recommended products, sales staff messages, etc. collected from B211 via the shopping server 15 are online member DB251 in the shopping DB25.
Set to. Further, the management server 13 generates related product information from the updated contents of the sales master DB 234 (a generation method will be described later), and the related product master DB.
Set to 233. Further, of the updated related product information, only information related to online shopping is recorded in the related product DB 257 via the shopping server 15.

(Online Shopping Service) (Advance Registration) In order for a corporate customer to use the online shopping service, it is necessary to register in advance at a business store or the like. A corporate customer specifies a person in charge to register for online shopping through a salesperson or the like. There may be multiple persons in charge for one corporation, and the pairs of email addresses and passwords for each person are specified. The information described in the registration application form is forwarded to the administrator of the shopping server 15 and is registered in, for example, the net member DB 251 shown in FIG. Further, the information such as the customer classification is set to a value determined by the sales person in order to maintain consistency with the service at each sales office. These processes are executed by contacting each other between the sales person in each store and the manager of the shopping server 15.

On the other hand, the individual customer accesses the member registration homepage of the site operated by the shopping server 15 from his or her own client terminal 31 via the ISP (Internet service provider) and the Internet 2 (not shown). Then, on this member registration homepage, you will register your e-mail address, address / name, payment method, etc. A password is issued to each registered individual. The shopping server 15 attaches the member ID to these pieces of information and registers them in the online member DB 251.

(Operation of Online Shopping) Next,
The operation when actually performing online shopping will be described. When an arbitrary user accesses the home page login screen provided by the shopping server 15 from the client terminal 31 of his / her own via the Internet, the shopping server 15 stores a page (HTML format information) as shown in FIG. 8 in the home page DB 253. Read from the client terminal 31 and transmitted to the client terminal 31.

This page has a login name (registered mail address), password, and corporate ID in the upper frame.
An input field for inputting is placed, and the system has a structure in which an advertisement of a recommended product defined by the system is displayed in the lower part.

The user inputs necessary items on this screen and clicks "send". That is, if the user is an individual, enter the e-mail address and password and click send. If the user is a corporation, enter the email address and password of the person in charge and the corporation ID. When the user enters the necessary information and clicks "Send",
The input items are notified to the shopping server 15 via the Internet 2.

In response to the notification, the shopping server 15 starts the processing shown in FIG. 9, and first determines whether the input information is registered in the net member DB 251 (step S11).

In the case of a corporate user, it is necessary that the corporate ID be registered and that the entered mail address and password pair be set in the corporate ID. Thereby, the corporation and the person in charge thereof are specified. If not registered, information (HTML document) of a page (not shown) guiding the registration procedure is transmitted to the client terminal 31 and displayed on the client terminal 31 (step S12).

On the other hand, if registered, the sales representative of the sales office in charge of this customer, the customer classification, the owned device, the recommended product, and the sales representative message are registered from the Internet member DB 251. Read out (step S13). Next, the image of the salesperson and the image of the recommended product determined in step S13 are read from the material DB 252 (step S14).

Next, from the information about the owned device read out in step S13 and the related information recorded in the related product DB 257, the consumable item suitable for the device owned by the logged-in member is determined, and the consumed product is further consumed. Information about the product is read from the material DB 252. Furthermore, step S
Calculate the discount rate d corresponding to the customer category read in 13,
The offer price (reference unit price x (1-d)) considering the discount rate is obtained (step S15).

Next, these pieces of information are arranged to form an HTML sentence as shown in FIG.
And display it (step S16).

The page shown in FIG. 10 is divided into four frames: upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right. The table of contents of this site is arranged in the upper part of the left frame, and this member is in charge of the lower part. Information about the sales representatives is displayed, a message from the sales representatives to the customer is arranged in the upper part of the right frame, and an image of the product recommended by the sales representatives to the customers is displayed below the message. Further, in the lower part of the right frame, information (including a price to be provided) regarding the consumables of the device owned by the customer is displayed (recommendation of the consumables).

The member can purchase a necessary product by using the shopping cart model on this page or by jumping to an arbitrary page. For example, when any of the consumable items displayed as recommended products in the right frame of the page shown in FIG. 10 is selected, the shopping server 15 adds the product to a so-called shopping cart.

