KR102713486B1 - Method and apparatus for providing delivery supply-demand level information associated with delivery service - Google Patents

Abstract

An information providing method in an electronic device providing a delivery service according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: identifying a target area; identifying statistical information related to delivery for the target area; identifying recent information corresponding to a current time related to delivery for the target area; identifying a delivery supply and demand level based on the statistical information and the recent information; and providing information related to the delivery supply and demand level.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING DELIVERY SUPPLY-DEMAND LEVEL INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH DELIVERY SERVICE

The present invention relates to a method and a device for providing information related to a delivery supply and demand level. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a device for confirming a delivery supply and demand level based on past statistical information for a target area and recent information corresponding to the current time and providing information related thereto.

As Internet use becomes more widespread, the e-commerce and food delivery service markets are expanding. In particular, as infectious diseases spread, the proportion of people visiting offline restaurants to eat is decreasing, and the proportion of people ordering food through food delivery service applications using smartphones is rapidly increasing.

As online ordering and delivery of various items, including food, becomes more common, fulfilling customer orders more quickly and efficiently is becoming a key factor in determining a service's reputation.

In this regard, if we know the assignment delay time from the time when the delivery person starts to request an assignment for the customer's order to the time when the delivery person accepts the delivery of the customer's order, we can roughly understand the supply and demand of delivery people. For example, if the assignment delay time is long, it can be predicted that the supply is insufficient compared to the demand for delivery people, and if the assignment delay time is short, it can be predicted that there is sufficient supply to meet the demand for delivery people. Therefore, based on this assignment delay time, we can determine whether the demand and supply of delivery people are appropriate, and if it is determined that the supply of delivery people in a specific area is not appropriate, the delivery service provider can implement a promotion to attract delivery people to the area, etc., so that delivery can be made more quickly, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

However, since the demand for delivery and the supply of delivery agents can vary depending on the geographical area and time period, it is inefficient to simply decide whether to implement a promotion based on the allocation delay time.

In this regard, reference may be made to prior literature such as KR 10-2385838 B1 and KR 10-2475253 B1.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method and device for providing information related to a delivery supply and demand level to solve the above-described problem.

More specifically, the present invention aims to enable efficient distribution of delivery personnel by determining delivery supply and demand levels using past statistical information and recent information for at least one of a target region or a target time period, thereby determining whether to implement a promotion based on the same criteria regardless of the region or time period.

According to one embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problem, a method for providing information in an electronic device providing a delivery service comprises the steps of: identifying a target area; identifying statistical information related to delivery for the target area; identifying recent information corresponding to a current time related to delivery for the target area; identifying a delivery supply and demand level based on the statistical information and the recent information; and providing information related to the delivery supply and demand level.

In one embodiment, the target area is characterized in that it is a sub-area divided according to administrative district or a sub-area divided according to delivery characteristics.

In one embodiment, the delivery characteristics are characterized by including at least one of information on distribution of suppliers, demand for delivery, delivery fee, delivery distance, and the statistical information.

In one embodiment, the recent information is characterized in that it is determined based on a predicted value of an allocation delay time associated with a delivery to the target area or a measured value of an allocation delay time for a recent delivery.

In one embodiment, the statistical information is characterized by including an average (μ) and a standard deviation (σ) of allocation delay times over a past period of time.

In one embodiment, the delivery supply and demand level is characterized in that it is derived based on a z-score normalization method.

In one embodiment, the delivery supply level (P) is , and x is characterized as the most recent information.

In one embodiment, the statistical information is characterized by including a minimum and maximum value of an allocation delay time associated with a delivery to the target area over a past period of time.

In one embodiment, the delivery supply and demand level is characterized in that it is derived based on a min-max normalization method.

In one embodiment, when the delivery supply and demand level is greater than a threshold, the delivery fee is determined as a value that adds a surcharge to the basic rate.

In one embodiment, the threshold value is characterized in that it is determined based on the statistical information.

In one embodiment, the zones where the surcharge is provided and the zones where the surcharge is not provided are characterized by being displayed in different ways on the delivery terminal.

In one embodiment, the surcharge is characterized in that it is determined based on at least one of the threshold value or the delivery supply and demand level.

In one embodiment, if the current time is included in the set time period, the surcharge is characterized in that it is determined based on the average value of the delivery supply and demand level and the allocated delay time related to delivery to the target area.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of transmitting a message to a delivery person in the adjacent region to move to the target region when the delivery supply and demand level of the target region is higher than the delivery supply and demand level of another region adjacent to the target region.

An electronic device providing a delivery brokerage service according to one embodiment of the present invention is characterized by including: a transceiver for transmitting and receiving information with another device; and a processor for controlling the transceiver, identifying a target area, identifying statistical information related to delivery for the target area, identifying recent information corresponding to a current time related to delivery for the target area, identifying a delivery supply and demand level based on the statistical information and the recent information, and providing information related to the delivery supply and demand level.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises a medium configured to store computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform an information providing method in an electronic device providing a delivery service, the method comprising: identifying a target area; identifying statistical information related to delivery to the target area; identifying recent information corresponding to a current time related to delivery to the target area; identifying a delivery supply and demand level based on the statistical information and the recent information; and providing information related to the delivery supply and demand level.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an electronic device providing a delivery service can check a delivery supply/demand level having a value within a certain range regardless of a geographical area or time period based on past statistical information related to delivery to a target area and recent information corresponding to the current time.

