JP2002175461A - Merchandise selling device and merchandise sales information providing method and merchandise sales information displaying method and computer readable recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a merchandise selling device capable of improving possibility that a customer is more likely to become a regular customer compared with the case of a conventional one. SOLUTION: A merchandise selling device provides the information of merchandise to be sold according to a request from a customer. Afterwards, the merchandise selling device receives the selected result of merchandise that the customer wants to purchase from the information of the merchandise, and when the selection satisfies a prescribed condition, the merchandise selling device provides discount information indicating that the price of the merchandise is discounted at the time of purchasing the merchandise at the next and succeeding occasions on behalf of the customer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a merchandise sales apparatus, a merchandise sales information providing method, a merchandise sales information display method, and a computer-readable recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of Internet technology, a product sales system has been proposed in which a homepage is provided to a client from a server connected to the Internet, and a client user purchases a product using the homepage. I have.

[0003] A seller of a product in a conventional general store (an actual store that is not a store on the Internet) uses the following sales method in order to have a customer become a repeater. (1) Present a discount rate of the product together with the product to the customer. (2) When purchasing a product, give the customer a coupon, such as a price discount, that can be used for subsequent purchases.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned method (1), the relationship between the seller and the customer is broken when the customer purchases the product, so that it is difficult for the customer to become a repeater. There was a point. Also mentioned above
The method (2) has a problem that the coupon is forged.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a merchandise sales apparatus which can increase the possibility of a customer becoming a repeater as compared with the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing product sales information, a method for displaying product sales information, and a computer-readable recording medium.

[0006]

The present invention employs the following configuration to achieve the above object. That is, the present invention provides information on a product to be sold in response to a request, receives a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the information on the product, and when the received selection result satisfies a predetermined condition. To
This includes providing discount information indicating that the price of the product will be discounted when the product is purchased next time or later.

According to the present invention, if the selection result of the product desired to be purchased satisfies a predetermined condition, discount information indicating that the price of the product after the next time is discounted is provided.
(Customer) can be more likely to be a repeater.

[0008] According to the present invention, information about a user is stored in a storage device, and when the user purchases the product as a result of the selection, identification information of the purchased product is provided for the user.
Information on the discount of the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product after the next time may be written in the storage device.
This makes it possible to appropriately and easily manage information about the user.

According to the present invention, there is provided a merchandise selling apparatus including the above structure,
The method can be specified as a method for providing merchandise sales information and a computer-readable recording medium.

The present invention is also a method for displaying merchandise sales information by a client connected to a server via a network, wherein the client requests the server to provide information on merchandise to be sold and receives the information from the server. Displaying the product information on a display device, transmitting a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the displayed product information to the server, and, when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition, the server. And displaying, on the display device, discount information for discounting the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product next time.

Further, the present invention can be specified as a program for executing processing for realizing the above method by a client and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program. Further, the present invention can be specified as a terminal device having the configuration of the client.

[0012]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<System Configuration> FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network system for realizing a product sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the network system includes a server S, and the server S and a network.
(E.g., the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, etc .: FIG. 1 illustrates the Internet N) and one or more clients C (FIG. 2 illustrates three clients C).

The connection form of each client C to the Internet N can be any existing connection form such as a dial-up connection using a telephone line, a connection to an ISDN, and a connection using a dedicated line. Further, in the example of FIG. 1, the server S is configured using one computer, but may be configured by connecting a plurality of computers via a communication line.

The server S has a World Wide Web (WWW) page 23 (home page 2) for selling products.
3: hereinafter referred to as “HP23”), and functions as a product sales server that provides the same in response to a request from each client C. Each client C is used by a user (customer) who wants to purchase a product through the HP 23.

The server S is a personal computer (P
C), a workstation (WS), a host computer thereof, or a dedicated server machine. The server S is connected to the C connected via the bus B1.
PU 2, main memory (MM) 3, external storage device 4, communication interface (communication I / F) 5, connected to Internet N through a communication line, and interface circuit
(I / F) 6 to 8 are provided.

The "client" in the present embodiment is a general-purpose device that is not closely related to the "server" as a device. However, the “server” and the “client” may be general-purpose devices as described above, or may be dedicated devices such as a host computer and its terminal.

A display device 9 such as a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display, and a plasma display is connected to the I / F 6, a keyboard (KBD) 10 is connected to the I / F 7, and a mouse and a track are connected to the I / F 8. A pointing device (PD) 11 such as a ball, a joystick, and a flat space is connected.

The external storage device 4 is configured using a readable and writable recording medium such as a hard disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk (MO). The external storage device 4 is used in executing a plurality of types of programs such as an operating system (OS) executed by the CPU 2, a program related to a communication protocol, a program for the server S to function as a WWW server, and the like. Data (for example, text files, image files, and HTML (HyperText Markup
e) files etc.). The HP 23 includes a plurality of Web pages linked by hyperlinks. Further, the external storage device 4 has a customer database (customer DB) 22 for managing customer information (customer information).

The CPU 2 sends necessary data from the external storage device 4 to the MM in accordance with an instruction input by the operator of the server S.
3 and a program corresponding to the instruction input is loaded from the external storage device 4 to the MM 3 and executed. Accordingly, the CPU 2 executes a process related to communication with each client C, for example, a process of providing the HP 23 in response to a request from each client C, and the like.

The MM 3 is used not only as a work area for the CPU 2 but also as a video memory (VRAM) for storing texts and images to be displayed on the screen of the display device 9.

