JP2002133325A - Commodity purchase information accepting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity purchase information accepting system allowing a customer to easily make a purchase registration for receiving service of a maker when purchasing a commodity by saving the trouble of writing individual information in a customer card and the like and sending that to the manufacturing maker by post. SOLUTION: A bar code 3a printed on a commodity 3 is read by a bar code reader 2 connected to a terminal device 1, and the bar code information is sent to a commodity information mediating center 4. The commodity information mediating center 4 sends URL information of a maker to the terminal device 1 on the basis of the received bar code information. The terminal device 1 opens a homepage of the maker by the received URL information, and registers a purchased commodity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code reader which reads or sticks a bar code printed or affixed on a product or a package of the product when the consumer purchases the product. The present invention relates to a merchandise purchase information receiving system for registering merchandise purchase information in a database of a manufacturer (including a “sales company” in this specification).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a consumer purchases a product, particularly when the customer purchases the product in a repeat manner, it is natural that the consumer expects some service from a manufacturer or a seller of the product. . In addition, manufacturers and distributors provide services to consumers in various ways in order to use their products.

For example, a customer card or a questionnaire is attached to a product to be sold, and a consumer who purchases the product can
If customer information such as the name, address, telephone number, purchase shop, and impression of the consumer is described on the customer card and questionnaire and sent to the manufacturer, the customer will be registered as a customer with the new product information and You can provide event information or receive consumer services such as prizes and discount points. In addition, customer information obtained from consumers is used as data for planning and marketing of new products by manufacturers.

[0004] As another example, there is an application from a lottery application card, in which an application sticker is attached in advance to a product to be sold, and a consumer who has purchased the product stores some application stickers. Put it on the lottery application card, write customer information such as the consumer's name, address, phone number, purchase store, product impression and send it to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer will make a lottery for the lottery application card sent. The winner will be sent a prize.

In recent years, there has been an example in which the Internet has rapidly spread, and purchase registration of purchased products can be performed on a manufacturer's homepage. For example, when a consumer who has purchased a certain product wants to register the purchase of the product with the manufacturer, the URL (Uniform Resource) of the manufacturer described in a description of the product or the like is given.
loc Locator) is input to the address bar on the display screen of the WWW browser of the consumer's personal computer, and a homepage is opened to perform purchase registration.

[0006]

As described above, manufacturers provide some services to consumers by attaching a customer card, a questionnaire sheet, or a lottery application card to a product to be sold. At the same time, they obtain customer information through them.

[0007] However, this method cannot be expected to be so effective, except in cases where a prize that is too expensive is won by lottery. This is used to fill in personal information on registration cards, questionnaires and lottery application cards,
It takes time and effort, and it is troublesome to go to the post office post after completing the entry.

[0008] Further, when purchasing and registering a purchased product through an Internet homepage, it is necessary to first check the URL of the manufacturer. Recently, the URL of the manufacturer may be described in a manual or the like attached to the product, but only a small number of products are still available. Also, even if the URL of the manufacturer can be known, it is difficult for a housewife or an elderly person who is not familiar with computers to accurately input the URL into an address bar on a browser screen of a personal computer with a keyboard. It was a considerable burden on, and it was hard to say that it was effective.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has been introduced by a consumer when purchasing a product or by introducing a word-of-mouth or a poster from a friend (who possesses the actual product).
The purpose of this system is to provide a product purchase information reception system that enables a manufacturer to easily register products they have purchased or register information when they have read a magazine or an advertisement. And

[0010]