Therefore, by using the delivery supply and demand level according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether to implement a promotion to attract delivery personnel based on certain criteria regardless of geographical area or time zone.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing a high surcharge for an area where the delivery supply and demand level is above a threshold, factors not reflected in the basic rate are reflected in the surcharge determination, thereby setting a reasonable delivery rate, inducing the participation of delivery workers with a high surcharge, and improving the satisfaction of delivery workers.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by applying a promotion that increases the surcharge by a certain amount during a time period when the demand for delivery rapidly increases compared to the supply of delivery personnel, and by visibly displaying to delivery personnel the geographical area where the promotion is applied to the surcharge or sending a related message to delivery personnel, delivery personnel can be induced to move to an area with a high delivery supply and demand level to participate in delivery, and the delivery supply and demand level of the area can be appropriately adjusted.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the delivery supply and demand level is appropriately adjusted, the allocation delay time in at least one of a specific region or a specific time period is adjusted to an appropriate value to enable faster delivery, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information providing system including an electronic device providing a delivery service according to one embodiment.
Figure 2 is a flow chart showing the ordering and delivery procedures for a service that generally orders and delivers food via a terminal.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an information providing method of an electronic device providing a delivery service according to one embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying a page including information related to a delivery supply level based on information related to a delivery supply level obtained from an electronic device according to one embodiment.
Figures 5a to 5d illustrate examples of pages including information related to delivery supply and demand levels according to an embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating some components of an information provision system according to one embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

In describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical contents that are well known in the technical field to which the present invention belongs and are not directly related to the present invention will be omitted. This is to convey the gist of the present invention more clearly without obscuring it by omitting unnecessary descriptions.

For the same reason, some components in the attached drawings are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. In addition, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. The same or corresponding components in each drawing are given the same reference numbers.

The advantages and features of the present invention, and the methods for achieving them, will become clearer with reference to the embodiments described in detail below together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and the present embodiments are provided only to make the disclosure of the present invention complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

At this time, it will be understood that each block of the processing flow diagrams and combinations of the flow diagrams can be performed by computer instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded onto a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment create a means for performing the functions described in the flow diagram block(s). These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-available or computer-readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement the functions in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-available or computer-readable memory can also produce an article of manufacture that includes an instruction means for performing the functions described in the flow diagram block(s). Since the computer program instructions may also be installed on a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, a series of operational steps may be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer-executable process, so that the instructions executing the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus may also provide steps for executing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

Additionally, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for performing a specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions mentioned in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially in parallel, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in reverse order, depending on the functionality they perform.

Here, the term '~ part' used in this embodiment means a software or hardware component such as an FPGA or ASIC, and the '~ part' performs certain roles. However, the '~ part' is not limited to software or hardware. The '~ part' may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and may be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Thus, as an example, the '~ part' includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided in the components and '~ parts' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~ parts' or further separated into additional components and '~ parts'. In addition, the components and '~ parts' may be implemented to reproduce one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of an information providing system including an electronic device providing a delivery service according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a user terminal (110) and an electronic device (120). In the embodiment, the electronic device (120) can process information related to the operation of a service and provide it to a user.

An e-commerce or food delivery service user can access an electronic device (120) by using a user terminal (110). The user terminal (110) has an e-commerce or food delivery application installed, can access the electronic device (120) by using the application, and can use the e-commerce or food delivery service based on information exchange with the electronic device (120). Depending on who the user is using the e-commerce or food delivery application, it can include an application for an orderer, an application for a seller, an application for a delivery person, etc. The user terminal (110) can be a mobile device such as a smart phone and a tablet PC, or a static device such as a desktop PC, and any device on which an e-commerce or food delivery application is installed and executed can be used as the user terminal (110) without limitation.

The electronic device (120) communicates with the user terminal (110) and provides information related to an e-commerce or food delivery service to the user terminal (110). It may provide a list of items/restaurants as a search result of a database, or provide detailed information on each item stored in the database or a menu of a restaurant. In the case of an item directly delivered by an e-commerce company, an entity related to the service operated by the electronic device (120) may purchase the product and manage delivery, and in the case of an item delivered by another delivery company, purchase information and delivery address information regarding the item purchased by the user may be transmitted to the electronic device (120) of the other delivery company. The electronic device (120) may provide an intermediary service between a supplier, such as a restaurant selling food, and a delivery person who delivers food to a customer who orders food.

Figure 2 is a flow chart showing the ordering and delivery procedures for a service that generally orders and delivers food via a terminal.