When the user wants to purchase the main body, he / she clicks "Main body" in the left frame. The character string “main body” is linked to a page for displaying a list of main bodies by category as shown in FIG. 11 by the HTML technology, and the display jumps to this page. Further, when the user selects any category (commodity category), the shopping server 15, as shown in FIG.
Generate a page to display a specific product description and the price offered to this customer (reference price x (1-discount rate)),
It is transmitted to the client terminal 31 and displayed.

Similarly, to purchase the “option” or “consumable item”, the user clicks “option” or “consumable item” in the left frame of the page shown in FIG. Then, the page jumps to a page handling "options" or "consumables" as shown in FIG. 13 or 14.
Further, when a category is selected, a list of body products is displayed as shown in FIG. When any one is selected, the shopping server 15 stores the products belonging to this category, the description thereof and the reference price in the product DB 254 as in the case of FIG.
Search from. Next, in step S13,
The discount rate d is calculated from the customer classification, and the description of each product and the price provided to this customer (reference price x (1-discount rate)) are calculated.
Next, the information of each product read from the material DB 252 and the obtained offer price are combined to generate a page in the format shown in FIG. 12, which is transmitted to the client terminal 31 and displayed.

As described above, a plurality of routes for the user to reach the desired product (mainly options or consumables) are prepared.

The first route is to select a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → main body category (main body product type)
Screen is displayed (Fig. 13) → Select a category → A list of models of the main unit belonging to that category is displayed → Select a model → Applicable to that model and the selected product category A list of products belonging to is displayed → product selection.

On the second route, a product category is selected (left frame in FIG. 10). A screen (FIG. 14) for selecting a category (product type) of a product belonging to the product category is displayed.
The route is to select a category, display a list of products belonging to that category, and select a product.

The third route is to select a main body as a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → select a category → a list of main bodies is displayed → select an appropriate main body and specify "product category" → A list of options or consumables suitable for the main body is displayed, and the route is product selection.

The fourth route is to select a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → main body category (main body product type)
Screen (Fig. 11) is displayed → Select a category → A list of the models of the main unit that belong to that category is displayed (Fig. 12) → For any model, the product category of the subordinate product (subordinate product) Select (Options or Consumables) →
The route is such that a list of products that match the selected model and belong to the specified product category is displayed → product selection.

The fifth route is a method of designating a product code (may be a product name). When a product code is entered in a predetermined input frame and “Search” is clicked, the shopping server 15 searches for and displays the corresponding product from the product DB 254.

It is assumed that the user puts an arbitrary product in the shopping cart (that is, indicates the purchase intention) on any screen. In response to this operation, the shopping server 15 starts the process of FIG. 16, and first determines whether or not the product put in the cart is registered in the related product DB 257 (step S21). If it has not been registered, the process ends.

On the other hand, if registered, the product associated with the product put in the shopping cart is discriminated (step S22), the image data of the product is read from the material DB 252, and the offer price is calculated. (Step S23), and a display image is further formed and displayed (step S24). That is, the products to be purchased at the same time as the products placed in the cart or the products (related products) having a strong tendency to be generally purchased at the same time are displayed as shown in FIG. 18 to prevent the user from forgetting the order. The user determines whether to purchase the displayed product and proceeds with the process.

When the selection of the product is completed, or during the selection of the product, the user appropriately refers to the "contents of the cart" page to confirm the current purchase state as shown in FIG. You can Shoppin server 15
Creates the screen shown in FIG. 17 based on the product for which “Add to cart” is designated, and the quantity and unit price (provided price) thereof.

When the user confirms the contents of the cart and orders a product, he / she clicks on "To order procedure". Then, based on the pre-registration, a display for confirming the destination and the payment method is displayed. When the user confirms the content and clicks “go”, the delivery destination and the payment method are confirmed, and the necessary processing is performed for each.

For example, an order form on which information specifying the purchased product, the number of products, the unit price, the shipping destination, etc. is printed is output. In addition, the purchased DB and the purchase mode are displayed in the sales DB2.
Register at 55. This sales information is collected in the management DB 23 by batch processing on the night of the day, for example. Management server 1
3 updates the information of the owned device of each user and the information on the products sold at the same time based on the collected data.

If the purchaser is a corporation, it is necessary to combine the sales of online shopping with the sales of the store in charge to form an invoice. Therefore, the management server 13 stores the sales information in the online shopping,
Transmit to the store in charge. At the store, the information provided by the management server 13 is added to the bill for the customer on the bill DB 213. At this time, a flag indicating that the sales are made through online shopping is turned on (online? YES).