When the CPU 2 executes the program, the product information providing section, discount information providing section,
The MM 3 and the external storage device 4 function as a customer information writing unit, function as the storage device of the present invention, and function as the recording medium of the present invention.

Each client C has substantially the same configuration as the server S, and in this example, is configured using a personal computer (PC). However, the client C has a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) such as a workstation (WS), a mobile computer, and an electronic organizer.
t), car navigation terminal, mobile phone (i-mode
(Registered Trademark), CDMA-one2), and the like can be applied to all computers that can be at least information processing terminals (DTEs) for the existing Internet N.

The client C includes the same components as the server S, such as the CPU 12, the MM 13, the external storage device 14,
A communication I / F 15 and I / Fs 16 to 18 are provided.
Is connected to a display device 19 as a display device,
KBD20 is connected to I / F17 and PD is connected to I / F18.
21 are connected.

The external storage device 14 holds various programs such as an OS, a program for the client C to function as a WWW client (WWW browser), a program relating to a communication protocol with the server S, and executes each program. At the time, it holds necessary data.

The CPU 12 copies necessary data from the external storage device 14 to the MM 13 in response to a user's instruction input of the client C, and loads a program corresponding to the instruction input from the external storage device 14 to the MM 13 and executes the program. I do. Accordingly, the CPU 12 performs a process of requesting the server S to provide the HP 23, a process of displaying the HP 23 provided from the server S on the display device 19, a process of transmitting data input through the HP 23 to the server S, and the like. Do. The MM 3 and the external storage device 4
Functions as the recording medium of the present invention.

<Operation Example> Next, operation examples of the server S and the client C when the user (customer) of the client C purchases a product through the HP 23 in the above-described system (a method of providing product sales information, a method of displaying product sales information) ) Will be described. The user (customer) of each client C is HP23
In order to purchase a product through the Internet, the client C activates the WWW browser. Thus, the client C and the server S are connected via the Internet N. Next, the user uses the input screen of the WWW browser to enter the URL (Unifo
rm Resource Locator).

Then, the CPU 12 of the client C
A request for providing the HP 23 is transmitted to the server S via the Internet N. In the server S, when the request from the client C is received by the communication I / F 5, the CP
U2 reads data (text file, image file, and HTML file) related to the Web page corresponding to the URL in the HP 23 from the external storage device 4 and transmits the data to the client C.

When the client C receives the data related to the Web page, the CPU 12 controls the I / F 16 to display the Web page based on the data received from the server S on the display device 19. The user of the client C can receive the information posted on the Web page by referring to the Web page displayed on the display device 19. When the user clicks a character, a symbol, a symbol, or the like on the Web page to which a hyperlink is set using the PD 21, the link destination Web is displayed.
A page provision request (address) is transmitted to the server S.

In the server S, upon receiving the request for providing the linked Web page, the CPU 2 sends the request (address).
Is read from the external storage device 4 and transmitted to the client C that has transmitted the provision request.

When the client C receives the data of the linked Web page from the server S, the CPU 12 of the client C makes the Web based on the received data.
The page is displayed on the display device 19. Thus, the user of the client C can refer to the destination Web page connected by the hyperlink. By repeating such an operation, the user of the client C can refer to a desired Web page.

Hereinafter, the operation of the server S (processing by the CPU 2 of the server S) when purchasing a product using the HP 23 will be described in detail for each case. FIG. 2 shows the operation of the server S.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing (processing by CPU 2). FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a part of a configuration example of FIG.

(First Operation Example) As a first operation example, an HP
An operation example when 23 non-members purchase a product through the HP 23 will be described. When purchasing a product through the HP 23, the user of the client C who is a non-member activates the WWW browser of the client C and starts the URL of the HP 23.
(Address). Then, the address of the top page P1 of the HP 23 is transmitted from the client C to the server S as a request for providing the HP 23.

When the server S receives the address of the top page P1 from the client C, the processing shown in FIG. 2 is started. The CPU 2 of the server S stores the top page P1 of the HP 23 in the external storage device 4 based on the received address.
And sends it to the client C via the Internet N (step S1). When the client C receives the top page P1 at the communication I / F 15, the client C
12 controls the I / F 16 and displays the top page P1 on the display device 19.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display of the top page P1. The top page P1 is the first page of the HP 23, and displays a title of the HP 23, a sentence introducing the HP 23, and an image. Top page P1 contains HP2
Product introduction buttons 24 and 25 are provided for proceeding to an introduction page of a product that can be purchased through 3.
In 4,25, a link for proceeding to the product introduction page P3 is set.

The product introduction button 24 is a button for members of the HP 23, and the product introduction button 25 is a button for non-members of the HP 23. In this operation example, the user
Since the user is a non-member, the product introduction button 25 is pressed.
Then, the address of the product introduction page P3 is transmitted from the client C to the server S as a provision request for the page.

The server S sends the page P via the communication I / F 5
3 (step S2), the CPU 2
Executes the product introduction page providing process (step S
4). FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the product introduction page providing process. In FIG. 5, the CPU 2 stores the product introduction page P3 on the external storage device 4 based on the received address.
(Step S101).

Subsequently, the CPU 2 determines whether the user is a member or a non-member (step S102). The determination of membership or non-member can be made based on the received address. Here, since the user is a non-member, the CPU 2
Advances the process to step S111, and transmits the read product introduction page P3 to the client C via the Internet N (corresponding to a product information providing unit that provides information on one or more products to be sold in response to a request). . Thereafter, the CPU 2 ends the product introduction page providing process, and advances the process to step S5 in FIG.