Referring to FIG. 2, in a service for ordering and delivering food via a terminal, the information transmission and reception procedures performed by an electronic device, a terminal of an orderer ordering food, a supplier terminal such as a restaurant, and a delivery person terminal delivering food are illustrated according to the progress of the food ordering and delivery procedure.

First, at time t1, the customer requests an order through the customer terminal. The customer checks the restaurant information provided by the electronic device and selects the menu and restaurant of his/her choice, and the selected information is received through the electronic device.

At time t2, the supplier receives the customer's order transmitted from the electronic device through the supplier terminal and starts cooking the food according to the order.

At time t3, the electronic device transmits a delivery request to the delivery terminal. At this time, the interval between time t2 and time t3 can be determined considering the expected cooking time of the food. The expected cooking time of the food can be selected by the supplier or can be predicted and calculated by the electronic device using previous data.

The electronic device may transmit a delivery request to a first delivery agent selected by considering the location of the orderer, the location of the supplier, the delivery agent's delivery method, etc., through the delivery agent terminal. If the first delivery agent accepts the delivery request, the order is assigned to the first delivery agent, and the process of transmitting the delivery request to the delivery agents for assigning the delivery agent for the order may be terminated. If the first delivery agent does not accept or reject the delivery request for a certain period of time, the delivery request may be transmitted to the second delivery agent selected next. Similarly, if the second delivery agent accepts the delivery, the order is assigned to the second delivery agent, and the process of transmitting the delivery request is terminated. If the second delivery agent does not accept or reject the delivery for a certain period of time, the delivery request may be transmitted to the third delivery agent. This process is repeated until the delivery agent accepts the delivery request.

At time t4, the delivery agent accepts the delivery request and is assigned the corresponding order. When the delivery agent accepts the delivery request, the delivery agent can check at least one of the supplier's address, the orderer's address, the order number, or the order details associated with the corresponding order through the delivery agent terminal.

At this time, the time from the time when the delivery request is transmitted to the delivery terminal (t3) to the time when the delivery person accepts the delivery request and is assigned the corresponding order (t4) is called the "assign delay." The assignment delay time may vary depending on the delivery demand and the supply of delivery people.

Delivery demand can vary depending on a variety of factors, including time of day, day of week, weather, season, and the presence of special events (e.g., a sporting event such as a national team game on that day, or a socially acceptable holiday on that day). For example, delivery demand may be higher during lunch and dinner hours than at other times, and delivery demand for restaurants in densely populated areas may be higher on weekdays than on weekends. Also, delivery demand may be higher on rainy days than on sunny days, and delivery demand may be higher on evenings when a national team soccer game is on that day than on other days. In general, when delivery demand increases, the allocation delay time tends to increase correspondingly.

Likewise, the supply of delivery drivers may vary based on a variety of factors, including time of day, day of week, weather, season, special events, etc. For example, a delivery driver may anticipate high demand for deliveries during lunch and dinner hours, and may only initiate deliveries during those hours. Another example is that if the weather is extremely hot or cold, or if it is raining or snowing, the supply of delivery drivers may be lower than usual. In general, as the supply of delivery drivers increases, the allocation delay time tends to decrease correspondingly.

As described above, since the allocation delay time is affected by the delivery demand and the supply of delivery agents, knowing the allocation delay time value allows one to roughly understand the supply and demand of deliveries, and the delivery service provider can implement measures to make deliveries faster and more smoothly based on the understood delivery supply and demand information. For example, if the allocation delay time exceeds a set threshold, the delivery service provider may determine that the demand for deliveries is greater than the supply of delivery agents, and may provide a surcharge on the delivery fee for deliveries in the relevant section, or may send a message to delivery agents in areas with low allocation delay times to move to areas with high allocation delay times, thereby attracting delivery agents and reducing the allocation delay time.

However, since the delivery demand and the supply of delivery agents have different characteristics depending on at least one of the geographic areas or time periods, the allocation delay time will also have different absolute value ranges depending on at least one of the geographic areas or time periods. For example, during the lunch peak hour, the demand for delivery orders will increase significantly in the commercial district, and even if the supply of delivery agents predicted to increase accordingly increases, the allocation delay time will increase compared to at least one of the other geographic areas or time periods because the number of delivery agents is limited. On the contrary, during non-peak hours, the demand for delivery orders will decrease, and even if the supply of delivery agents predicted to decrease accordingly decreases, the allocation delay time will decrease compared to other time periods because there will still be a sufficient number of delivery agents performing delivery work. Therefore, it may not be efficient to implement a method to attract delivery agents when the allocation delay time exceeds the threshold based on the same threshold regardless of at least one of the geographic areas or time periods.

Therefore, in the present invention, a method may be used to determine a parameter having a certain range of values by normalizing the allocation delay time for at least one of each geographical area or each time period for a desirable comparison of the allocation delay time according to at least one of the geographical areas or each time period. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

At time t5, the delivery person picks up the food corresponding to the order from the restaurant. The delivery person's pickup information is transmitted to the electronic device, and the electronic device can transmit a message to the orderer's terminal that the pickup has been completed for the orderer's order.

