JP2009223456A - Price investigation system and price investigation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a price statistic processing system for presenting various statistic processing results of sales prices of commodities sold in shop sites in addition to a comparison result of sales prices with another company. <P>SOLUTION: A commodity information collection means 130 of this price investigation system 1 periodically acquires commodity information including the sales prices of the commodities from the plurality of shop sites 30 present on the Internet 3. A statistic processing means 140 statistically processes the sales prices included in the commodity information collected in each prescribed period, and stores statistically processed result in a statistic processing result DB (Data Base) 141. A statistic processing result presentation means 101 acquires the statistically processed result of the commodity fit for a retrieval request of the commodity received from a client 2 from the statistic processing result DB 141, generates a Web page displaying information compared with the sales price of a user, and transmits the generated Web page to the client. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a system and method for investigating sales prices of products sold on various EC sites established on the Internet and presenting statistical processing results to a user.

  Various EC sites have been established on the Internet. By using EC sites, consumers can easily purchase products they like. Popular products are often handled by multiple EC sites, and consumers want to purchase products at the cheapest EC site when the same products are handled by multiple EC sites .

  As a technique for presenting the price of a product to a consumer, for example, in Patent Document 1, an other store price database that records in advance a sale price of a product in at least one other store different from its own store, and a customer Based on the information entered in the purchase information input unit and the purchase information input unit that can input information related to the purchase of the product by referring to the other store price database, about the same product as the product purchased by the customer The other store price information acquisition unit that acquires the sales price at another store, the price difference calculation unit that calculates the price difference between the sales price information of the product purchased by the customer and the sales price at the other store, and this price There is disclosed a price information presentation system that includes a presentation unit that presents a price difference calculated by a difference calculation unit to a customer.

  According to the price information presentation system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the customer who made the purchase can easily inform the customer that the purchase price is lower than the purchase price at other stores. Satisfaction can be improved.

  The fact that consumers want to purchase the cheapest product is that the EC site selling the product also compares its own selling price with other EC sites, and based on the comparison results, It is necessary to determine the price of the product to be sold.

Patent Document 2 discloses a price determination method and system for determining a sales price at one's own shop with reference to a sales price of a product at another EC site. In the price determination method disclosed in Patent Document 2, at least a sales price is collected from an EC site existing on the Internet, and a minimum price is extracted to determine a sales price of a product.
WO2004 / 057549 JP 2001-142972 A

  In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2, the selling price of the product collected from the EC site existing on the Internet is merely used for extracting the lowest price, but the selling price of the product is on the Internet. Since it is determined by the sales strategy of existing EC sites, EC site operators need not only the results of comparisons with other companies, but also statistical processing results of various sales prices. In addition to the comparison results of, an invention that can present statistical processing results of various sales prices to the operator of the EC site has not been disclosed.

  Therefore, the present invention presents various statistical processing results of the sales price of products sold on other EC sites on the Internet to the EC site operator in addition to the comparison result of the sales price with the company. It is an object to provide a system and method that can be used.

  A first invention for solving the above-described problem is a price survey system for investigating the sales price of a product sold by another company, which periodically accesses a predetermined EC site on the Internet, and Product information collecting means for collecting product information including at least specific information and a sales price from the EC site, and registering the collected product information in a product information database; and a user product that is the product information of a user of the price survey system Index information describing a word included in the product information is generated from the user product database in which information is stored and the product information registered in the product information database, and the generated index information is used as the product information. Index generator that registers in the index database in association with the product specifying information included in And having at least one statistical processing module for statistically processing the sales price included in the product information registered in the product information database, and using the statistical processing module each time a certain period elapses, Statistical processing means for statistically processing sales prices included in the product information having the same product identification information, and storing statistical processing results in a statistical processing result database in association with the product identification information, and the price survey system via the Internet The search condition acquisition means for acquiring a search condition for searching for a product whose statistical price is to be processed from the client of the user who has accessed the index, and the search condition acquired by the search condition acquisition means with reference to the index database The index information that matches is searched, and is described in the searched index information. Product search means for acquiring the product specification information, the statistical processing result associated with the product specification information acquired by the product search means is acquired from the statistical processing result database, and further related to the product specification information Statistical processing for acquiring the attached user product information from the user product database and generating a web page for displaying the comparison result of the statistical processing result and the sales price included in the user product information for each product specifying information And a result presentation means. EC site EC site EC site

  According to the first invention described above, the price survey system includes the price information statistical processing means, thereby statistically processing the price information of products sold on the other EC sites existing on the Internet. It becomes possible to present it to the operator of the EC site in addition to the comparison result of the selling price with other companies.

  Further, the second invention is the price research system according to the first invention, wherein the product information collecting means of the price research system stores the product information corresponding to the product specifying information designated by the user. When storing, a user flag indicating that the user has specified is assigned and stored in the product information database, and the statistical processing means includes a sales price included in the product information to which the user flag is assigned. When statistical processing is performed, it is confirmed whether a sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred. If a sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred, a sales price fluctuation flag is added to the statistical processing result. The statistical processing result database is stored in the statistical processing result database, and the statistical processing result presenting means changes the sales price fluctuation into the statistical processing result when accessed from the client. And generating a web page for displaying the statistical processing results lug is affixed.