When the client C receives the product introduction page P3 at the communication I / F 15, the CPU 12 sets the CPU 12 to the I / F 1
6 to display the product introduction page P3 on the display device 1
9 is displayed. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of the product introduction page P3. As shown in FIG. 6, on the product introduction page P3, an index of one or more products to be sold on the HP 23 is displayed. In this example,
As an index, the name of each product and its introduction are displayed.

The product introduction page P3 is provided with a detail button 26 associated with the index of each product. Each detail button 26 is displayed on the product details / purchase application page P
4 is linked. The user of the client C can select the product by pressing the detail button 26 corresponding to the product desired to be purchased.

FIG. 6 shows a product introduction page P for members.
3 and the product introduction page P3 for non-members includes
Name of the user "Welcome to XXXX" (XXXX)
Is not displayed.

When any detail button 26 is pressed, the product details / purchase application page P4 corresponding to the detail button 26
And the identification information (product number) of the selected product are transmitted from the client C to the server S via the Internet N as a request for providing the page P4. The identification information (product number) of the selected product corresponds to the result of selecting the product desired to be purchased in the present invention.

The server S sends the page P via the communication I / F 5
When receiving the address (provision request) No. 3 (step S5 in FIG. 2), the CPU 2 executes a product detail / purchase application page provision process (step S6). That is, the CPU 2 determines the product details / purchase application page P based on the received address.
4 is read from the external storage device 4 and transmitted to the client C via the Internet N.

When the client C receives the product details / purchase application page P4 through the communication I / F 15, the CPU 12 controls the I / F 16 to display the product details / purchase application page P4 on the display device 19.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the product details / purchase application page P4. As shown in FIG. 7, a page P4 includes a product introduction page P3 as detailed product information.
The name, photograph (image), and detailed description (features, functions, specifications) of the product selected in are displayed.

On the product details / purchase application page P4, an application form (purchase application form) for purchasing the product selected on the product introduction page P3 is displayed.
The purchase application form is also used as a member registration form for a non-member to become a member of HP23.

The purchase application form includes an input column 28 for the member number (member identification information: member ID) in the HP 23 of the purchaser (customer: user of the client C), a name, an address, and a telephone number as the purchaser's personal information. Number, FAX number, and e-mail address input fields 29 to 33 are provided. Note that the personal information may further include the occupation of the purchaser, the telephone number of the office, and the like.

The user who is a non-member enters the items corresponding to the input fields 29 to 33 of the purchase application form using the KBD 20. At this time, there is no need to fill in the membership number because it has not been assigned yet. Thereafter, the user presses the next button 34 provided on the page P4. Then
The contents of the purchase application form are transmitted to the server S via the Internet N.

When the server S receives the contents of the purchase application form through the communication I / F 5 (step S in FIG. 2).
7), the CPU 2 determines whether or not the purchaser is a member by determining whether or not the entry content includes a member number (step S8). Here, since the purchaser (user) is a non-member, the process proceeds to step S9, where the CPU 2
Executes a member registration process.

That is, the CPU 2 is a member number database (member number DB: not shown) held in the external storage device 4.
From the unused member number. Then, CPU2
Sends the extracted member number and the received personal information to the customer D
Register in B22.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the customer DB 22 shown in FIG. The customer DB 22 holds a record including personal information and purchase information for each member number. The personal information is the name entered using the purchase application page P3,
Address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, etc. are included.

The purchase information is a record (purchase item record) of the purchase of the item to be discounted next time, and the purchase item record includes the specific information of the purchase item (for example, the item name, the item identification number, etc.), the purchase date ( Purchase application date), discount rate for next purchase,
The discount period (discount application period) is included.

The data structure of the customer DB 22 may be of any structure as long as it is configured to hold the above-described data and to search for necessary data. Further, the discount rate at the time of the next purchase corresponds to “information on discount of the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product after the next time” in the present invention.

CPU 2 stores the member number acquired in step S 7 and the received personal information in an empty area of customer DB 22. As a result, a new member is registered. Subsequently, the CPU 2 reads a registration procedure completion page P5 (FIG. 3) including the newly registered member number from the external storage device 4 and transmits the page to the client C via the Internet N.

The CPU 12 of the client C
Is displayed on the display device 19. Although not shown, the registration procedure completion page P5 displays that the member registration has been completed (for example, a sentence indicating that "member registration procedure has been completed"), a member number and a password. Thereby, client C
The user is notified (given) of the member number.

Next, the CPU 2 of the server S executes a purchase confirmation page providing process (step S10 in FIG. 2). FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a purchase confirmation page providing process. In FIG. 9, the CPU 2 first reads the purchase confirmation page P6 from the external storage device 4 (step S20).
1).

Next, the CPU 2 stores the normal price of the product in a product database (product D) held in the external storage device 4.
B) Read from 35 (step S202). FIG.
It is a figure showing the example of goods DB35. The product DB 35 uses the identification information of the product to be sold (in this example, the identification number (product number) of the product) as a search key, and associates the product with the identification information of each product, a product name, a normal price, an introduction sentence, and an image (photograph). ), Etc., and holds records including information on products displayed on each page P3, P4, P6. The CPU 2 reads the normal price corresponding to the product number (selected by the user) received from the client C.

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether the purchaser is a new member or an existing member of the HP 23 by determining whether the member number has been received from the client C (step S203). Here, since the user is a new member newly registered in the member registration process (step S9), the process proceeds to step S206.

