JP2002269406A - Price determining method and device, price determining program and storage medium with price determining program stored therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data processing system for giving a limited time period to each negotiation to make negotiation within a given time by allowing simultaneous sales price determining processing to be perfored for all of a plurality of buyers. SOLUTION: A negotiation parameter storage file having acquired negotiation IDs as identifying names are searched for each of buyer-side terminals, negotiation parameters as information required in keeping price negotiation are acquired and the negotiation parameters are stored in the negotiation parameter storage file each time negotiation with buyers is performed, thereby establishing simultaneous parallel negotiation processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining a price, a program for determining a price, and a storage medium storing the program for determining a price, and more particularly to a retail store that sells goods to individuals. In a price negotiation process applied to a sales system in a case where negotiations such as negotiations are performed using a network computer e-commerce, while simultaneously performing a price negotiation process for a plurality of buyers,
The present invention relates to a price determination method and apparatus for realizing a data processing system for setting a maximum negotiation time for each negotiation and performing price negotiation processing within a time limit, a price determination program, and a storage medium storing the price determination program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The place of electronic commerce is rapidly expanding, and the number of electronic malls and stores exhibiting there is dramatically increasing. On the other hand, in the construction of the electronic mall system by the conventional technology, the method of buying and selling and the variation of the interface become very scarce. Therefore, service providers in e-commerce are keen on a technology that can produce a color difference from other stores other than the design of a homepage or a product lineup. In response to such a request, the mall (or store visitor's past purchase history, product inventory situation, and in the exchange between both buyers and sellers,
A method has been proposed in which sales conditions are dynamically changed and presented, and a mechanism for searching for a final sales price is provided. An example is shown below.

FIG. 13 shows a configuration of a conventional selling price determination device. The selling price determination device 10 is connected to a storage device that stores a product DB 20, a user DB 30, and a sales policy description file 40. The selling price determination device 10 includes an interface 11, an information input unit 12, a price determination unit 13, and a notification unit 14.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a user table of a user DB in a conventional example, and FIG. 15 shows an example of a product table of a product DB in a conventional example.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conventional selling price determination device.

[0007] A customer ID, an order list (desired policy ID and the number thereof), and negotiation contents are received from the interface 11, the product DB 20 is accessed, and the selling price of each product ID is obtained (step 201). Next, the total price at the selling price is calculated (step 202).
Here, it is determined whether there are a plurality of sales transmission description files 40 (step 203), and if there are a plurality, the sales policy description file 40 is randomly selected (step 204).
The sales policy description file 40 (use data table, negotiation table, negotiation break table) is read (step 2).
05). Next, each database is accessed to read usage data (step 206), and a result satisfying the conditions is searched from the sales policy description file 40 (step 20).
7). If the number of searched results is 0, the negotiation is broken (step 213) and the result is transmitted to the interface 11. If there are two or more, the negotiation result is selected at random (step 209), and a new selling price is calculated or a product that can be added for free is proposed (step 21).
0). Even in the case of one item, a new selling price can be calculated or a product that can be added free of charge is proposed (step 21).
0). Here, it is determined whether the negotiation has been broken (step 2).
11) If the negotiation has not been broken, the display price or the proposed merchandise to be added for free is transmitted to the interface 11 (step 212).

[0008] In this way, the above processing is performed for the input of the purchaser's user ID, the product ID of the product to be purchased, and the contents of the negotiations (make it cheaper, make ○ yen, etc.) The sales price according to the user information, the product information and the sales strategy of the store is determined, and the result is notified to the purchaser.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional selling price determination apparatus, when a plurality of buyers request the start of the selling price determination processing at the same time, the buyers in the processing start request are queued in order from the buyer whose processing start request is earlier. They are arranged and processed one by one from the top buyer. In the case of the method using such a queue, the original waiting time of the buyers other than the buyer performing the selling price determination processing is added as going to the rear of the queue, and the goods are kept until the original processing in front of the queue is completed. Will not be able to buy.