  According to the second invention described above, if the product identification information of the product recognized by the user is registered in the price survey system, the sales price of the product recognized by the user is greatly changed. It becomes possible to notify the user.

  Furthermore, the third invention is the price research system according to the first invention or the second invention, wherein the product information collecting means of the price research system collects the product information from the EC site, The merchandise information in which merchandise is newly registered on the EC site is stored in the merchandise information database with a new arrival flag, and the statistical processing means statistically processes the merchandise information with the new arrival flag. The statistical processing result is stored in the statistical processing result database with the new arrival flag, and the statistical processing result presentation means displays the statistical processing result with the new arrival flag in the information indicating the new arrival flag. Characters and symbols indicating that a flag is attached are included. EC site EC site

  According to the third invention described above, it is possible to notify a user of a product newly registered in the EC site.

  Further, a fourth invention is the price research system according to any one of the first invention to the third invention, wherein the statistical processing means of the price research system sells the lowest price in a certain period. The processing unit that extracts the price, the statistical processing module that extracts the highest selling price in a certain period, the processing unit that calculates the average value of the selling price in a certain period, the selling price the day before the lowest price and the lowest selling price The statistical processing module includes at least one processing unit selected from the group consisting of the processing unit that calculates the difference between the processing units and the processing unit that generates time-series information of the sales price.

  The statistical processing module provided in the price information statistical processing means of the price survey system according to the present invention may be arbitrary, but as a system for statistically processing the price information of products, the processing according to the fourth invention Select from the section.

  Further, the fifth invention is a price survey method for investigating the sales price of a product sold on another company's EC site, wherein the product information of the product sold on the EC site defined on the Internet is obtained. The crawler server to collect accesses the EC site defined on the Internet, collects product information including at least product specifying information and sales price of the product, registers the collected product information in a product information database, An index server that generates index information in which words included in the product information are described generates the index information of the product specified by the product specifying information from the product information registered in the product information database, A quotient for registering the generated index information in the index database in association with the product specifying information. An information collection step and a tally server that statistically processes the product information stored in the product information database extract the product information registered in the product information database within a predetermined period for each predetermined period, and the product Statistical processing of the sales price included in the product information with the same specific information, and the statistical processing result stored in the statistical processing result database in association with the product specific information, and access from the client operated by the user The Web server that receives the request acquires the search condition of the product acquired from the client, refers to the index database, searches the index information that matches the search condition, and the product corresponding to the searched index information The statistical processing result associated with the specific information is converted into the statistical processing result database. The user product information including the product specification information from the user product database in which user product information that is the product information of the user is stored, and for each product specification information, And a statistical processing result transmitting step of generating a web page for comparing and displaying a statistical processing result and a sales price included in the user product information. EC site EC site EC site

  Further, a sixth invention is the price survey method according to the fifth invention, wherein the crawler server specifies the product information specified by the user when storing the product information of the product specifying information specified by the user. A user flag indicating that is stored in the product information database, and in the sales price statistics processing step, the tabulation server includes a sales price included in the product information to which the user flag is assigned. When statistical processing is performed, it is confirmed whether a sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred. If a sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred, a sales price fluctuation flag is added to the statistical processing result. In the statistical result transmission step, the Web server stores the statistical result in the statistical result database when there is an access from the client. The selling price fluctuation flag is characterized in that it generates a web page that displays the commodity specific information that has been given to the result.

  Further, according to a seventh invention, in the price survey method according to the fifth invention or the sixth invention, in the EC site EC site, the product information collecting step, the crawler server collects the product information from the EC site. A new arrival flag is added to the commodity information of the commodity newly registered in the EC site and stored in the commodity information database. In the commodity information statistical processing step, the aggregation server includes the new arrival flag. Is statistically processed on the product information, the new arrival flag is added and the statistical processing result is stored in the statistical processing result database. In the statistical processing result transmission step, the Web server The information indicating the statistical processing result to which the flag has been added includes a character or symbol indicating that the new arrival flag has been added. And butterflies.

  According to the fifth to seventh inventions described above, the same effects as the first to third inventions described above can be obtained.

  According to the above-described present invention, various statistical processing results of the sales price of products sold on other EC sites existing on the Internet are added to the comparison result of the sales price with the company, and the operator of the EC site. A system and method can be provided.

  From here, the price research system 1 and method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a price survey system 1 in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the price survey system 1 according to the present embodiment performs arithmetic processing with a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk. The price survey system 1 includes a Web server 10, a search server 11, an index server 12, and a crawler server. The crawler server includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a plurality of servers including a network communication interface. The server 13, the aggregation server 14, the authentication server 15, and the user server 16 are configured.

  The user of the price survey system 1 in this embodiment is a person who has established an EC site 30, and product information of products handled by the EC site 30 established by the user is stored in the user server 16. By operating the client 2, it is possible to access the price survey system 1 and obtain various statistical processing results of the sales price of the product on the EC site 30 in addition to the comparison result of the sales price with the company.