In step S206, the CPU 2 includes the normal price of the product read in step S202 in the content of the purchase confirmation page P6. Subsequently, the CPU 2 informs the purchaser that a discount will be made at the time of purchasing the next and subsequent products (guidance for applying the next and subsequent discounts), the discount rate and the discount application period, on the purchase confirmation page P6. (Step S207).

At this time, the CPU 2 obtains the discount rate using the discount rate calculation table 36 stored in the external storage device 4 in advance. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the discount rate calculation table 36. The discount rate calculation table 36 holds a discount rate [%] corresponding to a predetermined price range. CPU2
The discount rate corresponding to the price range to which the normal price belongs is read from the discount rate calculation table 36. The discount rate may be calculated from the normal price using a predetermined function.

The CPU 2 obtains the discount application period using the discount application period calculation table 37 stored in the external storage device 4 in advance. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the discount application period calculation table 37. The discount application period calculation table 37 holds a discount application period corresponding to a product purchase time. The CPU 2 reads from the table 37 the discount application period corresponding to the purchase time to which the purchase date (purchase application date) belongs. The discount application period may be determined according to the purchased product.

After that, the CPU 2 transmits a purchase confirmation page including the normal price, the discount application guidance, the discount rate and the discount application period to the client C via the Internet N (step S210). Thereafter, the purchase confirmation page providing process ends, and the process proceeds to step S11 in FIG.

When the client C receives the purchase confirmation page P6 at the communication I / F 15, the CPU 12 sets the CPU 12 to the I / F 16
To display the purchase confirmation page P6 on the display device 19
To be displayed. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of the purchase confirmation page P6. On the purchase confirmation page P6, as the detailed information of the product, the price of the product, the consumption tax amount, and the total amount thereof are displayed together with the detailed information of the product displayed on the page P4. Here, the normal price is displayed as the price of the product.

Further, on the purchase confirmation page P6, a display field 38 for displaying the effect of the discount, the discount rate, and the discount application period is displayed. In this example, the display field 38 shows, "If you purchase this product A now, you will get a 15% discount on subsequent purchases. The discount will be applied for one year from the date of purchase for half a year." Is displayed. The display contents of the display column 38 correspond to the discount information transmitted from the server S in the present invention.

When purchasing a product, the user of the client C presses a purchase button 39 provided on the page P6. Then, the CPU 12 of the client C transmits the address of the purchase procedure completion page P7 to the server S as a provision request of the page P7.

When the CPU 2 of the server S receives the provision request for the page P7 received by the communication I / F 5 (step S11 in FIG. 2), the customer DB 22 is indexed by the member number of the user, and the corresponding record is read. In the purchase information in the record, the product number, the purchase date, the discount rate, and the discount application period (discount period) are stored as the specific information of the product purchased by the user this time.

Subsequently, the CPU 2 reads the purchase procedure completion page P7 from the external storage device 4 and sends it to the client C (step S12). Upon receiving the purchase procedure completion page P7, the client C displays it on the display device 19. On the page P7, although not shown, a message indicating completion of the purchase procedure and words of thanks for use are displayed.

After that, the administrator of the HP 23
With reference to 2, a product is prepared, and the product is delivered to the user's address together with the payment transfer paper by mail or courier. Thereby, the user can receive the product. Of course, the user may be able to input a credit card number or the like using page P7, and the price of the product may be settled electronically.

(Second Operation Example) Next, as a second operation example, an operation example in which a member of the HP 23 purchases a product through the HP 23 will be described. The user of client C
Client C when purchasing goods through HP23
Is started, and the URL (address) of the HP 23 is designated. Then, the top page P1 of HP23
Is the client C as a request to provide HP23.
To the server S.

Server S sends page P1 from client C
When the address shown in FIG. 2 is received, the processing shown in FIG. 2 is started. The CPU 2 of the server S reads out the top page P1 of the HP 23 from the external storage device 4 based on the received address and sends it to the client C (Step S1).

When the client C receives the top page P1 at the communication I / F 15, the CPU 12 sets the I / F 16
And displays the top page P1 on the display device 19. Since the user is a member of the HP 23, the user presses the product introduction button 24. Then, the address of the product introduction page P3 is set to the client C
To the server S.

The server S sends the page P via the communication I / F 5
3 (step S2), the CPU 2
Reads the user authentication page P2 from the external storage device 4 and sends it to the client C. Upon receiving the page P2, the client C displays the page P2 on the display device 19.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the user authentication page P2. The page P2 includes a member number input field 40, a password input field 41, and an OK button 42.
And a cancel button 43 are displayed. The user
Using the KBD 20, enter the membership number and password previously obtained through page P5 and press the OK button 42. Then, the member number and password are changed to Client C
To the server S.

When the CPU 2 of the server S receives the member number and the password received by the communication I / F 5, the CPU 2 performs a user authentication process using user authentication data (not shown) held in the external storage device 4. If the member number and the password are appropriate, the product introduction page providing process is started (step S4).

On the other hand, if the member number and the password are not appropriate, re-input of these is required. If the member number and the password are not appropriate even after performing the user authentication process a predetermined number of times, the provision of the product introduction page P3 for the member is refused.

When the process has proceeded to step S4, the CPU 2 executes a product introduction page providing process shown in FIG. First, the CPU 2 reads the product introduction page P3 from the external storage device 4 based on the received address (Step S101). Subsequently, the CPU 2 determines whether the user is a member or a non-member based on the result of the user authentication process.
(Step S102). Here, since the user is a member, the process proceeds to step S103.