[0010] Further, if the buyer negotiates endlessly,
Even when the above-described multiple simultaneous negotiations are realized, there is a problem that the number of negotiations to be processed continues to increase and the load on the system increases. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and enables a plurality of purchasers to simultaneously perform a selling price determination process, and also sets a time limit for each negotiation and allows negotiations to be performed within a certain time. And method for determining a price, which can provide a data processing system, a price determination program, and a storage medium storing the price determination program.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a price determining method and apparatus and a price determining program capable of setting a time limit for a plurality of simultaneous price negotiation processes so as to prevent unnecessary long negotiations. And a storage medium storing a price determination program.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

According to the present invention (claim 1), negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a purchaser's terminal are based on:
In the price determination method for determining a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge, it is communicated whether the buyer terminal stores a negotiation ID which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process. The first step (step 1) is to determine the start of a new price negotiation process if not stored, and a new negotiation ID is generated,
A second step of transmitting the negotiation ID to the buyer terminal and generating a negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID;
(Step 2), if it is stored, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, and the negotiation ID is obtained from the buyer terminal (Step 3), and the obtained negotiation ID is uniquely determined. From the corresponding negotiating parameter storage file, obtain the negotiating parameters that are necessary information for continuing price negotiations, including the product ID that is the target of the price negotiation process and the sales price determined in the previous process. And a fourth step (step 4) in which the sales price determination means is activated using the negotiation parameters as the activation parameters to determine the sales price to be presented to the purchaser, and transmitted to the purchaser terminal. 5), a fifth step (step 6) of storing the negotiation parameters in the negotiation parameter storage file corresponding to the negotiation ID, and receiving information for receiving an order from the purchaser terminal, or Consisting a sixth step of repeating the process from the second step negotiating until receiving the interrupt information (Step 7).

According to the present invention (claim 2), at the time when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal, the price negotiation start time at which the price negotiation process is started is determined. When the fourth step is performed, the price negotiation start time is compared with the current time, and it is determined whether or not the time is within a predetermined time limit. If so, the processing from the fourth step is continued, and if it is outside the time limit, the selling price determination processing ends.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

According to the present invention (claim 3), a negotiation condition for determining a selling price of a product with a purchaser's terminal is provided by:
A price determining device that determines a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge, wherein the negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the buyer terminal, is performed by the buyer terminal. ID storage confirming means 10 for determining whether or not the negotiation parameters are stored in a negotiation parameter, and a negotiation parameter storage file 50 for storing negotiation parameters for price negotiation processing using the negotiation ID as an identifier.
If the ID storage confirmation unit 10 determines that the price is not stored, it determines that a new price negotiation process is to be started, generates a new negotiation ID, and transmits the negotiation ID to the buyer terminal. Negotiation ID generation means 20 for generating a negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID;
D When it is determined by the storage confirming means 20 that the price is stored, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, a negotiation ID is obtained from the buyer terminal, and the price negotiation is performed based on the negotiation ID. A negotiation parameter, which is information necessary for continuing price negotiations, including a product ID subject to negotiation processing and a selling price determined in the previous processing, is obtained by searching a negotiation parameter storage file. The negotiation parameter acquisition means 30 is activated with the negotiation parameter as an activation parameter, determines a selling price to be presented to the purchaser, transmits the price to the buyer's terminal, and determines the price for storing the negotiation parameter in the negotiation parameter storage file. The means 40 and the negotiation parameter acquisition means and the price determination means are repeated until information for receiving an order for a product or information for suspending the negotiation is received from the purchaser terminal. And a continue decision means 60 to return.

According to the present invention (claim 4), the negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal. Negotiation start time setting means to be
At the time of execution of the price determination processing means 40, the current time is acquired,
Time limit determining means for determining whether the difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit, and if the determination result indicates that the difference is within the negotiation time limit, the price determination processing means 40 It further includes negotiation continuation control means for executing the process and terminating the process when the negotiation time limit is exceeded.

According to the present invention (claim 5), a negotiation condition for determining a selling price of a product with a purchaser's terminal is defined as follows.
Negotiation ID, which is a price determination program that determines a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge, and is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the buyer-side terminal
ID storage confirmation process for determining whether or not is stored in the buyer's terminal, and when it is determined that the ID is not stored in the ID storage confirmation process, it is determined that a new price negotiation process is to be started, and new negotiations are performed. ID and the negotiation I
D is transmitted to the buyer side terminal, and a negotiation ID generation process for generating a negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID, and when it is determined that the negotiation parameter is stored, the price negotiation is performed. It is determined that the process is ongoing, and a negotiation ID is obtained from the buyer terminal, and the negotiation ID is obtained.
Based on the negotiation ID, the product ID that is the target of the price negotiation process and the negotiation parameters that are necessary information for continuing the price negotiation, including the selling price determined in the previous process, are identified by the negotiation ID. The negotiation parameter acquisition process for acquiring the negotiation parameter by searching for a negotiation parameter storage file that saves the negotiation parameter of the price negotiation process, and the negotiation parameter is started as a start parameter, and the selling price to be presented to the purchaser is determined and the purchase is determined. A price determination process that sends the negotiation parameters to the buyer's terminal and saves the negotiation parameters in the negotiation parameter storage file, and negotiating parameters until information is received from the buyer's terminal to order the product or to suspend the negotiation. It has an acquisition process and a continuation determination process for repeating the price determination process.