  In the price survey system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, three independent processes are performed in order to present the statistical processing result of the sales price of the product to the user. The first process is a product information collecting process for periodically acquiring and storing product information of products sold on the EC site 30 from a plurality of EC sites 30 existing on the Internet. Is a sales price statistical processing step that statistically processes and stores the sales price included in the product information collected in the product information collection step. The third step is sales included in the product information that matches the search request of the client 2 This is a statistical processing result transmission step for transmitting the statistical processing result of the price to the client 2.

  Servers that operate when the product information collection process is executed in the price survey system 1 are a crawler server 13 and an index server 12, and the crawler server 13 is configured by a plurality of EC sites 30 existing on the Internet 3 from an EC site 30. Information related to the products sold on the market, for example, the product model number, the sales price, the text describing the product, etc. as product identification information are periodically acquired as product information, and the collected product information is stored in the database of the crawler server 13 To remember.

  When the crawler server 13 collects product information, the index server 12 generates index information to be used when searching for products, and stores the generated index information in the database of the index server 12.

  The index information generated by the index server 12 is associated with the product model number included in the product information, that is, the word included in the product information, that is, the name of the product, the category to which the product belongs, and the EC site 30 where the product is sold. Information used when searching for a product such as a name and the latest update date of price information is described.

  The server that operates when the sales price statistical processing step is executed in the price survey system 1 is the aggregation server 14, and the aggregation server 14 incorporates a plurality of statistical processing modules that statistically process the sales price included in the product information in advance. Then, the aggregation server 14 statistically processes the product information stored in the crawler server 13 for each product using a statistical processing module at regular intervals, and the lowest price, the highest price, and the average price within a certain period. The statistical processing result relating to the sales price of the product, such as the day-to-day ratio relating to the lowest price, is stored in the data server of the aggregation server 14 in association with the product model number of the product.

  The servers that operate when the statistical processing result transmission step is executed in the price survey system 1 are the Web server 10, the search server 11, the authentication server 15, and the user server 16, and the Web server 10 is a client that has accessed the Web server 10. If the authentication information of the user who operates 2 is acquired, the authentication server 15 authenticates the acquired authentication information, and the authentication of the user authentication information is successful, the statistical processing result of the product sales price is compared with the user sales price. Present.

  The Web server 10 obtains a product search condition such as a product category or a product model number from the client 2 as a search condition in order to present a statistical processing result of the sales price of the product, and conforms to the search condition to the search server 11 To search for the product.

  When the Web server 10 acquires a search condition using the Web page displayed on the client 2, the Web server 10 delivers the acquired search condition to the search server 11. When the search server 11 searches for the product model number of the product that meets the search condition from the database of the index server 12, the search server 11 delivers the searched product model number to the Web server 10.

  The Web server 10 obtains the statistical processing result associated with the delivered product model number from the aggregation server 14 and obtains the user product information associated with the delivered product model number from the user server 16, for each product model number. Then, a web page that displays the acquired statistical processing result and the sales price included in the user product information in comparison with each other is generated, and the generated web page is transmitted to the client 2.

  In addition to the above-described contents, when the crawler server 13 stores product information corresponding to the product model number specified by the user, the crawler server 13 assigns a user flag indicating that the product is specified by the user and stores it in the database. The aggregation server 14 performs statistical processing on the sales price included in the product information to which the user flag is assigned, and checks whether a sales price fluctuation of a certain ratio or more has occurred. When the sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred, Then, a sales price fluctuation flag indicating that a sales price fluctuation of a certain ratio or more is given, and a statistical processing result is stored. When the Web server 10 is accessed from the client 2, the Web server 10 checks whether the statistical processing result to which the selling price fluctuation flag is assigned is stored in the aggregation server 14, and the statistical processing result to which the selling price fluctuation flag is assigned. If there is, the statistical processing result to which the selling price fluctuation flag is assigned is displayed on the client 2.

  Furthermore, the price survey system 1 also has a function of notifying that a new product has been registered when a new product is registered on the EC site 30.

  Since the price survey system 1 includes the aggregation server 14 that statistically processes the sales price of the product, the result of statistical processing of the sales price of the product sold on the EC site 30 from various angles can be presented to the user. It becomes possible, and the user can browse the statistical processing result obtained by statistically processing the sales price of the product from various angles by using the price survey system 1 having such a function. , You will be able to strategically set the price of products sold in-house.

  From here, functions provided in the price survey system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the price survey system 1 illustrated in FIG.

  In order to implement the present invention, the price survey system 1 shown in FIG. 1 displays the user authentication means 150 for authenticating the user who has accessed the price survey system 1 and the client 2 operated by the user who has succeeded in the authentication. Search condition acquisition means 100 for acquiring a search condition from the client 2 using a web page, a product search means 110 for searching for a product model number matching the search condition, and a statistical processing result corresponding to the searched product model number A statistical processing result presenting means 101 for generating a web page for displaying the generated web page and delivering the generated web page to the client 2; and a statistical processing means 140 for statistically processing the sales price included in the product information collected by the product information collecting means 130. Product information collecting means 130 for collecting product information from the EC site 30 established on the Internet 3; An index generation unit 120 that generates index information of the product information collected by the product information collection unit 130, a product information database 131 (DB: Data Base) that stores the product information collected by the product information collection unit 130, and a statistical processing unit 140 is a statistical processing result DB 141 that stores the statistical processing result of the sales price of the product, an index DB 121 that stores the index information generated by the index generation means 120, and an EC site 30 established by the user. A user product DB 160 for storing user product information of the product being sold.