In step S103, the CPU 2 refers to the customer DB 22 (FIG. 8) using the member number as a search key, specifies a record corresponding to the member number, and reads out the name of the user included in this record to the MM3. Next, CPU
2 determines whether or not the specified record includes purchase information of the discount-target product from the next time on (step S104).
At this time, if there is the corresponding purchase information, the process proceeds to step S105; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S109.

When the process has proceeded to step S105, the CPU 2 refers to the discount application period in the purchase information and determines whether or not the current time is before the discount application period. At this time, if the current time is before the discount application period, the process proceeds to step S106; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S107.

When the process proceeds to step S106, CPU 2 calculates the number of days until the start of the discount application period using the current day and the discount application period. Then, CPU
2 includes the acquired user name and the number of days until the start of the discount application period in the content of the product introduction page P3 (S11).
0). Thereafter, the CPU 2 transmits the product introduction page P3 including the name and the number of days to the client C (Step S111).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S105 that the current time is not before the discount application period, and the process proceeds to step S107, the CPU 2 refers to the discount application period in the purchase information, and Is during the discount application period. At this time, if the current time is during the discount application period, the process proceeds to step S108; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S109 assuming that the discount application period has already elapsed.

If the process has proceeded to step S108, CPU 2 calculates the number of days until the end of the discount application period using the current day and the discount application period. Then, CPU
2 includes the acquired user name and the number of days until the end of the discount application period in the content of the product introduction page P3 (S11).
0). Thereafter, the CPU 2 transmits the product introduction page P3 including the name and the number of days to the client C (Step S111).

If it is determined in step S4 that there is no purchase information, or if it is determined in step S107 that the discount application period has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S109, and the CPU 2 proceeds to step S109. , Step S1
03 is included in the contents of the product introduction page P3. Thereafter, the CPU 2 transmits the product introduction page P3 including the name and the number of days to the client C (Step S111).

Upon receiving the product introduction page P3, the client C displays this page P3 on the display device. When there is no purchase information in the record of the customer DB 22 corresponding to the user and when the discount application period has passed, the product introduction page P3 shown in FIG. Is displayed.

On the other hand, if it is before the discount application period, as shown in FIG.
A product introduction page P3 is displayed on which a guide message 44 including the number of days until the start of the discount application period is displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 15, a sentence “XX (XX is the number of days) until the discount application period for the purchase of the product A is displayed” is displayed as the guidance message 44.

On the other hand, when the discount application period is in progress, as shown in FIG.
A product introduction page P3 is displayed on which a guidance message 45 including the number of days until the end of the discount application period is displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 16, a sentence “During the discount application period for the purchase of the product A! XX (XX is the number of days) remaining days” is displayed as the guidance message 45. Each of the guidance messages 44 and 45 corresponds to “information on discount application period” transmitted from the product sales server of the present invention and displayed on the display device by the client.

[0086] The user, on the product introduction page P3,
When the detail button 26 corresponding to the product desired to be purchased is pressed, the product details / purchase application page P4 corresponding to the selected product is provided from the server S, as in the first operation example.
(Step S6 in FIG. 2) is displayed on the display device 19. The user enters the member number and personal information in the purchase application form on page P4, and presses the next button 34. Then, the contents of the purchase application form are transmitted to the server S.

When server S receives the contents of the purchase application form (step S7 in FIG. 2), CPU 2 determines whether or not the contents of the purchase include a membership number, thereby determining whether the purchaser is a member. Is determined (step S8). Here, since the member number is included in the entry, the process proceeds to step S10, and the CPU 2 executes a purchase confirmation page providing process shown in FIG. 9 (step S10).

In FIG. 9, CPU 2 reads purchase confirmation page P6 from external storage device 4 (step S20).
1), the normal price of the product is read from the product DB 35 stored in the external storage device 4 (step S202).

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether the purchaser is a new member or an existing member of the HP 23 by determining whether the member number has been received from the client C (step S203). Here, since the user is a member and has received the member number through the purchase application form, the process proceeds to step S204.

In step S204, CPU 2 refers to customer DB 22 using the member number, and determines whether or not the record corresponding to the member number includes purchase information. At this time, if the purchase information is included, the process proceeds to step S205, and if not, the process proceeds to step S206.

If the process has proceeded to step S205, the CPU 2 refers to the discount application period in the purchase information included in the record and determines whether or not the current time is within the discount application period. At this time, if the current time is during the discount application period, the process proceeds to step S208; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S206.

When the process proceeds to step S208, CPU 2 calculates a discount price using the normal price and the discount rate included in the purchase information. Then, CPU
No. 2 includes the discount price in the content of the purchase confirmation page P6.
In steps S206 and S209, the consumption tax amount and the total amount based on the normal price or the discount price are calculated and included in the content of the purchase confirmation page P6. And C
PU2 transmits a purchase confirmation page P6 including the discount price to client C (step S210).

As described above, during the discount application period, the purchase confirmation page P6 including the discount price at the predetermined discount rate is transmitted to the client C, and displayed on the display device 19 at the client C. In this case, on the purchase confirmation page P6 (FIG. 13), a discount price is displayed at the price display position, and the consumption tax amount and the total amount based on the discount price are displayed. In this case, the display column 38 is not displayed. Of course, instead of the display column 38, for example, a guidance message of “15% discount from the regular price” may be displayed.

If the processing has proceeded to step S206, the processing after step S206 is the same as in the first operation example, and a description thereof will be omitted. Of course, if it is before the discount application period, a guidance message of “15% discount from the displayed price during the discount application period” may be displayed in the display column 38. Subsequent operations are almost the same as those in the first operation example, and thus description thereof is omitted.