At time t6, the delivery person completes the delivery to the orderer. The delivery person can input that the delivery is complete through the delivery person terminal, and the electronic device can send a message to the orderer terminal and the supplier terminal that the delivery for the order is complete. At the same time, the delivery service for the order is terminated.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of an information providing method of an electronic device that provides information related to a delivery supply and demand level in a delivery service according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, at step 305, the electronic device can identify a target area in relation to an order.

The target area may be determined based on at least one of the location of the orderer or the location of the supplier (e.g., a restaurant). The target area may be divided by administrative districts into the entire area where the delivery service is provided, or may be divided by the electronic device itself in consideration of delivery characteristics such as distribution of suppliers, demand for delivery, delivery fee, and delivery distance information. In addition, the target area may be divided in consideration of whether statistical characteristics related to delivery to the target area are similar. In one embodiment, the target area may be divided in consideration of whether changes in characteristics according to the time interval of the allocation delay time are similar. For example, adjacent commercial districts where delivery demand increases rapidly during lunch hours may be set as one target area.

At step 310, the electronic device can check statistical information related to delivery to the target area. The statistical information may be information stored in the memory of the electronic device.

In one embodiment, the past statistical information may be stored in the memory of the electronic device by being divided by region. In another embodiment, the statistical information may be stored in the memory of the electronic device by being divided by time period. In yet another embodiment, the past statistical information may be stored in the memory of the electronic device by being divided both by region and by time period. In this case, the time period may be divided based on a certain time interval, or may be divided by the electronic device itself in consideration of delivery characteristics such as demand for delivery according to time, such as lunch peak time or dinner peak time. Meanwhile, in the embodiment, the data may be stored in a divided manner based on at least one of time and region, and data may be selected using at least one of time and region as a key value, thereby obtaining desired time period-specific or region-specific data.

In one embodiment, the historical statistical information may include an average (μ) and a standard deviation (σ) of allocation delay times for a plurality of deliveries to a target area during a past period of time. In another embodiment, the statistical information may include an average (μ) and a standard deviation (σ) of allocation delay times for a plurality of deliveries made in the same time zone during a past period of time. In another embodiment, the historical statistical information may include a minimum and a maximum of allocation delay times for a plurality of deliveries to a target area during a past period of time. In yet another embodiment, the statistical information may include a minimum and a maximum of allocation delay times for a plurality of deliveries made in the same time zone during a past period of time. In an embodiment, statistical information such as an average, a standard deviation, a minimum, and a maximum of allocation delay times may be obtained for each target area and target time period, and statistical information corresponding to at least one of a time period and a region for which allocation delay times are to be normalized may be selected to perform normalization.

In one embodiment, the past period of time may be the past year. In one embodiment, the past period of time may be the past month. In one embodiment, the past period of time may be the past week. Accordingly, the past statistical information related to the delivery to the target area may be information that is updated at a set period and stored in the memory of the electronic device. In addition, in the embodiment, normalization of the allocation delay time may be performed by considering the trend of the statistical information that changes when updated.

At step 315, the electronic device can check the latest information corresponding to the current time related to the delivery to the target area.

In one embodiment, the recent information may be a prediction value of an allocation delay time associated with a delivery to a target area. The prediction value of the allocation delay time may be determined from past statistical information based on target area information and current time information.

In another embodiment, the recent information may be a measure of the allocation delay time for a recent shipment. For example, the recent information may be a value of the allocation delay time for the most recent shipment that occurred in the target area. Additionally, the predicted value of the allocation delay time may be determined as an average value of the allocation delay times of a plurality of recent shipments that occurred in the target area.

At step 320, the electronic device can determine the delivery supply level based on statistical information and recent information.

As described above, since the absolute size of the allocation delay time can vary greatly depending on the geographical area or time period, it is difficult to be an objective indicator for checking the delivery supply and demand for a specific area at the current time. Therefore, in order to make a desirable comparison of the allocation delay times according to the geographical area or time period, it is necessary to normalize the allocation delay times for each geographical area or each time period to have a certain range of values. In one embodiment, the allocation delay times can be normalized to have a value between 0 and 1, and the normalized allocation delay time is defined as a "delivery supply and demand level." Using the delivery supply and demand level, the delivery supply and demand for a specific area at the current time can be compared more objectively with the delivery supply and demand for other adjacent areas.

In one embodiment, the delivery supply level can be derived based on the z-score normalization method. In this method, it is assumed that the allocation delay times related to deliveries to the target area have a Gaussian distribution, and the average (μ) and standard deviation (σ) of the allocation delay times for multiple deliveries to the target area for a certain period of time in the past are obtained from the memory of the electronic device as past statistical information. At this time, for the recent information (x) confirmed in step 315, the delivery supply level (P) is determined by the following equation:

That is, the delivery supply and demand level means the probability value that the randomly extracted allocation delay time is smaller than the recent information. Since the delivery supply and demand level is determined by the probability value, it has a value between 0 and 1 regardless of the mean and standard deviation values. In addition, according to the above equation, the higher the recent information (e.g., the predicted value or measured value of the allocation delay time for the recent delivery) has a larger value, the higher the delivery supply and demand level. Conversely, the lower the recent information has a smaller value, the lower the delivery supply and demand level. Therefore, the delivery service provider will understand that the larger the confirmed delivery supply and demand level, the larger the allocation delay time value for the current time, and can determine that the supply of delivery personnel is insufficient compared to the delivery demand.