According to the present invention (claim 6), when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal, the negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file. During the negotiation start time setting process and the price determination process, the current time is acquired,
A time limit determination process for determining whether a difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit, and if the determination result indicates that the difference is within the negotiation time limit, the process from the price determination process is performed. And a negotiation continuation control process for ending the process when the negotiation time limit is exceeded.

According to the present invention (claim 7), negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a purchaser's terminal are based on:
A storage medium storing a new selling price or a price determining program for determining a product that can be provided free of charge,
An ID storage confirmation process for determining whether a negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the purchaser terminal, is stored in the purchaser terminal, and is not stored in the ID storage confirmation process. When it is determined that the price negotiation process is to be started, a new negotiation ID is generated, the negotiation ID is transmitted to the buyer terminal, and negotiation parameters uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID are stored. If it is determined that the price is stored in the negotiation ID generation process for generating a file for use and the ID storage confirmation process, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, and the negotiation ID is acquired from the buyer terminal. Based on the negotiating ID, the negotiating parameter, which is information necessary for continuing the price negotiation including the product ID targeted for the price negotiation processing and the selling price determined in the previous processing, is exchanged. A negotiation parameter acquisition process that acquires by searching a negotiation parameter storage file that stores the negotiation parameters of the price negotiation process using the ID as an identification name, and a sales price that is activated by using the negotiation parameters as an activation parameter and presented to the buyer. The price is determined and transmitted to the buyer's terminal, and the price determination process for storing the negotiation parameters in the negotiation parameter storage file.
It has a continuation determination process that repeats a negotiation parameter acquisition process and a price determination process until information for ordering a product or information for suspending negotiations is received.

According to the present invention (claim 8), the negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal. During the negotiation start time setting process and the price determination process, the current time is acquired,
A time limit determination process for determining whether a difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit, and if the determination result indicates that the difference is within the negotiation time limit, the process from the price determination process is performed. And a negotiation continuation control process for ending the process when the negotiation time limit is exceeded.

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of sales price determination processes are realized at the same time, so that the price negotiation process is conventionally performed in a queue and the price negotiation process is performed in order from the top purchaser. , All buyers who have negotiated a price negotiation will be able to negotiate the price at the same time, improving the inconvenience of the user (buyer) and setting a time limit for each parallel price negotiation process. This eliminates unnecessary lengthy negotiations and reduces the load on the system.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the outline of the operation of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the selling price determination processing of the present invention.

Step 101) It is checked whether or not the negotiation ID is stored in the buyer terminal that is the negotiation partner.

As a premise of this, in order to store a unique ID such as a negotiation ID for each terminal in a client terminal (purchaser-side terminal), when a service is provided by WWW, the existing technology “Cookie” is used. And HTML "hidde
It is common to save as "n" parameter. At this time, an arbitrary index such as “USER_ID = 00001” is added and saved. In order to check whether the negotiation ID is stored, the negotiation ID is set to, for example, “NEG_I
D ”and save it with an index, and inquire means according to each storage method (eg, Cookie, READCOOKIE
Is executed, if it is HTML, the PORTed parameter is obtained from the standard input), and the client terminal (buyer terminal)
To extract the information corresponding to the index of “NEG_ID” from. At this time, it is determined whether or not the negotiation ID is stored based on whether or not the index “NEG_ID” exists.

The "Cookie" used in the present invention is identification information sent from a WWW server to a WWW browser, and a request to the WWW server is originally cut off once each time. Access to this page cannot be grasped as continuous.
This is a technique for associating a plurality of requests for this purpose. In the present invention, the client terminal (purchaser-side terminal)
Since a plurality of simultaneous price negotiations are realized by associating with the generated unique negotiation ID, the negotiation ID generated by the WWW server needs to be stored in the WWW browser. Therefore, in the present invention, a cookie is used to express this with only a normal WWW browser without installing a special program. "Cookie information"
Means information written in the Cookie. If the negotiation ID is not stored in the buyer's terminal, step 10
The process proceeds to step 106, and if it is stored, the process proceeds to step 106.