<Operation of the Embodiment> According to the merchandise sales system according to the present embodiment, the user (customer) of the client C
Is purchasing the product through the HP 23, the customer is presented with a discount on the product at a predetermined discount rate at the time of the next and subsequent purchases. Therefore, it is possible to urge the customer to purchase a product through the HP 23 next time. That is, motivation to be a repeater can be given to a customer, and the possibility that the customer can be a repeater can be increased.

The information when the customer purchases the product is stored in the customer DB 2 together with the customer's personal information as purchase information.
2 Then, when the customer accesses the HP 23 next, information about the discount application period is given to the customer. As a result, it is possible to appropriately and easily store information on a customer's product purchase. In addition, by providing information on the discount application period to the customer, it is possible to increase the possibility that the customer will purchase a product through the HP 23 next time.

For example, if a product is a product that undergoes a model change in a predetermined period, such as a personal computer, a discount application period is set at the next model change, so that a product can be converted to any number of generations. HP2
There is a possibility that they can be purchased through 3.

By storing the customer's personal information and purchase information in the customer DB 22 through the Internet N,
Even if the manager of P23 is a small-scale retail store, customer information can be easily and properly stored. Also,
As in the case where coupons are distributed, fraud such as forgery of coupons does not occur.

<Modification> This embodiment can be modified as follows.

In the present embodiment, the information regarding the discount at the time of the next and subsequent purchases is presented to the customer on the purchase confirmation page, but may be presented on the product introduction page P3 for non-members. good. In this way, the user can be motivated to become a member of HP23,
You can get many members.

In this embodiment, the product introduction page P
Although any of the products to be sold introduced in 3 are set as discount conditions at the time of purchase of the next and subsequent products, if a particular product is purchased, if the purchase price of the product is equal to or more than a predetermined price, The discount condition may be set when the number of purchases is equal to or more than a predetermined number or when the total price of a plurality of products is equal to or more than a predetermined price.

Further, the example in which the server in this embodiment is realized by one computer has been described. However, a plurality of computers are connected via a network, and the functions of the server in this embodiment are realized by distributed processing. You may comprise.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the present invention is realized by a network system including a server and a client connected through a network, but the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, the contents of processing performed by the server and the client in the above-described embodiment, that is, the display of product information to be sold, the selection of a product desired to be purchased, and the case where the selected product satisfies predetermined conditions, are described above. The object of the present invention is achieved even when the discount information is displayed on a single device (stand-alone device).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a discount is applied to the next purchase of the same product as the purchased product.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a predetermined product group may be managed as a group, and other products belonging to the same group as the product including the previously purchased product may be discounted. .

In this case, for example, information on the group is added to each record in the product database 35 in association with the product number of each product. Alternatively, by separately creating a database having a record including information on a group corresponding to the product number of each product, a group to which the product belongs can be identified from the product number of the product, and In addition, it is possible to specify a product belonging to the group from the group name.

Then, when displaying the guidance message or the purchase confirmation page, the group to which the product belongs is obtained by using the product number of the selected product, and other products belonging to the group are specified to be discounted. The group name or the names of all the products belonging to the group may be displayed.

When calculating the discount price by purchasing a product, the group to which the product belongs is determined by using the product number of the product included in the purchase information corresponding to the purchaser (member number) as described above. It is only necessary to determine whether the product selected for purchase this time belongs to the group and determine whether or not to discount.