As a result, each store terminal 11 gives each customer
Issue invoices that mix bills for store sales and online shopping. The form of the invoice is arbitrary, and for example, the invoice amount may be the total value of the sales amount at the store and the sales amount at the online shopping, or the invoice (or specification) due to the sales at the store and the online shopping. It may be clearly distinguished from the billing details for sale in.

For example, the management server 13 periodically checks the contents of the sales master DB 234 and updates the contents of the related product master DB 233. That is, the management server 13
Checks the sales history (sales history) registered in the sales master DB 234 within a certain past period, and extracts products that are being sold at the same time. Then, by statistical processing, when one product is sold, a combination of products in which the probability that the other product can be sold is a reference value, for example, 5% or more is extracted. Then, the extracted product set is registered in the related product master DB 233. Updated related product master DB
233 is referred to when a necessary part is duplicated in the related product DB 257 in the shopping DB 25 and the user next puts a product, which is online shopping, into the shopping cart.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can enjoy the online shopping service while enjoying the service at the existing store / service store or the door-to-door sales service. it can. Moreover, the service contents such as the discount rate set by the customer through the store transaction are also utilized in the online shopping.

Also, based on the purchase history of the user, the consumables and optional products used by the product purchased and owned by the user are discriminated and presented to the user. Therefore, the user can purchase consumables and options without going through complicated procedures. Furthermore, when purchasing consumables and options, it is very easy to select a product.

Further, when a certain product is purchased, the related product is presented, so that the purchase omission can be prevented.

In addition, as information for logging in, in the case of a corporation (business), the business itself has an ID (company ID).
Is added, and the ID and password of the person in charge of purchasing are set therein. Generally, when an ID and a password are given to a company and these are simply used in the company, these pieces of information are easily leaked to the outside,
It can also cause malicious third parties to commit fraud. But,
In this embodiment, since the password is the password of the person in charge of purchasing, there is little risk that the ID and password will be leaked to the outside. Further, it is possible to clearly distinguish the case of purchasing a product as a person in charge of a corporation from the case of purchasing a product as an individual.

Further, since the business entity having a transaction on the sales outlet network purchases a product by online shopping, the demand from the sales outlet is unified, so that the customer receives the request from two locations. Inconvenience and inconvenience can be prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and applications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the store system for selling goods and the online shopping system are integrated,
The target of sale is arbitrary, and for example, a system similar to a store system and an online shopping system for providing digital contents (video, music, etc.), services and the like can be applied.

Further, in the above embodiment, the products are classified into three types of “main body”, “option”, and “consumable item”, but the classification method is arbitrary, and the main product and the subordinate products It can be arbitrarily divided into and.

The configuration of the server and DB can be changed arbitrarily. For example, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, for easy understanding, it is explained that one store terminal 11 is installed in each store, but a plurality of store terminals connected to a LAN or the like is provided in each store. May be installed. The management server 13 and the shopping server 15 may also be composed of a plurality of servers that operate in cooperation with each other. Further, the configuration of the DB is not limited to the above configuration, two or more DBs may be integrated, or one DB may be functionally divided into a plurality of DBs. In addition, duplicate data may be deleted. For example, in the above embodiment, the related product master DB
233 does not set the relationship between the main body and the options and consumables, and these relationships are described in the product master DB 231.
You may specify from the content of.

Alternatively, the related product master DB 233 may not be arranged, and information about the related product may be processed by the related product DB 257. Similarly, the product master DB 231
May not have the link information of the product, and the link information may be set only in the product DB 254.

Further, in the above embodiment, the sales staff of each store set the recommended products and messages set in the customer DB 211 on the home page. However, the sales staff directly access the shopping DB 25 to make a recommendation. You may register products and messages. Alternatively, an e-mail containing these pieces of information may be transmitted to the shopping server, necessary items may be cut out from the e-mail, and may be posted on the home page. Further, with respect to the discount rate based on the customer category, the rate may differ between store sales and online shopping.

All or part of the programs required for causing a computer or a group of computers to function as the above-mentioned system or to execute the above-mentioned steps is recorded on a recording medium (ROM, flexible disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, MO, CD-R, flash memory, etc. may be recorded and distributed.

[0095]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Products can be easily selected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a sales online shopping system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a store terminal and a store DB installed in each store.

3A is a diagram showing a configuration of a customer DB in the store DB, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a configuration of a sales DB in the store DB, and FIG. 3C is a diagram in the store DB. It is a figure which shows the structure of billing DB of.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing configurations of a management server and a management DB.