Step 102) A negotiation ID for the selling price determination processing is generated. The method for generating the negotiation ID will be described later in the section of the embodiment, but this is merely an example. If the negotiation ID is unique within the system, the negotiation ID may be generated by any method.

Step 103) The generated negotiation ID is stored in the Web browser on the terminal of the purchaser.

Step 104) A storage area (a file for storing negotiation parameters) is secured in the storage device of the sales price determination processing device using the negotiation ID of the sales price determination processing device as an identification name.

Step 105) The selling price determination device is started, the selling price of the product is determined, and the process proceeds to step 108.

Step 106) If the negotiating ID is stored in the buyer terminal in step 101, the negotiating ID is stored in the storage area (negotiating parameter storing file) having the negotiating ID on the storage device as an identifier. Acquire parameters.

Step 107) The sales price determination device is started using the obtained negotiation parameters as startup parameters, and the sales price of the product is determined.

Step 108) The negotiation parameters including the determined selling price are stored in a storage area (negotiation parameter storage file) having the negotiation ID as the identification name.

Step 109) The processing from step 101 is repeated until the purchaser purchases the product or the buyer or the seller suspends the negotiation.

Next, in the above selling price determination processing,
The operation when a time limit is set for each negotiation will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a selling price determination process according to the present invention when a negotiation time limit is provided.

Step 401) The time limit is stored in the storage device of the selling price determination device.

Step 402) It is checked whether or not the negotiation ID is stored in the buyer terminal that is the negotiation partner. If the negotiation ID is stored, the process proceeds to step 410, and if not, the process proceeds to step 403. Transition.

Step 403) A negotiation ID for the selling price determination processing is generated.

Step 404) The generated negotiation ID is stored in the Web browser of the terminal on the purchaser side.

Step 405) The negotiation start time is stored in the storage device of the selling price determination device.

Step 406) A storage area is secured in the storage device of the sales price determination processing device, using the negotiation ID of the sales price determination processing device as an identification name.

Step 407) The negotiation start time is subtracted from the current time, and the value is set as t. Step 408)
If the above-mentioned t is longer than the time limit stored in the storage device in advance, the process proceeds to step 417; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 409.

Step 409) The selling price determination device is started, the selling price of the product is determined, and the routine goes to step 415.

Step 410) If the negotiation ID is stored in the purchaser terminal in step 402, the negotiation start time is stored in the storage area.

Step 411) A negotiation parameter is obtained from a storage area on the storage device having the negotiation ID as an identifier.

Step 412) The negotiation start time is subtracted from the current time, and the value is set as t. Step 413)
If the above-mentioned t is longer than the time limit stored in the storage device in advance, the process proceeds to step 417; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 414.

Step 414) The sales price determination device is started using the acquired negotiation parameters as startup parameters, and the sales price of the product is determined.

Step 415) The negotiation parameters including the determined selling price are stored in a storage area (negotiation parameter storage file) using the negotiation ID as an identification name.

Step 416) The process from step 402 is repeated until the purchaser purchases the product, or the purchaser or a member of the domain stops the negotiation.

Step 417) The process ends as a negotiation break.

[0053]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a selling price determination device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The example shown in FIG. 1 comprises an electronic mall section 100 and a price negotiation section 200. Electronic mall section 100
Comprises an interface (not shown) for network connection, a WWW (World Wide Web) server 110, a mall, and a storage device for storing the HTML file 120 of each store.

The price negotiation unit 200 includes a price negotiation system device 210 having a sales price determination device 205, a user database 220 storing purchaser user information (purchase history, etc.), and merchandise information products handled by each store. A product database 230 in which information (such as inventory) is stored;
It comprises a sales policy description file 240 for each store and a negotiation parameter storage file 250 for storing negotiation parameters. The price negotiation system device 210 controls the negotiation response storage file 250 and these devices. It is assumed that the table configuration of each of the databases 220 and 230 is the same as in FIGS. 14 and 15 described above.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the processing in the mall section according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The mall section 100 is in a state of waiting for input of personal authentication (step 5
01).

Now, the purchaser connects to the Internet using his / her purchaser side terminal 300 and
In order to access and purchase, the purchaser first enters his / her user ID and password to perform personal authentication. At this time, the mall unit 100 writes the user ID of the purchaser as cookie information in homepage browsing software (hereinafter, Web browser) of the purchaser terminal 300. Here, the mall unit 100 waits for the purchaser to select a store and to enter a product selection (step 502).

After the personal authentication, the purchaser selects a product on the homepage of the electronic mall section 100 displayed on the Web browser.