[Supplementary Notes] The present invention can be specified as follows. (Supplementary Note 1) A merchandise selling apparatus, which includes a merchandise information providing unit that provides information on merchandise to be sold in response to a request, and a result of selecting a desired merchandise from the merchandise information according to predetermined conditions And a discount information providing unit that provides discount information indicating that the price of the product is discounted at the time of purchasing the product after the next time. (Supplementary Note 2) A storage device for storing information about the user,
For a user who has purchased the selected product, a customer information writing unit that writes, in the storage device, specific information of the purchased product and information regarding a discount on the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product after the next time. The merchandise selling device according to claim 1, further comprising: (Supplementary Note 3) The customer information writing unit according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein the customer information writing unit writes, in the storage device, a discount rate or a discount amount of a price of a product to be purchased at the time of next purchase of the product as the information regarding the discount. apparatus. (Supplementary Note 4) The article sales device according to Supplementary Note 2 or 3, wherein the customer information writing unit writes, as the information related to the discount, a discount application period during which the price of the commodity is discounted in the storage device. (Supplementary Note 5) The product sales apparatus according to supplementary note 4, wherein the product information providing unit provides information on the discount application period when providing the information on the product. (Supplementary Note 6) If the current date is before the start of the discount application period read from the storage device, the product information providing unit determines the number of days from the current date to the start of the discount application period for the discount application period. The merchandise sales apparatus according to Supplementary Note 5 provided as information. (Supplementary Note 7) If the current day is during the discount application period read from the storage device, the product information providing unit provides the remaining days of the discount application period as information on the discount application period or Item 6. The merchandise selling device according to item 6. (Supplementary Note 8) The product sales apparatus according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that any product or a specific product included in the product information is selected as a product desired to be purchased. (Supplementary Note 9) A method for providing product sales information, in which information on a product to be sold is provided in response to a request, a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the information on the product is received, and the selection result is provided. A product sales information providing method including providing discount information indicating that the price of a product will be discounted at the time of purchasing the product after the next time, if a predetermined condition is satisfied. (Supplementary Note 10) When the user purchases the product as a result of the selection, the storage device stores, for the user, the specific information of the purchased product and the information on the discount of the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product for the next and subsequent times. The method for providing merchandise sales information according to claim 9, further comprising writing. (Supplementary note 11) The method for providing merchandise sales information according to Supplementary note 10, wherein the discount rate or the discount amount of the price of the product to be purchased at the time of next purchase of the product is written in the storage device as the information on the discount. (Supplementary note 12) The method of providing the commodity sales information according to supplementary note 10 or 11, wherein a discount application period during which the price of the product is discounted is written in the storage device as the information on the discount. (Supplementary Note 13) The method for providing merchandise sales information according to Supplementary Note 12, wherein the information on the discount application period is provided when the information on the product is provided. (Supplementary note 14) Supplementary note 13, wherein if the current day is before the start of the discount application period read from the storage device, the number of days from the current day to the start of the discount application period is provided as information on the discount application period. How to provide product sales information. (Supplementary note 15) The product sales according to Supplementary note 13 or 14, wherein when the current day is during the discount application period read from the storage device, the remaining days of the discount application period are provided as information on the discount application period. Information provision method. (Supplementary Note 16) The method for providing merchandise sales information according to Supplementary Note 9, wherein the predetermined condition is to select any product or a specific product included in the product information as a product desired to be purchased. (Supplementary Note 17) A method for displaying merchandise sales information by a client connected to a server via a network, wherein the client requests the server to provide information on a merchandise to be sold, and receives the information on the merchandise received from the server. Is displayed on the display device, the result of the selection of the product desired to be purchased from the information of the product is transmitted to the server, and the next and subsequent products received from the server when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition. A method for displaying merchandise sales information, comprising displaying, on the display device, discount information indicating that the price of the merchandise is to be discounted at the time of purchase. (Supplementary note 18) The method of displaying the commodity sales information according to supplementary note 17, wherein the client displays, on the display device, a discount rate or a discount amount of the price of the product to be purchased at the time of next purchase of the product. (Supplementary note 19) The method for displaying merchandise sales information according to Supplementary note 17 or 18, wherein the client displays, on the display device, a discount application period in which the price of the product is discounted. (Supplementary note 20) The method of displaying the commodity sales information according to supplementary note 19, wherein the client displays the information on the discount application period on the display device together with the information on the commodity. (Supplementary Note 21) If the current day is before the start of the discount application period, the client displays the number of days from the current day to the start of the discount application period on the display device as information on the discount application period. A method for displaying merchandise sales information according to attachment 20. (Supplementary note 22) The client according to Supplementary note 20 or 21, wherein, when the current day is during the discount application period, the client displays the remaining days of the discount application period on the display device as information on the discount application period. Product sales information display method. (Supplementary Note 23) A recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute a product sales information providing process is provided, wherein a step of providing the computer with information on one or more products to be sold in response to a request, Providing the discount information indicating that the price of the product will be discounted at the time of the next purchase of the product if the result of selecting the product desired to be purchased from the information of the above satisfies a predetermined condition. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded. (Supplementary Note 24) When the user purchases the product as a result of the selection, the storage device stores, for the user, the specific information of the purchased product and the information on the discount of the product price at the time of the next and subsequent product purchases. 24. The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary Note 23, wherein the program causing the program to further execute the writing step is recorded. (Supplementary note 25) The computer-readable recording according to Supplementary note 24, wherein the program for writing, in the storage device, a discount rate or a discount amount of a price of a product to be purchased when the product is purchased next time or later as the information on the discount. Medium. (Supplementary note 26) The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary note 24 or 25, wherein the program for writing, in the storage device, a discount application period in which the price of the product is discounted is stored as the information on the discount. (Supplementary note 27) The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary note 26, wherein the program for providing information on the discount application period is provided when the information on the product is provided. (Supplementary Note 28) If the current day is before the start of the discount application period read from the storage device, the program that provides the number of days from the current day to the start of the discount application period as information on the discount application period is provided. 28. The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary Note 27 recorded. (Supplementary Note 29) In the case where the current day is during the discount application period read from the storage device, the program which records the program for providing the remaining days of the discount application period as information on the discount application period, 29. The computer-readable recording medium according to 28. (Supplementary note 30) The computer-readable recording according to Supplementary note 23, wherein the program is recorded, in which the predetermined condition is to select any product included in the product information or a specific product as a product desired to be purchased. Medium. (Supplementary Note 31) A recording medium storing a computer program for causing a client connected to a server via a network to execute product sales information display processing, the server providing the client with information on a product to be sold. Requesting, displaying the product information received from the server on a display device, transmitting to the server a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the product information, Displaying the discount information on the display device for discounting the price of the product at the time of purchasing the next and subsequent products received from the server when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition. Computer-readable recording medium. (Supplementary note 32) The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary note 31, wherein the program for displaying, on the display device, a discount rate or a discount amount of a price of a product to be purchased at the time of next purchase of the product. (Supplementary note 33) The computer-readable recording medium according to Supplementary note 31 or 32, wherein the program for displaying, on the display device, a discount application period in which the discount of the commodity price is performed is recorded. (Supplementary note 34) The computer-readable recording medium according to supplementary note 33, wherein the program for displaying information on the discount application period on the display device together with the information on the product is recorded. (Supplementary Note 35) When the current day is before the start of the discount application period, the program for displaying the number of days from the current day to the start of the discount application period on the display device is recorded as information on the discount application period. 34. The computer-readable recording medium according to supplementary note 34. (Supplementary note 36) Supplementary note 34 or 35, wherein when the current day is during the discount application period, the program for displaying the remaining days of the discount application period on the display device as information on the discount application period is recorded. Computer-readable recording medium. (Supplementary Note 37) Connected to a network, the product information providing unit provides product information to the requesting device in response to the request from the requesting device received via the network, and the discount information providing unit The article selling device according to claim 1, wherein the discount information is provided to the request source device via the network. (Supplementary note 38) The method for providing commodity sales information according to supplementary note 9, wherein the request is received from a request source device via a network, and the discount information is provided to the request source device via the network. . (Supplementary note 39) The supplementary note 23, wherein the request is received from a request source device via a network, and the discount information is the program provided to the request source device via the network. Computer readable recording medium. (Supplementary Note 40) A terminal device connected to the server through a network, the request for information on a product to be sold,
And a transmission unit that transmits a result of selection of a product desired to be purchased from the product information to the server, and a display control unit that displays information received from the server on a display device, from the server. The received information includes information on the product provided in response to the request, and a discount provided when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition. Terminal device that is information.