A method for calculating the delivery supply and demand level more simply is described below with reference to Table 1. First, based on the average (μ) and standard deviation (σ) of the allocation delay times for multiple deliveries to the target area for a certain period of time in the past, which are acquired from the memory of the electronic device as past statistical information, the z-score can be calculated by the following equation:

At this time, the integer and the first decimal place of the calculated z-value correspond to the vertical axis in Table 1, and the second decimal place of the calculated z-value corresponds to the horizontal axis in Table 1, and the value at the point where the corresponding vertical axis and horizontal axis meet becomes the normalized delivery supply and demand level. For example, when the z-value is 1.56, the vertical axis is 1.5 and the horizontal axis is 0.06, and the value at the point where the corresponding vertical axis and horizontal axis meet, 0.9406, is determined as the delivery supply and demand level.

In one embodiment, the delivery supply level can be derived based on the min-max normalization method. In this method, the minimum (min) and maximum (max) values of the allocation delay times for multiple deliveries to the target area for a certain period of time in the past are obtained from the memory of the electronic device as past statistical information. At this time, for the latest information (x) confirmed in step 315, the delivery supply level (P) is determined by the following equation:

Likewise in this embodiment, regardless of the minimum and maximum values of the allocation delay times, the delivery supply and demand level has a value between 0 and 1. In addition, according to the above equation, the larger the recent information (e.g., the predicted value or measured value of the allocation delay time for the recent delivery) has, the higher the delivery supply and demand level becomes. Conversely, the smaller the recent information has, the lower the delivery supply and demand level becomes. Therefore, the delivery service provider will understand that the larger the confirmed delivery supply and demand level, the larger the allocation delay time value for the current time is compared to the normal value, and can determine that the supply of delivery personnel is insufficient compared to the delivery demand compared to the normal case.

Although the z-score normalization method and the max-min normalization method have been described as a method of deriving the delivery supply and demand level, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any normalization method that can transform the allocation delay time to be normalized can be used.

At step 325, the electronic device may provide information related to the delivery supply level.

As described above, the delivery supply and demand level can be used as a measure to determine whether the delivery supply and demand is being smoothly conducted for the target area at the current time. Therefore, in one embodiment, the delivery service provider can determine whether the delivery supply and demand is being smoothly conducted based on the information related to the delivery supply and demand level provided by the electronic device, and if the delivery supply and demand is not being smoothly conducted, can implement a measure to resolve this problem. In addition, through this normalization measure, the current delivery demand and supply situation can be confirmed based on the comparison with the typical allocation delay time in the relevant area rather than the absolute value of the delay time, thereby enabling the current situation to be confirmed based on the characteristics of the region and time zone. By confirming the situation based on the normalized delivery supply and demand level in this way, a more practical solution can be presented to resolve the delivery allocation delay.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying a page including information related to a delivery supply level based on information related to a delivery supply level obtained from an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

At step 405, information related to the delivery supply level is obtained from the electronic device.

In step 410, the acquired delivery supply and demand level is compared with the set threshold to determine whether to implement an alternative for adjusting the delivery supply and demand level. If the acquired delivery supply and demand level is less than the set threshold, the delivery service can be provided according to the basic rate without implementing a separate alternative. Conversely, if the acquired delivery training level is greater than the set threshold, an alternative for reducing the delivery supply and demand level to an appropriate level can be implemented.

At this time, the threshold value can be set based on statistical information related to delivery to the target area. Therefore, the threshold value can be set differently by region or time period. For example, in the case of peak hours when delivery demand increases rapidly, alternatives for adjusting the delivery supply and demand level can be implemented more quickly by setting the threshold value smaller. As a result, the delivery supply and demand level can be adjusted quickly, and delivery can be made faster and more smoothly, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

In step 415, the delivery service provider may determine that the supply of delivery agents is insufficient compared to the demand for delivery agents if the current delivery supply level in a specific region is greater than the threshold value. Therefore, the delivery service provider may determine the delivery fee for the region to be a basic fee plus a surcharge in order to induce more delivery agents to be supplied to the region. Since the delivery supply level value will further increase if the supply of delivery agents is insufficient, in one embodiment, the surcharge may be set to be proportional to the delivery supply level. In addition, since different thresholds may be set by region or time period according to statistical information related to delivery, the surcharge may be set considering the threshold value. In this way, by checking the delivery supply level for at least one of a specific region or a specific time period in an electronic device and dynamically adjusting the delivery fee accordingly, an incentive to secure delivery agents can be provided in a situation where the supply of delivery agents is insufficient, and costs can be reduced by lowering the delivery fee in a situation where the supply of delivery agents is sufficient.