After the selection of the product, the price negotiation unit 200 is started to perform the price negotiation. The price negotiation unit 200 acquires the user ID from the cookie information of the Web browser of the purchaser's terminal 300, and at the same time, from the mall unit 100, the product ID and the negotiation parameter of the product selected by the purchaser (a little more, XX yen , Etc.) to be received as startup parameters.

The selling price determination device 205 determines the received parameters, the contents of the user DB 220 and the product DB 230,
Then, according to the sales policy description file 240, the purchaser's request is accepted or rejected, or a new price to be presented is determined, and the result is notified to the buyer's terminal 300 (step 503). If the buyer is not satisfied, or if certain conditions are satisfied in the store's sales policy, the billing settlement is not performed and the price negotiation process ends (negotiation break). If the price negotiation with the purchaser has been established, a billing / settlement process is performed (step 504).

Next, the processing of the price negotiation system will be described in detail.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the price negotiation processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, the price negotiation system device 210 transmits the negotiation ID to the Web browser of the
Is checked as Cookie information (step 701).

If the negotiation ID is not written in the Web browser of the buyer terminal 300, it is determined that a new negotiation has started, and a unique negotiation ID is shown in FIG. 8 for the price negotiation with the buyer. (Step 70
2). Here, the negotiation ID generation processing will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a negotiation ID according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flowchart of a generation process. Step 801)
A user ID (uid) is acquired from the buyer terminal 300.

Step 802) The current time (now time) is obtained from the system clock in milliseconds. Step 803) Convert uid and now time into a character string, generate the combined one as negotiation ID (nid), and return nid.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a character string obtained by connecting the purchaser's user ID and character string and the character string of the date, month, day, and second of the start of the negotiation is used as the negotiation ID.

The price negotiation section 200 writes the generated negotiation ID into the Web browser of the purchaser terminal 300 as a cookie (Step 703). At the same time, a negotiation parameter storage file 250 having a negotiation ID as a file name is generated in a storage device in the price negotiation unit 200 (step 704).

After that, the price negotiation unit 200 sets the purchaser's user ID, the product ID of the product selected by the purchaser, and the negotiation contents of the purchaser as startup parameters, and uses the sales price determination device 205 as the activation parameter.
Is started (step 707).

On the other hand, if the negotiation ID is written in the Web browser of the purchaser terminal 300 in step 701, it is determined that negotiation is in progress and the negotiation ID is obtained (step 705), and the storage device in the system Negotiation parameter storage file 2 with the negotiation ID of the file as the file name
50 is opened and negotiation parameters are acquired (step 706). FIG. 10 shows an example of a negotiation parameter storage file according to the first embodiment of this invention.

In this embodiment, the negotiating parameter storage file 250 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 10, and includes the user ID of the buyer who is negotiating, the merchandise ID, the list price of the merchandise, and the previous selling price. It is assumed that the selling price determined by the activation of the determining device 205 is acquired as a parameter necessary to hold the negotiation parameters (state) of the negotiation. Thereafter, the negotiating parameter storage file 25 is stored.
The price determination device 205 is activated using the negotiation parameters acquired from 0 as activation parameters (step 707).

When the sales price determination processing is completed, the price negotiation unit 200 stores the negotiation parameters including the sales price determined in the current price determination processing and the negotiation parameters for storing the negotiation parameters shown in FIG. It is stored in the file 250 (step 708). Further, the determined selling price is transmitted to and written in the HTML file 120 of the mall unit 100, displayed on the Web browser of the buyer terminal 300, and a response (purchase decision / further negotiation request) is requested from the buyer (step). 709).

The purchaser sees the sales price displayed on the Web browser of the purchaser's terminal 300, and if the price is satisfactory, notifies the mall section 100 that the product is to be purchased (negotiation completed) (step). If it is not satisfied (step 710, yes), the information requesting further price reduction is transmitted to the mall unit 100 (negotiation continuation) (step 711, yes). Alternatively, information indicating that the negotiation is to be terminated halfway is transmitted (negotiation break) (step 71).
1, no).

At the same time, if another party negotiates a price at the electronic mall, a unique negotiation ID
Is recorded, and the file name of the negotiation parameter storage file 250 is used as the negotiation ID, so that the negotiation parameter storage file 250 with the purchaser terminal 300 corresponds one-to-one, and a plurality of simultaneous negotiations can be performed. It becomes possible.