  The computer program that functions as the product information collection means 130 provided in the price survey system 1 illustrated in FIG. 2 is installed in the crawler server 13 that constitutes the price survey system 1, and the function of the product information DB 131 is the function of the crawler server 13. This is realized by a storage device having the same.

  Further, the computer program functioning as the index generation means 120 provided in the price survey system 1 is implemented in the index server 12 constituting the price survey system 1, and the function of the index DB 121 is realized by a storage device included in the index server 12. Is done.

  Further, the computer program functioning as the user authentication unit 150 provided in the price survey system 1 is mounted on the authentication server 15 constituting the price survey system 1, and the search condition acquisition unit 100 and statistics provided in the price survey system 1. A computer program that functions as the processing result presentation unit 101 is implemented in the Web server 10 that constitutes the price survey system 1.

  Furthermore, the computer program that functions as the statistical processing unit 140 is implemented in the aggregation server 14 that constitutes the price survey system 1, and the computer program that functions as the product retrieval unit 110 is implemented in the search server 11 that constitutes the price survey system 1. Has been.

  From here, each means with which the price investigation system 1 is provided is demonstrated in detail.

  The merchandise information collecting means 130 that collects merchandise information from the EC site 30 provided on the Internet stores a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the position of the EC site 30 on which the merchandise information is collected on the Internet 3, and has a certain amount. Products sold on the EC site 30 by accessing this URL periodically and analyzing the natural language of the text contained in the web page published by the accessed URL and the web page obtained by following the link As information on the product, product model number, sales price, text describing the product, etc. are collected as product information.

  For example, the merchandise information collecting unit 130 may search for words associated with characteristic words included in the text described on the web page, such as “shop”, “store”, “product name”, “yen”, and the like. By referencing, the EC site 30 names, product names, product model numbers, sales prices are specified, and product information is collected.

  When the product information collecting unit 130 acquires the product information, the product information collecting unit 130 stores the acquired product information in the product information DB 131. If product information having the same product model number as the acquired product information is not stored in the product information DB 131, a new arrival flag is assigned and the product information is stored in the product information DB 131.

  The index generation means 120 generates index information used for searching for products for each delivered product information, and stores the generated index information in the index DB 121 in association with the product model number of the product information. In addition, when the index information associated with the product model number is already stored in the index DB 121, the index generation unit 121 is not included in the index information stored in the index DB 121, but is included in the generated index information. If there is a word to be recorded, this word is added to the index information stored in the index DB 121.

  The index information generated by the index generation unit 120 includes a product name, a product model number, a product category identified from the product name, a shop name, and other words included in the product information and product information. Information that can be used to search for product information, such as words obtained from words, is described.

  In the present embodiment, the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 uses the product information stored in the product information DB 131, such as the lowest price, the highest price, the average price, and the previous day ratio regarding the lowest price within a certain period. Statistical values related to sales prices included in the product are aggregated for each product, and the aggregated results of the statistical values are stored as statistical processing results.

  The statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 is a statistical processing module for statistically processing product information. The lowest statistical processing module for extracting the lowest selling price, and the highest statistical processing for extracting the highest selling price. Module, average value statistical processing module that calculates the average value of sales prices, previous day ratio module that calculates the ratio between the lowest price and the previous day's sales price, time series statistical processing that generates time series information of sales prices The statistical processing means 140 includes modules, and aggregates statistical values related to sales prices for each product model number, such as the lowest price, highest price, average price, and the previous day ratio regarding the lowest price within a certain period using these modules. The calculated statistical processing results are stored in the statistical processing result DB 141 in association with the product model number.

  Further, the statistical processing means 140 of the price research system 1 displays the statistical processing result of the product when the user flag indicating the product registered by the user is added to the product information stored in the product information DB 131. Referring to the above, when the sales price fluctuation of a product exceeds a predetermined ratio (for example, 10% or more) within a certain period of statistical processing of the sales price, the sales price fluctuation exceeding the predetermined ratio The sales price fluctuation flag shown is given and the statistical processing result is stored in the statistical processing result DB 141.

  In addition, if the new product flag is assigned to the product information to be statistically processed, the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 adds the new product flag to the statistical processing result of the product model number. It becomes clear that the product specified by the model number is a new product.

  Specifically, when the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 statistically processes the sales price included in the product information stored in the product information DB 131, the statistical processing unit 140 statistically processes the product information stored in the product information DB 131. The product information stored in the product information DB 131 within a certain period (for example, within one week) is used as a mother set, and a small set of product information having the same product model number is formed from this mother set.

  Then, for each formed small set, that is, product information having the same product model number, the statistical processing module is used to statistically process the sales price included in the product information, and the sales price is associated with the product model number. The statistical processing period and the statistical processing result are stored in the statistical processing result DB 141.