In addition, during peak lunch hours or peak dinner hours, the demand for delivery workers generally increases rapidly compared to the supply of delivery workers. Accordingly, the delivery supply and demand level will increase rapidly, and even if the surcharge is increased as described above, there may be cases where the supply of delivery workers is not smooth because the number of delivery workers is limited. In such cases, the surcharge can be increased further to secure delivery workers by inducing delivery workers who are not currently performing delivery work to start delivery work, or to provide greater incentives for delivery workers in adjacent areas to move to the area. To this end, in one embodiment, the surcharge can be determined by considering the average value of the allocated delay time related to delivery to the target area in addition to the delivery supply and demand level.

In one embodiment, if the current delivery supply and demand level in a specific area is greater than a threshold, the delivery service provider can adjust the delivery supply and demand level by allowing multiple adjacent deliveries within the area to be simultaneously assigned to one delivery person. At this time, the number of deliveries assigned to one delivery person can be determined based on the delivery supply and demand level, and the multiple adjacent deliveries assigned simultaneously can be determined based on at least one of the locations of the orderers or the locations of the suppliers. In this way, by allowing one delivery person to be assigned and perform multiple deliveries simultaneously, the problem of insufficient supply of delivery people can be solved and the delivery supply and demand level can be adjusted to an appropriate level.

In step 420, a page including delivery fee information determined based on whether to implement an alternative based on the confirmed delivery supply and demand level is transmitted to the delivery agent terminal.

FIG. 5 illustrates examples of pages including information related to delivery supply and demand levels according to the present invention.

FIG. 5a illustrates a first example of a page displayed on a delivery terminal according to information related to a delivery supply and demand level according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5A, an exemplary page (500) is illustrated that displays information about shipping fees by geographic region. The page (500) may include a region (510) and a region (520).

The area (510) may include an object for inputting whether a delivery person participates in delivery, and the object may include a toggle button. If the first delivery person sets the toggle button of the area (510) to 'on', the first delivery person is set to a delivery assignable state, and the electronic device may transmit a delivery request to the delivery person terminal by considering the location information of the first delivery person who is in a delivery assignable state. If the first delivery person sets the toggle button of the area (510) to 'off', the first delivery person is set to no longer be in a delivery assignable state, and the electronic device may stop transmitting the delivery request from the first delivery person to the delivery person terminal.

The area (520) may display a map including administrative districts (e.g., Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu) and sub-districts included in the administrative districts (e.g., Seocho-gu 3, Gangnam-gu 1), along with delivery fee information for each sub-district. The delivery fee information may be a value determined based on a delivery supply and demand level obtained according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5A, in the case of "Seocho-gu 1" and "Seocho-gu 3", the delivery supply and demand levels corresponding to the corresponding regions are lower than a threshold value, so the delivery fee may be set as a basic rate. In the case of "Gangnam-gu 3", since the delivery supply and demand level corresponding to the corresponding region is higher than the threshold value, the delivery fee may be set as a value that adds a surcharge to the basic rate. In addition, in the case of "Gangnam-gu 1", the delivery supply and demand level corresponding to the corresponding region is higher than the threshold value and is higher than the delivery supply and demand level corresponding to "Gangnam-gu 3", so the surcharge may be set higher than that of "Gangnam-gu 3".

In one embodiment, in order to emphasize that the surcharge is applied to the first geographic zones (521-1, 521-2) compared to the second geographic zones (522-1, 522-2) to which the surcharge is not currently applied at the time, the delivery fee information associated with the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) to which the surcharge is applied may be displayed on the page displayed on the delivery agent terminal in a different manner from the second geographic zone (522-1, 522-2) (for example, by displaying it in a different color or size, or by displaying a specific icon around it). In this way, by making the zone to which the surcharge is applied visible to the delivery agent, the delivery agent can be induced to move to the geographic zone to which the surcharge is applied and participate in the delivery, and the supply of delivery agents can be provided to meet the increasing delivery demand.

FIG. 5b illustrates a second example of a page displayed on a delivery agent terminal according to information related to a delivery supply and demand level according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5b, an exemplary page (500) is illustrated that additionally displays information on delivery supply levels in addition to delivery fees based on geographic areas. The delivery supply levels can be directly displayed as values confirmed through the above-described normalization methods, or can be displayed as rough delivery supply levels (e.g., very high, high, normal, low, etc.).

Likewise, in order to emphasize that the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) has a high delivery supply and demand level compared to the second geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) having a low delivery supply and demand level, the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) having a high delivery supply and demand level can be displayed in a different way from the second geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) on the page displayed on the delivery agent terminal (for example, by displaying it in a different color or size, or by displaying a specific icon around it). Through this, by visibly displaying to delivery agents an area where a delivery agent supply is required due to a high delivery supply and demand level, delivery agents can be induced to move to an area where a delivery agent supply is required to participate in delivery, thereby ensuring an efficient supply of delivery agents.