5A is a diagram showing a configuration of a product master DB in the management DB, and FIG. 5B is a customer master D in the management DB.
It is a figure which shows the structure of B, (c) is a figure which shows the structure of related goods master DB in management DB.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing configurations of a shopping server and a shopping DB.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of an online member DB in the shopping DB.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen for online shopping provided by the shopping server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a shopping server when logging in.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a page edited for a customer, which is displayed after login.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a main body in online shopping.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a copying machine in online shopping.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting an option in online shopping.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a consumable item in online shopping.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting options of a digital camera whose product category is “main body” in online shopping.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing executed by a shopping server when an item is put in a shopping cart in online shopping.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for confirming the contents of a shopping cart.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for recommending related products in online shopping.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Corporate network system 2 Internet 3 Corporate network

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Fukichi Okochi             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Tsukasa Fukudome             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Torikai Tatsuno             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Hiroshi Hosoda             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Shirai             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Eiji Shinohara             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Sachiko Triangle             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Akihiro Nishida             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Takuya Tozen             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Ohno             1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Ricoh

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. Product information storage means for classifying products into a main product and subordinate products used subordinate to the main product, further dividing the main product into a plurality of product categories, and storing them in association with each other. A main product list display unit for displaying a list of main products belonging to the product category specified by the specification unit; A subordinate product selection support device comprising: a selection unit that selects a product; and a search unit that retrieves a subordinate product that matches the main product selected by the selection unit from the product information storage unit. 2. The product information storage unit stores a main product and a consumable item used in the main product in association with each other, and the search unit matches the main product selected by the selection unit. The subordinate product selection support device according to claim 1, wherein the consumable product to be used is retrieved from the product information storage unit and output. 3. A purchase target product designating means for designating that the purchase target product is a consumable product, and a consumable product in response to the designation by the purchase target product designating means that the purchase target product is a consumable product. Product category list display means for displaying a list of product categories of main products to be used, wherein the designating means designates an arbitrary product category from the product category list, and the searching means selects the selection The subordinate product selection support device according to claim 2, wherein a consumable item suitable for the main product selected from the list of main products by the means is retrieved from the product information storage means and output. 4. The product information storage means stores a plurality of products.
The subordinate merchandise according to claim 1, wherein the main merchandise and the option merchandise used as an option of the main merchandise and / or the consumable goods of the main merchandise are classified and stored. Support device. 5. A purchase target subordinate product category designating unit that designates a product category of a subordinate product to be purchased, and a subordinate product of the designated product category is used in response to the designation by the purchase target product category designating unit. And a product category list display means for displaying a list of product categories of main products, wherein the purchase target product category designating means designates an arbitrary product category from the product category list, and the searching means A subordinate product that matches the main product selected from the list of main products by the selection unit and that belongs to the category designated by the purchase target product category designation unit is output from the product information storage unit; The subordinate product selection support device according to claim 4, wherein 6. The designating means, via a network,
The main product list display means sends a signal for displaying a list of main products belonging to the product category specified by the specifying means via a network. The selection means comprises means for accepting a signal for selecting an arbitrary main product from the list of the main products displayed by the main product list display means. 5. The subordinate product selection support device according to any one of 5 above. 7. A search product presenting means for presenting a list of subordinate products searched for by the search means, and means for accepting a purchase application for the product presented by the search product presenting means. Any one of claims 1 to 6
Subordinate product selection support device according to paragraph. 8. A list of product categories of main products is transmitted via a network, and a selection of a product category from the list of transmitted product categories is accepted via the network. In response to the selection of the accepted product category. Then, the list of main products belonging to the selected category is sent via the network, the selection of the main product from the list of the sent main products is accepted via the network, and in response to the selection of the main product, A method of selecting a dependent product, characterized in that a list of dependent products that match the selected product and are used as a subordinate to the main product is transmitted via a network. 9. The method for selecting a dependent product according to claim 9, wherein an application for purchasing a product selected from the list of the sent dependent products is accepted via a network. 10. A product category list of main products is transmitted to a computer or a group of computers via a network, and a selection of a product category from the transmitted product category list is accepted via the network, and the accepted product category is received. In response to the selection of the category, the list of main products belonging to the selected category is sent via the network, and the selection of the main product from the list of the sent main products is accepted via the network, and the product selection is made. A computer program for executing a process, in response to, transmitting a list of subordinate products that match the selected product and are used subordinate to the main product via the network.