  For example, the lowest price statistical processing module provided in the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 extracts the lowest selling price as the lowest price from the selling price included in the product information included in this small set, The highest price statistical processing module extracts the highest selling price as the highest price from the selling prices included in the product information included in the small set. Further, the previous day ratio module obtains the ratio between the date of the lowest selling price extracted by the lowest price statistical processing module and the selling price of the previous day. In addition, the time series statistical processing module refers to the past statistical processing results stored in association with the product model number corresponding to this small set, and the highest price, average price, lowest price, and user sales price. Generate time-series information.

  The user authentication means 150 of the price survey system 1 associates an HTML file describing a web page (user authentication page) for allowing a user to input a user ID and a reference password, and a user ID for identifying the user. The reference information (here, the reference password) used when authenticating the authentication information is stored.

  When the price survey system 1 is accessed from the client 2, the user authentication unit 150 is activated, and a user authentication page is transmitted to the client 2. The authentication information (here, the authentication password) acquired from the client 2, and the client 2 The user who operates the client 2 is authenticated by collating it with the reference password associated with the user ID acquired from.

  When the user authentication unit 150 succeeds in authenticating the user, the search condition acquisition unit 100 of the price survey system 1 operates. The search condition acquisition unit 100 stores an HTML file in which a web page (search condition setting page) is described and allows the user to set a search condition for the product, and transmits the HTML file in which the search condition setting page is described. And prompts the user to input the search conditions for the product.

  When the search condition setting page is described in the client 2 and the HTML file is transmitted, the search condition acquisition unit 100 calls the statistical processing result presentation unit 101, and the statistical processing result presentation unit 101 starts from the search condition acquisition unit 100. Call. Then, from the latest statistical processing result, the statistical processing result to which the selling price fluctuation flag is attached is extracted, an HTML document that displays the statistical processing result to which the selling price fluctuation flag is attached is generated, and the search condition The acquisition unit 100 describes the search condition setting page, includes the HTML document in the HTML file, and transmits the HTML document to the client 2.

  When the search condition acquisition unit 100 of the price survey system 1 acquires the search condition from the client 2, the search condition acquisition unit 100 delivers the acquired search condition to the product search unit 110 and requests the product search unit 110 to search for a product model number that matches the search condition.

  When the search condition is delivered from the search condition acquisition unit 100 to the product search unit 110, the product search unit 110 refers to the index information stored in the index DB 121 and searches for the product model number of the product that meets the search condition. For example, when a product category is specified as the search condition, the product search unit 110 searches the index information in which the category indicated by the search condition is described, and acquires the product model number of the searched index information.

  When the product search unit 110 searches for a product model number that matches the search conditions delivered from the search condition acquisition unit 100, the product search unit 110 delivers the retrieved product model number to the statistical processing result presentation unit 101, and the statistical processing result presentation unit 101 is delivered. When the user product information specified by the product model number is stored in the user product DB 160, the product information is acquired from the user product DB 160. The information is processed to generate a web page (statistic processing result page) that displays the statistical processing result of the sales price, and the generated statistical processing result page is transmitted to the client 2.

  When a new product flag is added to the statistical processing result displayed on the statistical processing result page, a symbol or character (for example, “new product” indicating that the new product flag is added to the statistical processing result. "Or" UP ").

  From here, the product information collection process, the sales price statistical processing process, and the statistical processing result transmission process executed in the price survey system 1 will be described following the procedures of the respective processes. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure executed in the product information collecting process, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure executed in the sales price statistical processing process, and FIG. 5 is a statistical process result transmitting process. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure performed by.

  First, the procedure executed in the product information collection process will be described with reference to FIG. The product information collection process is a process that is repeatedly executed periodically. When the product information collection process is executed, the product information collection unit 130 and the index generation unit 120 of the price survey system 1 operate.

  In the merchandise information collecting step, the merchandise information collecting means 130 of the price survey system 1 operates every predetermined period (for example, one day), and the merchandise information collecting means 130 is sent from the EC site 30 on the Internet 3 to the merchandise information. The product information collection process (S1) for collecting the items is executed.

  The merchandise information collecting means 130 stores the URL of the EC site 30 that collects merchandise information. When the merchandise information collecting means 130 is activated, the product information collecting means 130 is attached to the web page published by the stored URL or this web page. By analyzing the text displayed on the web page obtained by following the link with natural language analysis, product information including EC site 30 name, product name, product model number, sales price, text explaining the product, etc. is collected. The product information collected and the date of collection thereof are stored in the product information DB 131 in association with the product model number.

  When a product information collection process (S1) for collecting product information from the EC site 30 on the Internet is executed, an index generation process (S2) for generating index information for collecting product information is executed.

  In the index generation process (S2), the index generation unit 120 of the price survey system 1 operates, and the index generation unit 120 generates and generates the index information of the product information collected in the product information collection process (S1). The index information is stored in the index DB 121, and the merchandise information collecting process ends.

  The index information generated by the index generation means 120 is information used for searching for products, and the index information includes words extracted from product information such as product names, product categories, shop names, and the like. The means 120 stores the generated index information in the index DB 121 in association with the product model number included in the product information that generated the index information.

  Next, the procedure executed in the sales price statistical processing step will be described with reference to FIG. The sales price statistical processing step is the same as the product information collection step, or a long and repeated process. When the sales price statistical processing step is executed, the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 operates. To do.