FIG. 5c illustrates a third example of a page displayed on a delivery agent terminal according to information related to a delivery supply and demand level according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5c, if the delivery supply and demand level of the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) is higher than the delivery supply and demand level of the second geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) adjacent to the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2), a movement to the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2) with a higher delivery supply and demand level may be recommended to the terminals of delivery workers in the second geographic zone (521-1, 521-2). The recommendation may be made by displaying a message (530) on a page displayed on the delivery worker terminal indicating that the delivery allocation probability may increase when moving to the first geographic zone (521-1, 521-2).

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 5d, a message (540) may be transmitted to the terminals of delivery workers in the second geographic area (521-1, 521-2) to move to the first geographic area (521-1, 521-2) with a higher delivery supply level. The message may be transmitted regardless of whether the delivery supply level is equal to or higher than a threshold value, and accordingly, the delivery worker who receives the message (540) may move to the first geographic area (521-1, 521-2) where a supply of delivery workers is required to receive delivery orders. As a result, even in cases where the overall delivery demand is lower than the supply of delivery workers and delivery assignments to delivery workers are not well made, delivery workers may be moved to an area with a higher delivery supply level, thereby enabling smoother delivery assignments to delivery workers, thereby increasing the income and satisfaction of the delivery workers.

Referring to FIG. 6, an information providing system according to one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the system includes a user terminal (610) and an electronic device (620) capable of communicating with each other.

The user terminal (610) may execute an e-commerce client program or a food delivery client program and may include a transceiver (612), a processor (614), an input unit (616), and a display unit (618).

The transceiver (612) can transmit and receive information with other nodes including the electronic device (620). The transceiver (612) can perform communication with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods. The transceiver (612) can include at least one of a WiFi chip, a Bluetooth chip, a wireless communication chip, and an NFC chip. The WiFi chip and the Bluetooth chip can perform communication in the WiFi method and the Bluetooth method, respectively. When a WiFi chip or a Bluetooth chip is used, various connection information such as an SSID and a session key are first transmitted and received, and then communication is connected using this, and then various pieces of information can be transmitted and received. The wireless communication chip refers to a chip that performs communication according to various communication standards such as IEEE, Zigbee, 3G (3rd Generation), 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), and LTE (Long Term Evolution). NFC chips are chips that operate in the NFC (Near Field Communication) mode, using the 13.56MHz band among various RF-ID frequency bands such as 135kHz, 13.56MHz, 433MHz, 860~960MHz, and 2.45GHz.

The input unit (616) can receive user input and can include a touch screen, a microphone, and buttons. The input unit (616) can receive various commands from the user. The input unit (616) can be implemented in various ways, such as a key or a touch panel. The key can include various types of keys, such as mechanical buttons, wheels, etc., formed in various areas, such as the front, side, and back of the main body of the user terminal (610). The touch panel can detect the user's touch input and output a touch event value corresponding to the detected touch signal. When the touch panel is combined with the display panel to form a touch screen, the touch screen can be implemented with various types of touch sensors, such as a capacitive type, a pressure-sensitive type, and a piezoelectric type. The capacitive type is a method of detecting micro-electricity generated by the user's body when a part of the user's body touches the touch screen surface by using a dielectric coated on the surface of the touch screen to calculate touch coordinates. The pressure-sensitive type is a method that calculates touch coordinates by detecting when a user touches the screen by two electrode plates built into the touch screen, which cause the upper and lower plates of the touched point to come into contact and cause current to flow. Touch events occurring on the touch screen can be mainly generated by a human finger, but can also be generated by an object made of a conductive material that can apply a change in electrostatic capacity.

The display unit (618) can display information related to the operation of the user terminal (610), and can display a page including the information described in the embodiment. In one embodiment, the display unit (618) can include various types of configurations such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), etc. According to one embodiment, the display unit (618) can be configured in a form that is connected to the configurations inside the user terminal (610) by wires, and can also be configured in a form that is connected wirelessly through a configuration such as a transceiver (612) included in the user terminal (610).

The processor (614) may perform control so as to perform the operations of the user terminal (610) described in the embodiment. In addition, the processor (614) may include at least one processor configured to perform the operations of the user terminal (610).

The processor may include at least one of RAM, ROM, CPU, GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), and BUS. The RAM, ROM, CPU, and GPU may be connected to each other via the bus. The CPU accesses the memory and performs booting using the O/S stored in the memory. Then, it performs various operations using various programs, contents, data, etc. stored in the memory. The ROM stores a command set for system booting. For example, when a turn-on command is input and power is supplied to the user terminal (610), the CPU may copy the OS stored in the memory to the RAM according to the command stored in the ROM and execute the OS to boot the system. When the booting is complete, the CPU copies various programs stored in the memory to the RAM and executes the programs copied to the RAM to perform various operations. When the booting of the user terminal (610) is complete, the GPU displays a UI screen in the area of the display unit (618). Specifically, the GPU may generate a screen on which an electronic document including various objects such as contents, icons, menus, etc. is displayed. The GPU calculates the attribute values, such as coordinate values, shape, size, and color, of each object according to the layout of the screen. Then, the GPU can generate screens with various layouts that include objects based on the calculated attribute values. The screen generated by the GPU is provided to the display unit (618) and can be displayed in each area of the display unit (618).