[Second Embodiment] The configuration of each device in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment. However, in FIG.
It is assumed that the storage device used as the negotiation parameter storage file 250 of 00 has stored the negotiation limit time of the electronic mall as a setting file. In the present embodiment, the maximum negotiation time is 5 minutes.

As in the first embodiment described above, the purchaser
Perform personal authentication, mall unit 100, user ID,
The information is written into the Web browser of the buyer terminal 300 as Cookie information. After the authentication, the purchaser selects a product to be purchased from the purchaser terminal 300, and the mall unit 100 activates the price negotiation unit 200. If the purchaser is convinced, the payment settlement process is performed and the process ends, otherwise, the process ends.

The details of the processing of the selling price / price determining apparatus in the present embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a price negotiation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

First, the price negotiation unit 200 checks whether the negotiation ID is written as Cookie information in the Web browser of the purchaser terminal 300 (step 901).

When the negotiation ID is not written in the Web browser of the purchaser terminal 300 (step 901, n
o), it is determined that a new negotiation has started, and a unique negotiation ID is generated for the price negotiation with the purchaser by the method of FIG. 8 described above (step 902). That is, as shown in FIG. 9 described above, a character string obtained by connecting the character string of the purchaser's user ID and the character string of the date when the negotiation is started is used as the negotiation ID.

The price negotiation unit 200 writes the generated negotiation ID in the Web browser of the purchaser terminal 300 as a cookie (step 903). At the same time, the price negotiation department 200
Then, a negotiation parameter storage file 250 having a negotiation ID as a file name is generated in the storage device 250 in the storage area. At this time, the time when the negotiation is started is stored in the generated negotiation parameter storage file 250 (step 90).
6).

Next, the current time is obtained from the system clock (step 907), the preset time limit is obtained (step 908), and the value obtained by subtracting the negotiation start time from the current time is the time limit (5 minutes). ), The process ends (step 909, yes), otherwise (step 909, no), the price negotiation unit 20
0 activates the selling price determination device 205 using the user ID of the purchaser, the product ID of the product selected by the purchaser, and the negotiation contents of the purchaser as startup parameters (step 912). Negotiation parameter storage file 250 using the negotiation ID as an identifier
The negotiation parameter is stored in (step 913).

Next, the processing result of the selling price determination device 205 is notified to the purchaser (step 914). When the purchaser is satisfied with the notified price (step 915, yes), The process ends as negotiation is established. When the buyer is not satisfied with the price notified (step 915, no), the buyer proceeds with the negotiation (step 916, yes), shifts to the process of step 901, and when the buyer does not continue (step 915, no). 916, n
o), the process ends as a negotiation break.

In step 901 described above, if the negotiation ID is written in the Web browser of the buyer terminal 300, it is determined that negotiation is in progress, and the price negotiation unit 200 is determined.
The negotiation parameter storage file 250 having the negotiation ID as a file name in the storage device 250 therein is opened, and the negotiation parameter and the time when the negotiation is started are obtained (steps 910 and 911).

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the negotiation parameter storage file 250 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 12, and that the user ID, product ID,
The fixed price of the product, the sales price determined by the previous activation of the sales price determination device 205, and the start time of the negotiation are acquired as negotiation parameters.

At this time, the negotiation parameter storage file 2
From 50, the maximum negotiation time in the electronic mall is obtained, and at the same time, the current time is obtained from the system clock. Current time and file 2 for saving negotiation parameters
If the difference between the negotiation start times obtained from 50 is larger than the maximum negotiation time, the time is over and the price negotiation process is forcibly terminated (negotiation break). If the difference is equal to or less than the maximum negotiation time (time limit), the negotiation parameter acquired from the file is set as a start parameter, and the sales price determination device 205 is started (step 912).

The selling price determining device 205 determines the selling price by using the starting parameters passed from the price negotiation system 210.

When the sales price determination processing is completed, the price negotiation system 210 replaces the negotiation parameters including the sales price determined in the current determination processing with the negotiation ID as a file for negotiation parameter storage shown in FIG. 250
(Step 913). Also, the determined selling price is embedded in the HTML file 120, the selling price is transmitted to the buyer terminal 300, and the selling price is referred to as We.
b) Display on the browser and wait for a response from the purchaser (convinced about the offered price or continued negotiation) (step 91)
4).

The purchaser sees the displayed selling price, and if the price is satisfactory (step 915, yes), purchases the product (negotiation completed), and if not satisfied, requests a further price reduction (negotiation). (Continue) (step 915, no, 9
16, yes). Alternatively, the negotiation is terminated halfway (negotiation break) (step 916, no).