  The statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 operates every predetermined period (for example, one week), and the statistical processing means 140 is determined from the time when the collection date of the product information starts the statistical processing. A product information search process (S10) for searching for product information within a period (for example, within one week) from the product information DB 131 is executed.

  In the product information search process (S10), the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 determines the collection date of the product information from the product information stored in the product information DB 131 from the time when the statistical processing is started. Product information within a period (for example, within one week) is searched, and a mother set of the searched product information is formed.

  When the product information search process (S10) ends, the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 performs a sales price statistical process (S11) that statistically processes the sales price included in the product information collected in the product information search process (S10). ).

  In the sales price statistical processing (S11), the statistical processing means 140 forms a small set of product information having the same product model number from the set of product information formed in the product information search processing (S10). That is, for each piece of product information with the same product model number, the statistical processing module provided in the statistical processing means 140 is used to statistically process the sales price of the product information included in the small set, The statistical processing period of the sales price and the statistical processing result are stored in the statistical processing result DB 141.

  When the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 statistically processes the sales price of the product information to which the above-described user flag is assigned, when the change in the sales price of the product exceeds a predetermined ratio, The statistical processing result is stored in the statistical processing result DB 141 with the sales price fluctuation flag described above. In addition, when the new product flag is added to the product information to be statistically processed, the statistical processing unit 140 of the price survey system 1 adds the new product flag to the statistical processing result of the product model number.

  When the statistical processing means 140 of the price survey system 1 statistically processes the sales price included in the product information within a predetermined period (for example, within one week) from the time when the collection date starts the statistical processing, the sales price The statistical processing step ends.

  Next, the procedure executed in the statistical processing result transmission step will be described with reference to FIG. The statistical processing result transmission step is executed every time the price survey system 1 is accessed from the client 2. When the statistical processing result transmission step is executed, the user authentication means 150 of the price survey system 1 and the search condition acquisition The means 100, the product search means 110, and the statistical processing result presentation means 101 operate.

  In the statistical processing result transmission step, when the price survey system 1 receives an access for requesting distribution of the statistical processing result of the sales price from the client 2 operated by the user, the price survey system 1 authenticates the accessed user. An authentication process (S20) is executed.

  When executing the user authentication process (S20), the user authentication means 150 of the price survey system 1 operates, and the user authentication means 150 transmits an HTML file in which an authentication page is described to the client 2.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the authentication page 4 displayed on the client 2 when user authentication is performed. When authenticating the user, the authentication page 4 displayed on the client 2 includes a form 40 for inputting a user ID, a form 41 for inputting an authentication password, and a login button 42 clicked when authenticating the authentication password. Is provided.

  When the login button in FIG. 6 is clicked, the input user ID and authentication password are transmitted from the client 2 to the price survey system 1, and the user authentication unit 150 acquires the user ID and authentication information from the client 2. Authentication information acquired from the client 2 is authenticated.

  In the price information proposal statistical process, the process branches depending on the authentication result of the user authentication process (S20) (S21). When the user authentication is successful in the user authentication process (S20), a process of providing the service of the price survey system 1 to the user is executed, and when the user authentication fails in the user authentication process (S20), the price survey system 1 This procedure is terminated without providing the service to the user.

  If the user authentication is successful in the user authentication process (S20), the price survey system 1 executes a search condition acquisition process (S22) for acquiring a product search condition from the user operating the client 2.

  When the search condition acquisition process (S22) for acquiring the product search condition is executed, the search condition acquisition means 100 of the price survey system 1 operates, and the search condition acquisition means 100 calls the statistical processing result presentation means 101, When the statistical processing result presenting means 101 is called from the search condition obtaining means 100, the statistical processing result with the sales price fluctuation flag is acquired from the statistical processing result DB 141 from the latest statistical results, and the sales price is obtained. An HTML document that displays the statistical processing result with the variation flag is generated.

  The search condition acquisition unit 100 transmits an HTML document that displays a statistical processing result with a sales price fluctuation flag to an HTML file that displays a search condition setting page, transmits the HTML document to the client 2, and follows the user's operation. The search condition such as the product category or the search keyword is acquired from the client 2 operated by the user.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the first search condition setting page 5 displayed on the client 2. The first search condition setting page 5 includes a logout button 50 that is clicked when logging out of the price survey system 1, a form 51 for inputting a search keyword, and a product search using the input search keyword. A keyword search button 52 to be clicked on and a category search button 53 to be clicked on when searching for products using the category are displayed. Further, in the first search condition setting page 5, as the price fluctuation information 54 for displaying the statistical processing result to which the sales price fluctuation flag is attached, the product model number, the product picture, the product lowest price, the highest price, The average price and the user's own price, the price fluctuation rate, the lowest price EC site 30 name and the highest price EC site 30 name, and the difference between the own price and the lowest price are displayed.

  When one category button illustrated in FIG. 7 is clicked, the search condition acquisition unit 100 displays a second search condition setting page for selecting a detailed category of the category corresponding to the clicked category button. 2 is displayed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the second search condition setting page 6. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the second search condition setting page displayed on the client 2 includes a logout button 60 that is clicked when logging out of the price survey system 1, a form 61 for inputting a search keyword, Details clicked when selecting a detailed category from the keyword search button 62 clicked when searching for a product using the input search keyword and the category corresponding to the category button clicked in FIG. In addition to the category search button 63, price fluctuation information 64 relating to a product whose sales price fluctuates above a certain price is displayed from among the products related to the category corresponding to the category button 53 clicked in FIG.