According to the present invention, the above objects are achieved by the means as set forth in the appended claims. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a terminal device having a bar code reader and a U
A server of a merchandise information mediation center for registering RL information,
In a merchandise purchase information receiving system in which a server of a manufacturer that registers merchandise purchase information is connected via the Internet, the terminal device includes a barcode reading unit that reads a barcode printed or attached to a product or a package of the product. And means for entering personally identifiable information of the product buyer;
Means for transmitting the barcode information read by the barcode reading means to the server of the merchandise information intermediation center; and a UR sent from the merchandise information intermediation center
Means for receiving the L information and displaying the homepage of the manufacturer providing the product, and means for transmitting the barcode information read by the barcode reader and the personal identification information of the product purchaser to the server of the manufacturer. With
The server of the merchandise information mediation center has an information database for registering URL information of a manufacturer corresponding to barcode information, and means for searching the information database based on barcode information transmitted from the terminal device. ,
Means for transmitting the URL information of the manufacturer retrieved by the search means to the terminal device, wherein the server of the manufacturer discloses information describing the contents of the company and its products on a homepage, A customer management database for registering customer purchase information based on the barcode information transmitted from the terminal device and the personal identification information of the purchaser.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a merchandise purchase information receiving system for reading a barcode including URL information with a barcode reader of a terminal device and accessing a server of a manufacturer based on the URL information of the barcode. The terminal device includes a barcode reading unit that reads a barcode including URL information printed or attached to a product or a package of the product, a unit that inputs personal identification information of a product purchaser, and the barcode reader. U read
A means for accessing the server of the manufacturer by the RL information and displaying the homepage of the manufacturer, and transmitting the barcode information read by the barcode reader and the personal identification information of the purchaser to the server of the manufacturer. Means for publishing information describing the contents of the company and its products on a homepage, bar code information transmitted from the terminal device and personal identification information of the product purchaser. And a customer management database for registering customer's product purchase information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the merchandise purchase information receiving system according to the first or second aspect, the terminal device is an Internet-compatible mobile phone.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a terminal device such as a personal computer, 2 is a terminal device 1 and an RS232C, USB (Universal Seri)
al Port), etc.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a purchased product ("chocolate" in this example) having a barcode printed on its packaging, 3a denotes a barcode such as a JAN code printed on the packaging of the purchased product, 4 denotes a product information mediation center, and 4a denotes a product information mediation. Center server, 4b URL information database for registering URL information corresponding to the bar code, 5 manufacturer for providing goods (also simply referred to as "manufacturer", also includes "sales company"), 5a providing goods 5b denotes a customer management database of the manufacturer that provides the product, and 6 denotes the Internet. Although only one manufacturer 5 is shown as a representative, there may be a plurality of companies in practice.

In FIG. 1, a consumer activates a terminal device 1 such as a personal computer and activates barcode reading software for a barcode reader 2. Then, for example, by using a guide screen of bar code reading software, personal identification information (name, address, telephone number, age,
Gender, family structure, etc.) are registered in the personal computer (usually only once at first).

Then, the barcode reader 2 connected to the terminal device 1 is used to read the barcode 3 a printed on the package of the purchased product 3, and the read barcode information is transferred to the product information via the Internet 6. This is transmitted to the server 4a of the mediation center 4. The server 4a of the merchandise information mediation center 4 searches the URL information database 4b based on the barcode information transmitted from the terminal device 1,
The URL information of the manufacturer is extracted and transmitted to the terminal device 1.

In the terminal device 1, the received U
Using the RL information, the server 5a of the manufacturer 5 is accessed to open the manufacturer's homepage. The consumer can make a purchase registration of the purchased product on the homepage of the manufacturer 5. You can also order new products, make inquiries and file complaints through this website.

In this example, the merchandise information intermediation center 4 is used as an intermediary to obtain the URL information and open the manufacturer's homepage. Therefore, the barcode 3a printed on the package of the purchased product 3 does not need to directly include the URL information of the homepage of the manufacturer of the product. URL information corresponding to the bar code information is registered in the URL information database 4b of the merchandise information intermediation center 4, and the URL information database 4b is searched based on the bar code information sent from the terminal device 1 to retrieve the URL information. Take it out and send it to the terminal device 1. For this reason, the types of barcodes that can be used can be widely selected, such as using the currently used barcode as it is.