[0110]

According to the merchandise sales apparatus, the merchandise sales information providing method, the merchandise sales information display method, and the computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the possibility that a customer becomes a repeater as compared with the related art. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of the homepage shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen display example of a top page shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a product introduction page providing process shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the product introduction page shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the product details / purchase application page shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the customer database shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a purchase confirmation page providing process shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a product database.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a discount rate calculation table.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a discount application period calculation table.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen display example of a purchase confirmation page shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the user authentication page shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the product introduction page shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the product introduction page shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 C Client N Internet P1 Top page P2 User authentication page P3 Product introduction page P4 Product details / purchase application page P5 Registration procedure completion page P6 Purchase confirmation page P7 Purchase procedure completion page S server 2,12 CPU 3,13 Main memory (storage device) , Recording medium) 4,14 external storage device (storage device, recording medium) 5,15 communication interface 6,7,8,16,17,18 interface 9,19 display device (display device) 10,20 keyboard 11,21 Pointing device 22 Customer database 23 Homepage 24,25 Product introduction button 26 Detail button 27,44,45 Guidance 28-33,40,41 Input field 34 Next button 35 Product database 36 Discount rate calculation table 37 Discount application period calculation table 38 Display field 9 purchase button 42 OK button 43 Cancel button

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A product sales apparatus, comprising: a product information providing unit for providing information on a product to be sold in response to a request; and a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the information on the product is a predetermined value. A merchandise selling apparatus comprising: a discount information providing unit that provides discount information indicating that the price of a product is discounted when a product is purchased next time when the condition is satisfied. 2. A storage device for storing information on a user, information on a user who purchased the selected product, information on the purchased product, and information on a discount on the price of the product at the time of purchasing the product after the next time. And a customer information writing unit for writing the information into the storage device. 3. The merchandise sales apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the customer information writing unit writes, as the information on the discount, a discount application period during which the price of the merchandise is discounted into the storage device. 4. The merchandise sales apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the merchandise information providing unit provides information on the discount application period when providing information on the merchandise. 5. The product information providing unit, if the current day is before the start of the discount application period read from the storage device, calculates the number of days from the current day to the start of the discount application period. The merchandise selling device according to claim 4, wherein the merchandise selling device is provided as information on the product. 6. The merchandise information providing unit, if the current day is during a discount application period read from the storage device,
The product sales apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the number of days remaining in the discount application period is provided as information on the discount application period. 7. A product sales information providing method, comprising: providing information on a product to be sold in response to a request; receiving a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the information on the product; If the result satisfies a predetermined condition, a method for providing merchandise sales information, which includes providing discount information indicating that the price of the merchandise will be discounted when purchasing the merchandise next time. 8. A merchandise sales information display method by a client connected to a server via a network, wherein the client requests the server to provide information on a merchandise to be sold, and displays the merchandise information received from the server. Displaying information on a display device, transmitting to the server a result of selection of a product desired to be purchased from the displayed information of the product, and receiving from the server when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition; A method for displaying merchandise sales information, comprising displaying, on the display device, discount information indicating that the price of the merchandise is to be discounted when the merchandise is purchased next time or later. 9. A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a product sales information providing process, the method comprising: providing a computer with information on one or more products to be sold according to a request; If the result of selecting a desired product from the product information satisfies a predetermined condition, executing a step of providing discount information indicating that the price of the product will be discounted at the time of the next purchase of the product. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program to be recorded is recorded. 10. A recording medium storing a computer program for causing a client connected to a server via a network to execute a merchandise sales information display process, wherein the client is provided with information on merchandise to be sold. Requesting the server; displaying the product information received from the server on a display device; transmitting to the server a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the displayed product information. And displaying, on the display device, discount information received from the server when the selection result satisfies a predetermined condition, the discount information indicating that the price of the product is to be discounted at the time of next purchase of the product. And a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the program. 11. A program for causing a computer to execute a product sales information providing process, comprising: providing a computer with information on one or more products to be sold in response to a request; And a step of providing discount information indicating that the price of the product will be discounted in the next and subsequent purchases of the product if the result of selecting the product desired to be purchased from satisfies a predetermined condition. 12. A computer program for causing a client connected to a server via a network to display merchandise sales information, wherein the client requests the server to provide information on merchandise to be sold to the client. Displaying the information on the product received from the server on a display device; transmitting a result of selecting a product desired to be purchased from the displayed information on the product to the server; Displaying, on the display device, discount information received from the server when the result satisfies a predetermined condition, the discount information indicating that the price of the product is to be discounted at the time of the next purchase of the product.