Additionally, the user terminal (610) may further include a speaker for event output and may further include a memory (not shown) for storing at least some of the information transmitted and received through the transceiver (612) and information for the operation of the user terminal (610).

The electronic device (620) is a device on which an e-commerce electronic device program or a food delivery service program is executed, and may include a transceiver (622), a processor (624), and a memory (626).

The transceiver (622) can transmit and receive information with other nodes, including the user terminal (610).

The processor (624) can perform control so as to perform the operation of the electronic device (620) described in the embodiment. In addition, the processor (624) can include at least one processor.

Additionally, the electronic device (620) may include a memory (626) that stores at least some of the information transmitted and received via the transceiver (622) and information for the operation of the electronic device (620).

Meanwhile, the present specification and drawings have disclosed preferred embodiments of the present invention, and although specific terms have been used, they have been used only in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present invention and to help understand the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modified examples based on the technical idea of the present invention can be implemented in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (19)

A method of providing information in an electronic device that provides a delivery service,
Step of confirming the target area;
Step of checking statistical information related to delivery to the above target area;
A step for checking the allocated delay time corresponding to the current time related to delivery to the above target area;
A step of normalizing the allocation delay time based on the above statistical information and the above allocation delay time to check the delivery supply and demand level; and
Step for providing information related to the above delivery supply level
Including, but not limited to,
If the above delivery supply level is above the threshold, the delivery fee is determined by adding a surcharge to the basic rate.
A method of providing information, wherein the above threshold value is set differently for each time period based on the target area and the statistical information. In the first paragraph,
The above target area is one of the sub-areas divided according to administrative districts or delivery characteristics of the geographic area where the above delivery service is provided, a method of providing information. In the second paragraph,
A method of providing information, wherein the above delivery characteristics include at least one of distribution of suppliers, demand for delivery, delivery rates, delivery distance information, and the above statistical information. In the first paragraph,
A method of providing information, wherein the above allocation delay time is determined based on a predicted value of the allocation delay time associated with a delivery to the target area or a measured value of the allocation delay time for the most recent delivery that occurred in the target area. In paragraph 4,
A method of providing information, wherein the above statistical information includes the average (μ) and standard deviation (σ) of allocation delay times over a past period of time. In paragraph 5,
An information providing method wherein the above delivery supply and demand level is derived by normalizing the above allocation delay time based on the z-score normalization method. In Article 6,
The above delivery supply level (P) is is decided,
Information providing method, where x is the above allocation delay time. In paragraph 4,
A method of providing information, wherein the above statistical information includes minimum and maximum values of allocated delay times related to deliveries to the target area over a past period of time. In Article 8,
An information providing method wherein the above delivery supply and demand level is derived by normalizing the above allocation delay time based on a min-max normalization method. delete delete In the first paragraph,
A method of providing information in which areas where the above surcharge is provided and areas where the above surcharge is not provided are displayed in different ways on the delivery person's terminal. In the first paragraph,
A method of providing information, wherein the above surcharge is determined based on at least one of the above threshold or the above delivery supply and demand level. In the first paragraph,
A method of providing information, wherein if the current time falls within a set time period, the surcharge is determined based on the average value of the delivery supply and demand level and the allocated delay time associated with delivery to the target area. In the first paragraph,
If the delivery supply level of the target area is higher than the delivery supply level of another area adjacent to the target area, a step of sending a message to the delivery person of the other area adjacent to the target area to move to the target area.
A method of providing information, further comprising: In the first paragraph,
An information providing method that allows multiple deliveries to the target area to be assigned to one delivery person when the above delivery supply level is above a threshold. In Article 16,
A method of providing information, wherein the above multiple deliveries are determined based on the above delivery supply and demand levels. As an electronic device providing delivery brokerage services,
A transceiver for transmitting and receiving information with other devices; and
A processor for controlling the transceiver, identifying a target area, identifying statistical information related to delivery to the target area, identifying an allocation delay time corresponding to a current time related to delivery to the target area, normalizing the allocation delay time based on the statistical information and the allocation delay time to identify a delivery supply and demand level, and providing information related to the delivery supply and demand level.
Including, but not limited to,
If the above delivery supply level is above the threshold, the delivery fee is determined by adding a surcharge to the basic rate.
An electronic device wherein the above threshold value is set differently for each period of time based on the target area and the statistical information. As a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,
Comprising a medium configured to store computer-readable instructions,
The above computer-readable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
Step of confirming the target area;
Step of checking statistical information related to delivery to the above target area;
A step for checking the allocated delay time corresponding to the current time related to delivery to the above target area;
A step of normalizing the allocation delay time based on the above statistical information and the above allocation delay time to check the delivery supply and demand level; and
Step for providing information related to the above delivery supply level
Including,
If the above delivery supply level is above the threshold, the delivery fee is determined by adding a surcharge to the basic rate.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that performs a method of providing information in an electronic device providing a delivery service, wherein the threshold value is set differently for each time period based on the target area and the statistical information.

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