The URL of the trading company or agency may be registered in the URL information database 4b of the merchandise information mediation center 4 instead of the URL of the manufacturer 5 itself. In short, any company that can responsibly register purchase information and provide services can be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure in the system of FIG. 1. The operation procedure of the present system will be described below with reference to FIG.

(1) First, the terminal device 1 such as a personal computer is started, and bar code reading software for the bar code reader 2 is started (step S1).

(2) Next, personal identification information (name, address, telephone number, age, gender, family structure, etc.) is registered in the personal computer according to the guidance screen displayed by the barcode reading software ( Step S2). Usually, this registration only needs to be done once at the beginning.

(3) Next, the homepage of the merchandise information mediation center 4 is opened. This operation may be performed manually or automatically performed by bar code reading software or the like. This home page displays information on how to use the product purchase information receiving system and other information useful to consumers such as "event information" (step S).
3). It is also possible to proceed to the next step without opening the home page of the merchandise information mediation center 4.

(4) Next, the barcode reader 2 reads the barcode 3a of the purchased product. The read barcode information is transmitted to the product information mediation center 4 (step S4).

(5) The merchandise information intermediation center 4 searches the URL information database 4b based on the barcode information received by the server 4a, extracts the URL information of the manufacturer that provides the merchandise, and sends it to the terminal device 1. Send (step S5).

(6) The terminal device 1 accesses the server 5a of the manufacturer 5 based on the received URL information,
Display the homepage of the manufacturer (step S
6).

(7) Consumer via the homepage of manufacturer 5. The barcode information of the purchased product and the personal identification information are transmitted to the server 5a of the manufacturer. The manufacturer 5 registers merchandise purchase information (purchaser, purchased merchandise, date and time, purchase history, etc.) in the customer management database 5b based on the received barcode information and personal identification information. At this time, if service points etc. are added,
The service point is updated and registered at the same time (step S7). After the registration information is updated, a reception message is returned to the terminal device 1.

It is to be noted that the homepage of the manufacturer 5 allows the user to check the past product purchase history and the points such as service points (prizes can be obtained according to the points of the service points). In addition, the home page enables the user to order new products, make inquiries, and file a complaint.

The merchandise information brokerage center 4
Manufacturers, industry groups, trading companies, and the like can be considered, but are not particularly limited thereto.

If the bar code itself printed or attached to the product or the packaging of the product contains the URL information of the manufacturer 5, the terminal device 1 does not pass through the product information mediation center 4. Can directly open the homepage of the manufacturer 5 to register for purchase.

[Second Embodiment] In addition to the personal computer, the terminal device 1 may be an Internet-compatible mobile phone. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 11 denotes an Internet-compatible mobile phone serving as a terminal device, and 12 denotes a device for transmitting and receiving data to and from the Internet-compatible mobile phone 11 via a wireless line. Reference numeral 13 denotes a "wireless telephone conversion center" for connecting a packet network to the Internet. The components having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are the same as those in FIG.

The present embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that an Internet-compatible mobile phone is used as a terminal device. The Internet-compatible mobile phone 11 includes a connection terminal for connecting the barcode reader 2, and transmits a driver function of the barcode reader 2 and information read by the barcode reader to the product information mediation center 4 or the manufacturer 5. At the same time, it is possible to display a homepage compatible with the “Internet-compatible mobile phone” provided by the manufacturer 5.

The consumer can open a homepage corresponding to the "Internet-compatible mobile phone" of the manufacturer and register the purchase of the product. In addition, by using this homepage, it is possible to check the past purchase history and check points such as service points. In addition, the homepage allows the user to order new products, make inquiries, and file a complaint.

The example of FIG. 3 is different from the example of FIG.
The point that an Internet-compatible mobile phone 11 is used instead of a personal computer, the point that access to the Internet 6 is made via a wireless base station 12 and a wireless telephone conversion center 13,
The only difference is that the corresponding homepage is displayed. The operation of this example is basically the same as the case of FIG. 1, and the description of the operation is omitted.