  When a search keyword is input on the first search condition setting page 5 shown in FIG. 7 or the second search condition setting page 6 shown in FIG. 8 and the keyword search button 52 or 62 is clicked, search condition acquisition means 100 acquires a keyword as a search condition. When the detailed category button 63 is clicked on the second search condition setting page 6 shown in FIG. 8, the search condition acquisition unit 100 acquires the detailed category corresponding to the clicked detailed category button 63 as the search condition. To do.

  When the search condition acquisition unit 100 of the price survey system 1 acquires a keyword or a detailed category as a search condition, a product search process (S23) for searching for a product that meets the search condition is executed.

  When the search condition acquisition unit 100 of the price survey system 1 acquires the search condition, the search condition acquisition unit 100 delivers the acquired search condition to the product search unit 110, and the product search unit 110 refers to the index DB 121 and searches for a product model number that matches the search condition. To do.

  When a product search process (S23) for searching for a product that meets the search conditions is executed, a search result display process (S24) for displaying a statistical processing result associated with the searched product model number is executed.

  In the search result display process (S24), the statistical process result presenting means 101 operates, the product model number searched by the product search means 110 is delivered to the statistical process result presenting means 101, and the statistical process result presenting means 101 receives the delivered product. The latest statistical processing result associated with the model number is acquired from the statistical processing result DB 141, and the acquired statistical processing result is processed to display a web page (search result display page) that displays the statistical processing result that matches the search condition. The described HTML file is generated, and the HTML file describing the search result display page is transmitted to the client 2.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a search result display page. The search result display page 7 is clicked when searching for a product using a logout button 70 clicked when logging out of the price survey system 1, a form 71 for inputting a search keyword, and the input search keyword. A keyword search button 72, a list 75 of products that match the search conditions, a form 73 and a search button 74 that are used when performing a search from the list 75 are displayed.

  When a search keyword or the like is input or selected in the form 73 used when performing a refined search and the refinement search button 74 is clicked, the data of the form 73 used during the refined search is used as a search condition in the statistical processing result presenting means 101. After being delivered, the statistical processing result presenting means 101 displays the statistical processing result of the product that meets the search condition from the products displayed in the product list 75.

  Furthermore, when one of the products included in the list of products included in the search result display page 7 is selected by the user, a time-series information display process (S25) for displaying the transition of the selling price of the selected product is executed. The

  The statistical processing result presenting means 101 displays a web page (time series information display page) for displaying time series information generated by the time series statistical processing module from the statistical processing results associated with the product model number of the selected product. The generated time-series information display page is transmitted to the client 2, and the transition of the sales price of the selected product is displayed on the client 2.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the time-series information display page 8. The time series information display page 8 illustrated in FIG. 10 includes a logout button 80 that is clicked when logging out of the price research system 1, a form 81 for inputting a search keyword, and a product search using the input search keyword. The keyword search button 81 clicked when the product is clicked, the product image 83 identified by the product model number included in the selected sales price, and the transition of the highest price, average price, lowest price, and user selling price. A graph is displayed.

  In FIG. 10, as the statistical processing result 85 for each shop selling the selected product, the latest sales price, the difference between the latest sales price and the average price, the difference between the latest sales price and the minimum price, the latest The hypertext linked to the URL of the EC site 30 that sells the product is included.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described so far, and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the product model number is searched using the index information regardless of the search condition. For information related to frequently used search conditions such as the product category, specifications and price, Store in a prepared database so that model numbers can be searched, and search for frequently used search conditions can be performed more efficiently than using index information. become. The contents of this database are updated using information included in the index information when the index information is used.

  At this time, words used for keyword search are described in the index information, and when the search condition is other than keyword search, the search server searches for a product model number that matches the search condition from the database set in the search server. When a search is performed and the search condition is a keyword search, a product type number that matches the search condition is searched using index information. When the search condition is other than the keyword search and there is no database set in the search server, the product model number that matches the search condition is searched using the index information.

The figure explaining the structure of a price investigation system. Functional block diagram of the price survey system. The flowchart which showed the procedure performed at a merchandise information collection process. The flowchart which showed the procedure performed in a sales price statistics process process. The flowchart which showed the procedure performed in a statistical process result transmission process. The figure for demonstrating the page for authentication. The figure explaining the page for the 1st search condition setting. The figure explaining the 2nd page for search condition setting. The figure explaining a search result display page. The figure explaining a time series information display page.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Price information investigation system 10 Web server 11 Search server 12 Index server 13 Crawler server 14 Total server 15 Authentication server 16 User goods server 2 Client 3 Internet 30 EC site 100 Search condition acquisition means 101 Statistical process result presentation means 110 Goods search means 120 Index generation means 121 Index DB
130 Product information collecting means 131 Product information DB
140 Statistical processing means 141 Statistical processing result DB
150 User authentication means 160 User product DB

Claims (7)