If the negotiating ID is stored in the purchaser's terminal in step 901, the negotiating ID is stored.
D is obtained (step 910), the negotiation parameter is obtained from the negotiation parameter storage file 250 having the negotiation ID as an identifier, and the above-described processing from step 907 is performed (step 911).

At the same time, when another person negotiates a price at the cyber mall, a unique negotiating ID is recorded in the buyer's terminal 300, and the negotiating parameter storage file 250 has a one-to-one correspondence. Then, multiple simultaneous negotiations become possible.

Further, the operation of the price negotiation system in the above embodiment can be constructed as a program, and the program can be installed in a CPU or distributed via a network.

Further, the constructed program is transferred to a hard disk device, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a CD, or the like.
-The present invention can be easily realized by storing it in a portable storage medium such as a ROM and installing it in a computer in a price negotiation system when implementing the present invention.

[0096]

As described above, according to the present invention, the processing that has been performed in the queue and performed in order has been eliminated, and the price can be negotiated for a plurality of buyers at the same time.
This eliminates the need for the purchaser to wait until the negotiation of the first party is completed, thereby improving user convenience. Also,
By setting a time limit for each negotiation, unnecessarily long negotiations cannot be performed, negotiation processes handled simultaneously by the system can be limited, and the system load can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a price determination process according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a price determination process when a negotiation time limit is provided according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a selling price determination system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process performed by a molding unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a price negotiation process according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a negotiation ID generation process according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a negotiation ID according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is an example of a negotiation parameter storage file according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a price negotiation process according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 12 is an example of a negotiation parameter storage file according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a conventional selling price determination device.

FIG. 14 is an example of a user table of a user DB in a conventional example.

FIG. 15 is an example of a product table of a product DB in a conventional example.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional selling price determination device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ID storage confirmation means 20 Negotiation ID generation means 30 Negotiation parameter acquisition means 40 Negotiation means 50 Negotiation parameter storage file 60 Negotiation continuation determination means 100 Electronic mall part 110 WWW server 120 HTML file 200 Price negotiation part 205 Sales price determination device 210 Price Negotiation system device 220 User DB 230 Product DB 240 Sales policy description file 250 File for storing negotiation parameters