[0035]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention is as described above.
According to the described product purchase information receiving system, the barcode reader connected to the terminal device reads the barcode printed or attached to the product or the packaging of the product, and reads the barcode information from the database of the product information mediation center. Since the URL information was obtained, the manufacturer's homepage was opened, and the purchase of the purchased product was registered.
Consumers can easily register purchases of purchased products, and are more likely to receive the services of manufacturers. In addition, the manufacturer can obtain a lot of customer information, which can be used as materials for planning, developing, and marketing new products. Further, the consumer can order a new product or make an inquiry through the homepage of the manufacturer.

According to the commodity purchase information receiving system of the second aspect, the URL printed or attached to the commodity or the packaging of the commodity by the barcode reader connected to the terminal device.
By reading the barcode containing the information and using the barcode information to open the manufacturer's website and register the purchase of the purchased product, consumers can easily register the purchased product. , Making it easier to receive the services of manufacturers. In addition, the manufacturer can obtain a lot of customer information, which can be used as materials for planning, developing, and marketing new products. Further, the consumer can order a new product or make an inquiry through the homepage of the manufacturer.

According to the commodity purchase information receiving system of the third aspect, the barcode printed on the commodity or the packaging of the commodity is read by the barcode reader connected to the cellular phone compatible with the Internet, and based on the barcode information. , By opening the homepage of the manufacturer and registering the purchase of the purchased product, consumers can always and anywhere,
Purchase registration of the purchased product can be easily performed. In addition, a new product can be ordered and inquiries can be made on the homepage of the manufacturer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal device 2 Barcode reader 3 Purchased product 3a Barcode 4 Product information mediation center 4a Product information mediation center server 4b URL information database 5 Manufacturer 5a Manufacturer's server 5b Manufacturer's customer management database 6 Internet 11 Internet compatible mobile Telephone 12 Wireless base station 13 Wireless telephone conversion center

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A terminal device having a bar code reader,
In a merchandise purchase information receiving system in which a server of a merchandise information mediation center that registers URL information corresponding to barcode information and a server of a manufacturer that registers merchandise purchase information of a customer are connected via the Internet, the terminal device includes: Bar code reading means for reading a bar code printed or attached to a product or product packaging; means for inputting personal identification information of a product purchaser; bar code information read by the bar code reading means; Means for transmitting to the server of the mediation center, means for receiving the URL information sent from the merchandise information mediation center, and means for displaying a homepage of a manufacturer that provides the product, and barcode information read by the barcode reader. A method for transmitting the personal identification information of the product purchaser to the server of the manufacturer. The server of the merchandise information mediation center includes an information database for registering URL information of a manufacturer corresponding to barcode information, and the information database based on barcode information transmitted from the terminal device. Means for searching, and means for transmitting the URL information of the manufacturer extracted by the searching means to the terminal device. The server of the manufacturer includes, on a homepage, information describing the content of the company and its products. Merchandise purchase information characterized by comprising: means for publishing; and a customer management database for registering merchandise purchase information based on barcode information transmitted from the terminal device and personal identification information of the purchaser. Reception system. 2. A UR by a bar code reader of the terminal device.
The bar code including the L information is read, and the U of the bar code is read.
In the merchandise purchase information receiving system for accessing a server of a manufacturer according to RL information, the terminal device includes: a bar code reading unit that reads a bar code including URL information printed or attached to a merchandise or a packaging of the merchandise; Means for inputting personal identification information of the purchaser, and URL information read by the barcode reader,
Means for accessing a manufacturer's server and displaying a website of the manufacturer; means for transmitting barcode information read by the barcode reader and personal identification information of a product purchaser to the manufacturer's server. In the server of the manufacturer, means for publishing information describing the content of the company and its products on a homepage, based on barcode information and personal identification information of the product purchaser transmitted from the terminal device, A product purchase information receiving system comprising a customer management database for registering customer product purchase information. 3. The merchandise purchase information receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is an Internet-compatible mobile phone.