A price research system that investigates the sales price of products sold by other companies,
Product information for periodically accessing a predetermined shop site on the Internet, collecting product information including at least product specifying information and sales price of the product from the shop site, and registering the collected product information in a product information database Collecting means;
A user product database storing user product information which is the product information of the user of the price survey system;
Index information describing a word included in the product information is generated from the product information registered in the product information database, and the generated index information is associated with the product specifying information included in the product information. Index generation means to be registered in the database;
Having at least one statistical processing module for statistically processing a sales price included in the product information registered in the product information database, and using the statistical processing module to identify the product Statistical processing means for statistically processing sales prices included in the product information having the same information, and storing statistical processing results in a statistical processing result database in association with the product specifying information;
Search condition acquisition means for acquiring a search condition for searching for a product whose sales price is statistically processed from the client of the user who has accessed the price survey system via the Internet;
Product search means for referring to the index database, searching the index information that matches the search conditions acquired by the search condition acquisition means, and acquiring the product specifying information described in the searched index information;
The statistical processing result associated with the product identification information acquired by the product search means is acquired from the statistical processing result database, and further, the user product information associated with the product identification information is obtained as the user product database. Statistical processing result presenting means for generating a web page to be displayed for each of the product specifying information by comparing the statistical processing result and the sales price included in the user product information;
A price survey system characterized by comprising:   The price survey system according to claim 1, wherein the product information collection unit of the price survey system stores the product information corresponding to the product specifying information specified by the user. When the statistical processing means statistically processes the sales price included in the product information to which the user flag is assigned, a certain flag is given. Check if the sales price fluctuation of a percentage or more has occurred, and if the sales price fluctuation of a certain percentage or more has occurred, a sales price fluctuation flag is attached to the statistical processing result and stored in the statistical processing result database, The statistical processing result presenting means includes the sales price fluctuation flag attached to the statistical processing result when accessed from the client. Price survey system, characterized in that to produce a web page that displays the serial statistical processing result.   3. The price survey system according to claim 1, wherein when the product information collection unit of the price survey system collects the product information from the shop site, a product is newly registered in the shop site. The product information is stored in the product information database with a new arrival flag, and the statistical processing means adds the new arrival flag to the statistical information when the product information with the new arrival flag is statistically processed. The statistical processing result is stored in the statistical processing result database, and the statistical processing result presenting means is a character indicating that the new arrival flag is attached to the information for displaying the statistical processing result attached with the new arrival flag. A price survey system characterized by including symbols.   The price survey system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the statistical processing means of the price survey system includes a processing unit that extracts the lowest selling price in a certain period, Statistical processing module that extracts the highest selling price, a processing unit that calculates the average value of the selling price over a certain period, the processing unit that calculates the difference between the selling price the day before the lowest price and the lowest price of the selling price, sales A price survey system comprising, as the statistical processing module, at least one processing unit selected from a group consisting of processing units that generate time-series information of prices. A price survey method that investigates the sales price of products sold at other company's shop sites,
A crawler server that collects product information of products sold at the shop site defined on the Internet accesses the shop site defined on the Internet, and includes at least product specifying information and a sales price of the product Collect information, register the collected product information in the product information database,
An index server that generates index information in which words included in the product information are described generates the index information of the product specified by the product specifying information from the product information registered in the product information database, A product information collecting step of registering the generated index information in the index database in association with the product specifying information;
A tally server that statistically processes the product information stored in the product information database extracts the product information registered in the product information database within a certain period for each fixed period, and the product specifying information is the same. Statistical processing of the sales price included in the product information, and the sales price statistical processing step of storing the statistical processing result in the statistical processing result database in association with the product specifying information;
A Web server that is accessed from a client operated by a user acquires a search condition for a product acquired from the client, refers to the index database, searches the index information that matches the search condition, and searches The statistical processing result associated with the product identification information corresponding to the index information is acquired from the statistical processing result database, and from the user product database in which user product information that is the product information of the user is stored, The user product information including the product specifying information is acquired, and for each product specifying information, a statistical processing result transmission for generating a web page for displaying the statistical processing result and the sales price included in the user product information in comparison with each other is transmitted. A price survey method comprising: a process.   6. The price survey method according to claim 5, wherein the crawler server adds a user flag indicating that the user has specified when storing the product information of the product specifying information specified by the user. Stored in the product information database, and in the sales price statistical processing step, when the aggregation server statistically processes the sales price included in the product information to which the user flag is assigned, Confirm whether or not the sales price fluctuation more than the percentage has occurred, and if the sales price fluctuation more than a certain percentage has occurred, the statistical processing result is given a sales price fluctuation flag and stored in the statistical result database, In the statistical processing result transmission step, the Web server changes the sales price change into the statistical processing result when accessed from the client. Price survey methods, characterized in that to produce a web page that displays the commodity specific information that flag has been granted. The price survey method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, in the product information collection step, the crawler server newly registers the product at the shop site when the product information is collected from the shop site. In the product information statistical processing step, the tabulation server performs statistical processing on the product information to which the new arrival flag is assigned. Assigning the new arrival flag and storing the statistical processing result in the statistical processing result database, and in the statistical processing result transmitting step, the Web server displays information indicating the statistical processing result to which the new arrival flag has been assigned. A price survey method including a character or a symbol indicating that the new arrival flag is added.