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Fujimoto 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Mutsio Sano 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A price determining method for determining a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge according to negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a buyer terminal. A first step of determining, by communication, whether or not the buyer terminal has stored a negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each process, and if not, a new price negotiation process Determining a start, generating a new negotiation ID, transmitting the negotiation ID to the buyer-side terminal, and generating a negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID; If so, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, a negotiation ID is obtained from the buyer terminal, and the price negotiation process is obtained from the negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the obtained negotiation ID. Target of Product I
D, a third step of acquiring negotiation parameters, which are information necessary for continuing price negotiations including the sales price determined in the previous processing by the sales price determination device, and a sales price using the negotiation parameters as startup parameters. A fourth step of activating the deciding means, deciding a selling price to be presented to the buyer and transmitting the price to the buyer side terminal, and storing the negotiation parameter in a negotiation parameter storage file corresponding to the negotiation ID. A fifth step, and a sixth step of repeating the processing from the second step until receiving information for receiving an order for a product from the purchaser terminal or receiving information for interrupting negotiation. Characteristic pricing method. 2. When the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal, the price negotiation start time at which the price negotiation process has started is stored in the negotiation parameter storage time. When the fourth step is performed, the price negotiation start time and the current time are compared, and it is determined whether or not the time is within a predetermined time limit. The result of the determination is within the time limit. If there is, the process from the fourth step is continued.
2. The price determination method according to claim 1, wherein said processing is terminated. 3. A price determining device for determining a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge according to negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a buyer terminal. ID storage confirming means for determining whether or not a negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the purchaser terminal, is stored in the purchaser terminal; A negotiation parameter storage file for storing negotiation parameters for negotiation processing, and when it is determined by the ID storage confirmation unit that the negotiation parameters are not stored, it is determined that a new price negotiation processing is to be started, and a new negotiation ID is generated. Negotiation ID generating means for transmitting the negotiation ID to the buyer-side terminal and generating a negotiation parameter storage file uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID; When it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing, the negotiation ID is obtained from the buyer-side terminal, and the price negotiation process is performed based on the negotiation ID. Product ID,
Negotiation parameter acquisition means for acquiring negotiation parameters, which are information necessary for continuing price negotiations including the selling price determined in the previous process, by searching the negotiation parameter storage file, and activating the negotiation parameters Activated as a parameter, determines a selling price to be presented to a purchaser, transmits the price to the buyer side terminal, and stores the negotiation parameter in the negotiation parameter storage file; A price determining device comprising: a negotiation parameter acquiring unit and a continuation determining unit that repeats the price determining unit until information for receiving an order for a product or information for suspending negotiation is received. 4. A negotiation in which a negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal. Start time setting means; and time limit determining means for obtaining a current time when the price determining means is performed, and determining whether a difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit. If the result of the determination is within the negotiation time limit, the negotiation continuation control means for executing the processing from the price determination means and terminating the processing when the time exceeds the negotiation time limit is further provided. The price determination device according to claim 3. 5. A price determining program for determining a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge according to negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a buyer terminal. An ID storage confirmation process for determining whether a negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the purchaser terminal, is stored in the purchaser terminal; When it is determined that there is no negotiation, it is determined that a new price negotiation process is started, a new negotiation ID is generated, the negotiation ID is transmitted to the buyer side terminal, and negotiations uniquely corresponding to the negotiation ID are performed. A negotiation ID generation process for generating a parameter storage file; and if it is determined in the ID storage confirmation process that the price is stored, the price negotiation process is determined to be ongoing, and the buyer terminal From the negotiation ID, and based on the negotiation ID, the product ID targeted for the price negotiation process
And negotiating parameters, which are information necessary for continuing price negotiations including the selling price determined in the previous process, and negotiation parameters for storing the negotiation parameters of the price negotiation process using the negotiation ID as an identifier. A negotiation parameter acquisition process of acquiring by searching for a file; and activating the negotiation parameter as an activation parameter, determining a selling price to be presented to a purchaser, transmitting the determined price to the purchaser side terminal, and storing the negotiation parameter. In a file, a price determination process for storing the negotiation parameters, from the buyer terminal, information for receiving an order for a product, or until receiving information for suspending negotiations, the negotiation parameter acquisition process, the price determination process, And a continuation determination process that repeats the above. 6. A negotiation in which a negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal. A start time setting process, and at the time of performing the price determination process, obtain a current time;
A time limit determination process for determining whether a difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit; and, if the determination result indicates that the difference is within the negotiation time limit, the price determination process starts. 6. The price determination program according to claim 5, further comprising: a negotiation continuation control process for executing the above-mentioned process and terminating the process when the negotiation time limit is exceeded. 7. A storage medium storing a price determining program for determining a new selling price or a product that can be provided free of charge according to negotiation conditions for determining a selling price of a product with a buyer terminal. An ID storage confirmation process for determining whether a negotiation ID, which is a unique identifier set for each price negotiation process with the purchaser terminal, is stored in the purchaser terminal; If it is determined that the price is not stored in the process, it is determined that a new price negotiation process is to be started, a new negotiation ID is generated, and the negotiation ID is transmitted to the buyer-side terminal. A negotiation ID generation process for generating a uniquely corresponding negotiation parameter storage file, and when it is determined that the file is stored in the ID storage confirmation process, it is determined that the price negotiation process is ongoing. , Obtains a negotiation ID from the buyer side terminal, and, based on the negotiation ID, a product ID targeted for the price negotiation process.
And negotiating parameters, which are information necessary for continuing price negotiations including the selling price determined in the previous process, and negotiation parameters for storing the negotiation parameters of the price negotiation process using the negotiation ID as an identifier. A negotiation parameter acquisition process of acquiring by searching for a file; and activating the negotiation parameter as an activation parameter, determining a selling price to be presented to a purchaser, transmitting the determined price to the purchaser side terminal, and storing the negotiation parameter. In a file, a price determination process for storing the negotiation parameters, from the buyer terminal, information for receiving an order for a product, or until receiving information for suspending negotiations, the negotiation parameter acquisition process, the price determination process, And a continuation determination process that repeats the above-mentioned steps. 8. A negotiation in which a negotiation start time is stored in the negotiation parameter storage file when the negotiation ID is transmitted to the purchaser terminal or when the negotiation ID is obtained from the purchaser terminal. A start time setting process, and at the time of performing the price determination process, obtain a current time;
A time limit determination process for determining whether a difference between the negotiation start time and the current time is within a predetermined negotiation time limit; and, if the determination result indicates that the difference is within the negotiation time limit, the price determination process starts. 8. The storage medium storing the price determination program according to claim 7, further comprising: a negotiation continuation control process for executing the above-mentioned process and terminating the process when the negotiation time limit is exceeded.